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 THE DAILY BAILEY.  News & Comment By John F. Bailey. June 20, 2007: The Journal News trolley shuttle story in White Plains in this morning’s edition, in which the City of White Plains is seriously considering spending $840,000 a year to run a downtown shuttle, (as reported by WPCNR last week) spending $242,000 of a government grant to buy three buses, after spending $200,000 of taxpayer dollars for a study gives a clue as to how the city might to pay for it.

This is astounding. The BID, which is poised to pounce on an additional $1 Million in assessments when the BID expands which should be happening shortly given the lack of opposition, has been hoping to expand its operations bringing more amenities, street sweepers, full-time paid ambassadors, and advertising banners to the downtown. What they apparently did not know was they are going to pay for the shuttle.

However, we now have a good idea of how the city might pay for that shuttle. They could pick the BID’s pockets under the guise of saying the shuttle will improve BID members’ business in the downtown, and take that $1 Million assessment and apply some of it towards the shuttle, if not all of it . Isn’t it a coincidence that as soon as the BID draws closer to expanding and getting its hands on $1 Million, the city suddenly gets this trolley study and in a lightning round applies for Nita Lowey’s grant? How convenient.

Why don’t we see these things coming?  It is found money. The shuttle routes conveniently move persons through the new BID area to be added, so it is very justifiable. 

But is anybody thinking in City Hall? Is anybody thinking on the Common Council?

The study done at a cost of $200,000 on the shuttle  never went to the populace and the neighborhoods to ask what kind of shuttle would they be willing to use. They asked office parks how many of their population would use it, and that number came in at 25%. The study described shuttles in Chattanooga, Denver, and Alabama. Now what is significant about the Denver shuttle is their shuttles go from huge parking lots outside of town into the city, and run every 5 minutes and every 75 seconds during rush hour.

That is not what is proposed in White Plains. The interval in White Plains is  10 and 15 minutes on the shuttle routes proposed. Hello? I can walk from the train station into downtown in 15 minutes rather than stand there waiting for a shuttle to arrive. We’re paying $200,000 for this “expertise.” Whoever picked these people to do a study? You cannot recommend something that does not fit a “successful” model.

 The study should have looked into The Town of Huntington NY, where a 16-fleet shuttle costs the Town of Huntington about $2,011,000 a year loss. $2 million! And, that is with$472,000 in government assistance.

Consider the isolated Southender

 Often I have wanted to get into town without a car. I have to take the No 5 bus, which runs once an hour on the North Street loop into the transcenter. It would be great if the city fanned shuttles out down Mamaroneck Avenue to the White Plains border, deployed them out Post Road and over to Central Avenue and the office parks to bring persons into the downtown without cars.

Do any of the White Plains proposed routes go out of the downtown? No.  People in the outlying neighborhoods will still be taking cars into town to the train station. The recommendations don’t have any basis for expecting success. A shuttle sounds good and it will make money for somebody, but it may cost BID merchants and we taxpayers a bundle every year. Who gets the franchise is the question. Not to mention the infrastructure.

Besides, with the shuttles stopping on downtown streets, even if you did not have the perpetual construction delays, you’re going to have traffic blockage, tying up traffic even more – unless they pull into the cutouts.  Where’s the thinking here? For this we paid $200,000. 

The city deserved better. But if you go on the study, this shuttle does not make sense. The routes don’t stop often enough. They don’t serve wide enough areas, they do not move people from one end of the city to the other.

But, you watch the BID is going to pay for this. Something they did not tell the merchants, and the merchants did not even think about when the expansion plan was advanced. This may be why Mr. Ammirato expressed uncharacteristic concerns about the shuttle costing too much. He feels a city grope coming on.

And what about Andy’s AirLINK?

Now, the county started a shuttle to the airport this week with no advance advertising. Now the astute transit reporter for Gannettt, Caren Halbfinger, pointed out today the county has only advertised AirLink on the radio.  The county is going to spend $690,000 of taxpayer’s money to run this service then evaluate it, she writes.

