Samoset Middle School’s Parent Teacher Student Association Sponsors Holiday Craft &  Gift Fair
 
Samoset Middle School’s Parent Teacher Student Association is sponsoring a Holiday Craft &  Gift Fair at Samoset Middle School on Sunday, December 2nd. The fair will be open from 10am to 4pm. Over 100 exhibitors are expected, displaying hand-crafted items, including jewelry, wood crafts, holiday ornaments, personalized gifts, soft sculpture and floral design. There will also be a wide variety of gift items: personalized children’s CD’S, home accessories, gift baskets. 

The PTSA will provide a great assortment of refreshments. Admission is free. Do your Holiday shopping (great gifts at fantastic prices)  and support Samosets Middle School’s Parent Teacher Student Association.
 
Samoset Middle School is located on 51 School Road in Lake Ronkonkoma accessible from Hawkins Rd, Interested vendors call  (631) 846-1459.
 
###

MEDIA CONTACT:
Cathy DePasquale

Santa Claus is Coming to AHRC’s Holiday Craft Fair!

Suffolk AHRC (Association for the Help of Retarded Children) will hold its ever-popular Annual Holiday Craft Fairs in Bohemia and Westhampton Beach.  This year, Santa will be visiting Bohemia and taking photos for $5 each! Don’t miss out on a wonderful holiday photo with Santa and fantastic gift items for friends and family.

There will be beautiful hand made items crafted by AHRC vocational trainees, baked goods, crafts and ornaments, jewelry, gift items and an array of decorated wreaths and homegrown poinsettias from Flowerfield Gardens, AHRC’s full service nursery.  There will also be beautiful items from Great Tastes of Long Island. “Gift Baskets for all Occasions” available for purchase.  You’ll find something for everyone on your shopping list.

The time and locations of the fairs are as follows:

Westhampton Beach Facility:  
(located on the grounds of Gabreski Airport)

Monday, Dec. 3rd     
10 am to 2 pm        

Tuesday, Dec. 4th       
10 am to 12 noon

Bohemia Facility:
(2900 Vets Highway)

Wednesday, Dec. 5th
5 pm to 9 pm

Thursday, Dec. 6th
10 am to 3 pm

Friday, Dec. 7th
10 am to 1 pm

Santa will be visiting for photos at Bohemia Facility on:

Thursday, Dec. 6th
10 am to 2 pm

Friday, Dec. 7th
10 am to 1 pm

Suffolk AHRC is a not-for-profit organization which provides a lifetime of therapeutic programs and services to adults and children with developmental disabilities.  Currently more than 2,000 people receive educational, vocational, residential and respite services through AHRC’s thirty-five facilities. For more information about the Craft Fairs or Suffolk AHRC, call the Community Affairs Office at 631-585-0100 or visit our website at www.ahrcsuffolk.org.    

###

Suffolk Chapter
Association for the Help of Retarded Children
2900 Veterans Memorial Highway
Bohemia, New York 11716-1193
Phone:  (631) 585-0100   Fax: (631) 585-0233
Website: www.ahrcsuffolk.org                  
 
Contact: Michelle Serrado
Community Affairs Associate

How homeowners on L.I. are getting ripped off every day by tax assessment panels

We all know that Long Islanders pay some of the highest property taxes in the country. Many Nassau and Suffolk County residents choose to contest their property assessments to be sure that they will only pay their fair share of the tax burden. But the recent declines in the real estate market and increasing illiquidity in the mortgage lending markets have left an increased number left homeowners being assessed at implied assessed “fair market values” significantly exceeding the real value of their properties. This has and will continue to leave many Suffolk County residents over-taxed because they are over-assessed. As Marcellus once said to Horatio “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”.

Local Board of Assessment Review boards (BARS) have both significant power in and responsibility to reduce assessments of properties that are over-assessed and carrying a disproportionately high tax burden. To challenge a property assessment, the first step is to file for an Administrative Review with the local Board of Assessment Review. The BAR is charged with reviewing information submitted with a complaint and determining whether the reduction requested by the petitioner is warranted, in full or in part.

In theory, every single-family residential property is supposed to be assessed at a uniform percentage of its fair market value. This percentage is commonly known as the residential assessment ratio (RAR). So if a property has a fair market value of $1,000,000 and it is located in the town of Huntington where the RAR is .65%, the property’s total assessment should be .65% of $1,000,000 or $6,500.

Property owners or their representatives such as property tax grievance consultants like me, must file a complaint to petition for an assessment reduction. This Administrative Review is required, and in theory is SUPPOSED to provide an equitable forum designed to provide taxpayer relief. Unfortunately, in some jurisdictions this is NOT the case.

