It's deceptive to say "Peekskill" is opening or expanding these businesses as it gives the impression that somehow the Goverment has something to do with it. The business owners themselves are taking all the risk and making the investment in the City. The only thing Havranek et al will be doing is figuring out ways to tax and regulate these people so as to bring more money into the trough. The truth is that Peekskill is simply not a friendly place for small retailers. It seems they do everything they can to discourage and harass legitimate stores while turning a blind eye to the make believe "variety" stores that are nothing but fronts for gambling, drug dealing and prostitution. View Comment

Not wearing a seatbelt is a victimless "crime." The only person who gets hurt is the one not wearing the belt. There are actually maniacs out there who text and/or us a cell phone while driving during rush hour traffic on the Taconic, doing 65+ MPH. Any one of these idiots can cause a multi-vehicle accident that could kill or injure many innocent people. Leave it to the "Government" to take the easy way out and go after the poor souls who forget to put on their seatbelts. It's so much easier. View Comment

They can't get rid of them. The teachers union won't allow it. View Comment

Why does this not surprise me? View Comment

Let's see what happens if an anti-Islam billboard goes up. Let's see how tolerant of free speech the Islamo-fascists are. Just like they were with Theo Van Gogh, Lars Hedegaard and Geert Wilders who is now marked for death. People need to understand that Islam is mostly a political system pretending to be a religion. They hate gays whom they believe are "unclean" and women are less than second class citizens who must be subservient to men. Theo Van Gogh was slaughtered on the streets of the Netherlands, like an animal simply for criticizing Islam. Stop pretending that the problem is Israel. View Comment

Agreed that the City has no business running an entertainment venue. Look at what a shambles the finances are. Also- Jason Angell has no business being a decision maker for this important matter. He is a young man who has no experience in an enterprise like this yet somehow he has parlayed his no show job with the BID into a major political position. Just look at how dysfunctional the BID has become since he's been "director" -- this is who you trust to decide the fate of the Paramount? There are those of us who've lived and/or worked in Peekskill for half a century or more, who know and love this once great city. I don't see any of those faces in the pictures. Instead, you have a glorified administrative assistant making decrees that are going to make or break this community. Makes me think that the fix was in from the beginning. View Comment

Sadly, the people with common sense are in the minority here in NY, one of the blue-est of blue states. The default setting of the culture here is very left of center. I'm surprised that I'm even allowed to post politically incorrect comments that are critical of the enviro-wackos who are destroying our way of life. In fact they are destroying THEIR way of life too. I guess they have no problem with $4 a gallon heating oil for their homes when the temps go down in the teens and single digits. No mention of the fact that these do-gooders are causing extreme hardship for the poor and elderly that they pretend to care about. Too bad the hypocrites are in charge. View Comment

Yes, there is climate change- 4 times a year around here. Notice how these Koolaid drinkers have gone from "global warming" to "climate change" now that the myth has been thoroughly debunked. If anything, scientists have proven that we are now in a cooling period, not a warming period when it comes to climate, and even that's within normal range. This whole global warming thing is a massive hoax by the left, designed to destroy the economic base of this country and ultimately the country itself. People like AlGore are making billions of the misery of those of us who must heat our homes and drive cars and pay the ever escalating cost of fuel. Since our imperial president was put on the throne, the cost of gas has more than doubled, just as he predicted would happen with electricity. This isn't about saving the planet- it's about political power and money. The very people who should be protesting about the destruction of their way of life are instead brainwashed into asking for more govt. interference. Pitiful. View Comment

Let us not forget the Phoenix was a mythological creature. You know, kind of make believe. View Comment

Who is Jinelle Aguiar that was appointed to the "Ethics" board? View Comment

Whatever happened to separation of Church and State? This event was nothing but a tribute to King Obama by the beneficiaries of his regime. As usual, it's all for the hearts and minds of "The Children." View Comment

The Catholic Church is being very shortsighted in not supporting its schools which are an extremely important part of our culture. I cannot understand why they don't use their substantial assets to not only keep these schools open, but to try to expand Catholic education throughout the USA. The public schools are no longer allowed to teach faith, religion, morality or even right and wrong. Is it any wonder that we are seeing young men like Adam Lanza who are evil incarnate, who have no scruples or morality,who can do what he did? Mainstream culture has been so debased as to be unrecognizable from what is was even 10-20 years ago. View Comment

It's about time something is done to change these laws which are most likely un-Constitutional. Imagine being a landlord, paying taxes for decades on a property, and being told by the City bureaucrats how much rent you can charge and who you can rent to. This is how it works in the People's Republic of Peekskill. If the corrupto-crats who are running things would allow the Free Marke to prevail, and to open up all downtown living space to anyone who wants to live there, you would finally see Peekskill explode with growth and economic development. What sense does it make to only allow poor people to live in a portion of the City? Of course if you're a bureaucrat whose livelihood depends on administering millions of dollars in entitlements to take care of the "poor" then it makes all the sense in the world. View Comment

This is what Peeskill has become: a place to eat, drink and be merry all night long. I sure hope those Santas had designated reindeer drivers to take them home that night. City officials and the BID encourage this type of transient business. They much prefer bars, restaurants and tattoo parlors to any kind of legitimate retail which accounts for the fact that there's virtually no place to shop in the Downtown area. Foster & Co. refuse to listen to the consultants they paid for with taxpayer money who are telling them how important it is to retain and recruit retail businesses within the BID. View Comment

With all the financial problems that Peekskill taxpayers face, was it really necessary to build another fitness center? And why is there always such a huge emphasis on sports and athletics? Maybe the district bureaucrats could have made a deal with Planet Fitness or one of the existing gyms if they really feel the students need such a facility. Also, I find it appalling that the "teachers" are leading so many of these young people to believe that they're on the path to becoming multi-millionaire athletes when they actually have more chance of winning the lottery. View Comment

Just what you'd expect from this crew: blame the community for not "supporting" the Paramount. Meanwhile what happened to the millions of dollars that were poured in courtesy of the taxpayers of Peekskill and the surrounding communities? Is there going to be an audit by the Comptroller's Office similar to the one that was done on the BID, and if not, why not? The business owners and stakeholders have a right to know how our money was mismanaged and why nobody from generations of politicians of both parties could ever get things under control. Nobody questioned Mr. Vesce or his board when the theater remained dark for months during the prime holiday season when people from all over were looking for a place to go. Nobody seemed to notice that there were never any decorations unless the BID paid for them and that the front of the building looked unkempt most of the time. And don't get me started on the street lighting that was promised for over 10 years for Brown St. yet to this day has never been installed. Of course nobody is going to take responsibility- that's just the Peekskill way. View Comment

This is going to have a terrible effect on the Downtown business owners, especially the restaurants who depended on the Paramount to bring customers they normally wouldn't have into Peekskill. There is simply no other attraction in the city that brings in over 1000 people in one night and I know from my own experience that those people are shoppers and spend money. This whole affair shows once again that the Foster administration has no regard for the merchants who are the backbone of the Downtown. It's inconceivable that they didn't know this was going to happen and they should have taken steps to keep the theater open till after the holiday season. Then again, that's really expecting a lot from a group that still thinks the answer for Peekskill is a new firehouse that will effectively destroy the central city once and for all. I hope that a solid private entrepreneur takes over like the guy who bought the Capitol theater in Port Chester. That whole area will be revitalized if that happens. View Comment

After Obama just got re-elected, it seems many people are doing the same thing. Gun manufacturers may be the only industry that prospers under this administration. It's called the law of unexpected consequences. View Comment