WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL-CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. June 6, 2007: David Maloney, press spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office confirmed today exclusively to WPCNR that the opening of the Ritz-Carlton hotel scheduled for next fall is no longer tied to completed construction of the 24 affordable housing obligations attached to the previous city approval of the Ritz project.

Paul Wood, City Executive Officer,  Explains. In a statement, Paul Wood explained the approved delay in building and opening the affordable housing units until after the Ritz opened.

Maloney confirmed to WPCNR with the single word, “Yes” that  passage of Resolution Item 119 effectively paved the way for the Ritz to open without the affordable housing units being built that are required by that project. A resolution passed late Monday evening granted a one year extension of a site plan for  Cappelli Enterprises subsidiaries to build an 8-story, 42 unit “affordable housing” apartments at 240 Main Street which would satisfy Cappelli responsibility to build 24 units of affordable housing “in connection with the 221 Main (Ritz-Carlton project), and the 17 units Cappelli Enterprises still owes on the City Center project.

Paul Wood, City Executive Officer, explains the sequence of events in this manner: “The 240 Main Street extension request granted this week was necessitated by the Council support of the Pinnacle project.  In effect, the Council agreed to a tolling period in fairness to Cappelli of 9 months while he was forced to stand by while the Pinnacle project continued to try to put their project together.  Competition was not so good in this case because the Pinnacle failed to materialize and the eight story building proposed by Cappelli would have been built and occupied by now had he not been forced to wait.”

Asked why Cappelli Enterprises had not been asked for a bond in the amount of the estimate cost of constructing the entire building, (far more than $1.2 Million), Wood said that was all The Pinnacle had been asked for. However, WPCNR does not recall the amount of the bond The Pinnacle was asked for ever being made public.

A $1.2Million Guarantee

The resolution recognizes that Cappelli Enterprises has posted a $1.2 Million bond the city can “draw on…if LC White Plains LLC does not complete the Affordable Housing Requirement and obtain temporary or permanent certificates of occupancy for such 17 affordable units by August 31, 2008…”

Previously, members of the Common Council had stipulated as a condition of opening that the Ritz-Carlton could not receive Certificates of Occupancy until the affordables owed for that project were opened. This connection with affordable housing was, in effect, muddied when the Common Council was persuaded to allow Cappelli Enterprises to strike a deal with Ginsburg Development Corporation to build the affordable housing units for Cappelli Enterprises on the Ginsburg Pinnacle site on 240 Main Street. Ginsburg, previously expected to build the Pinnacle development, now described  in the resolution passed as having “not fulfilled its obligations and the responsibility reverts back to LC Main, LLC and LC White Plains, LLC” (Cappelli Enterprise operations). 

The resolution quietly passed Monday evening clears the way for a glitch-free opening of the Ritz-plex this fall without any affordable housing units opened.

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From County Board of Legislators. June 5, 2007:

 

Legislation Passed

 

Additional Enforcement Power to County’s Human Rights Commission

Expanded penalties include allowing: the imposition of punitive damages up to $10,000 in “willful, wanton or malicious” discrimination cases; the Commission’s Executive Director to impose civil penalties in cases the Director initiates; the assessment of civil penalties between $50,000 and $100,000, payable to the county, for serious cases of housing discrimination; a successful complainant to recover costs of pursuing a discrimination complaint.

 

Plumbing and Electrical Licensing Boards

Clarified: that the county’s Plumbing and Electrical Licensing Boards can continue to assess monetary fines against individuals or entities that violate the county’s licensing laws but the licensing boards have no authority regarding criminal matters other than to refer them to the district attorney’s office.

The legislation also gave the Board of Plumbing Examiners the authority to grant reciprocal licenses to plumbers licensed outside of Westchester. Current law already gives the Electrical Licensing Board the authority to grant reciprocal licenses.

 

Health and Dental Care for Westchester, Putnam and Rockland Residents with HIV/AIDS

Using a federal grant of $273,940, the County Board authorized that the county contract with Westchester Medical Center to provide primary and oral health care services for Westchester, Putnam and Rockland residents with HIV/AIDS for the period from March 1, 2007 through Feb. 29, 2008.

 

Yorktown Community Center Lease

County Board approved 5-year lease (no cost to county) for space in the Yorktown Community Center to be used as a satellite office for Department of Senior Programs and Services. 

 

Amendment to the County Pay Plan

The County Board approved an amendment to the County Pay Plan proposed by the County Executive that deleted and added certain titles and changed compensation for several positions. The total cost of the amendment is $105,471, funds already included in departments’ 2007 budget. 

