Many Hands Food Coop

Hey folks! The Many Hands Food Co-op (MHFC) is looking for volunteers to help canvas in Binghamton this upcoming weekend, Friday April 13th and Saturday April 14th! MHFC is a start-up project, meaning that the Binghamton community is currently looking to run a coop soon in downtown Binghamton!
To register please click below- it takes less than 2 minutes:
https://docs.google.com/a/binghamton.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey…

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Gateway to Binghamton:

Gateway to Binghamton:
Mayor Ryan and Partners Break Ground on Court Street Gateway Project

Improvements include the street’s first repaving in 25 years, multi-faceted streetscaping, reverse angle parking, traffic calming devices, water main valve replacements and a modern roundabout at the Court/Chenango Street intersection

$2.7 million Phase I investment funded 95% by federal and state funds and will support 23 local jobs; roundabout feature will improve traffic flow, accounts for just $37,500 in City funds and will save more than $260,000 over 20 years

Project one of many City has undertaken in recent years with federal and state funds; despite strong advocacy by Congressman Hinchey, Senator Gillibrand and others, such projects have slowed in last two years due to budget cuts in Washington and Albany

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Save the Castle on the Hill

The magazine Dwell is sponsoring a contest to save historic buildings and the Inebriate Asylum or Castle on the Hill has been nominated by PAST. Please, Please, Please, vote for this project!
at this link: http://new.dwell.com/contests/rethinking-preservation/submissions/new-york-state-inebriate-asylum

New York State Inebriate Asylum

The New York State Inebriate Asylum, built in 1858, was the very first facility in this country for the medical treatment of alcoholism. It was founded by J. Edward Turner and designed in the Castellated Gothic style by architect Isaac Gale Perry, who would go on to become one of New York State’s leading architects. Fifteen years after admitting its first patients, the Inebriate Asylum closed and the facility was converted into an “Asylum for the Chronic Insane.” As a mental institution it continued as the central building of an expanding, self-sufficient mental health campus that at its peak housed 4,000 patients. In 1993 part of the façade collapsed, the building was evacuated and it has remained vacant ever since. In 2008 its 150th anniversary was celebrated. This building should be preserved because of its historical pioneering significance in the treatment of alcoholism, its strikingly unique style of architecture, and its service as a mental health institution for well over a century. Known locally as the “Castle on the Hill,” the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is a National Historic Landmark, it is abandoned and deteriorating.

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Blood on the Tracks

For any male coming out of high school in the 1960’s, the Vietnam War became a dominating imperative that could not be side-stepped. The rudimentary process of registering for the draft became an increasingly nerve-wracking rite of passage as the war began to escalate, first with troop deployments followed in short order by body bags. Patriotic fervor and duty often became resignation and despair as the war seemed to have no end; the psychological state of the country worsened as criticism went from academic teach-ins and mass demonstrations to civil disobedience and sporadic violence.

One person who “covered the water front” in this regard was S. Brian Willson, who spoke at the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca on Thursday, November 10th. Seeing him step onto the stage gave me chills. Although six years older (age 70), I looked at him as I examine myself and my actions from that time period. We both have graying hair, but his body is much less complete than mine having a pair of prosthetic limbs, limbs that were not lost during the war but as a consequence of it. Willson had come to relate his journey of life as exemplified in his recently published book “Blood on the Tracks”.

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101 Reasons to Ban Fracking

 

101 Reasons that High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (HVHF) Needs to be Banned in New York State
EACH OF THE FOLLOWING 101 REASONS, IF TAKEN ALONE, IS SUFFICIENT TO BAN HVHF.
TOGETHER THEY INDICATE UNBRIDLED GREED AND APATHY TOWARD LIFE …
GOVERNMENT-APPROVED CORPORATE HOMOCIDE.
WHO IS STANDING ON THE SIDE OF LIFE, TAKING THE ROLE OF PROTECTING AND PROMOTING THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE?
1. If risk to our aquifers were the only reason HVHF needs to be banned, it would be sufficient.
2. If risk to our food quality and supply were the only reason HVHF needs to be banned, it would be sufficient.
3. If risk to our air quality were the only reason HVHF needs to be banned, it would be sufficient.
4. If risk to runaway climate change were the only reason HVHF needs to be banned, it would be sufficient.
5. If HVHF’s externalized costs were the only reason HVHF needs to be banned, it would be sufficient.
6. If the lack of disposal solutions for produced water and drill cuttings were the only reason HVHF needs to be banned, it would be sufficient.
7. If roadways clogged with heavy trucks, moving through established communities were the only reason HVHF needs to be banned, it would be sufficient.
8. If increased crime were the only reason HVHF needs to be banned, it would be sufficient.
9. If increased traffic accidents were the only reason HVHF needs to be banned, it would be sufficient.
10. If jeopardizing the lives of emergency response teams were the only reason HVHF needs to be banned, it would be sufficient.

