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A four-car accident with unknown injuries is reported on the westbound Thruway at mile marker 379.8. Le Roy fire and ambulance service are responding.

The smell of natural gas inside the City Centre has prompted the building to be evacuated. City firefighters are on scene investigating.

UPDATE 9:38 a.m.: City command reports the odor is not natural gas, but there is a smell and they are investigating.

UPDATE 9:43 p.m.: The assignment is back in service.

A two-car accident is reported in the westbound lanes of the Thruway in the area of mile marker 400.4.

Unknown injuries.

Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments dispatched along with Mercy EMS.

UPDATE 10:50 p.m.: One vehicle off the road, a tractor trailer about a half mile ahead. Three individuals are out of the vehicle and standing.

UPDATE 10:54 p.m.: No injuries at the vehicle. The chief on scene is now going to check on the tractor-trailer.

UPDATE 10:59 p.m.: The vehicle is a van, with heavy damage. All three occupants are in an ambulance being evaluated.

UPDATE 11:28 p.m.: A chief apparently needed a trooper there because of "an escalating situation." A trooper is now on scene, from Troop T.

Photo by Howard Owens.

WBTA provided the interview on which this story is based.

Verizon workers were out protesting on Lewiston Road this afternoon. They are members of Communication Workers of American Local 1117.

Spokesman Phil Rudnick, executive vice president of the union, said a middle-class way of life here and in other states is at stake as the group battles against jobs being shipped overseas and major cuts in pay, benefits and security. They have been in contract negotiations with Verizon since June 2015.

"Corporate greed is the biggest complaint," Rudnick said, "and the retrogressive demands they are looking for are astronomical."

All the while, profits have never been healthier.

He said Verizon made $1.5 billion in profits each month last year; they are beating those figures so far this year, with monthly profits of $1.8 billion for January, February and March.

Verizon wants to send call center jobs overseas, and force outdoor technicians to work a couple of hundred miles away from home for months at a time, plus cut pay and benefits, and obliterate job security.

The workers with the most skin in the game to lose are the ones who built the money-making behemoth one landline at a time.

"We built the infrastructure that gave them the profitability to go into the wireless department," Rudnick said, "and they're making billions of dollars on wireless as well."

The work done by those represented by CWA 1117 feeds all the cell towers the phones work off of, the data networks and DSL files. Now Verizon wants to lay off landline techs and bring in contractors.

"We're just looking for fair, middle-class, stable jobs that we've had not to be taken away," Rudnick said.

The union's concession in millions of dollars in health-care costs was deemed "not good enough" in recent negotiations.

On the line are jobs here, in Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany, as well as other states.

Local politicians have been supportive of the union's plight, the union leader said.

Chief Charles Durkee sent in these pictures from the Byron Fire Department's recent installation dinner.

Eddy Sharp received the award for most training hours and Robert Mruczek received Firefighter of the Year.

Durkee received a gift from the ladie's auxiliary -- a PIG axe. He said it is the first one in the county at a volunteer department.

Pictures courtesy Marie Bohn Studio.

Suzanne Corona admitted to a violation of her probation in Genesee County Court on Wednesday afternoon and therefore Acting Judge Michael F. Pietruszka allowed her to continue serving probation without any additional penalty.

"I put Amaretto in my coffee," she told the judge, explaining why a urine sample taken from her on March 21 tested positive for alcohol, which she is forbidden from imbibing under the terms of her probation.

The terms were set forth last year after she admitted selling $60 worth of suboxone, a controlled substance, to an undercover agent of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force.

By pleading guilty on Aug. 3, she avoided serving up to one and a half years in prison and one year of post-release supervision and got probation instead, without objection from the DA's Office.

Although she got into trouble with the law several times during the period of 2010 and 2014, she had never faced a felony charge until then. As a first-time felony offender, the judge in the case, Robert C. Noonan, now retired, had leeway to give her jail time instead or probation.

Corona made headlines worldwide when she was arrested on an adultery charge in 2010 after being observed in an apparent sexual act with a man not her husband on a picnic table in Farrall Park. Then came accusations of shoplifting from a local restaurant, which led to a disturbance there and Corona being wheeled away on a gurney into a waiting ambulance, and various other shoplifting charges, including an arrest at Target on a day when a Sheriff's deputy was there doing a K-9 demonstration.