 

Mortgage Tax Receipts

County Board approved the semi-annual distribution to cities, towns and villages of mortgage taxes that amounted to over $35 million for the period from October 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007.

 

Bond Acts Approved

• $3.1 million to upgrade the central heating plant at the Valhalla campus (Public Works)


• $500,000 to replace obsolete computer equipment (Dept of Information Technology)


• $1.2 million to upgrade desktop and laptop computers  (Dept of Information Technology)

Resolutions Passed

 

Indian Point License Renewal (16-0)

Entergy Corporation’s license to operate Indian Point 2 and 3 expire in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Entergy Corporation has asked the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew its license to operate the plants for another twenty years. The County Board’s resolution supports federal legislation (HR 2162-Nuclear Power Licensing Act of 2007) that would mandate that the criteria for a license renewal be the same as that required for a new plant.

 

Board of Legislators Staffing (16-0)

The resolution passed affirmed that as a legislative body, all BOL staff fall within the unclassified service category of the NYS Civil Service Law; deleted some staff titles; added titles that reflected current positions; adjusted salary levels for some titles; and, directed that the relevant county departments immediately effectuate the changes called for in the resolution.

 

Appointments approved to Westchester County Advisory Boards:

 

Women’s Advisory Board

×                       Judith Schwartz (White Plains) reappointed

 

Refuse Disposal District #1 Advisory Board

×                       Peter Ligouri (Greenburgh) reappointed as a town representative

×                       Rocco Circosta (Ossining) reappointed

×                       James W. Finch, Jr. (Mount Vernon) reappointed

 

Human Rights Commission

×                       Paul Ryan (Buchanan) reappointed

 

Fire Advisory Board

×                       David P. Klaus (Yorktown) reappointed

 

Hispanic Advisory Board

×                       Robin A. Bikkal (White Plains), reappointed as a member and chair

×                       Fernando Serratto (Ossining)

 

Domestic Violence Council

×                       Patricia Brimais (Chestnut Ridge)

×                       James Hoffnagle (Hastings-on-Hudson), as a representative from the County Probation Department

 

Citizen’s Consumer Advisory Council

×                       Paul Ryan (Ardsley), as Retail Food Merchant Representative

 

African American Advisory Board

×                       Claudett J. Stothart (White Plains)

 

 

For additional background information on any of the above items, please contact Betsy DeSoye at (914) 995-3277.

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WPCNR PHOTO OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR Roving Photographter. June 5, 2007: As indicated by rather obscure signage last week, the Longview Avenue and Maple Avenue municipal parking lot which serves the Dickstein Center and White Plains Hospital Center closed Monday, signaling the beginning of constructing a 5-story, 657-space parking facility to serve the Kensington Senior Assisted Living project and White Plains Hospital Center, about to begin construction on Maple Avenue and Cromwell Place.

Commissioner of Parking Albert Moroni said, “Our plan from the start was for those folks who have permits to park in the Chester Maple garage. We reconfigured some of the spots in Chester Maple and took away some of the meter spaces and created more permit spots. The only other options for daily commuter types is The Galleria-Lexington West Garage. (4 long blocks away), On any given day, there are 800 spaces available.”

Longview Maple Municipal Lot yesterday.

Photo by the WPCNR Roving Photographer.

 

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. June 5, 2007 UPDATED 1:45 AM WITH CAPPELLI STATEMENT ADDED: The Common Council unanimously indicated they were not in favor of granting Louis Cappelli Exclusive rights to develop the Train Station area for a hotel and three office buildings. After three hours and fifteen minutes, and the council indicating they would vote down the Exclusivity Agreement the Super Developer had spent an hour explaining the advantages to the city of such an agreement, Mr. Cappelli asked the council not to take a formal vote. He said he wanted “to withdraw and go silently into the night,” and said he realized the project, Station Square, was “not right.”  The council, under the leadership of Rita Malmud agreed to withdraw the resolution and not take a formal vote.  Mr. Cappelli stopped just short of saying, he was withdrawing the project altogether.