Looking at our BAR hearing decisions returned on our cases this year, it is hard for anyone to imagine these boards are objective and functioning independently. Some of these boards seem to act as an arm of the Assessor’s office and fail to fulfill their mandated function. Based on the results of this year’s Board of Assessment Review hearings in the towns of Islip, Huntington and Brookhaven, it seems the board members and the town attorney are ignorant of state case law, are deliberately choosing to ignore the law because they are not accountable, and/or are in an improper liaison with the assessor’s office. This year, the BARs of the towns of Huntington, Islip and Brookhaven, unjustly and unfairly refused to grant relief in a vast majority of cases even when it was clear that the current property assessments are incorrect and adjustments are warranted.

State law does not permit the assessor to change assessments after the tentative assessment roll has been filed. Only the BAR can authorize such changes. Often BAR Assessment reductions are denied in cases where it is clearly warranted and beyond any reasonable doubt. In these cases, the BAR decisions will certainly be overturned on appeal in Small Claims Assessment Review in Supreme Court.

In my opinion, the 2007/2008 BARS in the towns of Huntington, Islip and Brookhaven have denied a significant number of requests where relief is clearly warranted. These BARs have been remiss in their responsibility to fairly hear and review the complaints; they are responsible for over-burdening the court system with defenseless cases.

New York State Real Property Tax Law (RPTL) states:
“Assessments of real property are based on the “market value” (i.e., what a willing buyer would have paid a willing seller) of your property. Though the law does not require that property be assessed at its full market value, all property in an assessing unit must be assessed at a “uniform percentage of value”.”

From the RPTL the “Market Value” is clearly defined as: “the price a willing buyer would pay a willing seller for a property in its present condition with neither buyer nor seller under pressure to act (such as career relocation, death of a family member, divorce, etc.). A market value sale also is known as an arm’s length transaction” (between unrelated parties).

Establishing an opinion that a purchaser obtained a good deal or a bargain is not sufficient to explain away the arm’s length transaction as “abnormal”. There must be some extreme distress and the seller must be under pressure to act. An arm’s length sale is the single highest rank evidence of the market value of a property and is seemingly by its very definition, the “market value” of the property.

The following excerpt comes from the NY State Office of Real Property Services pamphlet on “How to Contest Your Assessment” and is specifically detailed in Section One of the Pamphlet addressing Administrative Review (Board of Assessment Review) the ways market value is demonstrated and determined.

Value of property

“You are required to submit proof necessary to determine the value of your property. Generally, “value” means market value, i.e., the price your property would sell for in the open market (assuming no unusual circumstances). Market value can be estimated from a recent sale of your property or from an analysis of recent sales of comparable properties…”

One of the most ironic aspects of this comical disregard for the spirit and letter of the law came during the Islip BAR hearings. As I did at every other BAR hearing, I presented the town attorney with a copy of a Decision Order and Judgment in the matter of Highland LLC v. The Assessor of, The Board of Assessment Review of and The City of Mount Vernon, New York, which: supports the position that a recent arm’s length sale is the best evidence of market value and cites the case of the matter of Robert Lovett v. Assessor of the Town of Islip in which the ISLIP TOWN ASSESSOR ARGUED THIS VERY POINT on an appeal to the 2nd department. The town attorney received a copy of the case and even acknowledged familiarity with the case and yet the BAR, presumably after obtaining legal advice from the town attorney present, denied ALL 17 open and shut, arm’s length sale cases I presented.

It should be noted that the Smithtown BAR was more equitable forum and deserves some acknowledgement. The Smithtown BAR granted most, but not all and to the full extent, of the complaint’s filed based open a recent open market sale. Relief was properly granted at the BAR level most of these open and shut cases. Smithtown was the only town which acted in some accord with the letter and spirit of RPTL.

Property tax over-assessment affects tens of thousands of homeowners on Long Island and is costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars every year. I am prepared to offer interviews with myself and a number of homeowners who’ve been affected. I believe this is to be very newsworthy and that its reporting will not only make local BARs be made accountable for their actions, but will potentially result in a swifter and more equitable resolution of tax grievance cases and a reduced burden on the court systems.

###

James M. Burns
Licensed Tax Grievance Consultant
Aventine Properties LLC
29 West Hills Road
Huntington Station, NY 11746
Tel: (631) 673-6738
Fax: (631) 673-6706
Email: Aventine@optonline.com

Dowling College to Focus on Environmental Dangers Caused by Manufactured Gas Plants

OAKDALE, NY – On November 9, 2007, the Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute (LIESP) at Dowling College will focus on the environmental and economic issues surrounding manufactured gas plants (MGP).  Director Martin Cantor said, “These gas plants, which at the beginning of the last century burned enough coal to provide the gas to provide light and heat, have left a legacy of pollution that needs to be addressed.”