Wait a minute: did not the county think of doing an Andy Spano phone call to every family in Westchester – telling them about AirLink? Was somebody asleep in communications? Come on. He could have done that, rather than buying radio time.

Could ads be put in the airport, as Ms. Halbfinger points out, there are none.  40 persons rode AirLink Monday the first day. That is less than the 13 an hour the White Plains study says will ride the proposed White Plains shuttles. What is going on here?  There is also no place to park to drive your car to the train station and take AirLINK, since long term spaces are taken in the White Plains Transit Center garage. It has no shot at working without satellite parking for the AirLINK patrons. Gee, I should have charged the county $100,000 for that piece of advice.

This sounds like Andy is spending $690,000 to show that a shuttle won’t work to prove he needs a new parking lot at the airport.

Overheard at the virtual reporter’s bar, “The Front Page”

For those who do not know of it, “The Front Page” is  the virtual bar where the rat dog reporters hangout in fedoras and askew ties, smoking Luckys and nursing bourbon and soda in the wee hours by “Typos” the bartender, who looks a little like Joe the Bartender. Oysters and Finanhaddy are served to all hours. Teletypes line the wall–UPI, AP, clattering away like the old days. The tables are makeshift copy desks with candlestick phones. Smith Corona Typewriters are on the desks to rap out ideas. Your tabs are put on spikes. The coffee is black and really bitter. The glamorous sob sisters in Hedda Hopper pillbox hats, legs discreetly crossed, in tight tailored suits, draw the drooping eyeballs of hardbitten newsdogs. The dames who dig for dirt are looking for a reporter to light their cigarettes. The talk there last night went like this…

Speaking of checks – for something completely different, is city hall in White Plains going to have a news conference complete with Peter Gilpatrick holding up a big blown up check with the Mayor when LCOR presents its $6,000,000 check to pay for half the commuter parking lot down on Bank Street, needed by the city before June 30 to balance the city budget – just a suggestion.

Considering the heroine Probation Officers who assisted in apprehension of robbery suspect on South Kensico Avenue storage facility, how about using the Patriot Act powers to search all commercial storage properties for contraband, weapons, storage of illegal drugs, stolen goods, fencing operations? I bet the police would find a lot of interesting goodies in those facilities. Are they used for selling drugs, for example? Meeting places to sell drugs? And stolen property? Let’s use the Patriot Act Powers for good.

And, if White Plains Hospital Medical Center is so well run, why is it losing $4.5 Million a year as one of their executives stated on television on Common Council Television June 4? Remember, they closed St. Agnes and Port Chester’s United for losing similar amounts. And now, the hospital has to expand its emergency room to cope with the increased traffic from defunct St. Agnes and United. If anything the hospital should be experiencing a windfall from the closing of those two hospitals.

And, how long does it take the DEC to clean up a contaminated, toxic dump? 32 years and counting. The dragging the feet on cleaning up the White Plains City Dump is unbelievable. The DEC more and more is showing that it appears to be a government funded employment program for scientists rather than an organization with teeth. It covers up for communities, is not interested when violations are reported such as the sewage leaks into Silver Lake, and tries to downplay situations, and allows communities to cover up embarrassing situations, because that’s what’s going on in White Plains. And how about announcing the total fine by the way? What is City Hall afraid of? What is galling is the contamination has been known about for years and no bureaucrats in the DEC forced White Plains to clean it up.

Oh…and Typos the Bartender wants to know why the School District is not going to release its “Action Plans” for the School’s next decase as part of its Strategic Planning until next fall.  The public doesn’t know on what the action plans are going to take action (like maybe the budget?)….or what. What a way to involve the community, especially when most of the persons on these action committees are school district personnel. How can they be objective? How can they be trusted to make hard decisions on the biggest drain on taxpayers in the city…the school district.

Typos also whispered to me that there is big time confusion on how many petitions for office you can sign. A Board of Elections type said one petition is all  a registered voter can sign. The head of the Democratic Party said you could sign one petition for three candidates. The election law says you can sign three. Shame on the Board of Elections and the Democratic Party for not promulgating the rules so no one candidate can spread false signing rules. That is a disgrace. In the Board of Elections doesn’t know and those Board of Election chairs are getting $100 Gs a year and more to know that — then they should be ousted… 

More from “The Front Page” to come.