Louis Cappelli at 12:15 AM this morning, contritely asking the council to not vote, that he wished to withdraw his proposal for an exclusivity agreement after the Council unanimously indicated they would not grant the Exclusvity Agreement with Ms. Malmud even saying “White Plains is not ready for this project.”  The Super Developer delivered a 55 minute presentation promising $3 Million in studies and analysis to help the city decide what can be built on the train station site.  He pointed to the money (approximately $200 Million) a similar Exclusivity Agreement he has with the City of Yonkers has brought to that city. The council heard 26 speakers, with residents of Battle Hill decidedly for the project, and about 13 against the Exclusivity Agreement. Mr. Cappelli at this point in the evening asked to “withdraw quietly into the night”.

Cappelli said he respected all the comments of the 26 persons who spoke. Councilman Arnold Bernstein, Councilman Glenn Hockley, Council President Malmud, and Councilman Benjamin Boykin all said they had received the most e-mail from citizens on the Station Square project of any issue they had ever encountered, most of it against the concept of granting Mr. Cappelli exclusivity rights.

Mayor Delfino grumpily told the council he wished they had indicated they were not happy with the project when it was first shown to them six weeks ago.

North Street Community Waits Some More.

In other action, the council continued again the North Street Community hearing because certain documents were not completed, and that all information had to be in to inform the neighbors, moving the hearing to the July meeting. It was unusual since North Street Community, it was widely believed expected to have approval this evening.

Dump fine Sketchy.

The city also approved complying to a Order of Consent with the Department of Environmental Conservation regarding the longstanding toxic contamination of the City dump, without explaining the terms of the consent order, but the Mayor did say the city has an outstanding relationship with the DEC. The city according to sketchy backup material has to pay $2,000 of an undisclosed amount the DEC proposes as a fine. That amount was not made public by the city even though asked by WPCNR what the total amount was. According to the backup material,  “the Order on Consent maintains that certain pollutants were discovered at the site during the course of investigations, and that further investigation is required to fully define and delineate the horizontal and vertical extent of contamination, and assesses a civil penalty requiring the City now to pay Two thousand dollars, suspending the remainder pending compliance with the proposed Order on Consent, ” with no further explanation.

The Cappelli Statement follows:

Rita Malmud, President of the Common Council, in her statement said Mr. Cappelli had focused her attention on an area of the city she had not thought of before, but said that the comments she received from residents on the issue indicated that the residents of the city wanted their “suburban-city,” remain more “suburban,” than “city.” Malmud said she wanted the council to focus on their own personal visions of the city, saying,

“I would like to see what strategies or policies or plannings the seven members of our White Plains government can discuss for an attractive inviting prosperous suburban environment in our city as inevitable change creeps or ushes towards us. White Plains is not ready now to sign off on any legislation commiting us to what is a longterm, expensive and expansive new direction.We need to think more before we act.”

After this from Ms. Malmud,  followed by Councilmen Boykin, Hockley and Bernstein also voicing their opposition, Mr. Cappelli asked to speak. The Mayor granted him the floor and Mr. Cappelli all but withdrew his Station Square proposal, saying,

“First of all, I’d like to address my comments to the people in the audience and the people on camera. If it’s one thing I’ve learned through ten years of development it’s to listen. I absolutely have learned how to listen.To wit, being so fortunate to have some success in some of these cities, the last thing I want to be is the cause of devisiveness. The last thing I want to do is to come forth with a proposal that causes people to have a controversy, because it just doesn’t make sense any more. We’ve worked very hard, everybody here, the council and everybody in the City of White Plains. We’ve worked very very hard to do what we think is good for White Plains, the City Center and the Ritz-Carlton.

I’ve also learned how also to read the tea leaves, and at the end of the day I would really prefer to go silently into the night and preserve my otherwise perfect record with the City of White Plains.

I appreciate every comment that I’ve heard from everybody here. I obviously wasn’t that good a salesman. I do believe everything I said. I do have tremendous passion for what’s happening in the city, in fact, I’m moving my headquarters here. I do respect highly everything I’ve heard from everybody here. And this suggestion, this proposal we have is obviously not right. It’s clearly not right. While there’s been many many pro speakers tonight, here that have been for this, and appreciate all that, and I appreciate all the people who are not for it. I respectfully, to Councilman Malmud, would like to withdraw and go silently into the night the resolution that you have on the floor to vote.

At the end of the day, I’ve heard everybody’s comments. I don’t need the formality of the vote, to know that this proposal while well thought about and passionate on our part is also equally passionate on your part. My preference would be to withdraw this resolution, not come back and ask for it in a different fashion. Simply let the process take its course.”

He seemed to leave the door open to the possibilities of tweaking the project with this reference:

“If something we’ve done here have caused focus to be on this train station project and has caused you to be able to figure out if there’s another way to do this, or if you want to do it at all, then the money that we spent was well spent. It will be my pleasure to have spent it in the furtherance of the City of White Plains.”