The monthly Roundtable for Long Island’s Future will be hosted by Martin Cantor and include panelists Suffolk County Legislator Wayne Horsley (D. Babylon), David Manning, Executive Vice President, U.S. External Affairs, National Grid, and Dowling College Earth and Marine Sciences Professor Dr. John Tanacredi.

Mr. Cantor said, “that estimates have placed the costs of cleaning up the Long Island sites at over $1 billion, which will be borne by ratepayers as National Grid public comments indicate they will, causing gas and electric rates on Long Island to increase by at least 25 to 30 percent.”  “This will break the backs of family budgets all across Long Island.”

Mr. Cantor continued, “this financial disaster could have been avoided had the Public Service Commission (PSC) in approving the National Grid purchase of KeySpan Energy, required National Grid to establish an escrow account that would fund an expeditious cleanup of the MGP sites and the recovery of impacted natural resources.”  “And the PSC, in accordance with staff recommendations at its October 17, 2007 meeting, approved National Grid to absorb only a percentage of remediation costs incurring between mid-2006 to December 31, 2007. Beginning January 1, 2008, National Grid could be eligible for complete reimbursement of remedial expenses.  A final decision regarding the staff recommendations will be made at the December PSC Meeting. At that meeting, the PSC cannot squander Long Island ratepayer’s last hope for economic and environmental justice,” said Martin Cantor.

In conclusion, Martin Cantor said, “the time has long passed for the issue of MGPs to be addressed.  It is too important for Long Island’s economic and environmental future to be ignored any longer.”

About Dowling College
Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in several disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education.

###

Contact: Kelly Kazemier
Director of Communications
Dowling College
631-244-3318

Contact: Martin Cantor
Director of Long Island Economic
& Social Policy Institute
631-491-1388
Cell: 334-9487

The Long Island Power Authority Issues RFP for Renewable Energy

Uniondale, NY-November 6, 2007- The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) today issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) soliciting proposals from firms interested in providing electric energy generated from renewable generating facilities and associated Renewable Energy Certificates to LIPA (Renewable Energy).  The purpose of the RFP is to promote the establishment of new Renewable Energy projects on Long Island and in other markets accessible to LIPA and to use the Renewable Energy to help meet LIPA’s voluntary goal of meeting the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard Program (RPS Program).

The RFP seeks to obtain Renewable Energy from new and existing projects located in New York, New England, and the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) electricity markets.  The PJM market has only recently become accessible to LIPA as the result of LIPA having contracted for the full capacity of the Neptune cable, which was completed this past summer.  LIPA is interested in purchasing two blocks of Renewable Energy for a period of 10 years with each block consisting of 150 gigawatt-hours per year (each about 1% of LIPA’s total annual energy needs).  Deliveries would commence on July 1, 2008 for Block 1 and on July 1, 2009 for Block 2.

“As the demand for electricity on Long Island continues to grow, it is essential that LIPA acquire more renewable energy resources that will benefit our environment by reducing our dependence on fossil fuel-generated electricity,” said LIPA President and CEO Kevin S. Law. “The RFP issued today will help the Authority meet our Renewable Energy commitment for the next two years.”

“Using renewable energy sources like wind and solar instead of oil and natural gas will enable LIPA to provide our growing electricity needs without contributing to global warming and air pollution,” said Gordian Raacke, Executive Director of Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI), a not-for-profit organization conducting outreach and education on clean energy technologies.  “As an added bonus, renewable energy provides
insurance against roller-coaster oil prices caused by unpredictable geopolitical forces and the whims of OPEC regimes.”

Each proposer in the RFP must demonstrate that its Renewable Energy project:

*       meets the generation type and fuel source requirements of the LIPA RPS Program,
*       is either a new resource or is not included in the baseline generation sources of any other State’s RPS Program; and
*       is not being counted as a Renewable Resource in any other State’s RPS Program.The proposed Renewable Energy project must also be in commercial operation prior to July 1, 2008, or July 1, 2009 depending on whether the proposer seeks to sell energy under Block 1 or Block 2.The RFP requires that proposals be submitted to LIPA by January 11, 2008 and LIPA anticipates proposal selection to occur at LIPA’s Board of Trustees meeting in March 2008.

