Podcasts about Tappan Zee Bridge

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What Fresh Hell Podcast is going on tour across the Northeast US this fall! Join us for a live version of the podcast and bring all your mom friends. We can't wait to go back on the road! https://bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour Amy thought The Love Boat was filmed in real time, at sea. Margaret's grandfather had all the kids convinced his dining room light switch controlled the Tappan Zee Bridge. We asked our listeners for all the silliest things they fully believed as children, and in this episode, we highlight all of the absolute dumbest. We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/ mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid's behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Fred Wagner, partner with Venable, LLP about NEPA, the Future of the Supreme Court, and the Cherry Blossom Festival.   Read his full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-formShowtimes: 1:54  Nic & Laura talk about burnout9:48  Interview starts10:09  Cherry Blossom Festival21:35  NEPA34:11  Future of the Supreme CourtPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Fred Wagner at linkedin.com/in/fred-wagner-59043019Guest Bio:Fred Wagner focuses his practice on environmental and natural resources issues associated with major infrastructure, mining and energy project development. Fred helps clients manage and then defend in court environmental reviews performed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or equivalent state statutes. He works with public agencies and private developers to secure permits and approvals from federal and state regulators under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Fred is familiar with the full range of issues surrounding USDOT surface transportation programs, including grant management, procurement, suspension and debarment, and safety regulations. During his career, Fred has handled a wide variety of environmental litigation in federal trial and appellate courts across the country, from citizen suits, to government enforcement actions, to Administration Procedure Act (APA) challenges.Fred was appointed Chief Counsel of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) during the Obama administration. He managed all legal matters involving the $40 billion Federal-Aid Highway program, including environmental and natural resources issues for highway and multimodal transportation projects. Among other high-profile projects, he oversaw the agency's defense of the following:  New York's Tappan Zee Bridge, San Francisco's Presidio Parkway, Chicago's Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, Kentucky and Indiana's Ohio River Bridges, North Carolina's Bonner Bridge, Alabama's Birmingham Northern Beltline, Wisconsin's Zoo Interchange, and Washington's State Road 520 Bridge. He represented the FHWA on government-wide Transportation Rapid Response Team, a multi-agency task force focused on improving project delivery and environmental review reforms.Fred began his career as a trial attorney in the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Misdemeanor Trial Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Prior to joining Venable, he spent more than 20 years in private practice at a national law firm focusing on environmental and natural resources issues.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Dec. 30. It dropped for free subscribers on Jan. 6. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoAaron Kellett, General Manager of Whiteface, New YorkRecorded onDecember 4, 2023About WhitefaceView the mountain stats overviewOwned by: The State of New YorkLocated in: Wilmington, New YorkYear founded: 1958Pass affiliations: NY Ski3 Pass: Unlimited, along with Gore and BelleayreClosest neighboring ski areas: Mt. Pisgah (:34), Beartown (:55), Dynamite Hill (1:05), Rydin-Hy Ranch (1:12), Titus (1:15), Gore (1:21)Base elevation: 1,220 feetSummit elevation:* 4,386 feet (top of Summit Quad)* 4,650 feet (top of The Slides)* 4,867 feet (mountain summit)Vertical drop: 3,166 feet lift-served; 3,430 feet hike-toSkiable Acres: 299 + 35 acres in The SlidesAverage annual snowfall: 183 inchesTrail count: 94 (30% expert, 46% intermediate, 24% beginner)Lift count: 12 (1 eight-passenger gondola, 2 high-speed quads, 3 fixed-grip quads, 1 triple, 3 doubles, 2 carpets – view Lift Blog's inventory of Whiteface's lift fleet)View historic Whiteface trailmaps on skimap.org.Why I interviewed himWhiteface, colloquially “Iceface,” rises, from base to summit, a greater height than any ski area in the Northeast. That may not impress the Western chauvinists, who refuse to acknowledge any merit to east-of-the-Mississippi skiing, but were we to airlift this monster to the West Coast, it would tower over all but two ski areas in the three-state region:The International Olympic Committee does not select Winter Games host mountains by tossing darts at a world map. Consider the other U.S. ski areas that have played host: Palisades Tahoe, Park City, Snowbasin, Deer Valley. All naturally blessed with more and more consistent snow than this gnarly Adirondacks skyscraper, but Whiteface, from a pure fall-line skiing point of view, is the equal of any mountain in the country.Still not convinced? Fine. Whiteface will do just fine without you. This state-owned, heavily subsidized-by-public-funds monster seated in the heart of the frozen Adirondacks has just about the most assured future of any ski area anywhere. With an ever-improving monster of a snowmaking system and no great imperative to raise the cannons against Epkon invaders, the place is as close to climate-proof and competition-proof as a modern ski area can possibly be.There's nothing else quite like Whiteface. Most publicly owned ski areas are ropetow bumps that sell lift tickets out of a woodshed on the edge of town. They lean on public funds because they couldn't exist without them. The big ski areas can make their own way. But New York State, enamored of its Olympic legacy and eager to keep that flame burning, can't quite let this one go. The result is this glimmering, grinning monster of a mountain, a boon for the skier, bane for the tax-paying family-owned ski areas in its orbit who are left to fight this colossus on their own. It's not exactly fair and it's not exactly right, but it exists, in all its glory and confusion, and it was way past time to highlight Whiteface on this podcast.What we talked aboutWhiteface's strong early December (we recorded this before the washout); recent snowmaking enhancements; why Empire still doesn't have snowmaking; May closings at Whiteface; why Whiteface built The Notch, an all-new high-speed quad, to serve existing terrain; other lines the ski area considered for the lift; Whiteface's extensive transformation of the beginner experience over the past few years; remembering “snowboard parks” and the evolution of Whiteface's terrain parks; Whiteface's immense legacy and importance to Northeast skiing; could New York host another Winter Olympics?; potential upper-mountain lift upgrades; the etymology of recent Whiteface lift installations; Lookout Mountain; potential future trails; how New York State's constitution impacts development at Whiteface; why Whiteface doesn't offer more glades; The Slides; why Whiteface doesn't have ski-in, ski-out lodging; and whether Alterra invited Whiteface and its sister mountains onto the Ikon Pass in 2018, and whether they would join today.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewOver the past three years, Whiteface has quietly remade its beginner experience with a series of lower-mountain lift upgrades: the old triple chair on the Bear Den side (which Kellett notes was Whiteface's original summit chair) made way for a new Skytrac fixed-grip quad in 2020. The next year, the Mixing Bowl and Bear doubles out of the main base came out for another new Skytrac quad. Then, earlier this month, Whiteface opened The Notch, a brand-new, $11.2 million Doppelmayr high-speed quad with an angle station to seamlessly transport skiers from Bear Den up to mid-mountain, from which point they can easily lap the kingdom of interlaced greens tangled below. Check out the before and after:It's a brilliant evolution for a mountain that has long embraced its identity as a proving ground for champions, a steep and icy former Olympic host comfortable scaring the hell out of you. Skiing has a place for radsters and Park Brahs and groomer gods arcing GS turns off the summit. But the core of skiing is families. They spend the most on the bump and off, and they have options. In Whiteface's case, that's Vermont, the epicenter of Northeast skiing and home to no fewer than a dozen fully built-out and buffed-up ski resorts, many of which belong to a national multimountain pass that committed ski families are likely to own. To compete, Whiteface had to ramp up its green-circle appeal.I don't think the world has processed that fact yet, just as I don't think they've quite understood the utter transformations at Whiteface sister resorts Belleayre and Gore. The state has plowed more than half a billion dollars into ORDA's facilities since 2017. While some of that cash went to improve the authority's non-ski facilities in and around Lake Placid (ice rinks and the like), a huge percent went directly into new lifts, snowmaking, lodges, and other infrastructure upgrades at the ski mountains.For context, Alterra, owner of 18 ski areas in the U.S. and Canada, reported in March that they had invested $1 billion into their mountains since the company's formation in 2017. To underscore the magnitude of ORDA's investment: any one of Alterra's flagship western properties – Mammoth (3,500 acres), Palisades Tahoe (6,000), Winter Park (3,081), Steamboat (3,500), Crystal (2,600) – is many times larger than Whiteface (288), Gore (439), and Belleayre (171) combined (898 total acres, or just a bit smaller than Aspen Mountain). No ski areas in America have seen more investment in proportion to their size in recent years than these three state-owned mountains.I also wanted to touch on a topic that gnaws at me: why Alterra, when it cleaned out the M.A.X. Pass, overlooked so many strong regional mountains that could have turbocharged local sales. I got into this with Lutsen Mountains GM Jim Vick in October, and Kellett humors me on this question: would Whiteface have joined the Ikon Pass had it been invited in 2018? And would they join now, given the success and growth of the Ski 3 Pass over the past six years? The answers are not what you might think.Questions I wish I'd askedI probably should have asked about the World University Games, which Whiteface and Lake Placid spent years and millions of dollars to prepare for. I don't cover competition, but I do admire spectacles, and more than an allusion to the event would have been appropriate for the format. We do, however, go deep on the possibility of the Olympics returning to New York.Also, I don't get into the whole ORDA-public-funding-handicapping-New-York's-small-ski-areas thing, even though it is a thing, and one that independent operators rightly see as an existential threat. I do cover this dynamic often in the newsletter, but I don't address it with Kellett. Why? I'll reset here what I said when I hosted Gore GM Bone Bayse on the podcast last year:Many of you may be left wondering why my extensive past complaints about ORDA largess did not penetrate my line of questioning for this interview. Gore is about to spend nearly $9 million to replace a 12-year-old triple chair with a high-speed quad. There is no other ski area on the continent that is able to do anything remotely similar. How could I spend an hour talking to the person directing this whole operation without broaching this very obvious subject?Because this is not really a Gore problem. It's not even an ORDA problem. This is a New York State problem. The state legislature is the one directing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to three ski areas while the majority of New York's family-owned mountains pray for snow. I am not opposed to government support of winter sports. I am opposed to using tax dollars from independent ski areas that have to operate at a profit in order to subsidize the operations of government-owned ski areas that do not. There are ways to distribute the wealth more evenly, as I've outlined before.But this is not Bayse's fight. He's the general manager of a public ski area. What is he supposed to do? Send the $9 million back to the legislature and tell them to give it to Holiday Mountain? His job is to help prioritize projects and then make sure they get done. And he's really good at that job. So that – and not bureaucratic decisions that he has no control over – was where I took this conversation.No need to rewrite it for Whiteface because the sentiment is exactly the same.What I got wrongI called the Empire trail “Vampire” because that's what I'd thought Kellett had called it and I'm not generally great about memorizing trail names. But no such trail exists. Sorry Whiteface Nation.I said the mid-mountain lodge burned down in “2018 or 2019.” The exact date was Nov. 30, 2019.I said that there had been “on the order of a billion dollars in improvements to ORDA facilities over the past decade… or at least several hundred million.” The actual number, according to a recent report in Adirondack Life, is $552 million over just six years.Why you should ski WhitefaceTwo hundred and ninety-nine acres doesn't sound like much, like something that fell off the truck while Vail was putting the Back Bowls in storage for the summer, like a mountain you could exhaust in a morning on a set of burners over fresh cord.But this is a state-owned mountain, and they measure everything in that meticulous bureaucratic way of The Official. Each mile of trail is measured and catalogued and considered. Because it has to be: New York State's constitution sets limits on how many miles of trails each of its owned mountains can develop. So constrained, the western wand-wavers, who typically count skiable acreage as anything within their development boundary, would be much more frugal in their accounting.So step past that off-putting stat – it's clear from the trailmap that options at Whiteface abound - to focus on this one: 3,166 feet of lift-served vert. That's not some wibbly-wobbly claim: this is real, straight-down, relentless fall line skiing. It's glorious. Yes, the pitch moderates below the mid-mountain lodge, but this is, top to bottom, one of the best pure ski mountains in America.And if you hit it just right and they crack open The Slides, you will feel, for a couple thousand vertical feet, like you're skiing off the scary side of Lone Peak at Big Sky or the Cirque at Snowbird. Wild terrain, steep and furious, featured and forlorn. It is the only terrain pod in the Northeast that sometimes requires an avalanche transceiver and shovel. It's that serious.There's also the history side, the pride, the pomp. Most mountains in New York feel comfortably local, colloquial almost, as though you'd stumbled onto some small town's Founder's Day Parade. But Whiteface carries the aura of the self-aware Olympian that it is, a cosmopolitan outpost in the middle of nowhere, a place where skiers from all over converge to see what's going on. As the only eastern U.S. mountain to ever host the games, Whiteface has a big legacy to carry, and it holds it with a bold pride that you must see to understand.Podcast NotesOn the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA)If you're wondering what ORDA is, here's the boilerplate:The New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) was originally created by the State of New York to manage the facilities used during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games at Lake Placid. Today, ORDA operates multiple venues including the Olympic Center, Olympic Jumping Complex, Mt. Van Hoevenberg, Whiteface Mountain, Gore Mountain & Belleayre Mountain. In January 2023, many of ORDA's venues were showcased to the world as they played host the Lake Placid 2023 Winter World University Games, spanning 11 days, 12 sports, and over 600 competing universities from around the world.To understand why “ORDA” is a four-letter word among New York's independent ski area operators, read this piece in Adirondack Life, or this op-ed by Plattekill owner Laszlo Vajtay on efforts to expand neighboring Belleayre.On the Whiteface UMPEach of ORDA's three ski areas maintains a Unit Management Plan, outlining proposed near- and long-term improvements. Here's Whiteface's most recent amendment, from 2022, which shows a potential new, longer Freeway lift, among other improvements:The version that I refer to in my conversation with Kellett, however, is from the 2018 UMP amendment:On the Lifts that used to serve Whiteface's midmountainKellett discusses the kooky old lift configuration that served the midmountain from Whiteface's main base before the Face Lift high-speed quad arrived in 2002. Here's a circa 2000 trailmap, which shows a triple chair with a midstation running alongside a double chair that ends at the midstation. It's similar to the current setup of the side-by-side Little Whiteface and Mountain Run doubles (unchanged today from the map below), which Kellett tells us on the podcast “doesn't really work for us”:On the renaissance at BelleayreI referenced the incredible renaissance at Whiteface's sister mountain, Belleayre, which I covered after a recent visit last month:Seven years ago, Belleayre was a relic, a Catskills left-behind, an awkward mountain bisected by its own access road. None of the lifts connected in a logical way. Snowmaking was… OK.Then, in 2016, the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), the state agency that manages New York State's other two ski areas (Whiteface and Gore), took over management at Belle. Spectacular sums of money poured in: an eight-passenger gondola and trail connecting the upper and lower mountains in 2017; a new quad (Lightning) to replace a set of antique double-doubles in 2019; a dramatic base lodge expansion and renovation in 2020; and, everywhere, snowmaking, hundreds and hundreds of guns to blanket this hulking Catskills ridge.This year's headline improvement is the Overlook Quad, a 900-ish-vertical-foot fixed-grip machine that replaces the Lift 7 triple. Unlike its predecessor lift, which terminated above its namesake lodge, Overlook crosses the parking lot on a skier bridge crafted from remnants of the old Hudson-spanning Tappan Zee Bridge, then meets Lightning just below its unload.With these two lifts now connected, Belleayre offers three bottom-to-top paths. A new winder called Goat Path gives intermediates a clear ski to the bottom, a more thrilling option than meandering (but pleasant) Deer Run (off the gondy), or Roaring Brook (off the Belleayre high-speed quad).Belle will never be a perfect ski mountain. It's wicked steep for 20 or 30 turns, then intermediate-ish down to mid-mountain, then straight green to the bottom (I personally enjoy this idiosyncratic layout). But right now, it feels and skis like a brand-new ski area. Along with West Mountain and the soon-to-be-online Holiday Mountain, Belleayre is a candidate for most-improved ski area in New York State, a showpiece for renaissance through aggressive investment. Here's the mountain today - note how all the lifts now knot together into a logical network:On Beartown ski areaKellett mentions Beartown, a 150-vertical-foot surface-lift bump an hour north of Whiteface. Like many little town hills across America, Beartown uses its Facebook page as a de facto website. Here's a recent trailmap (the downhill operation is a footnote to the sprawling cross-country network):On the Miracle on IceIf you're not a sportsball fan, you may not be familiar with the Miracle on Ice, which is widely considered one of the greatest upsets in sports history. The United States hockey team, improbably, defeated the four-time-defending Olympic champion Soviet Union at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. The U.S. went on to defeat Finland in their final game to win the gold medal. This is a pretty good retrospective from a local Upstate New York news station:And this is what it looked like live:On Andrew WeibrechtKellett tells us that the Warhorse chairlift, built to replace the Bear and Mixing Bowl doubles in 2021, is named after Andrew Weibrecht, a ski racer who grew up at Whiteface. You can follow him on Instapost here.On Marble MountainThe main reason the U.S. has so many lost ski areas is that we didn't always know how or where to build ski areas. Which means we cut trails where there were hills but not necessarily consistent ski conditions. Such is the case with Whiteface, which is the historical plan B after the state's first attempt at a ski area on the mountain failed. This was Marble Mountain, which operated from 1935 to 1960 on a footprint that slightly overlaps present-day Whiteface:Whiteface opened in 1958, on the north side of the same mountain. This contemporary trailmap shows the Cloudsplitter trail, which Kellett tells us was part of Marble Mountain, connecting down to Whiteface:That trail quickly disappeared from the map:For decades, the forest moved in. Until, in 2008, Whiteface installed the Lookout Mountain Triple and revived the trail, now known as “Hoyt's High”:So, why did Marble Mountain go away? This excellent 2015 article from Skiing History lays it out:To get the full benefit of the sweeping northern vista from the newly widened Wilmington Trail at Whiteface Mountain near Lake Placid, pick a calm day. Otherwise, get ready for a blast of what ski historian and meteorologist Jeremy Davis characterizes as “howling, persistent winds” that 60 years ago brought down Marble Mountain. Intended to be New York State's signature ski resort in the 1950s, Marble lasted just 10 years before it closed. It remains the largest ski area east of the Mississippi to be abandoned.It turns out you can't move the mountain, so the state moved the ski area: The “new” Whiteface resort, dedicated in 1958, is just around the corner. With 87 trails and 3,430 vertical feet, Whiteface played host to the 1980 Winter Olympic alpine events and continues to host international and national competitions regularly. How close was Marble Mountain to Whiteface? Its Porcupine Lodge, just off the new Lookout Mountain chairlift, is still used by the Whiteface ski patrol.Full read recommended.On Gore's glade network versus Whiteface'sIn case you haven't noticed, Whiteface's sister resort, Gore, has a lights-out glade network:I've long wondered why Whiteface hasn't undertaken a similarly ambitious trailblazing project. Kellett clarifies in the podcast.On The SlidesThe Slides are a rarely open extreme-skiing zone hanging off Whiteface's summit. In case you overlooked them on the trailmap above, here's a zoom-in view:New York Ski Blog has put together a lights-out guide to this singular domain, with a turn-by-turn breakdown of Slides 1 through 4.On there being noplace to stay on the mountainWhile Whiteface and sister mountains Gore and Belleayre currently offer no slopeside lodging, I believe that they ought to, for a number of reasons. One, the revenue from such an enterprise would at least partially offset the gigantic tax subsidies that currently feed these mountains' capital budgets. Two, people want to stay at the mountain. Three, if they can't, they go where they can, which in the case of New York means Vermont or Jiminy Peak. Four, every person who is not staying at the mountain is driving there each morning in a polluting or congestion-causing vehicle. Five, yes I agree that endless slopeside condos are an eyesore, but the raw wilderness surrounding these three mountains grants ORDA a generational opportunity to construct dense, walkable, car-free villages that could accommodate thousands of skiers at varying price points within minimal acreage. In fact, the Bear Den parking lot at Whiteface, the main parking lot at Gore, and the lower parking lot at Belleayre would offer sufficient space to house humans instead of machines (or both – the cars could go underground). Long-term, U.S. skiing is going to need more of this and less everyone-drives-everyday clusterfucks.  On the M.A.X. PassI will remain forever miffed that Alterra did not invite Whiteface, Gore, and Belleayre to join the Ikon Pass when it cleaned out and shut down the M.A.X. Pass in 2018. Here was that pass' roster – skiers could clock five days at each ski area:On multi-mountain pass owners on Indy PassEvery once in a while, some knucklehead will crack on social media that Whiteface could never join the Indy Pass because it's part of a larger ownership group, and therefore doesn't qualify. But they are reading the brand too literally. Indy doesn't give a s**t – they want the mountains that are going to sell passes, which is why their roster includes 22 ski areas that are owned by multi-mountain operators, including Jay Peak, its top redeemer for three seasons running:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 114/100 in 2023, and number 499 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Fred Wagner, partner with Venable, LLP about Phase II NEPA Regulations, the Future of WotUS, and Upcoming Supreme Court Case.   Read his full bio below.Special thanks to our sponsor for this episode VENABLE, LLP!   Check them out at https://www.venable.com/Venable is one of the nation's leading law firms. Venable's management reflects a commitment to Diversity and Inclusion through a broad category of hiring, training and educational activities. The Firm's Environmental Practice Group works with clients across the country on major infrastructure development, including NEPA compliance and resource agency permitting. Venable encourages volunteer activities in professional environmental associations, as reflected by Fred Wagner's membership on the NAEP Board of Directors.Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Fred Wagner at linkedin.com/in/fred-wagner-59043019Guest Bio:Fred Wagner focuses his practice on environmental and natural resources issues associated with major infrastructure, mining and energy project development. Fred helps clients manage and then defend in court environmental reviews performed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or equivalent state statutes. He works with public agencies and private developers to secure permits and approvals from federal and state regulators under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Fred is familiar with the full range of issues surrounding USDOT surface transportation programs, including grant management, procurement, suspension and debarment, and safety regulations. During his career, Fred has handled a wide variety of environmental litigation in federal trial and appellate courts across the country, from citizen suits, to government enforcement actions, to Administration Procedure Act (APA) challenges.Fred was appointed Chief Counsel of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) during the Obama administration. He managed all legal matters involving the $40 billion Federal-Aid Highway program, including environmental and natural resources issues for highway and multimodal transportation projects. Among other high-profile projects, he oversaw the agency's defense of the following:  New York's Tappan Zee Bridge, San Francisco's Presidio Parkway, Chicago's Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, Kentucky and Indiana's Ohio River Bridges, North Carolina's Bonner Bridge, Alabama's Birmingham Northern Beltline, Wisconsin's Zoo Interchange, and Washington's State Road 520 Bridge. He represented the FHWA on government-wide Transportation Rapid Response Team, a multi-agency task force focused on improving project delivery and environmental review reforms.Fred began his career as a trial attorney in the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Misdemeanor Trial Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Prior to joining Venable, he spent more than 20 years in private practice aSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