The Ousterhout Avenue resident avoided getting into trouble for a long time and then came the arrest for selling suboxone.

After testing positive for alcohol last month, she initially denied violating the conditions of her probation, then on the advice of her attorney, Brian Degnan, she reversed course. Even in court yesterday, after having conferred with her attorney, she at first refused to admit guilt.

Pietruszka asked if she was on medication and she said is prescribed medication for "mental health, pain, anxiety and thyroid." When asked, she said she has never been in treatment for drug addiction but she has, and continues, treatment for alcoholism.

Asked if she was satisfied with her attorney, she said yes, and acknowleged that her admission of guilt was being made without coercion or under any threat, and with the understanding that admitting the violation was the same as being convicted after a hearing in court.

The judge said in reviewing her file, he saw nothing to indicate an extra penalty would be imposed if she failed supervision. He said the interim supervision of probation imposed last summer would continue.

Corona, in her mid-40s, was easily the best-dressed person in the gallery of the courtroom Wednesday, admittedly not a high bar. She wore a short, navy blue, knit panel skirt and matching jacket, with buff-colored pumps, nude hose, a cloth shoulder bag with a long strap that had wide, bold navy and white stripes. Her chunky silver wristwatch was encrusted with crystals. French manicured nails, one fingertip painted navy; silver thumb ring and thin silver bangle earrings. Her perfume? "Juicy Couture."

After she left the courtroom by herself, she seemed relieved, the nervousness she conceded earlier abated. Asked how she ended up where she is, she sadly and briefly articulated the "rough road" of her upbringing and said she is working hard on her issues.

And Degnan couldn't help but note that for someone like his client to have only slipped up once in nearly a year is in itself an accomplishment.

"I pay $105 out of my own pocket for counseling, (I go) three times a week," she said proudly. "I don't get public assistance."

The Le Roy Village Board considered a new budget, established a new ZBA, and agreed to a new meeting schedule.

The property tax rate would increase by a penny under the tentative 2016-17 village budget that was the subject of a brief public hearing Wednesday night.

Mayor Greg Rogers’ $3.375 million spending plan calls for a tax rate of $10.46 per $1,000 assessed value.

The owner of a home assessed for $85,000 would pay $889.10 in taxes next year, an increase of 85 cents.

The levy, or the amount to be raised by property taxes, would be $1,723,265. That is an increase of about 1.5 percent from the current budget.

No one spoke during Wednesday’s hearing. The board took no action on the budget, which must be adopted by May 1. The village’s 2016-17 fiscal year begins June 1.

In other action, the board adopted Local Law No. 1, which establishes an independent village Zoning Board of Appeals. That action was forced by the Town Board, which voted last month to establish an independent town ZBA.

Named to the village ZBA were Thomas Spadaro, Robert Scott and Charles VanBuskirk. Each had previously served as a village representative to the shared ZBA.

Rogers expects to appoint a fourth individual to serve as alternate ZBA member during the Village Board’s next meeting.

That will take place on April 20, thanks to a change in the board’s meeting schedule.

Beginning next week, the Village Board will meet at 7 p.m. the first Monday and third Wednesday of each month. Meetings had previously been every second and fourth Wednesday.

The Monday meetings will be work sessions, and take place on an as-needed basis, Rogers said.

A car smashed into a tree and the driver is unconscious at 4000 S. Main Street Road. The vehicle is locked. Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding. The location is between South Main Street and Fairway Drive.

UPDATE 7 p.m.: The driver came to after medics arrived and complained of chest pain. The patient was transported via ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital. The person may have suffered a medical condition, but that's not certain, said Sheriff's Sgt. Ron Meides. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

After the accident in Stafford this evening, I grabbed a couple of barn shots.

The white barn, above, is on Randall Road. 

The "Will You Marry Me?" barn is on Route 237 near Morganville. I knocked on the door of the residence to try and get more information but nobody was home.

A former crack cocaine dealer who lived on Summit Street in the City of Batavia and is now serving eight years in prison appeared in Genesee County Court today to have a court date set on new drug charges.