To facilitate communications between LIPA and potential proposers, and to ensure that all entities have access to the same information, LIPA will post the RFP and all information involving the RFP on its web site at http://www.lipower.org.  In addition, LIPA will hold a Proposers Conference at LIPA’s offices in Uniondale, New York on November 28, 2007.

At the conference, LIPA staff will provide an overview of key elements of the RFP and answer questions from interested parties.  Further details of the conference will be posted on LIPA’s Web site.

Throughout the RFP process, potential proposers are encouraged to pose questions to LIPA relevant to the RFP and LIPA.  In turn LIPA will post responses available to all potential proposers on its Web site.

###

LIPA Contact Information:
Media Relations: (516) 222-7700
Media Pager: (516) 525-LIPA
media.relations@lipower.org

LIPA News Center
www.lipower.org/newscenter

Squash Students Ready For The Ivy League At Printing House Gym

From international pros vying for a U.S. Open title to students seeking Ivy League scholarships, the epicenter for the racquet sport of squash has become New York City with the Printing House Gym leading the way.

“Our investment in international-level courts and emphasis in training up-and-coming players have paid off as squash is reestablishing its roots in New York City,” said Ralph Anastasio, general manager of the West Side gym. “We were happy to host the U.S. Open players and have the world focus its attention on what New York has to offer.”

According to Anastasio, squash skyrocketed to fame in 1954 when the University Club hosted the first U.S. Open. “The event was covered on the front page of the New York Times, Washington Post, and other major newspapers across the country, Anastasio said. “We are happy to report that squash has returned to the Big Apple in a big way.”

Squash’s growing popularity in New York is good news for area students as top-rate colleges such as Yale, Harvard, Princeton and even the Army and Navy have squash teams and have turned to New York for recruits.

“Our juniors are training with their eye on Ivy League scholarships,” said Josh Easdon, the Printing House junior squash program director. “Kids ages six through high school are learning discipline and life lessons through a great sport and their parents are excited over the academic potential,” Easdon said, adding that the U.S. Open gave the junior players an outstanding opportunity to observe and mingle with the world champs.

Easdon is currently working on a film documentary on the life of Pakistan sports hero Hashim Khan who won the 1951 squash British Open.

“New York is the real home of squash in this country,” noted Sean Gibbon, Printing House squash trainer. “There are more squash players here than anywhere else, more clubs, more interest and more excitement for the sport.”

The Printing House Gym recently spend $100,000 refurbishing its squash courts, which were designed by Gordon Anderson, widely recognized as the best in the world. The gym has five international-level and a variety of programs for members and guests. Court time can be booked online at www.PrintingHouseGym.com

###

Media Contact:
Adam Weiss
Office 646-472-8729

Long Island’s own Celebrity Chef & Spinmaster “DJ CHEF” Guest Stars on The Party Planner

Celebrity chef & spinmaster “DJ CHEF” Marc Weiss will guest star on The Party PlannerCelebrity chef & spinmaster “DJ CHEF” Marc Weiss will guest star on The Party Planner with event designer David Tutera.

 Get a behind the scenes look at the making of an exclusive event of DJ CHEF, the only entertainer in the world who simultaneously cooks and DJ’s.
 
The episode entitled  “Gettin’ Funky with DJ CHEF” will air on Discovery Home November 10 @ 7pm. If you miss it the premier the rebroadcast is November 11th @ 11am.
 
Photo right: DJ CHEF & David Tutera on the set of The Party Planner taping the episode “Gettin’ Funky with DJ CHEF”. 

For more information about the show & DJ CHEF visit
http://www.djchef.com

###

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Marc Weiss
516-263-2433
DJChefEvents@gmail.com
www.DJCHEF.com

Gift Engine: A Retelling of 50 Years of Stony Brook

The Student Activities Center (SAC) Gallery at Stony Brook University is pleased to announce Gift Engine: A Retelling of 50 Years of Stony Brook, an installation by artist Nick De Pirro. Created specifically for the SAC Gallery, Gift Engine is a multi-media installation that presents an interpreted history of the university in the gallery. Gift Engine will be on view from November 15 – December 14, 2006 at the SAC Gallery at Stony Brook University. The opening reception and artist talk will be held on Thursday, November 15 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm. All are welcome to attend. As part of the show, free coffee will be served. The SAC Gallery is located in the Student Activities Center, main floor, Stony Brook University.  Gallery Hours are 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Tuesday – Friday. Admission is free.