The Tappan Zee Bridge will also keep the name the Mario Cuomo Bridge.

Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick!On today's episode, our fabulous legal guru, Fred Wagner, Partner with Venable, LLP.,  is back for the 6th time! Tune in to hear our conversation about  Music Theater, Waters of the U.S., and Green House Gas Reporting Disclosures. Read his full bio below.Special thanks to our sponsor for this episode VENABLE, LLP!   Check them out at https://www.venable.com/Showtimes:2:36  Nic & Laura discuss the Expendables movie franchise7:17  Interview with Fred Wagner starts7:43  Music Theater21:07  Waters of the U.S.38:23   GHG reporting disclosuresPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review.This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Fred Wagner at linkedin.com/in/fred-wagner-59043019Guest Full Bio:Fred Wagner focuses his practice on environmental and natural resources issues associated with major infrastructure, mining and energy project development. Fred helps clients manage and then defend in court environmental reviews performed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or equivalent state statutes. He works with public agencies and private developers to secure permits and approvals from federal and state regulators under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Fred is familiar with the full range of issues surrounding USDOT surface transportation programs, including grant management, procurement, suspension and debarment, and safety regulations. During his career, Fred has handled a wide variety of environmental litigation in federal trial and appellate courts across the country, from citizen suits, to government enforcement actions, to Administration Procedure Act (APA) challenges.Fred was appointed Chief Counsel of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) during the Obama administration. He managed all legal matters involving the $40 billion Federal-Aid Highway program, including environmental and natural resources issues for highway and multimodal transportation projects. Among other high-profile projects, he oversaw the agency's defense of the following:  New York's Tappan Zee Bridge, San Francisco's Presidio Parkway, Chicago's Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, Kentucky and Indiana's Ohio River Bridges, North Carolina's Bonner Bridge, Alabama's Birmingham Northern Beltline, Wisconsin's Zoo Interchange, and Washington's State Road 520 Bridge. He represented the FHWA on government-wide Transportation Rapid Response Team, a multi-agency task force focused on improving project delivery and environmental review reforms.Fred began his career as a trial attorney in the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Misdemeanor Trial Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Prior to joining Venable, he spent more than 20 years in private practice at a national law firm focusing on environmental and natural resources issues.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the show

Mark and Rob talked about the legislation being looked at to remove the Cuomo name from the Tappan Zee Bridge. They also hit on the crime issues destroying NYC.

