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 STAGE DOOR. From Allan Gruet. May 27, 2007: The schmaltzy, blockbuster musical Gypsy, one of the greatest all-time book shows ever produced on the Broadway Stage, opens this week at Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford for a summer run. David Merrick and Leland Howard presented the original production, starring the one and only Ethel Merman as Mama Rose, along with Jack Klugman as Herbie, and Sandra Church as Louise.

WBT is very proud to star KAREN MASON as MAMA ROSE in our production of GYPSY. Karen has starred on Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, and recording.  When it comes to singing she has few peers with her amazing voice that knows no bounds. She is a nine-time MAC Award winner and has won the MAC Award for Major Female Vocalist of the Year for six consecutive years. She also won the 2006 Nightlife Award for Major Female Vocalist and three Bistro Awards. Ms Mason originated the role of Tanya on Broadway in Abba’s Mamma Mia!, and was awarded a 2002 Drama Desk nomination as Best Actress.

 The Musical opened on Broadway in May of 1959, immediately becoming an over-whelming smash hit. It ran 702 performances, closing in late March of 1961. Although it was selling out and could have continued its run, Ms. Merman was beginning to tire, and the producers decided to make available what zest she still had for her role to audiences in other cities. Merman, along with most of the original company, toured with the production for eight months.

Later, a second company toured additional cities for another seven months. In 1962 Gypsy was released as major film starring Rosalind Russell, Karl Malden and Natalie Wood. There have been three major stage revivals over the years starring Angela Lansbury (1974), Tyne Daly (1989), and Bernadette Peters (2003). Television produced there own version of Gypsy with Bette Midler(1993), and this summer City Center Encores will present Patti Lupone in the title role, with the librettist, Arthur Laurents at the helm as director.

In addition to the superb book, the show has a wonderful score by the great Jule Styne and the brilliant lyricist, Stephen Sondheim. There isn’t enough paper to sing the praises of these two musical giants, because their contributions to the Broadway musical are so enormous. Every song seems so familiar, many of which have been popularized by famous recording stars. Some of the most familiar songs are “Some People,” “Small World,”  “You’ll never Get Away From Me,” “If Mama Was Married,” “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “Together, Wherever We Go,” and the show’s anthem “Rose’s Turn.” As if this isn’t enough…..add Jerome Robbins, yet another theatre genius, as director/choreographer and there couldn’t be a more perfect mix.

The story takes us on a trip across the length and breadth of our country, visiting the seamy back stages of tank town theatres during the 1920’s when vaudeville was dying out, to the beginnings of  burlesque. Arthur Laurents’ riveting dramatic libretto tells the penetrating story of one of the most frightening aspects of show business: the ultimate stage mother embodied by Mama Rose, who relentlessly drives her two daughters, June and Louise around the vaudeville circuit, keeping their noses to the grindstone until one of them becomes a star.

WBT’S production of GYPSY will star Karen Mason (Mama Rose). Also starring Rick Hilsabeck (Herbie), Kelli Barrett (Louise),  featuring Sarah Peak (June), Inga Ballard (Mazeppa), KatherineKendall (Electra), Ann-Ngaire Martin (Tessie), & Jordan Nichols (Tulsa). Local children, Kayla Vanderbilt (Baby June) and Alexandra Bradsell (Young Louise). They will be double cast (TBA).

The production will be directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford, associate director Jonathan Stahl, musical direction by John Daniels.  Set design by George Puello & Steven Loftus, costume design by Gail Baldoni, lighting design by Andrew Gmoser, wig & hair design by Gerard Kelly and sound design by Jonathan Hatton.

 Ms. Mason, the lead, has played Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, which she performed to critical acclaim and ovations on Broadway and Los Angeles for three years; Mazeppa in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Rosalie in Carnival (another Drama Desk nomination); plus featured roles in Torch Song Trilogy and Play Me a country Song.

Karen also won the Outer Critics Circle Award for her performances in And the World Goes ‘Round and starred Off-Broadway in her own show Karen Mason Sings Broadway, Beatles and Brian. Karen has numerous regional theatre credits and she has headlined in major concert halls and supper clubs in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles & San Francisco.