Philip R. Ayala, about 30, was indicted by a Grand Jury in January for the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, a Class B felony. It is alleged that on July 9 in the City of Batavia that Ayala knowingly and unlawfully possessed a narcotic drug -- crack cocaine -- with intent to sell it. In count two, the defendant is accused of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, a Class C felony, for allegedly knowingly and unlawfully possessing one or more preparations, compounds, mixtures or substances containing a narcotic drug and these preparations, compounds, mixtures or substances are of an aggregate weight of one-eighth ounce or more.

As a prisoner in the state Department of Corrections, he was in shackles and wore a forest green jumpsuit, shadowed by an armed prison guard wearing a bulletproof vest.

Ayala has until 9:30 a.m. on June 8 to accept a plea offer from the DA's Office on a single Class B felony charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. Otherwise, the case will go to trial on July 25.

According to assistant DA William Zickl, Ayala faces a maximum of up to 12 more years in prison.

"I would offer a plea to expose the defendant to additional incarceration," Zickl said after the court proceedings, adding that it is up to the judge to decide the length of the sentence under the provisions of the law and whether it would be concurrent or consecutive to the existing prison term.

Ayala has a criminal history.

After a raid by law enforcement in December 2014, Ayala pled guilty six months later to criminal possession of a controlled substance, 4th, a Class C felony. He was bailed out of jail and was scheduled to be sentenced last Aug. 4  to no more than five years in prison -- IF he didn't break the law prior to his sentencing.

But on July 9, while living on Vine Street in Batavia, he was arrested on a sealed warrant out of Orleans County. When he was arrested on that warrant, he allegedly had 62 bags of crack cocaine in his possession. Thus, January's Grand Jury indictment as noted above.

His attorney, then as now, is Jamie Welch, who maintained his client hadn't violated the plea offer because Ayala wasn't arrested specifically on the charges for allegedly possessing 62 bags of crack before the Aug. 4 sentencing date (technically, his arrest was due to charges contained in the sealed warrant), so the max prison time he should get is five years. Judge Robert C. Noonan, now retired, disagreed and determined Ayala indeed violated the plea offer, so the maximum eight years was imposed last summer.

At that time, Zickl told Noonan: "One thing that is clear is the defendant is deeply committed to drug dealing and undertakes it as a business venture. Ayala's criminal record and recent charges suggest he will never stop dealing drugs."

This afternoon, a dozen people, including an infant niece Ayala had never seen before, were in the gallery in support of Ayala.

When he stood to leave the courtroom with his guard, they shouted "We love you!" and "Keep your head up!"

Batavia's newest retail store promises to offer local shoppers unique items for the home, as gifts or perhaps, something special for yourself.

The business, at 202 E. Main St. (Masonic Temple, next to Charles Men's Shop), is really two stores in one and the result of a cooperative agreement between Leanna DiRisio and Ashley Bateman.

The Hidden Door is DiRisio's business and offers rustic, old-timey items that will add tasteful flare to home decor, and Pollyanna & Dot is Bateman's business and offers primarily new dresses in vintage styles.

"We thought this would be a great start for a new business," DiRisio said. "It's kind of like an incubator and if maybe we both grow a little bigger we can go out on our own."

Bateman said Mary Valle (Valle's Jewelry) brought DiRisio and Batemen together and suggested they find a way to partner to pursue their shared dream of owning their own retail shops.

The two aspiring entrepreneurs met, but weren't initially sure it would work out, but as time went on and they thought about it more, the idea started to make more sense.

Both have young children and by working together they can coordinate times to keep the shop open and take care of their kids and other family needs. 

"For me, it's always been something that I've wanted to do and I just figured with the changes going on my life, that if I don't do it now, I would never do it," said DiRisio, who praised a six-week entrepreneur-training program set up by the Batavia Development Corp. at Genesee Community College for giving her the confidence to move forward.

Batemen also thought this was the time to act rather than wait.

"There's a renaissance here that's happening and if we don't do it now, somebody else will, so we wanted to get here first," Bateman said.

The grand opening celebration for Pollyanna & Dot and The Hidden Door is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday.

A car vs. tree accident with injuries is reported at 6692 Randall Road, Stafford. Stafford Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 4:47 p.m.: Mercy Flight out of Batavia is requested to the scene.

UPDATE 4:59 p.m.: Mercy Flight has landed.