Skoufis and the guys talked about removing the Cuomo name from the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Broadcast aired Monday, February 20, 2023, 9:30 am, on WRCR AM1700Crossroads of Rockland History  recognized February as Black History Month. Host Clare Sheridan revisited the 2011 interview with Dr. Travis Jackson (1934–2021) about his personal memories and his extensive research related to the desegregation of the Hillburn schools and the role that Thurgood Marshall played in this important piece of Rockland history.To read Dr. Jackson's article "Mr. Marshall Comes to Hillburn," visit the HSRC's  archived issue of South of the Mountains (vol.47, no. 1, 2003) at https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/hsrc/id/4450/rec/1.About Dr. Travis Jackson: Dr. Travis Jackson was born and raised in Hillburn. He was entering the fourth grade in 1943 when Hillburn families of color and the NAACP worked together to desegregate the Hillburn schools. The experience shaped young Travis. "I had an early understanding of what segregation does to people," he said in a 2004 interview. "I knew what it felt like, and that's why I became an educator." As an educator, Dr. Jackson was the first African American to teach at Suffern High School. He later became an administrator in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Dr. Jackson was a critical contributor to the quadracentennial celebrations in the county with key leadership roles in both the Tappan Zee Bridge with the Historical Society of Rockland County and the Mighty River Project with the African-American Historical Society of Rockland County, Rockland Community College, and the CEJJES Institute. Other awards he received included the Distinguished Alumnus at SUNY Cortland, Suffern High School Alumnus of the Year, the Ashby Award, which is the highest award that a Ridgewood teacher or administrator can receive. He was a member of the Rockland County Civil Rights Hall of Fame, and the recipient of the Margaret and John Zehner Award for historic preservation at the County Executive Historic Preservation Merit Awards._______________Crossroads of Rockland History, a program of the Historical Society of Rockland County, airs on the third Monday of each month at 9:30 am, right after the Jeff and Will morning show, on WRCR radio 1700 AM and www.WRCR.com. Join host Clare Sheridan as we explore, celebrate, and learn about our local history, with different topics and guest speakers every month.  If you are not local and you want to listen to the broadcast, simply download the TuneIn Radio App and search for WRCR.  After the broadcast, the program will be available as a podcast on all major podcast platforms.  Check out many of our recorded broadcasts on all major podcast platforms.The Historical Society of Rockland County is a nonprofit educational institution and principal repository for original documents and artifacts relating to Rockland County. Its headquarters are a four-acre site featuring a history museum and the 1832 Jacob Blauvelt House in New City, New York.www.RocklandHistory.org

Hiking over whatever you want to call the new Tappan Zee Bridge with Westchester's finest.

Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Fred Wagner, Partner with Venable, LLP about Court Cases, the CEQ Phase II Rule, and Monza.   Read his full bio below.Special thanks to our sponsor for this episode VENABLE, LLP!   Check them out at https://www.venable.com/Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:40  Nic & Laura talk about what makes a good storyteller5:58 Interview with Fred Wagner starts20:02  Court Cases36:05  CEQ Phase II Rule57:28  MonzaPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Fred Wagner at linkedin.com/in/fred-wagner-59043019Guest Bio:Fred Wagner focuses his practice on environmental and natural resources issues associated with major infrastructure, mining and energy project development. Fred helps clients manage and then defend in court environmental reviews performed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or equivalent state statutes. He works with public agencies and private developers to secure permits and approvals from federal and state regulators under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Fred is familiar with the full range of issues surrounding USDOT surface transportation programs, including grant management, procurement, suspension and debarment, and safety regulations. During his career, Fred has handled a wide variety of environmental litigation in federal trial and appellate courts across the country, from citizen suits, to government enforcement actions, to Administration Procedure Act (APA) challenges.Fred was appointed Chief Counsel of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) during the Obama administration. He managed all legal matters involving the $40 billion Federal-Aid Highway program, including environmental and natural resources issues for highway and multimodal transportation projects. Among other high-profile projects, he oversaw the agency's defense of the following:  New York's Tappan Zee Bridge, San Francisco's Presidio Parkway, Chicago's Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, Kentucky and Indiana's Ohio River Bridges, North Carolina's Bonner Bridge, Alabama's Birmingham Northern Beltline, Wisconsin's Zoo Interchange, and Washington's State Road 520 Bridge. He represented the FHWA on government-wide Transportation Rapid Response Team, a multi-agency task force focused on improving project delivery and environmental review reforms.Fred began his career as a trial attorney in the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Misdemeanor Trial Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Prior to joining Venable, he spent more than 20 years in private practice at a national law firm focusing on environmental and natural resources issues.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the show

This week, Alan, Quinta, and Scott sat down with Lawfare deputy foreign policy editor and RatSec rookie Dana Stuster, to talk through the week's big national security news, including:“Chechens Coming Home to Roost.” Ukraine's surprise counteroffensive in Kharkiv has proven to be a massive success, leading Russian troops to surrender seized territory as they beat a retreat. At the same time, supporters of Russia's invasion of Ukraine—including Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov—are becoming more openly critical of how the Russian government is managing the campaign. What will these setbacks mean for the future of the conflict—and the Putin regime itself? “Did You Know You Can Eat Them With the Skins On?” Last week, Cloudflare announced that, due to “an unprecedented emergency and immediate threat to human life,” it would cease providing security services to Kiwi Farms, an internet forum infamous for coordinating harassment and doxxing campaigns. Should essential service providers like Cloudflare be put in the position of policing online content in this way? What's the alternative?“Spoilers for Season 5 of ‘The Crown.'” For almost a century, Queen Elizabeth II was a stable presence in global politics, even as her country—and the global order it helped shape—transitioned from an era of empire and colonialism through an international Cold War and into the modern era. What might her death mean for the monarchy and the world moving forward?For object lessons, Alan (and his dentist) thanked Quinta for supporting his saltwater taffy habit. Quinta shared a Civil War-era meme. Scott endorsed the once-and-forever named Tappan Zee Bridge and surrounding Palisades as a lovely way to transit through NYC. And Dana shared a book very appropriate for this moment of reflection on British history, David Ziblatt's classic "Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Fred Wager, partner with Venable, LLP about Waters of the US, GHG Emissions, and the Supreme Court.   Read his full bio below.Special thanks to our sponsor for this episode VENABLE, LLP!   Check them out at https://www.venable.com/Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 2:19  Nic & Laura's talk about Illustrious Theater Careers7:03  Interview with Fred Wagner Starts12:55  Supreme Court18:22  Waters of the U.S.29:17  GHG EmissionsPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Fred Wagner at linkedin.com/in/fred-wagner-59043019Guest Bio:Fred Wagner focuses his practice on environmental and natural resources issues associated with major infrastructure, mining and energy project development. Fred helps clients manage and then defend in court environmental reviews performed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or equivalent state statutes. He works with public agencies and private developers to secure permits and approvals from federal and state regulators under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Fred is familiar with the full range of issues surrounding USDOT surface transportation programs, including grant management, procurement, suspension and debarment, and safety regulations. During his career, Fred has handled a wide variety of environmental litigation in federal trial and appellate courts across the country, from citizen suits, to government enforcement actions, to Administration Procedure Act (APA) challenges.Fred was appointed Chief Counsel of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) during the Obama administration. He managed all legal matters involving the $40 billion Federal-Aid Highway program, including environmental and natural resources issues for highway and multimodal transportation projects. Among other high-profile projects, he oversaw the agency's defense of the following:  New York's Tappan Zee Bridge, San Francisco's Presidio Parkway, Chicago's Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, Kentucky and Indiana's Ohio River Bridges, North Carolina's Bonner Bridge, Alabama's Birmingham Northern Beltline, Wisconsin's Zoo Interchange, and Washington's State Road 520 Bridge. He represented the FHWA on government-wide Transportation Rapid Response Team, a multi-agency task force focused on improving project delivery and environmental review reforms.Fred began his career as a trial attorney in the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Misdemeanor Trial Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Prior to joining Venable, he spent more than 20 years in private practice at a national law firm focusing on environmental and natural resources issues.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the show

On February 9 1969 the fortunes of New York City Mayor John Lindsay were riding high. Mentioned often as possible Presidential contender in the upcoming decade of the 70's he had done much to win the support of Democrats and Republicans, serving a Democratic city as a Republican. His policies where often hailed as progressive and finically responsible. But his future in politics was about to be undone by the weather. Warned in advance of an impending storm his administration was ill prepared. Budget cuts had slashed the available snowplows by 40% and a recent strike with city workers has not been fully overcome. What became known as the “Mayor Lindsay Storm” dumped 15.3" at New York City; Central Long Island 12-18"; Scarsdale, NY 24"; Falls Village, CT 35"; Bridgeport, CT 17.7"; Hartford, CT 15.8"; Bedford, MA 25"; Blue Hill 21"; Boston 11.1"; Portland, ME 21.5"; 800 cars stranded on Tappan-Zee Bridge. Property damage totaled more than $10 million in New England. Thousands of homes lost utility service. Drifts reached 10-20' deep. Thousands were stranded on highways, the New York Thruway was closed from New York City to Albany. The storm was named for Mayor Lindsay's failure to clear the streets of New York City and more than 40 New Yorkers died as a result of the storm. Worst hit was the NYC borough of Queens where 21 people died. The storm came to a swift end late in the day of February 9 and with it came the end of Mayor Lindsey political career, despite being re-elected in 1969 he never held political office again after leaving office as Mayor, despite unsuccessful runs for senate and president. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick!On today's episode, we talk with Fred Wager, partner with Venable, LLP about Iceland, Justice 40 and CEQ Rulemaking.   Read his full bio below.Special thanks to our sponsor for this episode VENABLE, LLP!   Check them out at https://www.venable.com/Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-formShowtimes: 2:30  Nic & Laura talk about the Northern Lights11:05  Interview with Fred Wagner starts13:07  Fred talks about Iceland16:55  CEQ Rulemaking, Phase I33:33  Phase II41:29  Justice 40Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review.This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Fred Wagner at linkedin.com/in/fred-wagner-59043019Guest Full Bio:Fred Wagner focuses his practice on environmental and natural resources issues associated with major infrastructure, mining and energy project development. Fred helps clients manage and then defend in court environmental reviews performed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or equivalent state statutes. He works with public agencies and private developers to secure permits and approvals from federal and state regulators under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Fred is familiar with the full range of issues surrounding USDOT surface transportation programs, including grant management, procurement, suspension and debarment, and safety regulations. During his career, Fred has handled a wide variety of environmental litigation in federal trial and appellate courts across the country, from citizen suits, to government enforcement actions, to Administration Procedure Act (APA) challenges.Fred was appointed Chief Counsel of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) during the Obama administration. He managed all legal matters involving the $40 billion Federal-Aid Highway program, including environmental and natural resources issues for highway and multimodal transportation projects. Among other high-profile projects, he oversaw the agency's defense of the following:  New York's Tappan Zee Bridge, San Francisco's Presidio Parkway, Chicago's Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, Kentucky and Indiana's Ohio River Bridges, North Carolina's Bonner Bridge, Alabama's Birmingham Northern Beltline, Wisconsin's Zoo Interchange, and Washington's State Road 520 Bridge. He represented the FHWA on government-wide Transportation Rapid Response Team, a multi-agency task force focused on improving project delivery and environmental review reforms.Fred began his career as a trial attorney in the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Misdemeanor Trial Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Prior to joining Venable, he spent more than 20 years in private practice at a national law firm focusing on environmental and natural resources issues. Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the show

Happy Friday-eve from Bernie & Sid in the Morning on this Thursday morning in Manhattan. Hot topics today included Sid's big break in acting, the Kyle Rittenhouse trial jury now being in its third day of deliberation, the fake news media misrepresenting the entire case, a movement to rename the Mario Cuomo Bridge back to the Tappan Zee Bridge, the Border Patrol Whipping hoax being confirmed as such, Biden's approval numbers quickly reaching rock bottom, and the similarities between Kamala Harris' incompetence and that of Hillary Clinton. Also, Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter will not back down when it comes to condemning China and Nike, and Representative Lauren Boebert taking a stand on the House Floor. Actor Chris Mormando and the great Bill O'Reilly join Bernie & Sid as guests on today's program, and as always make sure you don't miss Lidia Reports and The Peerless Boilers Beat Bernie Contest.

The title says it all--it's just simple math. Now that things are opening up and karaoke is becoming safer and easier to access, Adam and Ed talk about the places they do karaoke, the things they like in a karaoke place, and some of their all-time favorite karaoke spots, including some new ones Ed found on a work trip to Cincinnati (check out the blog on the web site to see more about that). The focus on karaoke spots dovetails into an interview with the owners of a place that is now definitely on Adam and Ed's bucket list of karaoke spots they need to hit. Terry and Naomi Clarke, the owners of Black Parakeetz, the new paint, swig, and sing spot in Nyack, NY talk about what makes their spot unique and special, the thought that went into developing the place, and their plans for the future. Remember, if you're trying to get to Black Parakeetz, it's right across the Tappan Zee Bridge into Nyack, take the first exit, and then "two lights, two rights" and you have found Nyack's premiere karaoke lounge. You'll also get a snippet of Terry singing some Johnny Mathis. As always, we've got a web site (https://www.sungpoorly.com), we're on Twitter (@sungpoorly), and you can reach us via email by sending a message to sungpoorly@gmail.com. Also, feel free to join our Facebook group: The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly) Podcast. Theme song: "Gasoline" by Ben Dumm and the Deviants.