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WPCNR Police Gazette. By John F. Bailey June 19, 2007: The stabbing at Delfino Park  two days ago on Saturday night was reported on News 12, but few details emerged. A helicopter was reported circling overhead. White Plains police said they called in the Harrison Police who assisted in clearing the area after the stabbing of an adult male that happened after a day long barbecue staged by a barbershop owner on Lake Street, had ended according to police. The White Plains Police investigation to apprehend the attacker is continuing. Persons with knowledge of the incident are urged to contact the police, 422-6111.

News reports said in sketchy descriptions that hundreds of people ran from the park after the stabbing which White Plains Police said happened at 8 PM Saturday night.  

Harrison Police received a hotline call from the White Plains Police as an advisory, according to Deputy Police Commissioner Daniel Jackson, speaking to WPCNR today. A Harrison Police spokesperson could not pinpoint when they received the call because it was not in the Harrison computer, according to Lieutenant Schuck of the Harrison Police. Schuck confirmed that HPD units were dispatched and “stood by.” She said the sergeant who responded was away for a few days and she had no other details of Harrison Police involvement, and suggested WPCNR talk to the White Plains Police about the scope of the situation.

Melissa Lopez referred WPCNR to the White Plains Police. Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety, Daniel Jackson furnished this report moments ago on the situation Saturday evening:

It was a community bbq with a permit issued by the Recreation Dept. Approximately 350 people in attendance.

No arrests (in the stabbing) as of yet, the investigation is ongoing.  The victim is Andrew Holt, 39 years old. The stabbing took place at 8 PM

We are not aware of the Mayor or any Council Members being present at the time of the incident.

Harrison was notified in case they got spillover into their jurisdiction from the park as people left. They assisted in getting the people out of the area.

Again, there were officers in the park at the time of the incident. Mounted officers.

Commissioner Jackson reported no other arrests in relation to the festivities.

City Hall’s Lopez said the party was not a political event sponsored by the Mayor.

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WPCNR THE DEVELOPER NEWS. From The Avalon. June 19, 2007:  On Tuesday, June 26, at 11:30am, AvalonBay Communities will break ground on its first apartment building in White Plains, Avalon White Plains.   A ceremony celebrating the ground breaking will be held at the community site at 27-29 Barker Avenue in the City of White Plains and will be attended by local elected officials and community leaders as well as executives of AvalonBay Communities.

Avalon Bay ‘s 348 apartments in the 14-story apartment wings,  viewed from intersection of Church and Barker looking North North West. Photo, WPCNR News Archive. 

Avalon Bay rendered viewed from Church Street looking South.  Mr. Jordan said that nothing has changed essentially from what was approved with 45 townhouses (shown above on the North side of the complex looking towards Main Street and  348 apartment units planned to be built on the 6 story town houses filling the square block of the parking lot. Photo, WPCNR News Archive.

Manhattanites fly in for a check out of the Avalon Bay Apartments site at the Church Street and Barker Avenue Intersection, seen in background in upper left of photo. Photo, WPCNR News Archive.

The beautiful new community will feature 393 luxury apartment homes, consisting of studios, one, two, and three-bedroom floor plans in a fourteen story tower and townhouses. 

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. June 18, 2007:  White Plains Eighth Grade Math Students passed at a rate of 71% on the 8^th Grade State Math Assessment, but they only needed to earn 55% of the 69 points on the exam to pass the 8^th grade test. ( To pass  the 8^th grader had to achieve a raw score of 38 of 69 points).

Raw Score to get a 650 Scale Score (Passing) on the 8th Grade 2007 Math Assessment is 38 points out of 69 points.

The average  math Scale Score of White Plains Eighth Graders has  also declined though from 726 for 2005 Eighth Graders to 664 for 2007 Eighth Graders. A Mean Score of 650 is passing. This drop raises the question of whether more White Plains students are passing by a narrower margin.