UPDATE 5:16 p.m.: Injuries appear to be non-life-threatening, according to a firefighter on scene. The patient is being flown to an area hospital primarily for evaluation. A trooper said speed may have been a factor.

A Walnut Street, Batavia, man who pled guilty to criminal possession of controlled substance, 4th, and criminal sale of a controlled substance, 4th, was sentenced today to five years in state prison.

Cody A. Bush, about 29, is a second felony offender. He admits that he sold a quantity of suboxone, a controlled substance, in and around the City of Batavia and the Town of Elba to an agent of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force. He was already in jail on related charges with he was arrested in November on the Class C felonies.

His attorney, Thomas Burns, asked Acting Genesee County Court Judge Pietruszka to sentence him to two to two-and-a-half years in prison, with credit for time served, and the ability to avail himself to substance abuse treatment and other beneficial programs while incarcerated.

"He does suffer from a drug problem and an addiction," Burns said. "There is awareness that it is his responsbility...He admits he had no right to convey and sell the drug to another person."

Burns said his client struggles with "an inability to take himself away from controlled substances," and yet he is also responsible for parenting four children.

"I let drug addiction ruin most of my adult life," Bush told the judge when given a chance to speak before being sentenced. "For that I am ashamed and sorry."

In addition to a determinate prison sentence of five years and three years post-release supervision, Pietruszka sentenced him to 12 months in county jail, to run concurrently with the prison sentence, for criminal possession of a weapon, 4th.

A sedan vs. school bus accident is reported in the front of the Twilight Meadows Apartments in Alexander. Unknown injuries. The address is 11071 Alexander Road. Alexander Fire Department and medics are responding.

Article by Zachary Lee, an aspiring journalist and contestant in Mr. Batavia.

It’s finally here: the Mr. Batavia contest will be held at 7 p.m. April 15th — be there.

Mr. Batavia this year will be the biggest we’ve ever had; the occupancy of the auditorium at Batavia High School is around 800 and we intend to fill that to the point the auditorium doors are bursting.

Mr. Batavia is a community charity event; each candidate selects a nonprofit organization to represent with the charity of the contest the top three winners receiving money raised. In Mr. Batavia there are five different categories, each scored by selected judges from throughout the community. They are lip sync, talent, questionnaire, swimsuit, and tux walk. The guys also do a group dance in the beginning to get the audience hyped up for the contest.

Last year’s Mr. Batavia was probably one of the best we’ve ever produced here at BHS. Whether it was Brandon Smart’s Micheal Jackson tribute or Dylan Beckman’s dramatic reading of "Anaconda" by Nicki Minaj, these performances were borderline legendary. The 12 candidates up for Mr. Batavia 2016 believe that they can do even better.

Lisa Robinson, event director and student government advisor said, “Mr. Batavia is an event where we raise money for community nonprofits. Everywhere this event gets larger and we believe this year will be easily our largest we’ve had. ”       

Here are the candidates and the nonprofit organizations they represent in the order they’ll perform:

• Tyler Hale – Michael Napoleon Foundation
• Noah Dobbertin – 25 Neediest
• Adonis Davis – All Babies Cherished
• Zachary Lee – Anna’s Wish
• Trevor Sherwood – Batavia VA
• Alex Mott – Golisano’s Children Hospital
• Michael Hughes – Habitat for Humanity
• Alex Canty – Volunteers for Animals
• Ross Chua – Organization for Autism Research
• Jake Kasmarek – Genesee Cancer Assistance
• Josh Kurtz – Salvation Army
• Dwayne Fonda -- American Red Cross

A 42-year-old Batavia woman told Presiding County Court Judge Michael F. Pietruska that she's willing to risk the possibility of a 24-year prison term in exchange for one more shot at drug rehab.

Laura Fletcher, a mother of four with three still of school age, will need to stay on the straight and narrow for two years to avoid prison if she pleads guilty April 18 to a four-count grand jury indictment for allegedly dealing drugs.

She has two prior drug-dealing convictions.

"Looking at her history, that is quite a risk," Pietruska said.

Those two prior convictions are the reason, said ADA Will Zickl, that Fletcher shouldn't get another shot at drug treatment.