Congressman Lee Zeldin who is currently running for Governor has a petition on his Facebook page any self respecting New Yorker would be wise to put their name on. Please sign your name. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nancy8064/message

Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we bring back Fred Wager, partner with Venable, LLP to talk about Practicing Law, Policy Updates, and Infrastructure.  Read his full bio below.Thank you to Venable, LLP. for sponsoring this episode! Check out Venable at www.venable.comHelp us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-formShowtimes: 0:00  Intro1:35  Shout outs2:48  Nic and Laura's talk about phobias10:17  Interview with Fred Wagner starts15:12  Fred talks about practicing law25:33  Fred delves into the history of environmental law32:28  Infrastructure Bill38:01  NEPA policy updates46:35  Fred provides a summary of environmental justice updates50:18  OutroPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Fred Wagner at linkedin.com/in/fred-wagner-59043019Guest Full Bio:Fred began his career as a trial attorney in the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Misdemeanor Trial Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Prior to joining Venable, he spent more than 20 years in private practice at a national law firm focusing on environmental and natural resources issues.  During his career, Fred has handled a wide variety of environmental litigation in federal trial and appellate courts across the country, from citizen suits, to government enforcement actions, to Administration Procedure Act (APA) challenges.Fred was appointed Chief Counsel of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) during the Obama administration. He managed all legal matters involving the $40 billion Federal-Aid Highway program, including environmental and natural resources issues for highway and multimodal transportation projects. Among other high-profile projects, he oversaw the agency's defense of the following:  New York's Tappan Zee Bridge, San Francisco's Presidio Parkway, Chicago's Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, Kentucky and Indiana's Ohio River Bridges, North Carolina's Bonner Bridge, Alabama's Birmingham Northern Beltline, Wisconsin's Zoo Interchange, and Washington's State Road 520 Bridge. He represented the FHWA on government-wide Transportation Rapid Response Team, a multi-agency task force focused on improving project delivery and environmental review reforms.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by MattSupport the show (https://www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form)

Rafe and Ari host. They talk about Jock Jams, H-E-Double Hockey Sticks, the Tappan Zee Bridge, Deno's Wonder Wheel, and the origins of Lyme Disease.

Orient Point Lighthouse is a cast-iron, so-called “sparkplug” type lighthouse in a location known as Plum Gut, between Plum Island and Orient Point at the northeastern tip of Long Island, New York. After its 1958 automation, the Coast Guard considered tearing it down and replacing it with a simple pipe tower, but a public outcry saved the structure and some restoration work was carried out.  Orient Point Lighthouse, New York. photo by Jeremy D'Entremont Randy Polumbo In 2013 the property was auctioned under the guidelines of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. The winner of the auction was Randy Polumbo, an artist and the founder of the New York City eco-construction company, Plant. Randy's work has been exhibited nationally and abroad. Over the past few years he has transformed the interior of the lighthouse, adding a kitchen and studio space. He's installed a spinning, glowing sphere on the watch room gallery, and a colorful grotto inside, which he calls a “walk-in kaleidoscope." Randy plans to make the lighthouse available for artists, writers, and composers who want to be “lost at sea for a week or more.” Click here to read more about Randy Palumbo and Orient Point Lighthouse Tarrytown Lighthouse, New York. photo by Jeremy D'Entremont George Latimer Tarrytown Lighthouse went into service on October 1, 1883, about 20 miles north of New York City on the east shore of the Hudson River. It's a cast-iron caisson structure, with four stories inside and a light 56 feet above mean high water. The Tappan Zee Bridge, spanning the Hudson River at its widest point, was completed in 1955. The bridge, with powerful lights and a foghorn on its center span, rendered the lighthouse virtually obsolete. After years of abandonment, the lighthouse was acquired by Westchester County. It has again fallen into disrepair in recent years, but Westchester County recently announced a major restoration project. Westchester is led by County Executive George Latimer, who took office in January 2018 as the ninth County Executive. Use this player to listen to the podcast:

Monsey. Rockland County. The Hudson River Valley. The image of suburbia. This small town across the Tappan Zee Bridge somehow developed into one of the largest Jewish Orthodox enclaves worldwide. Though the area had some minor Jewish beginnings from the end of the 19th century, it was with the vision of Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz that Monsey began to develop as a Jewish community. Rav Shraga Feivel built Bais Medrash Elyon and his family and students laid the foundations of many Torah institutions including Yeshiva of Spring Valley and Bais Shraga. Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik was an early rabbi in Spring Valley, while his wife Rebbetzin Shoshana was a pioneer in girls education, standing at the helm of the Monsey Bais Yaakov for decades. Great personalities who resided in the town and contributed to its development included Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, Rav Mordechai Schwab, Rav Nosson Horowitz, Ronnie Greenwald, the Vizhnitz Rebbe Rav Mottele Hager, Rav Moshe Neuschloss in nearby New Square and many others.    For sponsorship opportunities about your favorite topics of Jewish history contact Yehuda at:  yehuda@yehudageberer.com   Subscribe To Our Podcast on:    PodBean: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/   Follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @Jsoundbites You can email Yehuda at yehuda@yehudageberer.com

The Storm Skiing Podcast is sponsored in part by:Mountain Gazette - Listen to the podcast for discount codes on subscriptions and merch.Helly Hansen - Listen to the podcast to learn how to get an 18.77 percent discount at the Boston and Burlington, Vermont stores.WhoSara Montgomery, General Manager of West Mountain and Spencer Montgomery, Co-Owner and Operator of West Mountain, New YorkRecorded onApril 12, 2021Sara and Spencer Montgomery took over West Mountain, N.Y. prior to the 2013-14 ski season. They have since led a $17 million transformation of the ski area.Why I interviewed themBecause West Mountain is one of the best stories in New York skiing. A decade ago, the place was falling apart. Trails-in-name-only had become overgrown and were rarely open. A handful of homemade mobile snowguns serviced the mountain. A trio of doddering antique chairlifts rose from a cluster of ramshackle or abandoned buildings. Night-lighting was inconsistent and covered only portions of the mountain. The place puttered along on 30,000 skier visits per year. Then the Montgomerys arrived with a new vision and energy, moving their family of six to the base of the mountain and initiating a $17 million gut renovation. Eight years after their arrival, the place is transformed, with a forest of tower guns that can bury the full trail network in a few days, three new lifts, 100 percent night skiing, widened and consistently open ski runs, renovated lodges and cafeterias, and reinvigorated race and after-school programs. And that’s just phase one. The long-term aspiration is to transform West into the sort of ski-and-stay destination that New York is desperately lacking, build an affordable ski academy, and continue expanding the lift and trail network. I wanted to speak with the Montgomerys to understand how they did all this and how they were going to stretch toward the future.West is divided into two distinct pods: the Main trails, left, where the race programs are centered, and the Northwest section, right.What we talked aboutGrowing up skiing at West; how they came to own and operate the ski area; living on the mountainside; what West looked like when they took over in 2013 and where they invested $17 million to completely overhaul the ski area; why they widened the front trails beneath the main summit lift; how to raise $17 million; transforming West into a true resort with ski-and-stay condos and a pedestrian village; where we could see ski expansion and new lifts on the mountain; the great missed opportunity of New York skiing; mirroring the Holiday Valley or Jiminy Peak model; the topography and future of the mountaintop; the growth and future of the race program; ramping up customer service; the overhauled cafeteria and Northwest lodge; amping up the night-skiing operation; the growth of after-school programs; balancing strong race programs with a good ski experience for the public; making race programs affordable; growing the college and twenty-something demos; why West bought Hermitage Club’s old summit triple and why they added a loading carpet; selling off the old Riblet chairs; upgrading the Facelift chair to a quad; West’s steep terrain; choosing a new triple chair for the Northwest side and shifting it onto a different location than the lift it replaced; why stationary guns are superior to mobile guns; why a 10-inch pipe can carry three times the water of a six-inch pipe; ditching the habit of having trails-in-name-only and making sure the full trailmap was open for the majority of the winter; clearing out the warren of narrow trails beneath the main lift; why West eliminated a number of Northwest-side runs listed on old trailmaps; the potential to thin more glades; long-term expansion potential; the logic behind the $499 season pass; surging pass sales; why West ditched the midweek pass; the chances of West joining the Indy Pass; and Covid-era adaptations that may stick around beyond the 2020-21 ski season.West on a snowy night.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewFor all the reasons itemized above. If you haven’t been to West since 2012 or so, you’re not going to recognize the place. It looks different. It skis different. It feels different. West circa 2010 was not throwback in the man-this-is-what-skiing-used-to-be-this-is-so-quaint-and-idyllic kind of way. It was throwback in the am-I-going-to-die-falling-off-this-jalopy-of-a-chairlift kind of way. Like what Holiday Mountain or Spring Mountain feel like today. When a ski area hits that point it either withers like a forgotten Jack-o’-lantern – still somewhat resembling the thing it once proudly was but clearly not that thing anymore either – or it finds some path to reinvention and reinvigoration. We’re seeing it elsewhere in the Northeast, where formerly beaten- down ski areas lost in the poor decisions, bad luck, and underinvestment of past decades are suddenly resurgent: Saddleback and Magic, Greek Peak and Bousquet. West has climbed aboard that list, though with less fanfare and fireworks outside of their local market, and I wanted to throw a spotlight on what’s become a remarkable little ski area.Before the Montgomerys took over, this trail, known as The Cure, was “a snowcat’s-width wide” and rarely open.What I got wrongAt one point I referred to the portion of I-87 from which you can see West Mountain’s 1,000 vertical feet blazing in the winter night as the “Thruway.” No doubt many of you are eager to inform me that this section of I-87 is actually called the “Northway.” I am aware of this and simply misspoke, mostly because I do not actually give a s**t what this particular section of I-87 is called because what I call this highway from top to bottom is I-87. I do not understand this Northeast habit of naming your expressways as though they are family pets, particularly when they ALREADY HAVE A F*****G NAME. I still remember the sense of rage and confusion inspired by a road sign announcing “Closures on the Deegan” as I exited the Tappan Zee Bridge one day several years ago, and all I could think is “What the f**k is the ‘Deegan’ and why would anyone call it that when any interstate traveler like say a trucker or tourist attempting to navigate cityward by map would identify this road as Interstate 87?” But hey why not disrupt the flow of commerce and confuse the s**t out of people by tossing out some colloquialism that makes sense to exactly four dozen people running the local road commission. This may just be some hokey Midwest sensibility but I generally prefer the simplest solution to most problems and the solution here is to give one road that has already been assigned an easily identifiable numeral that syncs logically with the naming conventions of the 46,876-mile United States Interstate system one name and exactly one name and that is the name it already has: I-87. But no instead New Yorkers have to give it not one or two but three separate additional special names along its 333-mile route. And this all seems confusing and unnecessary, like if I called my cat “Spike” while he was in the basement and “Fiddles” while he was upstairs and “Pokeypoo” when he was out in the yard. But it’s all the same cat you see and his real name is Number 9 but really my main goal in life is to confuse the s**t out of people for no good reason and I can see that it’s working so you’re welcome.Why you should go thereBecause you drive past it on your way to Gore or Whiteface or perhaps Vermont depending upon your route and as you do so you look up off of the road universally known as Interstate 87 and say, “Oh look a ski area I wonder what it’s called?” Well it’s called West Mountain and it is worth your time. It has a thousand vertical feet and all new everything and a cool community vibe. And it’s a family business, a place worth supporting, the kind of ski area we need to print new skiers who will one day fly their three kids out to Colorado for spring breaks. It’s not a bumps-and-glades kind of place, at least not yet, but it has good steady pitch and an interesting trail layout. And it has a big future. Go now to see what it’s like so you can follow along while it becomes what it will be.Additional readingCoverage of West in the Glens Falls Chronicle, Spectrum Local News, Daily Gazette, Saratogian, and WNYT.The Montgomerys have overhauled the trail network - compare this 2011 map to the current iteration, below.West released this new trailmap for the 2020-21 ski season.- Get on the email list at www.stormskiing.com

Rockland County Assemblyman Mike Lawlor discusses the Covid nursing home and sexual misconduct allegations surrounding New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, calls for the Mario M. Cuomo name to be removed from the Tappan Zee Bridge and updates state budget negotiations on Rockland Talk Radio, "The Cup of Joe Political Show" with host John Marino, produced by Sharc Creative

Westchester Assemblyman Tom Abinanti discusses the Covid pandemic, vaccine rollout, Governor Cuomo's nursing home and sexual harassment scandals, alleged Tappan Zee Bridge structural problems, New York State's 2021 budget negotiations and more on Westchester Talk Radio, "The Cup of Joe Political Show" with host John Marino, produced by Sharc Creative

President Trump being impeached twice is the perfect example of an exercise in humiliation. The left wanted to embarrass President Trump as it was clear they had no real chance at impeaching him. Bernie and Sid are calling for an exercise in humiliation for Andrew Cuomo at the least following another accusation of sexual assault to go along with him murdering over 10,000 nursing home residents and a scandal surrounding the Tappan Zee Bridge. Bernie and Sid discuss those topics plus Joe Biden addressing the nation on the one-year anniversary of the WHO declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, Bill de Blasio calls on Andrew Cuomo to resign immediately, NBA player Meyers Leonard getting suspended for anti-Semitic slur, and Patrick Ewing furious after he was patted down by security at Madison Square Garden. Rockstar Ted Nugent joins Bernie and Sid for a fiery interview covering everything from Joe  Biden to George Floyd. Host of 'The Red Carpet Rendezvous' Lauren Conlin fills the guys in on the latest entertainment gossip along with a fashion discussion that rivals that of 'Fashion Police'.