A total of 71% of WP Eight Graders passed the tests given in March 2007. But,  60% of the  those were in the critical Level 3 bracket, and 11.4% achieved the Level 4 category, (about even with years past). 

A 13% improvement in test scores, would indicate the district has a preponderance of eighth graders entering high school next year with what may be a borderline passing knowledge of math.

The Rest of the story

Examining the test scoring grids on the New York State Education Department website, show that the Department’s news release this week reporting that “improvement is notable in middle school, from grades 5-8. This year 73 percent of students across grades 3-8 achieved the math standards, compared to 66 percent last year,” does not tell the whole story.  The release does not make clear students to “pass” had to answer only enough questions correctly to earn 55% of the total point value on the tests.

The State Education Department assigns a Scale Score of 650  for the magic 38 point level (38 points earned by answering enough multiple choice questions correctly to earn 38 out of 69 points).

More revealing of just how many White Plains students entering high school are performing at the C minus, D and D minus levels of passing is the mean score: 664 for the entire eighth grade. The Passing Mean Score is 650.  Tom Dunn of the State Education Department Media Relations Department said the  Mean score on the assessment scores is the average score, not the median. The SED explains that Level 3 students could be expected to score between 65 and 85 on the Regents exams.

If you went to school in the 1950s and you scored 38 points out of 69 points on a test, (the 650 Passing Score) you got a 55 – a D-minus – or an F.

The 2007 breakdown.

The White Plains breakdown of students (by score) scoring above 38 points on the 2007 8^th grade state math test show of 517 Eighth Graders taking the test, 306 scored in Level 3, and 59 scored in Level 4. Level 2 (below 38 points of 69 points) showed 117 students at that level; and in Level 1, 35. The breakdown of scores on those students at various levels and the distribution of students by actual score  has never been made public by the State Education Department or been presented by the White Plains schools.

The 55% standard is constant through the 2007 testing levels by grade.

A total of 71% of White Plains seventh graders “passed” the 7^th Grade 2007 Math Test. To “pass” a seventh grader had to answer enough questions to score 28 points out of a possible 50 points—55% .

White Plains sixth graders passed at a rate of 66%. Sixth graders, to “pass” needed to rack up 27 of 49 points  (55%) on their test.

In fifth grade, 73% of White Plains students passed. They needed to score 26 of 46 points on their test to pass (56%).

In 4^th Grade, where 75% of White Plains students “passed,” the youngsters needed to total 39 points of 70 points to reach the Level 3 Passing plateau – 56%.

In 3^rd grade, 24 points out of  39 points, or 60% was required for passing.

The test score grids are available for viewing at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/ela-math/home.shtml

Percentages for Passing Slightly Higher in 2006

In 2006, when tests were administered in similar format, but passing percentages slightly higher (producing more borderline failures), the standards were as follows:

8^th Graders to Pass: Needed 38 of 68 points (56%)   (58% of White Plains Students Passed)

7^th Graders to Pass: 28 of 47 points (60%)                   (59% of White Plains Students Passed)

6^th Graders to Pass:  28 of 49 points (57%)                  (53% of White Plains Students passed)

5^th Graders to Pass: 27 of 46 points (59%)                   (61% of White Plains Students Passed)

4^th Graders to Pass: 40 of 70 points (57%)                   (75% of White Plains Students Passed)

3^rd Graders to Pass: 25 of 39 points (64%)                  (83% of White Plains Students Passed)

Slightly Different Year to Year at Some Levels

In looking at these differing passing levels from 2006 to 2007 you see some differences that could help scores:

The passing grade difference is almost 5% points higher in third grade in 2006 than it was this year – accounting for virtually all the White Plains third grade improvement (77% to 83%)

In 4^th grade in 2006, you needed 57% of points compared to 56% in 2007 to pass, and White Plains held its own.

In 5^th grade in 2006, a student needed 59% of the points to pass. In 2007, this standard was dropped to 56% — a 4% drop – accounting for 4% of White Plains 12% increase, so there is definitely improvement in performance there – or perhaps, just perhaps, more students were bumped up from borderline failing to borderline passing. Without a breakdown of where the scores fall within a bracket, you cannot tell.

