Two major road closures are coming tomorrow in Clarkstown to accommodate New Jersey Transit railroad track crossing repairs. Convent Road in Nanuet will be closed between Grandview Avenue and Old Middletown Road. Additionally, New Clarkstown Road in Nanuet will be closed between the Spring Valley Marketplace and Overlook Boulevard. The crossings will get new railroad ties and be re-paved. Detours will be posted. The work is expected to take a week. During the work period the TOR 93 bus route will not serve the Spring Valley Marketplace. Visit RocklandBus.com for more information.
Rockland Probation Department Federal Lawsuit Against County Moving Forward
A federal lawsuit against the county from Rockland probation officers is moving forward. The Journal News reports the lawsuit accuses county government of threatening disciplinary action against probation officers for speaking out about moving their offices from New City to Pomona. They had voiced their concerns to the legislature in 2016. Several departments have been moved to Pomona as the Sain building in New City has been closed. A county government spokesman said the plan was always to keep the probation department in New City.
President Signs 9/11 Victims’ Compensation Fund; Rockland Congresswoman Glad It’s Done
President Trump signed a bill yesterday ensuring that the September Eleventh victims’ compensation fund won’t run out of money. Rockland Congresswoman Nita Lowey says she’s glad it finally got done…
The $7.4 billion fund, which was extended through the year 2092, had been rapidly depleting, and administrators recently cut benefit payments by up to 70%. More than 40,000 people have applied for benefits from the fund. It covers various illnesses for those who were at the World Trade Center site, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after the 2001 attacks.
Route 17 in Hillburn Renamed for Justice Thurgood Marshall
A portion of Route 17 in Hillburn has officially been renamed the “Justice Thurgood Marshall Memorial Highway.” Before joining the Supreme Court, Justice Marshall came to Hillburn in 1943 as lead counsel for the NAACP, and with the help of parents and local activists, desegregated the Brook School for black children and the Main School for white children…
That’s Rockland State Senator David Carlucci on the Senate floor earlier this year. Marshall became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice in June 1967 and held the position for 24 years. The governor signed the legislation naming Route 17 after Justice Marshall last week.
New City Man Charged in Deaths of Infant Twins Left in Hot Car
A Rockland man has been charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the Bronx after he reportedly left his two infant twin children in his hot car, after forgetting to drop them off at daycare when he went to work Friday. Temperatures hit 88 degrees Friday in the Bronx. Published reports said one year-old Luna and Phoenix Rodriguez were pronounced dead near West Kingsbridge Road. 39-year-old Juan Rodriguez of New City, who works nearby at the Bronx Veterans Affairs hospital as a licensed clinical social worker, didn’t discover the children were in the car until after he left work later that afternoon. News 12 reports he was released on $100,000 bail. Neighbors reportedly said Rodriguez is a veteran and well-respected in the community. A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the family.