That's right, not only did another Andrew Cuomo sexual assault victim surface, but now it appears that there is a controversy surrounding Cuomo and the new Tappan Zee Bridge. Bernie and Sid bring you the latest on that story plus, an update on Joe Biden's cognitive state, Roblox stock goes public, the Big East Tournament starting at Madison Square Garden, and Sid says it's time to ban dogs from New York City. All that and it got even more interesting when Ron Insana joined the show to break down the Roblox story, and then it was Miranda Devine weighing in on Meghan Markle, Joe Biden, transgender rights, and the sexual assault allegations leveled against Andrew Cuomo. To put a cherry on top of today's program we are joined by Newsmax TV's Rob Finnerty who gives us an inside look at what it's like working at Newsmax TV in the climate that we are now living in.

The Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge is a 3-mile span over the Hudson river that connects Rockland and Westchester counties, just 25 miles north of New York City. It's a major commuter route, and bears hundreds of thousands of vehicle crossings each day. It replaced the long-ailing Tappan Zee Bridge in 2017, amid much fanfare from state and local officials. Now a comprehensive report from Brendan Lyons, the Times Union's managing editor for investigations, details a whistleblower’s account of the alleged coverup of potential structural flaws in the construction of the bridge — a dispute at the heart of a court case that remains under seal.  On this episode of the Capitol Confidential podcast, Times Union Editor Casey Seiler speaks to Lyons about the story, and its implications.

Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Fred Wager, partner with Venable, LLP. Fred is an environmental and natural resources attorney. His practice focuses on environmental and natural resources issues associated with major infrastructure, mining and energy project development. Read his full bio below.Special thanks to our sponsor for this episode VENABLE, LLP.! Check them out at https://www.venable.com/Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 0:35 - NAEP Member Shoutouts (submit yours on the website - NOW!)2:05 - Nic and Laura delve into their past for early-career mistakes5:50 - Interview with Fred starts15:10 - Fred's funny field story 18:50 - Fred talks NEPA changes during the Biden transition26:54 - We discuss the September 2020 Final RulePlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Fred Wagner atlinkedin.com/in/fred-wagner-59043019Guest Full BioFred helps clients manage and then defend in court environmental reviews performed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or equivalent state statutes. He works with public agencies and private developers to secure permits and approvals from federal and state regulators under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Fred is familiar with the full range of issues surrounding USDOT surface transportation programs, including grant management, procurement, suspension and debarment, and safety regulations. During his career, Fred has handled a wide variety of environmental litigation in federal trial and appellate courts across the country, from citizen suits, to government enforcement actions, to Administration Procedure Act (APA) challenges.Fred was appointed Chief Counsel of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) during the Obama administration. He managed all legal matters involving the $40 billion Federal-Aid Highway program, including environmental and natural resources issues for highway and multimodal transportation projects. Among other high-profile projects, he oversaw the agency's defense of the following:  New York's Tappan Zee Bridge, San Francisco's Presidio Parkway, Chicago's Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, Kentucky and Indiana's Ohio River Bridges, North Carolina's Bonner Bridge, Alabama's Birmingham Northern Beltline, Wisconsin's Zoo Interchange, and Washington's State Road 520 Bridge. He represented the FHWA on government-wide Transportation Rapid Response Team, a multi-agency task force focused on improving project delivery and environmental review reforms.Fred began his career as a trial attorney in the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Misdemeanor Trial Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Prior to joining Venable, he spent more than 20 years in private practice at a national law firm focusing on environmental and natural resources issues. Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MulSupport the show (https://www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form)

Get inspired this week by artist and craftsman extraordinaire Joe Zito, who works as a Fabricator at Urban Art Projects in New York state. If you've been to the Planet Word Museum, the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station, walked across the Tappan Zee Bridge, or watched The Oscars, you've seen Joe's work. Tune in to get the full story and why we talk about Bradley Cooper's taste in apartments.

On February 9 1969 the fortunes of New York City Mayor John Lindsay were riding high. Mentioned often as possible Presidential contender in the upcoming decade of the 70’s he had done much to win the support of Democrats and Republicans, serving a Democratic city as a Republican. His policies where often hailed as progressive and finically responsible. But his future in politics was about to be undone by the weather. Warned in advance of an impending storm his administration was ill prepared. Budget cuts had slashed the available snowplows by 40% and a recent strike with city workers has not been fully overcome. What became known as the Mayor Lindsay Storm" dumped 15.3" at New York City; Central Long Island 12-18"; Scarsdale, NY 24"; Falls Village, CT 35"; Bridgeport, CT 17.7"; Hartford, CT 15.8"; Bedford, MA 25"; Blue Hill 21"; Boston 11.1"; Portland, ME 21.5"; 800 cars stranded on Tappan-Zee Bridge. Property damage totaled in New England more than $10 million. Thousands of homes lost utility service. Drifts reached 10-20' deep. Thousands were stranded on highways, the New York Thruway was closed from New York City to Albany. The storm was named for Mayor Lindsay's failure to clear the streets of New York City and more than 40 New Yorkers died as a result of the storm. Worst hit was the NYC borough of Queens where 21 people died. The storm came to a swift end late in the day of February 9 and with it came the end of Mayor Lindsey political career, despite being re-elected in 1969 he never held political office again after leaving office as Mayor, despite unsuccessful runs for senate and president. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patrice and Mathew recap Halloween in the age of Covid, discuss the devastating loss for Rutgers football, and then go deep into how upside down the world feels ahead of election day, including the disruption on the Garden State Parkway and Tappan Zee Bridge. If you have a story to share please fill out the contact form at https://jerseyjobsandbiz.com (JerseyJobsAndBiz.com) or you can email us directly at info@jerseyjobsandbiz.com. And we are starting a https://www.facebook.com/groups/2846479588770520/?ref=bookmarks (facebook group) for NJ residents to discuss the impact on them and share resources with others in the Garden State. Support this podcast

White Plains CitizeNet Reporter Publisher/Editor John Bailey discusses the key local and Presidential elections, a second wave of Covid in New York City and the Hudson Valley, Westchester County budgets, a possible new wastewater treatment plant in Yonkers, potential Tappan Zee Bridge toll hikes, the latest in the long-running French American School of New York (FASNY) controversy in White Plains and more, "On the Beat in Westchester" with host John Marino on Westchester Talk Radio, produced by Sharc Creative

Three weeks is a long time between pods, but we did it. We’re back today with some remote learning reflections, viral updates on strep, flu, and Covid, and how the 6-foot distancing guideline is sparing classrooms from quarantining. Dave talks about the Tappan Zee Bridge, Dan dreams of an Emirati vacation, and we introduce a new segment called “Times We Were Wrong This Week.” And don’t miss the big tease as we hint at some new pods we’ve got lined up for the fall.

On July 29 of this year, President Trump bragged on Twitter that he had "rescinded the Obama-Biden AFFH Rule," a reference to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which was passed by the Obama Administraton in 2014. With that, the issue of housing in American suburbs became an issue in the 2020 presidential campaign. Although the suburbs of today bear little resemblance to their cookie predecessors like Levitown, Long Island, they are still, in important ways, resistant to diversity and change. To explore why that is, and how it happened in the first place, we sat down with Roger Panetta, a recently retired professor of history at Fordham and the author of Westchester: The American Suburb, and The Tappan Zee Bridge and the Forging of the Rockland Suburb. He also co-wrote Kingston: The IBM Years, which came out in 2014.

Friend of Josh and friend of the show Kwab aka Y.e.S! hops on the dime to debate media personalities, talk Westbook getting the coronavirus, and talk Josh off the Tappan Zee Bridge as the Knicks continue their search for a Head Coach.@Josh_Rodriguez_ | @TheDimeNBA | @kwabakayes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On February 9 1969 the fortunes of New York City Mayor John Lindsay were riding high. But his future in politics was about to be undone by the weather. Warned in advance of an impending storm his administration was ill prepared. What became known as the Mayor Lindsay Storm" dumped 15.3" at New York City; Central Long Island 12-18"; Scarsdale, NY 24"; Falls Village, CT 35"; Bridgeport, CT 17.7"; Hartford, CT 15.8"; Bedford, MA 25"; Blue Hill 21"; Boston 11.1"; Portland, ME 21.5"; 800 cars stranded on Tappan-Zee Bridge. Property damage totaled in New England more than $10 million. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a high-speed tour week wrap-up! We're in a stretch at the moment where we're doing 9 shows in 9 days. It's an intense schedule. We recorded this episode on some beautiful back roads in New Jersey ... we finished editing it while driving over the very ghostly and epic Tappan Zee Bridge ... and in between we talked about the people we met this week, the conversations we had, and the things we learned. With a slight detour to talk about the stolen labor this country was founded upon. Because, even at high speed, we are still us. Greetings from Upstate New York!Subscribe in your podcast app of choice to get our biweekly free episodes, and unlock access to member-exclusive episodes at misfitstars.com/join!