"There is a demonstratable objective history in this case that I think makes it a very poor argument to be made that she should be given a chance in this program," Zickl said.

In the indictment issued in November, Fletcher is accused of selling cocaine in May and June to agents of the Local Drug Task Force. She is charged with four Class B felonies, two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance, 3rd, and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd.

She's been approved for the program by a panel in Erie County, along with a recommendation from a local counselor. 

Her attorney Lisa Kroemer argued that Fletcher is willing to assume a substantial risk, given her track record, that she's fully aware of the consequences of failure, and that she desperately wants to succeed in the program.

Fletcher could potential get a lighter prison term in a plea deal, instead of pleading guilty to all four counts of the indictment.

She tearfully told Pietruska she understood the risk, but was willing to take the chance for a new chance at a clean life.

Kroemer said Fletcher has had periods between arrests where she was able to maintain sobriety before succumbing to her addiction again.

The prior drug sales convictions were "simply to support her own addiction," Kroemer said. "It was not part of any profit-making scheme."

Press release:

Hanwha Q CELLS Co., Ltd., (“Hanwha Q CELLS”) (NASDAQ: HQCL) and 1366 Technologies, Inc., (“1366”) today announced that they have entered into a supply agreement in which 1366 will supply up to 700 MW of wafers using 1366’s proprietary Direct Wafer™ technology to Hanwha Q CELLS over a five-year period.

This deal follows a year-long strategic partnership and collaborative R&D efforts to commercialize 1366’s Direct Wafer™ technology with Hanwha Q CELLS’ Q.ANTUM cell technology. 1366 will supply the wafers from its planned U.S. manufacturing facility in New York State, scheduled to be online in 2017.

The agreement ensues months of intense technical collaboration between the two companies during which a series of performance records for the Direct Wafer™ technology were achieved. Hanwha Q CELLS and 1366 jointly reached a maximum efficiency of 19.1% using Direct Wafer™products in Hanwha Q CELLS’ Q.ANTUM cell, as independently verified by the Fraunhofer ISE.

“This agreement with one of the world’s most respected and innovative solar manufacturers is, no doubt, a significant milestone for our business. It further demonstrates the compelling capabilities of the Direct Wafer™ technology and the readiness of this innovation, and establishes its long-term bearing on the industry,” said Frank van Mierlo, CEO of 1366 Technologies. “We’ve found a strong partner, Hanwha Q CELLS, and we are extremely proud of the work we’ve accomplished together.”

“This agreement aligns with our continuing efforts to bring about world leading technologies that enable solar energy to be more competitive and more affordable,” commented Seong-woo Nam, CEO of Hanwha Q CELLS.  “We are pleased with the progress we have made together during the past year and excited about the potential of 1366’s Direct Wafer™ products with Hanwha’s cell and module technologies to deliver further cost reductions and LCOE competitiveness to standard multi-crystalline wafer-based modules.”

Provided that 1366 meets certain terms and conditions related to its wafer qualification and timing of delivery as agreed by both parties, Hanwha Q CELLS’s commitment to purchase up to 700 MW of wafers over a period of five years will commence.

1366’s Direct Wafer technology is a transformative manufacturing process that offers significant advantages over traditional cast-and-saw wafer production technologies. The process makes wafers in a single step, pulling them directly from molten silicon instead of today’s multi-step, energy- and capital-intensive approach, resulting in significant wafer production cost savings.

Hanwha Q CELLS' Q.ANTUM technology is based on PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) architecture and includes many additional technological features for maximum energy yield under real conditions. Q.ANTUM significantly enhances power output, low-light and temperature-behavior, while at the same time offering all of Hanwha Q CELLS' VDE certified quality standards like Anti-PID protection, Hot-spot protect, and Tra.Q laser marking.

Additional Note: Hanwha was part of a Series C funding round in 2010 that raised $20 million in venture capital to back 1366 Technologies. It was announced at that time that Hanwha planned to become a 1366 customer once production began. The latest available information online indicates that 1366 has raised more than $70 million from private investors.

A Le Roy resident has a fledgling tech startup he thinks has a chance to get big.

Billion dollar big,* he doesn't know, but he sees an opportunity and he's going for it. (*In the venture-capital investing world. a "unicorn" is a company with a billion-dollar valuation, and a "rocket ship" is a company that is growing fast.)

