WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,374,995 VISITS IN ONE YEAR—65,000 VISITS A WEEK BY 985,281 VISITORS

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WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. By John F. Bailey. January 21, 2006 UPDATED 1:00 P.M. E.S.T. January 21, 2006: As of 11:30 this morning, White Plains Police report there are no roads closed in White Plains due to Wednesday “Tropical Storm,” as it was described by Westchester County Executive Andy Spano.

 The Con Edison Media Relations Office in New York reported to WPCNR that as of 12:30 Saturday morning, 52 White Plains households are still without power. Throughout Westchester County, there are 1,500 households without power.

As of 5 P.M. Friday afternoon, Con Edison advised WPCNR there were 100 homes still without power in the city, and retored power to approximately half of them by this hour.

In a news conference  held by the Westchester County Executive Friday on two hours notice to media, which was not summarized by a news release afterwards (which is standard procedure for the County Executive’s numerous pronunciations to the county)  County Executive Spano expressed the thought that persons being without power for two to three days is unacceptable. 

He is reported as saying Con Edison and New York State Electric & Gas should have done more and should have had more repair crews.

However, had the County Executive, his emergency staff and his communications office contacted the Con Edison Media Relations office, or monitored WPCNR, his staff would have known Con Edison has imported crews from upstate and surrounding areas to supplement their repair force, in a standard mutual aid practice, such was the massive damage.

His staff would have known that for the second time in a week, the Con Edison repair “fleet” was not an adequate force  to handle a massive simultaneous widespread downing of powerlines and trees. Con Edison confirmed to WPCNR that they  imported crews to handle damage from  last Saturday evening’s wind-rain-snow storm, too, and had to bring them back for the Wednesday devastation of Mr. Spano’s county.

Adequate, Con Ed Maintains.

Con Edison assured WPCNR that their number of repair crews were “adequate,” but followed standard practice by supplementing their in-action crews with help from outside the Westchester area due to the “unprecedented” breadth of damage across three counties.

Mr. Spano, and by inference, his entire emergency staff, according to news reports demonstrated obvious  ignorance of how Con Edison operates in massive emergencies.

Had he and his staff phoned a press office, or  read the CitizeNetReporter as repairs were unfolding he would know that Con Edison prioritizes line repair based on numbers of customers serviced by each line down. Based on the County Executive’s reported remarks, he did not appear to know that this was standard Con Edison procedure.

Mayor’s Office Relies on Department of Public Safety, Public Works

The Mayor’s Office of White Plains authorized the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Public Works to issue road closings, dangerous areas of outages, and the status of repairs as the storm unfolded to WPCNR. The Mayor’s Office appeared to be just as much in the dark as their County Executive on the status of the unfolding recovery effort, having only sketchy information Thursday and Friday on where White Plains neighborhoods were out of electricity.

The Mayor’s Office has yet to make an official statement, hold a news conference, or give an official status report on the city. 

City information was distributed to WPCNR by The White Plains Department of Public Safety and the Department of Public Works. Those two departments have reported on traffic and street closing conditions to WPCNR in a timely and responsive manner as best they have been able to, to keep residents abreast of the situation.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. Special to WPCNR from Inspector Daniel Jackson, White Plains Department of Public Safety. January 20, 2006: The White Plains Police have announced the arrests of two burglary suspects possibly responsible for as many as 19 burglaries in the White Plains area. Inspector Daniel Jackson provides these details to WPCNR in this report:

Yesterday afternoon, Police Officer Joseph Meidreich observed two subjects
standing on Lake Street near Canfield. He recognized the subjects from
police flyers of two subjects wanted in connection with a number of
burglaries in White Plains as well as throughout Westchester, Fairfield,
and the Bronx. He called other units who responded and assisted. The
subjects were stopped and subsequently arrested in connection with the
crimes.

They were Serdrick Watson 36 years old from Brooklyn and Erick Cruz 38
years old, also from Brooklyn, the subjects were in the possession of
proceeds from three burglaries that they had just committed on Lake
Street that had not yet been reported.

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WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. By John F. Bailey. January 20, 2006: Portions of the Eastview area in White Plains are still without power.

The condition, the White Plains City School District reports,  has necessitated the closing of Eastview Middle School Thursday and Friday, postponing New York State Assessment tests for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.

Michelle Schoenfeld, speaking for the school district told WPCNR that if power is returned to Eastview by Monday, and school is open, no tests will be administered on Monday.

Testing will be administered on Tuesday and Wednesday for 7th & 8th graders, Schoenfeld said. Tests will be given Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for 6th grade students.

The two days of closure have affected approximately 450 6th, 7th and 8th graders plus three kindergarten classes, and the Newcomers Center, which have not been in session, requiring parents to restructure their general day management.

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WPCNR County Clarion-Ledger. By John F. Bailey. January 20, 2006: WPCNR has been told by knowledgeable sources that  Dennis Power, former White Plains Councilman, recent candidate for Mayor of White Plains, is being considered by County Executive Andy Spano for the post of Director of Economic Development for Westchester County government.