No new information on the Midtown helicopter crash as the NTSB continues their investigation, but the incident has stoked local officials to criticize the conditions that led to the crash: Carolyn Maloney, the Congressmember who represents the district where the helicopter came down renewed her calls for private transit and tourism helicopter flights to be banned over the city. After a deadly helicopter crash atop the Pan Am building helipad in 1977, flights to helipads in Manhattan were banned, but no new restrictions have been put in place despite multiple deadly crashes around Manhattan by helicopters and small planes. In a statement on Representative Maloney's web site, she says: "We cannot rely on good fortune to protect people on the ground. It is past time for the FAA to ban unnecessary helicopters from the skies over our densely packed urban city. The risks to New Yorkers are just too high." Senator Chuck Schumer also called on the FAA to require helicopters be equipped with flight data recorders, and cited years of recommendations from the NTSB that the FAA should mandate flight data and cockpit voice recorders. Schumer noted how the lack of flight data will now impede the investigation. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand added: "After last week's helicopter crash in midtown, the FAA should immediately reconsider the recommendations federal transportation safety investigators have urged since 2011 and take steps now to implement these basic safety features. Flight data recorders provide critical information to help prevent future crashes, and I urge the FAA to act quickly to ensure black boxes are in every helicopter." A memorial service was held for the helicopter pilot, Tim McCormack, in Poughkeepsie, NY. A young boy entered a real-life spy thriller 66 years ago on June 22, 1953 in The Case of the Hollow Nickel — If you're looking to pass along some secrets of your own, you can order a modern-day hollow nickel on Amazon designed to hide a MicroSD memory card or an accurate replica of the 1953 hollow nickel from spy-coins.com. This week finally brought the sad confirmation that a swimmer has been found dead after going missing during a race in the Hudson River. Renowned AIDS researcher, Charles van der Horst, had been competing in the Eight Bridges Hudson River Swim, a 120-mile, week-long competition that was scheduled from June 8th to June 15th, with swimmers covering about 17 miles per day between Hudson River bridges. On Friday, June 14th, Charles had disappeared beneath the water near the George Washington Bridge and did not resurface. His disappearance occured at the end of that day's swim, which had begun 15.7 miles away at the Tappan Zee Bridge. The Coast Guard and NYPD boats began searching immediately, but it wasn't until four days later that his body was discovered near Fort Tyron, north of the GWB. In a statement from the van der Horst family, Charles is described as living life to the fullest and will be remembered for his work in social justice and in the medical field. He immigrated to the United States as an infant from the Netherlands, and was the son of a Holocaust survivor. As a professor of medicine, he provided care to HIV/AIDS patients, contributed meaningful research concerning the diseases, and volunteered at a free clinic after his retirement. When Charles disappeared, he was under the watch of safety crew in kayaks following each swimmer, and another participant describes the extreme care taken to ensure the safety of each swimmer, so it was unclear how this tragedy took place. Last week I told you about the very first roller coaster that was modeled after a mine cart, but 92 years ago on June 26, 1927, The Coney Island Cyclone wooden roller coaster opens to the public A baby doll wearing a "Crawling Dead" t-shirt was realistic enough to be officially pronounced dead by first responders after an early-morning 911 call on June 18th. A jogger spotted the horrifying scene of a baby lying face-down in the grass at 215th Street and 35th Avenue in Bayside, Queens and police quickly arrived to seal off a crime scene. It wasn't until hours later that officials announced it was actually realistic doll that they had earlier pronounced dead without physically inspecting it. In a statement, the FDNY described the doll as having "discoloration consistent with signs of prolonged death" as it was painted gray and blue to simulate loss of oxygen. Once the doll was physically inspected, the ruse became known, and the doll was found wearing a shirt that said "Crawling Dead", presumably a play on the classic horror film "The Walking Dead". The police have opened an investigation into who placed the doll and if it was intended as a prank. You may be able to get legal bike boost soon now that lawmakers have voted to legalize electric bikes and scooters statewide. Ride safe, and enjoy the freedom of being able to bike across the Williamsburg Bridge without showing up to your meeting covered in sweat! 44 years ago on June 24, 1975 — Eastern Air Flight 66 crashes on approach at JFK Airport, killing 113 people There won't be a new tower rising up between NYCHA houses as the city scrapped a plan this week that would have begun the first proposed building in their 50/50 project. A Great Big City has been running a 24-hour newsfeed since 2010, but the AGBC News podcast is just getting started, and we need your support. A Great Big City is built on a dedication to explaining what is happening and how it fits into the larger history of New York, which means thoroughly researching every topic and avoiding clickbait headlines to provide a straightforward, honest, and factual explanation of the news. Individuals can make a monthly or one-time contribution at agreatbigcity.com/support and local businesses can have a lasting impact by supporting local news while promoting products or services directly to interested customers listening to this podcast. Visit agreatbigcity.com/advertising to learn more. AGBC is more than just a news website: Our fireworks page monitors the city's announcements of upcoming fireworks, lists them on our site, and automatically sends out a notification just before the fireworks begin, so that you can watch the show or prepare your pet for the upcoming sounds of explosions. Visit agreatbigcity.com/fireworks to see the full calendar and follow @agreatbigcity on social media to receive the alerts Park of the day Charlton Garden — EAST 164th and Cauldwell Avenue in Morrisania in the Bronx — This garden honors the heroism of Korean War Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant Cornelius H. Charlton. Parks Events Summer Solstice Celebration — Date: June 21, 2019 If you've got Coney Island on your mind, don't miss the 37th Annual Mermaid Parade — Saturday, June 22, 2019 Concert Calendar Tank and the Bangas / Cory Henry and the Funk Apostles, Tank and the Bangas, and Cory Henry and the Funk Apostles are playing Prospect Park Bandshell on Thursday, June 20th. Liturgy, Luminous Vault, lutkie, and M. Lamar are playing Saint Vitus Bar on Thursday, June 20th. The Lonely Island is playing The Rooftop at Pier 17 on Friday, June 21st. Skankfest NYC and Legion of Skanks Podcast are playing Brooklyn Bazaar on Friday, June 21st. Calexico and Iron and Wine / Adia Victoria, Calexico, Adia Victoria, and Iron and Wine are playing Prospect Park Bandshell on Friday, June 21st. AC2: An Intimate Evening With Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, Anderson Cooper, and Andy Cohen are playing Beacon Theatre on Friday, June 21st. Titus Andronicus are playing Rough Trade NYC on Friday, June 21st. Alt 92.3 Summer Open, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sharon Van Etten, The Lumineers, and The Revivalists are playing Forest Hills Stadium on Saturday, June 22nd. Punk Island 2019, Abrupt, All Torn Up!, Alouth, Anxious? Anxious!, Babe Patrol, Bethlehem Steel, Bigspender, Bint, and Bushies are playing Randalls Island Park on Saturday, June 22nd. Frank Iero and The Future Violents, Frank Iero And The Future Violents, and Reggie and the Full Effect are playing Rocks Off Concert Cruise on Saturday, June 22nd. Skankfest NYC and Legion of Skanks Podcast are playing Brooklyn Bazaar on Saturday, June 22nd. Jawbox and LAPêCHE are playing Brooklyn Steel on Saturday, June 22nd. Culture Abuse, Dare, Lil Ugly Mane, Tony Molina, and Young Guv are playing Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, June 22nd. Bambi kino is playing Union Pool on Saturday, June 22nd. ALT 92.3's Summer Open: The Lumineers with The Revivalists and Sharon Van Etten and Catfish and The Bottlemen are playing Forest Hills Stadium — 1 Tennis Pl — Forest Hills on Saturday, June 22nd at 5pm. Diana Ross is playing Radio City Music Hall — 1260 6th Avenue — Midtown on Saturday, June 22nd at 8pm. The Lonely Island is playing Kings Theatre — 1027 Flatbush Avenue — Ditmas Park / Flatbush on Saturday, June 22nd at 8pm. Camilo Sesto is playing United Palace Theatre — 4140 Broadway — Hudson Heights on Saturday, June 22nd at 8pm. Regina Spektor is playing Lunt-Fontanne Theatre — 205 West 46th St. — Midtown on Saturday, June 22nd at 8pm. Jackson Browne is playing Beacon Theatre on Sunday, June 23rd. ALT 92.3 Summer Open Day 2, The Head and the Heart, Chris Carrabba, Fitz and the Tantrums, Smith and Thell, and Young the Giant are playing Forest Hills Stadium on Sunday, June 23rd. Skankfest NYC and Legion of Skanks Podcast are playing Brooklyn Bazaar on Sunday, June 23rd. The Ocean Blue and Suburban Living are playing Rough Trade NYC on Sunday, June 23rd. The Head and the Heart with Fitz and the Tantrums, Young The Giant, and Chris Carrabba are playing Forest Hills Stadium — 1 Tennis Pl — Forest Hills on Sunday, June 23rd at 5pm. Dead & Company is playing Citi Field — 123-01 Roosevelt Avenue — North Corona / Flushing Meadows on Sunday, June 23rd at 7pm. Jackson Browne with Lucius is playing Beacon Theatre — 2124 Broadway — Upper West Side on Sunday, June 23rd at 8pm. Lady Gaga at the Apollo Theater and Lady Gaga are playing Apollo Theater on Monday, June 24th. slayyyter, Robokid, and Umru are playing Elsewhere on Monday, June 24th. Pelican, Cloakroom, and Planning for Burial are playing Brooklyn Bazaar on Monday, June 24th. Jackson Browne with Lucius is playing Beacon Theatre — 2124 Broadway — Upper West Side on Monday, June 24th at 8pm. Regina Spektor is playing Lunt-Fontanne Theater on Tuesday, June 25th. Regina Spektor is playing Lunt-Fontanne Theatre — 205 West 46th St. — Midtown on Tuesday, June 25th at 8pm. Foxwarren and Hannah Cohen are playing The Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday, June 26th. Jackson Browne with Lucius is playing Beacon Theatre — 2124 Broadway — Upper West Side on Wednesday, June 26th at 8pm. Joey Dosik/ Kat Wright, Joey Dosik, and Kat Wright are playing Industry City Courtyard on Thursday, June 27th. GOT7 is playing Prudential Center — 25 Lafayette Street — on Thursday, June 27th at 7pm. LadyLand Festival, Allie X, bottoms, Clara 3000, COI LERAY, Dorian Electra, FEE LION, Gossip, Honey Dijon, and HU DAT are playing The Brooklyn Mirage on Friday, June 28th. Screaming Females and Swearin' are playing Industry City Courtyard on Friday, June 28th. Astronoid and Infinity Shred are playing Saint Vitus Bar on Friday, June 28th. Masters of Ceremony with 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg and DMX and The Lox are playing Barclays Center — 620 Atlantic Avenue — Boerum Hill on Friday, June 28th at 8pm. Liz Phair, Caroline Rose, and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists are playing Prospect Park Bandshell on Saturday, June 29th. Adam's Atoms, Bitters and Distractions, New Lives, Sharp Violet, Steve and the Not Steves, and Stugots are playing Buckley's on Saturday, June 29th. Wreckless Eric is playing Union Pool on Sunday, June 30th. Thanks for listening! Find more fun things to do at agreatbigcity.com/events. Today's fact about New York Here's something you may not have known about New York: JFK Airport was previously called "Idlewild Airport" in reference to the golf course it replaced, but it had also been named Major General Alexander E. Anderson Airport and New York International Airport before 1963 Weather The extreme highs and lows for this week in weather history: Record High: 100°F on June 26, 1952 Record Low: 49°F on June 20, 1914 Weather for the week ahead: Rain through Tuesday, with high temperatures rising to 86°F next Thursday. Saturday and Sunday will be clear to partly cloudy with highs in the 80s. Intro and outro music: 'Start the Day' by Lee Rosevere — Concert Calendar music from Jukedeck.com — Hollow Nickel music: 'Abby as in Abigail' episode of 'I Was a Communist for the FBI' from June 17, 1953

Meet Armando “Chick” Galella.  He was the first person to drive across the old Tappan Zee Bridge and repeated history 62 years later on the new Mario Cuomo Bridge. News 12's Lisa Reyes guides you through time with his amazing stories. Produced by Shawn Sigler.

Photohistorian and local history activist David Rocco visits RadioRotary to tell about the project to mount a plaque in Veterans Park, Beacon, NY, to commemorate two airplane crashes on Mount Beacon. Mount Beacon, named for its role in the use of a fire atop the mountain during the American revolution that would notify Washington’s army of British advances toward West Point, is the highest peak of the Hudson Highlands. In 1935 two Navy reservists lost their lives when their biplane crashed high on the mountain; then, ten years later, a twin-engine Navy plane carrying 6 Navy aviators, including legendary Captain Dixie Kiefer, also crashed on the mountain, killing all aboard. Mr. Rocco has been spearheading a group that is mounting a commemorative plaque. Mr. Rocco has been involved in a number of local projects, including developing the Walkway on the Hudson, a local dog park, and restoring the Mount Beacon fire tower. Recently Mr. Rocco has taken 10,000 photographs documenting the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge with the new Mario Cuomo Bridge, including six showing the dramatic explosions used to bring down the last span of the Tappan Zee structure. Learn more: Mount Beacon Eight Remembered: https://medium.com/thegroundhog/mount- beacon-eight-remembered-5ae37428ed35 Beacon Historical Society: http://beaconhistorical.org/ David Rocco Tappan Zee Bridge Exhibit: https://www.theexaminernews.com/dramatic-tz-bridge-construction-photos-on- display-at-white-plains-library/ David Rocco on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidAllanRocco The Indestructible Man: https://smile.amazon.com/Indestructible-Man-Story- World- Captain/dp/1548322598/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Indestrctible+Man&qid=155 2405409&s=books&sr=1-1-spell CATEGORIES History Hudson Valley --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/radiorotary/support

Visit agreatbigcity.com/support to learn how to support New York City local news and allow us to keep bringing you this podcast. If you are a New York-based business and would be interested in sponsoring our podcasts, visit agreatbigcity.com/advertising to learn more. With an explosion, a splash, and cheers, one more piece of the old Tappan Zee Bridge dropped into the Hudson on Tuesday. Ford's "Chariot" van service is shutting down February 1st, 2019. Record Tourism in NYC. It's the 10th anniversary of Captain Sullenberger's skilled landing of USAir Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, an event that would become known as the Miracle on the Hudson. Two suspects were captured doing a burnout in Times Square and striking a police officer as they tried to flee. The news wasn't so different one year ago, when Governor Cuomo Pledged State Funds to Re-Open Statue of Liberty. Park of the day Park Avenue Malls at 59th Street — The third section of three total Park Avenue Malls, this section begins just across 59th Street from the second section, but was completed two years later. It's the longest section, stretching from 59th to 97th Street, adding a bit of green between the north and south-bound lanes of Park Avenue. At the northernmost tip of the malls, train tracks re-emerge between Park Avenue that take trains north out of Grand Central Terminal. Power to the People Exhibition at the Arsenal in Central Park at 63rd Street on the east side. Curated by NYC Parks' Ebony Society, this selection of art and historic photographs shows how New York City's parks have featured in public demonstrations and protests over the years. The exhibition is free and open to the public from January 17 to February 28. Call 212 360 8163 with any questions. Concert Calendar Handguns are playing the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on Thursday, January 17th, starting at 6pm. Huntertones are playing the Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg on Thursday, January 17th, starting at 6pm. Tishmal and Glitch Cake are playing the Delancey on the Lower East Side on Thursday, January 17th, starting at 6:30pm. Dizzy Bats are playing The Meatlocker in Montclair, NJ on Thursday, January 17th, starting at 7pm. Panic At The Disco is playing the Prudential Center Newark on Friday, January 18th, doors at 7pm. The Glitch Mob are playing Schimanski in Williamsburg on Friday, January 18th at 10pm Weather The historic highs and lows for January 17th Record High: 63°F in 1990 Record Low: -2°F in 1977 Weather for the week ahead: Mixed precipitation tomorrow through next Wednesday, with high temperatures peaking at 48°F on Sunday. Thanks for listening to A Great Big City. Follow along 24 hours a day on social media @agreatbigcity and visit agreatbigcity.com/podcast to send in feedback or topic suggestions. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you're listening. Have a great day! Intro and outro music: "Start the Day" by Lee Rosevere

A classic rambling edition! Say hello to #SIPs...Conan & Albert Brooks & Calvin Coolidge...True Detective 3...things we won’t talk about: trailer deep dives, the Snitchuation going to jail & morality lessons from a razor. Farewell to the Tappan Zee Bridge. An ill prepared 5 questions.

