Another Why for High Speed Rail.

Just got back from a weekend in New York City and spent about an hour in traffic.  Sure wish we had an affordable high speed rail service in New York State that would take the grunt work (and traffic) out of a weekend trip.

just got back from Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Amazed by Asian Garden. Never saw that before.

St. Patrick's Day 2009 Remarks

I wanted to wish you a Happy Saint Patrick's Day. As you might guess, for the Hennesseys it is always an important day when we reflect on what the Irish part of our heritage means to us. I wanted to share with all of you a statement released by Governor Paterson (it is below) which I think pretty well encapsulates the story of Saint Patrick, save for a few details.

Just like so many who make up the fabric of Irish ethnicity (Normans, Vikings, etc.), Saint Patrick's story starts somewhere else. Maewyn Succat (Patrick's birth name) better known as Patricius (in english Patrick) started out as a Roman (his parents were Romans) living in Scotland. At the age of 14 he was kidnapped and brought into slavery in Ireland - but eventually escaped, studied to become a monk, and emerged as a leader who revolutionized Irish life and so much more.

In America, because of the struggles of Irish and other immigrants, he became a symbol of the promise of America. And as with so many things, the details of this history help us to open windows on our shared horizon.

So I hope everyone that receives this message will take a moment today to celebrate the most important part of Saint Patrick's message: the importance of freedom. Freedom to believe, freedom to live without restraint, and freedom to welcome others to a message of hope. I wish you and your whole family the happiest of Saint Patrick's Day from myself and the rest of the Hennessey family.

Governor's press release here.

Councilman Hennessey wished everybody a Happy Saint Patrick's Day. It was a great day for wearing of the green.

Councilman Hennessey is reviewing municipal redevelopment legislation and focusing on Upstate revitalization entities.

Councilman Hennessey just got back from Governor's press conference -- the theme -- "110 mph train coming soon to a place near you"!

High Speed Rail is Full Speed Ahead!

In my other life as a Legislative Director and as the founder of New Yorkers for High Speed Rail a 2,280 person organization advancing the cause of high speed rail in New york State -- I have been doing a lot of work to advance the cause of improving rail in Upstate New York. Looks like we will soon see a victory in this regard. Yesterday, I addressed the Empire State Passenger Association -- here's a copy of my remarks. There will most likely be announcement tomorrow about High Speed Rail in NY. Great things ahead for our State and the Capital Region with these improvements. Bethlehem will certainly benefit from any improvements in rail because of our valuable Selkirk rail yard and proximity to the City of Albany -- which will be the nexus of plans for improvements to rail in new York State. I fyou have not already, please join us in New Yorkers for High Speed Rail.

is home from the Empire State Passenger Association meeting. Met some awesome rail advocates there.

Slingerlands Power Issues Meeting

Power issues are no new matter for some Slingerlands residents.  So on Thursday night, Slingerlands residents got together with National Grid to talk about plans to tackle this recurring problem.  The meeting was a spinoff from an earlier meeting about the townwide ice storm that happened a few months back.  

Residents have complained about have frequent power outages and it was identified at the meeting that there are aggressive plans to start the process of a permanent fix.  Residents from Carstead, Devomshire, North and South Helderberg, Thorndale and other streets had a lot to say about what has to be done so far and there was a lot of feedback saying that National Grid needs to do more.  National Grid made some commitments towards trrying to fix the problem and we will keep an eye on making sure this all gets resolved favorably for town residents.

Good Neighbor Day

As part of the Town-Declared Good Neighbor day last Saturday I attended some community events and helped a new Bethlehem resident move into town.  I was invited to attend a pancake breakfast for Bethlehem Mickey Mantle Baseball and brought my son and a friend along with me.  It was great to see such deep support for the work that they are doing and I was very happy to be there.

I helped new town residents Frank and Sue Colletto move into their new home.  As an elected official we are often doign things that involved listening anf voting -- so it was nice to actually use some elbow grease for a while.  They have a lovely new home and it is terrific that they are new neighbors.

I also had a chance to talk with one of town residents about a new farmer's market that is in the works.  More on that later as it develops.