Past reports can be found on the archives page!

The reports on White Plains CitizeNetReporter are intended solely for our reading audience. Any reproduction or retransmission of these reports without express written consent of CitizeNetReporter Network, Inc. is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Common Council Corral:

Another Night to Remember:

Mayor describes State of the City as "strong", confidence in White Plains is high.
We are seen as a city on the move."

History in the making: He calls for bipartisanship in the Council, and is stunned by Democrats' prepared "rebuttal" that he was not told was coming.

Mayor is insulted by Democrats' "alternative" view of the city.

Campaign 2001 begins:
Democrats say they will approve $5 million to fund Open Space Acquisition but oppose formation of Mayor's Open Space Acquisition Advisory Committee, feel selection can be done by Conservation Board.

JPI Mamaroneck Avenue apartment complex; Fenway Maintenance Garage proposal are referred out to departments.

By John F. Bailey

CityLine: February 6, 2000: City Hall

The White Plains Common Council held their monthly meeting as scheduled despite the 4 inch snowfall Monday evening to an audience of two intrepid reporters, (Susan Elan of the Journal News and James Benerofe of Suburban Street.com), plus one lawyer and one restaurateur appearing for a renewal of their license.

The limited audience saw Common Council history made in person.

The meeting featured the Mayor's Annual State of the City Address, in which he detailed the accomplishments of the first three years of his administration.

When the Mayor had finished his State of the City Address, Rita Malmud, Council President took the floor to give what she described as the Democratic Councilpersons' view of the "State of the City."

It had apparently, to the Mayor's memory, never happened before.

Democrats "rebut" State of City, signal policy intentions.

Ms. Malmud signaled that the Democrats would not approve the Mayor's Open Space Advisory Committee as proposed in his Environmental Preservation Initiative, presented last month. She questioned why there was a need for yet another committee to conflict with all the other committees and schedules that already existed. She said she felt the job of selection could be done by the Conservation Board, for example. She said the democrats would approve the $5 million funding for open space acquisition provided by the plan.

Malmud also said the Democrats wanted the Mayor to pursue with Tishman-Speyer a project for the abandoned Macy's site that would include "a mix of housing, entertainment, and retail," changing the dynamic of the mix for that troubled site.

With regard to the New York Presbyterian Hospital property situation, Malmud said that "in a few weeks" the lawsuit the Hospital has filed against the city would be resolved and that the Mayor should take the lead in negotiating with the hospital for their property.

By the end of Ms. Malmud's statement, Mayor Delfino had hunkered down into his Mayoral Chair, and there was not a sound in the chambers.

The Mayor immediately commented, "I feel slighted that you didn't call me today to tell me you were going to do this."

Councilman Robert Greer moving quickly, interjected that Ms. Malmud's speech was simply "an alternative view."

Mayor Delfino scoffed at this suggestion, saying that in all his years with the city, he could never recall any Mayor's State of the City Address being met with what he referred to as "a rebuttal," from the opposition. He recalled the years when the Council was heavily Republican, or heavily Democrat how no rebuttals were ever delivered.

The Mayor also brought up the fact that Ms. Malmud and several of the Democrats had spent their own money to sue the city to block movies from going into the Hole in the Ground Project in the early 90s.

"To me it (the Democratic speech) is an insult not to be advised of it. I asked in my speech that to continue progress we have to put politics aside, but I don't see it happening with this kind of attitude."

When Councilperson Oliva sought to continue comments to recognize some community groups, who she believed had helped in achieving some of the accomplishments of the administration, Mayor Delfino halted her comments and moved ahead with the agenda.

At the first opportunity, Ms. Malmud remarked to the Mayor that "I assure you no insult was meant to you...accept it (the minority alternative state of the city message) as something new."

Upbeat State of City touts projects jump-started in three years.

In his State of the City Address, Delfino said that his administration had brought the city back from three years ago when he took over a city he described as "mired in economic stagnation." He said that his administration encountered attitudes from builders, developers and residents that it was "impossible to get anything done in White Plains," and that he had inherited an office vacancy rate of 30%.

"We knew we had to restore faith and confidence in our city." Knowing that "fair-minded people would support that change," we worked he said, and three years later "we were able to put politics aside with a lot of new projects underway."

The Mayor pointed to the city's new source of strength to five projects:

1.) The Hole in the Ground Bank Street Commons "Twin Sentinels" approved in the fall, that is scheduled to begin in the Spring, and that the Mayor said his city departments are working very hard on to keep on schedule. A project, the Mayor said would end a 25-year city question about what to do with a hole in the ground.

2.) The Supermarket on Westchester Avenue, which he reports should have construction beginning in the Spring.

3.) The Container Store on Westchester Avenue.

4.) The Clayton Park apartments on Main Street in Eastview.

5.) The JPI apartment proposal for 300 Mamaroneck Avenue (that the Council was later to refer out to departments for review).

The Mayor said that the administration had turned around the office vacancy rate lowering it from 30% in 1997 to 13% in 2000, and had induced three firms to come to White Plains, Allied Irish Bank, and two telecommunications firms.

He said "This does not mean our work is done, citing his administration's pending overhaul of the city's zoning, plans for revitalizing the streets of White Plains, relieving the digital divide and supplying new parking.

The Mayor said that the recent loss of J C Penney as a tenant in The Galleria was a source of concern, but he said he was confident the Galleria would find a way to attract a new tenant of the same quality of the Swedish retailer, H & M, which is opening a store in the mall.