The old Tappan Zee Bridge is coming down on Today and Alice is on location.

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Broadcast originally aired on Monday, December 17, 2018, 9:30 am, on WRCR.comSouth Nyack Village Trustee and Trail Sign Committee member Andrew Goodwillie shared fascinating facts and anecdotes about the impact of the railroad and Thruway on Nyack and South Nyack.Goodwillie and a team of volunteers from Nyack, South Nyack and Piermont have been researching this history to create wayside historical signage along the Esposito Rail Trail. The signs are finished and will soon be in the ground in a number of locations along this busy walking trail in Nyack, South Nyack, Piermont and Sparkill, NY.Goodwillie covered a number of themes, including the arrival of the railroad; the industrial and commercial development of the surrounding areas and the growth and fate of those businesses in its vicinity; the eventual railroad closure in the 1960s and transformation of the former railroad land to parkland; and the devastation of South Nyack's commercial and residential areas with the arrival of the Tappan Zee Bridge and I-287 State Thruway. The text and images span over 150 years of local history and will help visitors to the Rail Trail and Shared Use Path understand the history of our area.Crossroads of Rockland History, a program of the Historical Society of Rockland County, airs on the third Monday of each month at 9:30 am,right after the Steve and Jeff morning show, on WRCR radio at www.WRCR.com. Join host Clare Sheridan as we explore, celebrate, and learn about our local history, with different topics and guest speakers every month.The Historical Society of Rockland County is a nonprofit educational institution and principal repository for original documents and artifacts relating to Rockland County. Its headquarters are a four-acre site featuring a history museum and the 1832 Jacob Blauvelt House in New City, New York. www.RocklandHistory.org

It's episode 21 of Season 11. On this week's show we have five tales about supernatural stalkers and automotive angst. "Never Wander Off in Robinson Woods"‡ written by Lincoln Merch and performed by Peter Lewis & Erin Lillis & Nichole Goodnight. (Story starts around 00:03:20) "Wishes Really Can Come True"¤ written by Karen Park and performed by Mary Murphy & Kyle Akers & Nichole Goodnight. (Story starts around 00:25:35) "The Long Fingers"† written by Brandon Meseure and performed by Atticus Jackson & Andy Cresswell. (Story starts around 01:02:30) "The Tappan Zee Bridge"† written by Alexis Bristowe & Henry Galley and performed by Addison Peacock & David Ault & Armen Taylor & Nichole Goodnight. (Story starts around 01:24:10) "Anybody Else"† written by V.R. Gregg and performed by Mike DelGaudio & Nikolle Doolin & Erika Sanderson. (Story starts around 01:38:00) Click here to learn more about the voice actors on The NoSleep Podcast   Click here to learn more about Lincoln Merch   Click here to learn more about Henry Galley   Click here to learn more about V.R. Gregg   Executive Producer & Host: David Cummings Musical score composed by: Brandon Boone Audio adaptations produced by: Phil Michalski† & Jeff Clement‡ & Jesse Cornett¤ "The Long Fingers" illustration courtesy of Hasani Walker Audio program ©2018 - Creative Reason Media Inc. - All Rights Reserved - No reproduction or use of this content is permitted without the express written consent of Creative Reason Media Inc. The copyrights for each story are held by the respective authors.

It's episode 21 of Season 11. On this week's show we have five tales about supernatural stalkers and automotive angst."Never Wander Off in Robinson Woods"‡ written by Lincoln Merch and performed by Peter Lewis & Erin Lillis & Nichole Goodnight. (Story starts around 00:03:20)"Wishes Really Can Come True"¤ written by Karen Park and performed by Mary Murphy & Kyle Akers & Nichole Goodnight. (Story starts around 00:25:35)"The Long Fingers"† written by Brandon Meseure and performed by Atticus Jackson & Andy Cresswell. (Story starts around 01:02:30)"The Tappan Zee Bridge"† written by Alexis Bristowe & Henry Galley and performed by Addison Peacock & David Ault & Armen Taylor & Nichole Goodnight. (Story starts around 01:24:10)"Anybody Else"† written by V.R. Gregg and performed by Mike DelGaudio & Nikolle Doolin & Erika Sanderson. (Story starts around 01:38:00)Please visit www.thenosleeppodcast.com for full show notes and links to learn more about our authors, voice actors, and producers.Executive Producer & Host: David CummingsMusical score composed by: Brandon BooneAudio adaptations produced by: Phil Michalski† & Jeff Clement‡ & Jesse Cornett¤"The Long Fingers" illustration courtesy of Hasani WalkerAudio program ©2018 - Creative Reason Media Inc. - All Rights Reserved - No reproduction or use of this content is permitted without the express written consent of Creative Reason Media Inc. The copyrights for each story are held by the respective authors.

Cynthia Nixon’s Bagel. Cuomo and the Tappan Zee Bridge. President Obama speaking against Trump

Kieran holds down the fort solo to talk about Taylor Swift's new song, a basebrawl, and the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Of course they end up getting caught!

The spring is nearly over, and the season is nearly here! We talk about the closer battle, some other positional changes, and answer some great listener questions just days away from Opening Day 2017!

This week, it's dads and directions. Jon uses Apple Maps, Google Maps and Waze, just to be on the safe side. Lex's family paid another visit to Diggerland. Lex has some praise for the Make-A-Wish organization. Taking the Tappan Zee Bridge is almost always a good idea. Almost always. Jon recalls the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. Our thanks to Close5 for sponsoring this episode. Close5 is an eBay Classifieds Group app that makes it easy to buy and sell in your neighborhood. Download the Close5 app from the App Store or Google Play and start listing today. And thanks also to FanDuel, now with even more options for contests. FanDuel offeres thousands of contests each week starting at just $1. Go to FanDuel.com and use code "TURNING" to get your first five entries for free. Our thanks as well to Sleep Number, the best sleep of your life. Set your sleep number from 0 to 100 to adjust how firm or soft you want your sleep experience. Find a Sleep Number store near you at SleepNumber.com and tell them Lex from Turning This Car Around sent you (really). And our thanks to Horizon Organic. Horizon Organic doesn’t put artificial flavors, preservatives or colors in their foods–because kids eat food. Look for the Horizon red snack boxes in the snack aisle, and visit HorizonDairy.com to see what else Horizon has to offer families. Follow us: @ttcashow. Lex Friedman can be found @lexfri, John Moltz can be found @Moltz and Jon Armstrong is @blurb.

Broadcast originally aired May 18, 2015 The Effects of the Brink's Robbery on Rockland County. Clare Sheridan welcomes Bob Baird, who was managing editor of the Journal News on the day homegrown terrorists from the Weather Underground and Black Liberation Army attacked a Brink's truck in Nanuet, trying to finance their private revolution.  Baird will discuss the circumstances that led up to the tragic event, in which one Brink's guard was killed, another was gravely wounded, and two Nyack police officers were slain in a hail of automatic gunfire.The events of October 20, 1981, shook a county already reeling from a year of horrific crimes. It launched Rockland on a decade of dramatic change, with implications that are still unfolding nearly thirty-five years later. Baird makes a strong case that the transformation brought about by the Brink's robbery rivals the one that followed the opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge.The Brink's Robbery is featured in our current Golden Anniversary exhibition, "A Half-Century of History, 1965-2015:Events that Shaped Our Community." We are grateful to the Rockland County Sheriff's Office for lending many interesting artifacts to the HSRC for the duration of the exhibition. To learn more about the exhibition, visit: http://www.rocklandhistory.org/program.cfm?page=423Crossroads of Rockland History, a program of the Historical Society of Rockland County, airs on the third Monday of each month at 10:10 am on WRCR Radio 1300 AM (live streaming at www.WRCR.com). Join host Clare Sheridan as we explore, celebrate, and learn about our local history, with different topics and guest speakers every month.www.RocklandHistory.org

We continue our conversation on the proposed Tappan Zee Bridge, Indian Point licensing, Armonk's CVS, and New Castle's mosque.