 

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WPCNR THE DAILY BAILEY. News Comment by John F. Bailey. June 4, 2007: WHEW! This was a close one for the Common Council. They were really squirming. I love to watch politicians squirm, don’t you? But as so often happens they were saved in the nick of time of having to make a decision. 

Thanks to Reckson/SL Green, the Common Council has been given a golden opportunity to throw out the Exclusivity Agreement, last item on tonight’s Common Council agenda, that Louis Cappelli, the Super Developer, was trying to get them to award him to negotiate for the city-owned land around the train station to build Station Square.

Reckson/SL Green came out of nowhere by sending the Mayor and Common Council a letter by e-mail Friday, saying, they have a plan for the station. It’s like President Nixon saying in 1968, “I have a plan to end the (Vietnam) war,” remember that one? He ended it all right five years later.

Man, this opens up a can of worms.

The letter raises a lot of questions. Was the delivery of the letter to the city Friday, the first time the Mayor had heard of the Reckson interest?  An SL Green spokesperson said the Mayor was informed in a private meeting Thursday. 

 When did Reckson first approach the city about their interest, saying, “hey, hold on, we’re interested?” Did they phone the Mayor May 11? Did they phone Paul Wood just after May 10? Did they call the Councilmembers after May 10? How long has SL Green been discussing it? Reckson/SL Green has had 21 days to jump in the game.

If the Mayor was approached by Reckson/SL Green right after the Station Square Proposal was made public May 10, then why did the Mayor push the Exclusivity Agreement, with his name on it? If Reckson just decided to fire off a letter Friday without advance notice, as The Journal News reports, then the Mayor is in the clear. If Reckson had talked to the Mayor prior to May 24 when the matter came before the Council, and the Mayor did not reveal this, well, that’s showing bias towards the Cappelli proposal.

The last minute nature of this from Reckson – though they have known about the proposal since May 10, raises the remote possibility:  Did friends of the Common Council arrange to have the letter written giving them an excuse to kill the Exclusivity Agreement because they were taking such heat for it? Of course not, no way, right? Reckson/SL Green could not allow themselves to be used this way.

WPCNR has learned this letter was sent to Councilpersons by E-Mail on Friday, and an SL Green spokesperson believes his company told the Mayor in a private meeting of their feelings about developing the station Thursday, the day before.

But if Reckson/SL Green wanted to get in the game…why did they not say so May 23?

The very fact that Reckson/SL Green did not raise their protest publicly before the May 24 vote on the Exclusivity Agreement when the council mysteriously voted to table it, rather than kill it outright then, is mystifying.

If Reckson/SL Green, having been turned down once with a proposal for the station area on Bank Street, wanted to do something as soon as Louis Cappelli went public, why did they not say, “hey, wait a minute,” before the May 24 Common Council meeting, when the Exclusivity Agreement hung on Benjamin Boykin’s vote, according to our sources.

Did the Common Council know something was coming from Reckson, and that is why they tabled it?

When did the Common Council know, and  when did they know it?

Was this another setup?

A letter of convenience for the Common Council.

Nonetheless, the Council could not have been happier to get this letter. They are off the hook and can climb on their sanctimonious soapboxes and claim they listen to the public tonight.

Councilman Glen Hockley was thrown a lifeline by this letter. The man who loved this proposal May 10, now says, perhaps sensing and hearing drums in the jungle in the Southend of town, tells the press he doesn’t want to rush into exclusive agreements and is quoted as saying the only answer is competition.  Competition? In White Plains? What a concept!

What is Reckson proposing to bring to the table? That station area has been rotting and blighting the city for year. In fact, Reckson’s vision for the municipal parking lot on Bank Street when it sent out RFPs for that property last summer, was rejected by the city in favor of the LCOR affordable housing project. The city approved the LCOR vision for that site at their last Special Meeting in a bum’s rush.

Thanks, says the Common Council, We Needed That.

The Common Council has been thrown a lifeline, too, giving them the excuse to hold off on the Exclusivity Agreement or just say “no.” That buys them some a lot of credibility with the gullible public who want desperately to believe the council represents them in the worst way and are not just prevaricators, rubber stamps, and Six Blind Mice, and a member of the Cappelli Enterprises Board of Directors.