Dennis Power Moving on Up to the Machaelian Building? Mr. Power, center with Mayor Alfred Del Vecchio (Mayor of White Plains, 1976-1993), and Sy Schulman, (Mayor of White Plains, 1993-1997) in October, 2005 on steps of City Hall. Photo, WPCNR News Archive.

When asked by WPCNR Thursday evening at the White Plains Times launch party at Vintage Restaurant, if he had been offered the position by the County, Mr. Power denied it. Asked if he had discussed it with Andy Spano, Power said he had been in talks with the County. Power told WPCNR he would inform WPCNR as soon as there was anything. Asked if he would accept the Director of Economic Development job, Mr. Power said he’d be in touch if it were offered.

The Department of Communications of Westchester County could not be reached for comment. The County Office of  Economic Development to WPCNR’s knowledge and is reported on the county website as headed by Sal Carrera. WPCNR has contacted Mr. Carrera to see if he has plans to leave the position.

Chairman of the County Board of  Legislators,  William Ryan who represents White Plains,  attending the same launch party, was asked about whether he knew Mr. Power was under consideration for the post. 

Ryan made reference to the fact that Mr. Spano, the County Executive knew Mr. Power had resigned his position with the Hudson River Museum (last spring), and had the option of going back there, and added,  “Let me just say this, Andy Spano would like nothing better than to see Dennis Power as Director of Development.”

Mr. Power resigned his position as Director of Development for the Hudson River Museum last May to devote full-time to run for Mayor of White Plains.

He was lobbied by the Democratic Party of White Plains to run for Mayor in late May when no other challengers of the Mayor, including Mr. Ryan stepped forward.

Power was heavily recruited by party insiders to run, after Ron Jackson, the African-American advocate volunteered to run for Mayor. He accepted and Mr. Jackson’s candidacy was given a “show” hearing by the Democratic Party after Mr. Power had already sent out letters to Democratic District Leaders for their support in the Mayor’s race, inferring he already had the nomination.

Power held two news conferences in June, then did not campaign flamboyantly  for the months of July and August. He began his campaign with more vigor in September, concentrating on bringing more citizen involvement into development decisions and city planning.

He criticised the Delfino Administration relationships with developers.  He was endorsed by former White Plains Mayors Alfred Del Vecchio and Sy Schulman who issued detailed statements on Mr. Power’s behalf, sharply critical of the White Plains Renaissance track record in  growing the city.

 However Mr. Power did not exploit a number of issues that could have been made against the Delfino Administration in a campaign that got started too late and was underfunded 10 to 1 by his own Party in contrast to the Delfino war chest, which was reported as $250,000, to Mr. Power’s $25,000.

Power has worked with the Westchester ARC as Director of Development in the 1990s, before moving to the Hudson River Museum. He has been involved in providing housing for the homeless. A community presence throughout Westchester, he organizes the Friendly Gathering party every year, one of the highlights of the city social calendar.

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WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. By John F. Bailey. January 19, 2006: Con Edison reported to WPCNR moments ago that as of 2 P.M. today, 900 households are without power within the city. Joe Petta of the Con Edison Communications office told WPCNR that 1,000 city households had lost power during Wednesday storm, one hundred restored.

Commissioner of Public Works, Joseph Nicoletti, gave WPCNR his personal assessment of the city situation at this time reporting the following areas were without power: Saxon Woods off Mamaroneck Avenue; Heatherbloom, Windward Street, Prospect Street, Macy and Heatherbloom, Old Mamaroneck Road at Bolton and Bryant . Mr. Nicoletti said he was waiting for Con Ed engineers to clear wires at those areas to clear trees down with wires on them. The Commissioner reports 26 trees or limbs were downed in the city. The closest experience to this, he recalls was a microburst about a dozen years ago.

Nicoletti told WPCNR he works closely with a Con Ed district office contact advising him of where White Plains needs Con Ed assistance in determining whether downed wires are live wires or non-hot telephone or cable lines, before roads are cleared.

 The Commissioner said wire shutdowns are complicated depending on the kind of line it is high voltage or as low as 240 volts leading to homes. “You need a different (Con Ed) expertise to shut down different lines,” Nicoletti said. Sometimes, in clearing wires, the Con Ed engineer being sent out is unable to shut down the line and has to call for a specialist for the specific kind of wire. He did not pinpoint whether that was the case in White Plains the last two nights.

Nicoletti said the city faxes Con Ed areas that are out in situations such as the last 24 hours. Con Ed advises him when they are sending a crew out, and “we’re right on it,” Nicoletti reported that when Con Ed arrived at key areas of the city last night he had three crews ready to dispatch to go in after Con Ed determined it was safe for them to remove a tree or limb covered with a wire.

In the past Nicoletti said, Con Ed supplied liaisons to various cities in times of emergencies, but over the years, he said he has developed relationships that he can call on when he needs Con Ed’s assistance or attention to clearing main roads and special situations.