Herald Courier story a snow job

The Island Now

To the Editor of the NHP Herald Courier:

Reference – Friday, January 7, 2011 issue

Article on “Snow taxes NHP budget for DPW”, by Rich Tedesco

If your going to write an article with a headline like that, then get the facts correct about what the costs were! Once again, your article is filled with errors, inconsistencies, and attempts at sensationalism.

You wrote “The total cost of clearing village streets buried by the blizzard was $30,000 – $20,000 in personnel costs and $10,000 in sand and salt, according to Lofaro.”

What was said was “….in the 2010-2011 budget, we appropriated only $30,000 for snow removal, $20,000 in personnel costs and $10,000 in sand and salt.”

The village did not spend that amount to service this blizzard. We spent about half our budgeted amount at $16,900.

Additionally, the caption under the picture of a damaged fence reads “Snow dumped against a fence at the Long Island Rail Road tracks in New Hyde Park threatens the integrity of that fence.” If this caption was meant to more accurately reflect the contents of the article, it should have been described as “Snow dumped against a fence by an unauthorized private payloader at the LIRR tracks in New Hyde Park threatens the integrity of that fence.”

It should be noted that a village official met with that unauthorized private payloader owner and operator, and that owner agreed to repair the damaged fence.

It should also be noted that the village is hopeful that federal funds (FEMA) will be made available to offset some of our costs.

Regards,

Bob Lofaro

Deputy Mayor

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