We continue our conversation on the proposed Tappan Zee Bridge, Indian Point licensing, Armonk's CVS, and New Castle's mosque.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul was sworn in as the state's 57th governor on August 24. Her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, resigned under pressure, facing a likely impeachment vote after a state attorney general's report found he sexually harassed multiple women, including state employees. In this episode of 51%, we discuss New York's first female governor, and take a look at what's in store for Kathy Hochul. We also speak with former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift about her experience being her state's first female governor. Guests: Josefa Velásquez, state Capitol reporter for The City; former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift; and Sonia Ossorio, president of the National Organization For Women of New York Follow Along You're listening to 51%, a WAMC production dedicated to women's issues and experiences. Thank you for joining me, I'm Jesse King. We're talking women in politics today. Obviously, Kamala Harris made headlines earlier this year by becoming the country's first vice president. But this kind of history is still being made at the state level: on August 24, Kathy Hochul was sworn in as the 57th governor — and first female governor — of New York. The ceremony took place two days before Women's Equality Day, and to mark the occasion Hochul wore white, in a nod to the women's suffrage movement. Her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, resigned under pressure, facing a likely impeachment vote after a report by State Attorney General Letitia James found he sexually harassed multiple women, including state employees. Now, Cuomo has denied inappropriately touching anyone, and we've discussed some of the allegations against him on this show. But today I'd like to focus on Hochul — namely, who is she, what's in store for her, and what can New Yorkers expect from their first female governor? To many New Yorkers, Hochul is relatively unknown, despite a decades-long political career. She's a Buffalo native, and got her start with the Hamburg Town Board in the 1990s. She served in Congress representing the western, 26th District of New York from 2011 to 2013, and she's been lieutenant governor since 2015. But her relationship with then-Governor Cuomo was frayed, and she largely stayed out of the limelight that came with his inner circle. On her first day in office, Hochul made a point to introduce herself to New Yorkers, saying she wants to help people believe in government again. "You'll fine me to be direct, straight-talking, and decisive," said Hochul. "I will not be deterred, and I'm willing to be bloodied and marred in the pursuit of doing what's right for the people of this great state." Hochul has already instructed the state Department of Health to issue a mask mandate in schools, and in response to the overwhelming scandal that prompted her taking office, she said she will overhaul New York's sexual harassment training for state employees. To learn more about her, I spoke with reporter Josefa Velásquez during the transition. Velásquez is a state capitol reporter for The City, a digital news platform in New York City, and she's been reporting on state politics since 2013. What has Hochul's political career been like until now? Her job as Lieutenant Governor is really sort of ceremonial. So that involves, like, her traveling the state, doing things that, quite frankly, the governor doesn't want to do. So, you know, going to talk to a group of Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts, going to the opening of a local business talking to union leaders. My favorite one is this appearance she had at a California Pizza Kitchen that involves union members – like, a lot of her experience has been her sitting in a car, traveling around the state. But that had its own benefits. I mean, she has been quietly amassing power and making relationships that Andrew Cuomo, frankly, didn't do. She's quite the people person, which again, is not something Andrew Cuomo's known for. So as she's doing this – I mean, she's from Buffalo, New York City is a very far place from Buffalo. You're closer to Cleveland than you are to Manhattan, if you live there. So she is going to be facing a lot of things as she comes into this new role. What are some of the issues that she's going to be facing right away as governor? She is facing something that I don't think any other governor in the history of New York has dealt with. I was talking to someone yesterday who mentioned that David Patterson – who was Elliot Spitzer's lieutenant governor, and inherited a major financial crisis in 2008 – that pales in comparison to everything that Kathy Hochul is going to be dealing with. For starters, we have a pandemic going on. The new numbers of COVID cases are rising. We're seeing new cases that we haven't seen in weeks and months. The number of COVID cases now is similar to what it was in the spring. There's an increase recently in hospitalizations from COVID. She's gonna have to deal with, you know, a relatively stagnant vaccination rate, and figuring out how to get the remainder of New Yorkers vaccinated. And then there's other policy issues like the looming housing crisis that we might be facing in New York. A week after Kathy Hochul becomes governor, New York's eviction moratorium expires. She has seven days to figure out what to do, talking to lawmakers, talking to landlords, talking to tenant advocates, to figure out how do we fix this eviction moratorium – that the Supreme Court just partially deemed unconstitutional. With that, is also a really dysfunctional rental assistance program that has not distributed much of the money that's been allocated, and if that money doesn't get used up by the end of September, it goes back to the federal government. So that is all a lot to deal with, in you know, your first month coming into office. You also have to think about the fact that she is inheriting a state that's been besieged by scandal. She has to come into this role and rebuild trust within New York State government, with the people of New York, who've seen now the last few governors sort of implode. So she has a ton of work ahead of her. How much do we know about Hochul's stances on broader issues? I don't think we necessarily know that much. I mean, she propelled into sort of politics when she was at Erie County executive, and she was anti-immigrant. She had stated that if New York allowed undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses, she would call the police on them. And that stance changed in 2014, when she ran as Andrew Cuomo's number two, and she's become much more progressive as the Democratic Party has moved leftward. It remains to be seen, like whether or not she embraces the more progressive wing of the party, or she governs more as a moderate. Aside from the obvious – Hochul has said that her work environment will never be described as “toxic,” and that any staffers named in the attorney general's report won't be working for her – but aside from that, how can we expect Hochul to lead differently from Cuomo? I mean, right off the bat, she says that she's going to govern completely different from Cuomo. She's doing things that the governor I don't think has done period. That includes meeting with the New York City mayor, who has had a famously tumultuous relationship with Cuomo. She's already met with the New York City public advocate who ran against her in 2018. So right off the bat, she's trying to repair some of these relationships. And it's so funny, someone mentioned to me the other day that like, when things get really terrible, that's when women get brought in to lead and fix things. And there will be some sort of honeymoon period for her. Everyone wants her to succeed at this point, like, no one is sort of actively rooting against her in a way that they were actively rooting against Cuomo, because there was so much animosity towards him. She has more interpersonal relationships with people than her predecessor. Hochul has already said she plans to run for a full term in 2022. What does that field look like right now? And what can she do to improve her odds over the next year? She will almost immediately have to start running a campaign. That's because New York has now moved up its primary days to the summer. So you're going to start seeing people declare their candidacy for governor in the winter, before the year ends. You're going to have to raise millions of dollars to do that, and to her disadvantage, because she's from Buffalo – she's the first governor in like generations to not be from New York City or the surrounding suburbs. There are rumors that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to run. There has been the possibility that Letitia James might run too, although she has not said publicly. So she's up against a lot. And then going back to Cuomo, what issues and questions still remain with him? So I feel like the report was just the tip of the iceberg. There are now several investigations into possible criminal actions by Cuomo and members of his staff, you know, local district attorneys, they're looking into some of these sexual harassment allegations – there could be charges brought up against him. There's also the issue of his administration's handling of nursing home deaths during the height of the pandemic, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District is also investigating those. There is an investigation over the Tappan Zee Bridge and whether or not it is faulty. And we also have to think about the fact that Andrew Cuomo has been a prolific fundraiser, so that he's sitting on $18 million. A decent chunk of that will probably go to legal fees. But what's he gonna do with that money? Personally, you're someone who has been outspoken about the importance of equal access in the press, particularly with women. What is your assessment of reporting during the Cuomo administration? And what are your hopes with Hochul? The Capitol reporters that cover the Cuomo administration, or just cover politics in general in New York, are male. My experience covering the whole administration, the governor tended to take men more seriously. You know, it's a lot harder to distinguish yourself when you're in your early 20s, mid 20s, as a woman, when you're surrounded by men who are twice your age and have done this job twice as long as you have. And now I'm hoping that Kathy Hochul realizes that there is value in giving reporters equal access and equal opportunity. Not just women, too, but non-white reporters. You know, the political coverage tends to come from people who are white, there's very few Black, Latino, Asian reporters that cover the governor, or cover politics in general. There's ethnic media all over the state that haven't been given the same level of access either. And that's something to be mindful of. I mean, New York is a hub for immigrants. They're just as invested in the future of this state as someone who was born here. ———— With the swearing in of Kathy Hochul, the U.S. tied its record for the most active female governors at one time - a whopping nine of 50, but still. Hochul has peers, past and present, whose stories she can look to as she navigates her first few months. Among them is Jane Swift, who was the first female governor of Massachusetts from 2001 to 2003. Now, Swift and Hochul come from different sides of the political aisle (Hochul a Democrat, Swift a Republican), but their paths to the governorship have their similarities: Swift was lieutenant governor when then-governor Paul Cellucci was appointed U.S. ambassador to Canada by then-President George W. Bush. During her tenure, Swift would guide Massachusetts through the fiscal crisis that followed 9/11, and became the first acting U.S. governor to give birth while in office. I recently spoke with Swift about any advice she might have for Hochul's term. How would you describe your rise to power compared to Hochul's? Clearly we both became governor with the departure of a governor. I think the difference is that Governor Cellucci, he departed under his own terms, and was happy to move on to a new professional challenge. And that creates, you know, I think some challenges when I became governor, as folks were not always happy that he had left. And he left a very high functioning team. I think it may be easier for Governor Hochul to take over, as many folks believe there was a need for a transition of power in New York. And because some of the issues that led to her taking over the governorship had to do with gender issues, she has a natural mandate to address some of the shortcomings of the previous administration. And what was your initial reaction when you found out you were going to be governor? I was, I think, like many people, very honored, it is huge privilege to lead a commonwealth or a state. But also it's a daunting job. I, like Governor Hochul, have served in other elected positions. So I felt ready from a policy perspective. But I think you can never quite be ready for all of the attention and the weight of responsibility that settles on your shoulders. The good news is, I was pleasantly surprised with just how many people are willing to step up and lend their expertise, to help be successful. One of the things that I have read she is very focused on – which I think is exactly the most important first step – to assemble your own team to make sure that you have the right people, both the subject matter experts who can help you deal with a wide array of issues that a governor has to deal with, but also the people who you can trust. And I think it is critically important to have people not only that you can trust and confide in, but people who will tell you the things sometimes that you don't want to hear. Folks who you have a strong enough relationship and confidence in, that they can give you bad news and tell you things that perhaps no one else wants to tell you. In terms of political issues, what were some of the biggest things that you tackled as governor? So I was hoping to concentrate on an issue that I've continued to work on throughout my entire life, which is educational excellence. But unfortunately, several months after becoming governor, the events of 9/11 really shifted the focus of my time as governor to be about restoring strength to our economy, stabilizing the public's finances, and balancing our budget, as well as making sure the safety and security issues at our airports in our port and for all of our citizens were addressed. So one of the things that Governor Hochul I'm sure will realize is we certainly are in a crisis right now with COVID: there may be issues that emerge that you could have had no opportunity to predict. And that is both one of the challenges, but also a real opportunity in governing. Overall, what was your experience like as governor? Was it hard being the state's first female governor? Being first can be hard. The governor will be asked questions that other male governors don't get asked. But what's most important is that the symbolism of having a woman in that role has already created enormous importance and excitement to young women and girls, certainly throughout New York, but frankly, throughout the country. I'm the mother of three daughters in college. And because we live right over the border and watch a lot of Albany-based television, my daughters have noticed that there's a female governor in New York, and even though their mother served in that role, it's exciting to them to see another woman as governor. So for all the pressures of going first, and having perhaps some questions be asked of you that others don't answer, there's also this tremendous privilege of being able to inspire the next generation of leaders. I would also tell her to enjoy it. The opportunity to make an impact and improve the lives of the people in her state is just an unparalleled opportunity to make a difference. And I'm sure she will find that it is deeply, deeply rewarding. You said there's some questions that Hochul might be asked as being the first female governor. What kind of questions are those? Well, there's been a ton of research that often, when women are in political leadership positions, we focus more on what's called the three H's: hair, hemlines, and husbands. So, you know, there will be people who will pay too much attention to wardrobe, looks, and her family life. And it's important that the governor shift that focus right back to the important issues of what she's trying to achieve for families in all of New York – not on, I'm sure what is her own wonderful family life. How do you feel we can better support women in government or women in just the workforce in general? One of the things that I have always challenged individuals is, if you're asking a question that may have gender overtones, maybe run through your head first, “Would I have asked Governor Cuomo that same question?” And if the answer is no, then don't ask the question. One example I always give is, seldom do we see stories written about whether or not men are disappointed or supportive of a particular decision that a governor made. But often, when you're the first, there will be these stories about, “Oh, how do women feel about that?” Which most of the time is not done to be supportive, and is often trying to drive a wedge among a voting constituency, or just prolong a bad story. Hopefully, we'll get to a point where a woman taking over office is not a first, right? It'll be a third and a fourth. I would love to see us have parity, where we talk about a woman's platform rather than the historic nature of their ascendance. That will also help the women in those roles, to have other women to look to as allies to work with. So just having it be a normalized experience, to have women in these high level leadership roles, will be a wonderful day. ———— As Swift mentioned, who Kathy Hochul picks to be on her team will be incredibly important. In one of her first tasks as governor, Hochul tapped her replacement as LG, choosing Democratic State Senator Brian Benjamin from the 30th District in Harlem, perhaps in a bid to bridge that Buffalo-New York City gap that Velásquez mentioned earlier. What that means is that some of the top spots in New York state government right now are held by women and people of color: there's Hochul, Benjamin, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and Attorney General Letitia James, whose report, of course, kick started this whole thing. So, so what? Why is this all a big deal? Well, it comes down to representation, and the diversity of perspectives in our government. In case you missed the title of this show - women make up more than half the U.S. population. 2020 Census data demonstrates the country is becoming increasingly diverse. But according to the latest numbers from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers, women make up only 26.7 percent of today's Congress. The number of women in office at the state and local level is higher, but only slightly, at 31 percent and 30.5 percent, respectively. Still, those numbers are slowly but surely rising, according to Sonia Ossorio, president of the National Organization for Women of New York. How do you see the current landscape for women in politics? And what do women bring to the table? I'm not one that buys into these kind of innate differences in leadership styles of men and women. Because I've certainly seen in my own career, that it runs the gamut. Men can be as collaborative, and compassionate, and empathetic as the descriptive words that people like to use and stereotype about women. I think the biggest quality women bring to the table is the desire to prove themselves, because very often they are the first to do it, or one of the first to do it. Donald Trump was the best advertisement to motivate women to run for office that we have had in decades. We had nurses, and teachers, farmers, who had never run for office, never even been politically active at the local level, who were driven to be a counterweight to Donald Trump. And they ran for office, and many of them won. And we're now at a point where we're really starting to hit that 30 percent Golden Rule – that's generally when minority groups hit 30 percent, they really start to have influence in power in a larger group. So it's a slow and steady progress. What has changed is that a larger percentage of those figures are women of color. For instance, 37 percent of the 23 percent of women mayor's in the U.S. are women of color. So that's real progress. on that end. You can take some cities as an example, in New York City – for the first time, the City Council is going to be, when all of the newly-elected are sworn in, in January of 2022, it's going to be women majority. And this is after a number of years where women's representation in New York City Council really was stuck at 9, 10, 11, 12 women out of 51. So what do you see as some of the barriers to having more women in elective office? You know, it really is a pipeline issue. We have to think about why politics isn't always attractive, not just to women, but to men as well. It's a tough decision to make, it's a tough road, and as an industry it's ruthless. You think about what you have to do: you have to ask all your friends for money, it's a 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. job, when you're running for office. When you get into office, you've got to turn around and do that again, in a matter of months – you know, within 13 months, you've got to start planning your next campaign, for many positions, from state legislatures to Congress. And a lot of people do not win on the first try. So there are things that we can talk about changing about elected office that would make it more attractive for people, because there are a lot of really talented people who would make exceptional legislators who aren't going to do it, because the calculus just isn't worth it. So what are some of those things that we can do to increase accessibility? One of the biggest changes that we could make, and it's one that New York City has implemented, is campaign finance reform. And many other countries do this: every candidate has the same amount of money, you're not raising outside money. It's an equal playing field. The public gets to know candidates through the public access of television and the airwaves. That would be a much more attractive way of running – and a more democratic way – of running elections. Is it working perfectly here in New York City? No, not yet. But if we can create a level playing field for all candidates, that would really diversify the pool of candidates that we now have. And let me give you example: here in New York, Liuba Gretchen Shirley ran for Congress on Long Island, and she had two small kids. And she did something that had never done before. She petitioned the Federal Election Commission to add childcare costs as an allowable expense of campaign funds. She became the first person in history to receive federal approval to spend campaign funds on childcare. And since then many people have, not just mothers but fathers as well. I mean, that is something that I had never heard about before this mom of two decided she wanted to take a chance to run, and got in it, and realized the biggest barrier for her was childcare. You say to yourself, gosh, if women would have been in politics in larger numbers for more years, this would have come up in the past, and we would have had this already as a rule established long ago. ———— That's a wrap on this week's episode of 51%. 51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio — that theme underneath me right now, that's “Lolita” by Albany-based artist Girl Blue. A big thanks to Josefa Velasquez, Jane Swift, and Sonia Ossorio for sharing their time and experience. Thanks to our story editor Ian Pickus, our executive producer Dr. Alan Chartock — and, of course, you for tuning in. If you like what you're hearing, check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @51PercentRadio. And you can find episodes new and old at wamcpodcasts.org or wherever you get your podcasts. Until next week, I'm Jesse King for 51%.