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Economic Development and the Cost to the Citizens

 

by Dave Duncan
previously printed in the Bridge newspaper, but still timely

For many years the municipalities of Broome County and the County itself have been suffering from a drastic income shortfall. Reasons include the decline in population related to the manufacturing plants that have relocated elsewhere, the declining real incomes of the remaining workers, an increase in lower paying services jobs, the aging of the population and the necessity of maintaining the crumbling infrastructure. The problem cannot solely be attributed solely to current or past elected officials.

We are now in a position where our representatives and the Chamber of Commerce tell us, that we, the average residents must pay more taxes, while at the same time having our basic services cut. Each new budding politician campaigns on the platform of correcting the mismanagement of prior office holders but when it comes to protecting the interests of the financial and corporate elites, nothing changes. Yet there is another, unexplored, part of the equation.

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Local Politics: Sean Massey

Elections all over the country rewarded a progressive agenda. There was a big win for collective bargaining in Ohio. In Buffalo, Democrats unexpectedly won several local seats. The state of Maine repealed a Republican effort to deprive voters rights.

Yet, in Binghamton NY Republicans won the County Executive seat and two Council seats. Regrettably, among them was Sean Massey, Even a prominent Republican said, “I can’t believe he lost. Sean Massey really worked hard and did so much more than anyone else. We won’t see that again.” Sean, who is an assistant professor at Binghamton University, a restaurant owner (Tranquil Bistro), co-chair of the Commission on Downtown Business Development, and an active force in many local organizations, won the seat from Chris Papastrat by a mere 14 votes (if memory recalls) four years ago. On Election Day, Papastrat won it back by a much bigger margin.

Why? Elections are hard to analyze, but it may be that Sean got caught up in an anti-Ryan move, and certainly an anti-incumbent sentiment. Ryan’s tolerance of the Occupy Binghamton movement and earlier support of the Cost of War clock may have added up. According to one canvasser for the Working Families Party, “The voters in that district were angry, out of proportion to their concerns. One was the $3 garbage labels for oversized items, even though it is estimated that it has saved the city $70,000 in the first 9 months in user fees at the landfill. Another concern was money spent on the Southside Commons that some voters felt could have been better spent on road repair.” (The Commons was built by other grant money, however.) “Late ads from the challenger, Chris Papastrat, also seems to have riled people up,” according to this worker. Many voters were troubled by the all Democratic council and Papastrat is seen as an affable, benign, if not overly intellectual figure. And perhaps an anti-gay sentiment swayed some voters as well.

What is clear is that City Council has lost a unifying figure, a very smart policy person, and a true leader. Sean is not going away, but Binghamton has lost his considerable talents as a Council person and that’s really sad.

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The Truth About Fracking

Scientific American has published a lengthy article about the science of hydrofracking by Chris Mullins, “When multiple “fracks” are done in multiple, adjacent wells, however, the risk for contaminating drinking water may rise. If fracking is defined as the entire industrial operation, including drilling and the storage of wastewater, contamination has already been found.” You can see a preview at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-truth-about-fracking but you must buy the magazine to read the whole thing. Mullins says that “Advanced tests, such as putting tracer chemicals down a well to see if they reappear in drinking water, could ultimately prove whether fracking is safe or not,” but regulators are not waiting for the science to come in.

Elsewhere in the magazine is an editorial saying the “fracking is getting ahead of the science” and the writer is urging New York where it is now under consideration, to “go slow” until the safety issues are resolved.

Cornell had released a narrated PowerPoint presentation on the SGEIS (Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement) on Hydrofracking. They have waded through the lengthy document to brief the public about the report. Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Community and Regional Development Institute at Cornell University has posted a new narrated powerpoint presentation that highlights the latest revisions to the SGEIS. The presentation can be found at http://bit.ly/SGEIS.

 

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Occupy Binghamton – October 15, 2011

Originally posted on my tumblr, on which I’m following the Occupy movements in upstate New York as closely as I can – http://mangiaratti.tumblr.com

On Saturday, October 15, the Global Day of action, about 300 people showed up to “Occupy Binghamton,” a protest that is part of a grassroots movement organized by a large group of people, including Binghamton University, Broome Community College, and the union AFO-CIO. The event began at the park located at the corner of Court St. and State St. in Binghamton, where participants gathered to hold signs for an hour before having a general assembly and citizen speak out.

Cars passing by honked their approval. Some participants could be overheard remarking to each other, “Don’t honk, join us.”

Click to read more and see photos.

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