A couple of months ago, after much planning Antonio Calabrese launched Boonle, a site where aspiring graphic artists and other creative types can find entry-level projects and start building a resume. 

The concept is aimed at college students and new graduates, but anybody entering the workforce as a freelancer might find the site helpful, Calabrese said.

Small businesses without Madison-Avenue-type promotional budgets, as well as other startups, might also gravitate to the site for the chance to tap into some talent at little or no cost.

According to his research, the freelance market, also called the "gig economy" in today's digital parlance, is expected to become 40 percent of the nation's workforce in coming years. 

That's just a huge opportunity for a business like Boonle.

"I think we can harness a lot of that market because that's the newbie market, when things are starting out, and we plan on being that first stepping-stone for those entering the freelance market," Calabrese said. "I think we can own a big chunk of that."

So far, Calabrese, the company's sole owner and founder, has raised $100,000 in seed funding and is starting the search for another round of early-stage investors with a goal of raising from $500,000 to $1.5 million.

There's a lot of marketing needed to help get the word out about Boonle, especially on college campuses. He's hoping to complete a partnership deal soon with RIT, where he graduated from, and other colleges. He recently received applications from 25 students at universities around the nation willing to sign on as brand ambassadors to help sign up would-be freelancers. 

Calabrese came up with the idea for the business when he realized how hard it is for graduates who have yet to establish a professional portfolio to find work, and that there are a lot of smaller businesses that can't afford the rates experienced freelancers and agencies charge.

He acknowledges he's gotten a little criticism from those who think a site like Boonle lowers the fees digital designers and developers can charge, but he counters that the businesses that would pay more, and the designers who would charge more, aren't part of Boonle's target market.

"There is plenty of work to be done on projects that pay more," Calabrese said. "Those are the jobs that are still going to go to those with the skills to get higher-paying jobs."

Creative categories on the site range from logos and brochures to writing and photography and even music production. Basically, if you're a creator, you should be able to find a market for your work on Boonle.

"We're a platform to help people build a platform so they can eventually launch a career," Calabrese said.

Those looking for work set the price for the job, from free to something a bit more pricey, and then freelancers look at the job, decide if it's within their skill level, if the price is right for them at that stage, and then accept the assignment.

The potential employer has the option to reject the freelancer and the job goes back into the marketplace.

"The business can set the job for free if they don't have the budget for it, but the chances of it getting worked on go down if you set it for free," Calabrese said. 

If a business hires a particular freelancer, or several of them, they can present future projects to their pool of trusted freelancers, but the job goes out to the whole site if it isn't picked up within 48 hours.

On jobs that are paid, Boonle handles the transactions through PayPal, taking about a 30-percent cut, with a third of that covering PayPal's transaction fees.

In a future update, freelancers will be able to upgrade their accounts, once they've proven themselves, and get exclusive access to higher-paying jobs and avoid the fee being taken out for a small monthly subscription.

It's Calabrese's intention to keep his business based in Western New York. He's from Rochester with a lot of strong ties there, including ties to the tech-startup investing community, but he thinks as the business grows, wherever it's based in WNY, he won't have a hard time recruiting employees.

He said that while he was at RIT, a lot of students expressed an interest in staying in the area, even those not from here originally, but the kind of jobs they've been trained for are just in short supply in the area.

"When you're getting job offers from Google, Apple, LinkedIn and Facebook, who wants to stay in Rochester then?" he said. "But if there's a cool company here, and the cost of living is a lot less and we can still pay them somewhat competitive rates, then I think they would stay here."

Press release:

 Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) today denounced Downstate members of the Assembly’s Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions who blocked legislation Hawley authored to eliminate an expensive surcharge on electricity bills in New York State.

Hawley has championed an initiative to eliminate the 18-A energy surcharge placed on utility companies and passed down to consumers since 2010.

“It is very troubling that Downstate politicians once again blocked an initiative that would have saved New Yorkers millions of dollars on their electricity bills,” Hawley said.

“In a state where property and income taxes are through the roof and Upstate jobs are disappearing, the middle class deserves a break. This is another example of the ongoing war to oppressively tax successful businesses, seniors and all New Yorkers.”