Ms. Mason has shared concert stages with such stars as Luciano Pavarotti, Rosemary Clooney, Liza Minelli, Michael Feinstein, Jerry Herman, John Kander & Fred Ebb among others. She has performed throughout the country with major orchestras, and has many CD recordings.

Opening Night is May 31. For information, go to www.broadwaytheatre.com

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WPCNR SIZZLER. From Westchester County Department of Health. May 27, 2007: Memorial Day, the unofficial first day of summer, is here and what would Memorial Day be without a barbecue?  While no one wants to rain on that parade, the Westchester County Department of Health is reminding residents that barbecue season is also peak season for food poisoning.

“The number of bacterial food poisoning cases from E. Coli  and salmonella rise in the summer months,” said Dr. Joshua Lipsman, Commissioner of Health for Westchester County.  “The warm weather causes food to spoil more quickly and it is easy to get lax with food hygiene precautions when cooking outdoors.”

The Westchester County Health Department is offering the following guidelines to residents for safe barbecuing and picnicking this summer:

• Remember to thaw meat and poultry slowly in the refrigerator or under cold running water before cooking. Microwave defrosting is acceptable if the meat will be cooked immediately afterwards.


• Harmful bacteria usually grow in the “danger zone” between 40° and 140° F, so keep meat and poultry in the refrigerator until you are ready to throw it on the grill. Marinate it in the refrigerator too. If you want to use additional marinade as a sauce be sure to boil it first to kill the bacteria, or set a portion of it aside so it does not come into contact with raw meat.

• Precooking in the oven or microwave can reduce time at the grill but only precook immediately before finishing on the grill.  Never partially grill meat or poultry and finish cooking later.


• When transporting food to another location, use a cooler with ice to keep it at 40°F or below.  Everything should stay chilled until immediately before it will be cooked or consumed. Keep the cooler out of the direct sun and avoid opening the lid too often. It helps to keep beverages in a separate cooler.


• As always, cleanliness is essential to prevent foodborne illness. Wash hands, surfaces and utensils frequently with soap and water or antiseptic wipes.


• Never use the same plate, cutting board and utensils for cooked food that you used for raw meats and poultry. Bacteria in the juices of raw meat and poultry can contaminate safely cooked food.


• Meat and poultry cooked on a grill browns very quickly but may not be cooked inside. Always use a food thermometer to be sure the food has reached a safe internal temperature.  In the case of whole poultry this should be 180°F in the middle.  Hamburgers and pork chops should reach 160°F throughout. Beef, veal, and lamb chops can be cooked to 145°F.


• After cooking, keep meat and poultry at 140°F or warmer until eaten. If fully cooked meats like hot dogs need to be reheated, grill them to 165°F.


• Refrigerate any hot or cold leftovers promptly in shallow containers. Discard any food that is left out for more than two hours after cooking, or one hour if temperature is above 90°F.
  
  

Residents are urged to follow these safety tips to make sure E. Coli and Salmonella do not become uninvited guests at your barbecue or picnic this summer.

For more information, please call the Westchester County Department of Health at (914) 813-5000 or visit the Health Department website at www.westchestergov.com/health.

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL-CHRONICLE EXAMINER. May 26, 2007: The President of the White Plains Common Council, in a statement sent to the six other Common Council members and shared with WPCNR acknowledged today that she was told in April  of the Louis Cappelli Station Plaza mega complex proposed for the White Plains Metro North station district before it was publicly presented to the council in the May 10 work session.

White Plains Common Council President Rita Malmud: Admits she knew about Station Square in April, but does not give a specific date.

The model of Station Square on the site of the White Plains Transit Center, Parking Garage. In the foreground is The Galleria. Ms. Malmud Admits She Knew About It All the Way.