It’s amazing how the Council always manages to throw the people a bone of intelligence now and then. This may be one of those times again. Be sure and tune in for Common Council Theater tonight and rate the actors as they read their lines. The Common Council performances tonight will be more entrys in Hollywood’s Newest Awards Extravagance: “The Delfinos”. Members of the Council will be up for “Most Believable Performance by a Lying Official” this evening.

Last week, WPCNR was told of an unknown developer to the area interested in developing the site, in addition to Reckson. And over the weekend Reckson says they want to develop it. But, hey, where has Reckson been the last 7 years? Have they noticed the building boom? Glad they spotted it last week morning before it was too late. They develop one building, 360 Hamilton, and say they started the boom? Give me a break. Did they call the Mayor when they heard of this proposal? And when did they call him?

The 100 Story WPCNR WHITE PLAINS WORLD Building

Home of the Quarropas Moon Casino Hotel & CondoEstates World Terminal

But I have decided that it is time to announce my plans for the station area, too.

 I got together with the WPCNR Editorial Board and mega investors and they have said that we have to take a serious look at the site for a headquarters for WPCNR

Yes, the rumors are true!

The media empire of the CitizeNetReporter – is looking for a new headquarters for our growing media empire with 10,000 Daily Visitors to our website, has a proposal that we are working on with several world class architects and we are thinking about bringing in some major Las Vegas players and oriental investors into the mix, and I’ve told my people to call Disney’s people.

We should have a preliminary proposal in about a month with a posh downtown casino hotel and condominium convention center and sports complex called Quarropas Moon with an underground train station plus a 1,500 foot stylized 21^st Century landmark: The WPCNR WHITE PLAINS WORLD globe – based on the design of the classic Daily Planet Building,  topping the complex.

A one of a kind facility, unlike any other in the world, Quarropas Moon Casino Condo Hacienda & Officio will feature a sports arena sitting 20,000 for hockey, basketball, soccer, and softball and convention space. It will be WI-FI-ed, wired, YouTubed, Interneted.

 On an upper level, a state-of-communications meeting complex home to WPCNR, Aviation Monthly and SuburbanStreet.com and home to another worldwide news organization  with floors that rotate, showing residents and guests, different views of all the metropolitan area. The complex will soar 100 stories with a round crystal glass globe, recalling the Unisphere of the World’s Fair of 1964, and the classic Daily Planet Building. 

The tasteful blue mooted hue of the WPCNR WHITE PLAINS WORLD globe rotating nightly over the City Within a Park will have sex with the twin beacons of the Ritz-Carlton 50 stories below and to the East. The globe will also house the Quarropas Moon over Westchester World Class Gourmet Buffet a rotating restaurant unlike any in the world and White Plains will have it.  

The restaurant within it will be showcasing views of the tri-state On a clear day you can see New Rochelle and look down on the Ritz-Carlton 50 stories below.

There will not be four buildings but one everything building – true multi-use with 20% of offices leased as “affordable office space” and 30% of residences for “affordable housing,” in return for purchase of city land for $1. We’ll even tuck in City Hall, Glen.

And my renderings will show 44% Hispanic, 27% Black and 37% white people in the drawings, hopefully the drawing the enthusiastic endorsement of the Gannett Editorial Board.  After all any building has to be politically correct in the rendering before approval.

The White Plains Air Rights Exchange.

The complex will also be home to a new commodities exchange WPCNR has been approached to start: the White Plains Air Rights Exchange where air is bought and sold on speculation of future development of adjacent properties nationally and worldwide.

 And, did we forget to mention the concept of Showcase Retail: a Mall showcasing new retail ventures from around the world and a complete trading floor for the White Plains Air Rights Exchange: a new market trading in air rights worldwide, where investors can buy and trade air futures.

It’s ambitious. It is my vision and I believe in it. Financing details will come later. Just give me a week to line up my IDA and financing from my oriental and Canadian banks, and my unlimited letter of credit.

Please give me a coupla weeks and we’ll crank out the design for you, zoning kosher, too. I don’t want Reckson to squeeze me out.

Where does this leave the Super Developer?

 

In not a very good mood, because the Super Developer, the visionary and creator of Station Square predicted this is exactly what would happen if he was not granted the Exclusivity Agreement to negotiate with the city. On the other hand, he could offer to partner with Reckson/SL Green, let them do the office space and he will get the far more attractive Hotel-Condominium property anyway.

Or perhaps the city sells Reckson the City Hall/Municipal garage and they agree to build a City Hall.

 

We may need the White Plains Air Rights Exchange sooner than we think.