He said no movement was possible in the New York Presbyterian Hospital dispute until after the lawsuit against the city was ruled upon in the state supreme court. Then he allowed the city and the hospital might be able to discuss matters.

He said he was very eager to implement his Revitalization Phase II Plan, hoping to open two technical centers in White Plains, address the digital divide, and make aesthetic improvements in the downtown.

Mayor hints strongly of "tampering" in city business by outside interests.

The most curious part of the State of the City was that the Mayor took the time again to allude to the mysterious merchant who filed a "sham" lawsuit that he blamed for derailing the financing for the Loews piece of the Tishman Speyer Town Center. He said the timely filing of the suit within 4 days of the Council's approval of the Town Center caused a key delay. It was the Mayor's strongest public statement to date alleging strongly that there was "tampering" in city business by outside competing interests with some hidden agenda.

The Mayor mentioned that the premises rented (209 Martine Avenue) never had a telephone installed, nor any gas or electric hooked up, and showed no activity from the time the premises was rented to the present day. From his description, no attempt has been made to open the store for business.

(A trip by 209 Martine Avenue last week found a notice attached to the door of the premises that the "mysterious merchant" is now being served notice for January 2001 rent by his landlord.)

He thanked the council for standing with the Administration in suing the individual who filed the "sham" suit.

Olive Branch offered.

The Mayor concluded the speech pointing to civic improvements such as installing defibrillators in Police vehicles, a Taxicab customer's bill of rights, The Environmental Protection Initiative, (described as the "strongest open space plan in Westchester County"), and city improvements to parks.

He said he was eager to seek consensus on his Environmental Protection Initiative so the city can acquire property this year.

Mayor Delfino concluded his State of the City by cautioning all not to let "politics get in the way of our mission," and that he was "honored and proud to be leading the city at this time."

Olive branch snapped.

Then, just as the Mayor started to move to the agenda, he was interrupted by Council President Rita Malmud, who said she wished to present "on behalf of the five Democratic Council Members, I wish to present our alternative view of the State of the City."

Ms. Malmud remarked that the projects mentioned by the Mayor had enjoyed unanimous approvals from the council, and in the matter of the Town Center the Common Council unanimously approved the project "in record time." She urged the Administration to work with the owner to locate a new developer, and to work for any new development at the Macy's site to be "a mix of housing, retail and entertainment."

Malmud said the Democrats were concerned because there "is no economic activity in the center of town," and the center of town is deteriorating.

Regarding the Mayor's Phase II Revitalization Plan, she said the Democrats said it had some useful ideas but "we cannot understand why they should be developed while the downtown deteriorates." She said the downtown shouldn't have to wait for clean streets, and that work should begin faster with the downtown merchants to upgrade the atmosphere.

On the Mayor's Environmental Protection Initiative, which Malmud described as "a belated effort," she said the Democrats supported the $5 million funding to acquire land. However, she questioned the timing.

"We must point out that the Mayor could have negotiated for Open Space at any time during his time as Mayor."

She questioned the need to form another committee as part of the Mayor's Environmental Protection Initiative. She said that an existing committee could most likely assume the task of selecting properties for acquisition, such as the Conservation Board.

On the New York Presbyterian Hospital lawsuit, she predicted the suit would be ended in a matter of weeks. At that time the Mayor should begin discussions with the hospital management for a new proposal recognizing the hospital needs and the city needs.

In conclusion, she marked that the departure of J C Penney from The Galleria, could be a "wake-up call" that could signal the beginning of departures of other retailers from the city, that the administration needed to be aware of and by inference, prevent.

In other business...

The Common Council agreed to refer the JPI 300 Mamaroneck Avenue apartment and townhouse proposal out to departments. Councilpersons Delgado, Malmud and Oliva expressed views that they had received phone calls about the proposal from the neighborhood, and assured the public they would have plenty of time to comment on the proposal.

Mayor Delfino said the proposal had been presented to the neighborhood, and had been crafted with the developer to meet "every conceivable question" the neighborhood has raised about previous projects for the site. He said this is a project that would finally develop a site that has lain empty for 25 years.

A proposal from Fenway Golf Club to build an 18,000 square foot maintenance shed in the northeast corner of the club property in back of Congregation Kol Ami property off Soundview Avenue was referred out to city departments. Again, on this issue, Councilpersons Boykin, Greer and Malmud stressed that referring out does not mean approval and that the Soundview neighborhood would have ample public hearings to express their feelings on the issue.

The Council moved to table an issue hiring a outside law firm to defend an expected appeal on a telecommunications suit just decided. The reason given by Councilperson Malmud was she did not want to automatically fund something that was not as yet needed.

The Council officially closed certain streets for the March 10, 2001 Saint Patrick's Day Parade.

The Mayor announced that 2001 was the 225th anniversary of the Battle of White Plains, and that a special series of "precedent-setting" panels were being prepared for display in Battle Hill and Whitney Parks to be unveiled in the Spring.

Preparations for moving the Youth Bureau to Eastview were approved, as were appropriations for enhancing the computer technology of the Department of Recreation and Parks for more efficient licensing, scheduling, and recordskeeping.

The Restaurant Paparazzi had its license renewed renewed by the Common Council for three years.

The meeting officially adjourned at 9:20 PM.

Copyright © 1999/2000
White Plains CitizeNetReporter