In 6^th grade in 2006, 57% of the points were needed to pass, and this year 55% was needed. The White Plains improvement was up, 66% to 53%, which could mean there are more borderline passing students than you’d like to see.

In the 2006 7^th grade, 59% of points were needed to pass, and 59% of White Plains students passed This year 57% was needed and 70% of White Plains students passed, but by lowering the percentage needed to pass by 2%– this could also mean there are a lot of borderline passers in that percentage of increase.

Those seventh graders in 2006 were eighth graders taking the 2007 tests, and 71% of them passed. In eighth grade last year the passing percentage of points was 56%.  This year’s passing percentage was 55%. The whopping increase could be due to the efforts of the White Plains faculty, which we would love to think, or a very significant number of borderline passers at the 55% rate, or a combination of both slightly lower passing and better teaching.

What does it mean?

To read the state’s assessment news release, the state teachers and school districts are turning the corner. Telling us about 73% passing is impressive. But it is how and where you set the passing mark that is a big part of that story.

The 71% figure of eighth grade math passing students is sobering. Though improving, this means that 29% of students entering high school are failing math. They know slightly less than half the knowledge.

Is there a highly significant percentage of the 71% who passed, possessing math skills at the C-D and F levels since they are allowed to pass by getting only 55% of the possible points? The Level Four cut score is about 85%, (or 58 points of 69) equivalent to a B. What is not revealed in the 2006 Report Card (the 2007 is not out yet), is the distribution of scores within the two passing levels three and four.

Mean Score down since 2005

In 2005, White Plains middle schools had only 12% scoring in the Level 4 category, and 52% scoring in the Level 3 (55% or more points). The figures are not broken down so you cannot tell how many scored in the higher end of the Level 3 category or where the preponderance of students scored which would be revealing. The mean score among White Plains Eighth Graders  on the Math Test in 2005 was 726

In 2007, two years later, the mean score has plunged to 664. Does this mean what it appears to mean: that we are passing more students into high school with a half-knowledge of math? Are more students passing because we are passing more students by borderline margin? Is the state marking on a curve that produces a false positive that makes for good statistics and press releases but students who are numbers challenged?

Tom Dunn of the State Education Department media relations told WPCNR that the 2007 test was deemed rigorous and not “dumbed down” at all by math analysts who reviewed the tests.  

Asked if the State Education Department breaks down the spread of how many students scored in 10 point spreads or other incremental score spreads, across the Level 3 and 4 levels, Dunn said the State did not show that on their website, but that school districts could provide that information.

White Plains schools do not.

Statistics made public by the school district since WPCNR has been covering the assessments  (2000) have always been based on the percentage of students passing on grade levels on the assessments, not by how much students are passing by. The district does not break down for the public how many students scored at specific raw score levels and mean score levels. Such statistics would indicate whether the district was passing going away, or just passing.

A way to tell this would be if White Plains would release the numbers of students passing by raw score.

The district has never provided that breakdown.

The State Education Department does not so either. Mr. Dunn of the State Education Department, said that kind of breakdown is not made available on the School Report Cards. He did say that individual school districts could do that. WPCNR is not advocating names of students be used, just the number of students scoring 38 points, 39 points, 45 points, etc., that would be an interesting snapshot.

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WPCNR COURTSIDE. From Melissa Lopez, City of White Plains. June 18, 2007: The White Plains Youth Bureau, whose mission is to provide children and youth with effective development programs for their early life, will accept a $25,000 grant from the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Tennis & Education Foundation this afternoon at a news conference to be held on the steps of City Hall at 3:30 PM.  The Bureau will use the funds to help area youth develop their physical and emotional health through the game of tennis. Scheduled to appear are Mayor Joseph Delfino, Frank Willaims, Executive Director of the city’s Youth Bureau to receive the grant from Karen Eliezer, Executive Director , United States Tennis Association Tennis & Education Foundation.