Gift Engine: A Retelling of 50 Years of Stony Brook presents an interpreted history of the university. With Marcel Duchamp’s Large Glass as a point of departure, De Pirro describes nine pivotal events from the university’s past. This is not a literal narrative, but describes historical incidents as abstracted fables. These range from the discovery of MRI technology to the bar code. For the artist, this show is a gift and represents a celebratory offering or a tribute, like the university itself. The machine embodies the core motivating aspect of the university, and is represented as part of every event that shaped the history of the school. Integral to the artist’s memory and the Duchampian fable is coffee or chocolate as a symbol of the grinding of the raw bean into an energy-giving source of inspiration. In this spirit, the gallery and the artist invite all to enjoy the gift of free coffee.

The exhibition’s core theme is a remix of Stony Brook University through a combination of the artist’s memory, actual historical events, and the creation of tall tale that gives birth to a new legend rather than a codified history.

The Student Activities Center Gallery operates as a program within the Department of Student Union and Activities, Student Affairs Executive Area at Stony Brook University.  If special accommodations are required, please contact the Department of Student Union and Activities at 631.632.9392.  Stony Brook University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity educator and employer.

###

James Pearson
Student Activities Center Gallery
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794
(631) 632-6559

Gift Engine: A Retelling of 50 Years of Stony Brook

The Student Activities Center (SAC) Gallery at Stony Brook University is pleased to announce Gift Engine: A Retelling of 50 Years of Stony Brook, an installation by artist Nick De Pirro. Created specifically for the SAC Gallery, Gift Engine is a multi-media installation that presents an interpreted history of the university in the gallery. Gift Engine will be on view from November 15 – December 14, 2006 at the SAC Gallery at Stony Brook University. The opening reception and artist talk will be held on Thursday, November 15 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm. All are welcome to attend. As part of the show, free coffee will be served. The SAC Gallery is located in the Student Activities Center, main floor, Stony Brook University.  Gallery Hours are 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Tuesday – Friday. Admission is free.

Gift Engine: A Retelling of 50 Years of Stony Brook presents an interpreted history of the university. With Marcel Duchamp’s Large Glass as a point of departure, De Pirro describes nine pivotal events from the university’s past. This is not a literal narrative, but describes historical incidents as abstracted fables. These range from the discovery of MRI technology to the bar code. For the artist, this show is a gift and represents a celebratory offering or a tribute, like the university itself. The machine embodies the core motivating aspect of the university, and is represented as part of every event that shaped the history of the school. Integral to the artist’s memory and the Duchampian fable is coffee or chocolate as a symbol of the grinding of the raw bean into an energy-giving source of inspiration. In this spirit, the gallery and the artist invite all to enjoy the gift of free coffee.

The exhibition’s core theme is a remix of Stony Brook University through a combination of the artist’s memory, actual historical events, and the creation of tall tale that gives birth to a new legend rather than a codified history.

The Student Activities Center Gallery operates as a program within the Department of Student Union and Activities, Student Affairs Executive Area at Stony Brook University.  If special accommodations are required, please contact the Department of Student Union and Activities at 631.632.9392.  Stony Brook University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity educator and employer.

###

James Pearson
Student Activities Center Gallery
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794
(631) 632-6559

Discover Dowling at the Upcoming Open House or Information Session

OAKDALE, NY - Discover the Dowling Difference at our Open House on Saturday, November 17, 2007 from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at the historic Rudolph Campus in Oakdale.  This opportunity will allow participants to learn more about the many graduate and undergraduate degrees that are available.  There will be opportunities to tour the campus and acclaimed residence facilities.  There will also be a chance to talk to faculty members and student services and attend financial aid information sessions.  Potential students can explore the vast array of career opportunities and internships available.

Dowling students can follow their own path by majoring in either Aviation, Business, Education or the Arts and Sciences.  Dowling prides itself in being known as “The Personal College” and offers convenient class times at three of our locations including Oakdale, Brookhaven, or Melville.  Dowling also offers a highly technologically advanced Aviation program and is one of only 14 schools in the nation to qualify students for a career as an Air Traffic Controller.

Attend the Open House and obtain a transfer evaluation and enroll now for the Spring semester.

To learn more about all that Dowling has to offer and for a complete listing of the day’s events and to RSVP for this event visit www.dowling.edu/rsvp/OpenHouse.shtm

There will also be a Graduate Studies Information Session on Monday, November 26, 2007 at 6p.m. in the Fortunoff Hall Ballroom.  This informative event will feature an overview presentation, individual advisement, and registration for classes.  The application fee will be waived for attendees who enroll in a course at the information session. R.S.V.P. for this event at www.dowling.edu/rsvp

For additional information on either event please call 1-800-DOWLING (ext. 3030).

About Dowling College
Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in several disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education.

###

Contact:  Kelly Kazemier
Director of Communications
631-244-3318
kazemiek@dowling.edu