In Malmud’s statement, she defends to other Common Council members the policy of  not voting the Exclusivity Agreement outright Thursday evening, because doing so would have prematurely killed the Exclusivity option without the public being afforded the chance to hear about it in the more widely viewed forum of the regularly scheduled monthly Council meeting June 4.

. Ms. Malmud’s statement:

” Last month I was apprised of the Capelli organization’s proposal to develop Station Plaza.  At that time I received no written documents and never received anything in writing until the Council Work Session (May 10) where the notebook of photos and drawings were distributed.   I received the proposed Exclusivity Agreement last Tuesday (May 22).

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WPCNR Common Council-Chronicle Examiner. By John F. Bailey. May 25, 2007:  Councilman Benjamin Boykin told WPCNR Friday morning, that he and several other Councilpersons had seen the drawings of Louis Cappelli’s giant Station Square project, including learning of the need for an Exclusivity Agreement to negotiate with the city,  about six weeks before the May 10 Work Session when Cappelli formally presented it to the Common Council.

Louis Cappelli presenting Station Square on May 10. Council appeared very surprised and stunned by the presentation. But they shouldn’t have been. Five of the 6 saw drawings 6 to 10 weeks prior according to Paul Wood, City Executive Officer, and Councilman Benjamin Boykin.

Paul Wood, City Executive Officer released a statement to WPCNR unsolicited today stating emphatically that all members of the Council with the exception of Dennis Power had been shown the drawings on the proposal two months before May 10. This is the second time the Council has done this to us, Wood says in the statement, feigning ignorance and surprise when a critical item is put forward for a vote.

 Boykin told WPCNR this morning that after seeing the drawings sometime between March 10 and April 10, he was receptive to the Exclusivity Agreement,  but he did not receive a copy of the Exclusivity Agreement until Tuesday evening, 48 hours before Thursday evening’s vote.

Boykin advised WPCNR Friday morning that he was one of those council people who had seen the drawings in late March to early April. Boykin did not recall the date. He did not recall the other councilmen who had seen “the drawings.”

Asked by WPCNR why the Council, if they had known about the proposal for the better part of two months, would not have voted down the Exclusivity Resolution outright Thursday evening, rather than taking the tabling action, Boykin said he wanted the full proposal aired in public at the June 4 meeting when the Exclusivity Resolution would be explained in public by Cappelli executives.

Actually, the council had the opportunity to have that very explanation Thursday evening on live television for the public to see, but the Mayor prevented Mark Weingarten, the well-known Cappelli attorney,  and Bruce Berg, Louis Cappelli’s aide-de-camp,  from stepping to the podium to speak on the Exclusivity Agreement for some reason.

Boykin said the reason he was prepared to vote against the Exclusivity Agreement last night was that he had not seen the text of the Exclusivity Resolution until Tuesday night. The original presentation was made to the council May 10.  Boykin also said the Exclusivity Agreement had the effect of committing the council to the project.

Asked if the Council would demand a monetary fee for the Exclusivity favor to Mr. Cappelli, Boykin did not say. It is also not known why, if the council was not prepared to vote on it, why the Council President Rita Malmud would allow it to be placed on the agenda

Paul Wood detailed the sequence of the birth of the Station Square project in this statement released to WPCNR today:

In the interest the record John, I offer the following:

Louis Cappelli approached the administration a few months ago (6 months) to discuss some concepts regarding the train station, office development, and some city-owned parcels in that section of town.

A couple of months ago, (March 10 to April 10) Louis presented his plan to the Mayor and administration officials and asked for feedback.  The plan was then subsequently shown to each Council Member none of whom voiced any opposition to the “concept,” but all agreed that the proposal would face much more scrutiny should the plan move forward.  The only Council Member not to view the proposal was Dennis Power, who declined an invitation from the Mayor’s Office to do so, prior to Mr. Cappelli’s presentation at the work session. (May 10)

It was Mr. Cappelli, not the administration, who asked that the matter be put on for a vote on May 24.  We acted on his request and the council “tabled” the item, thus halting any discussion and preventing Mr. Cappelli’s representatives from discussing the issues related to it, at that meeting.

Let’s be clear, the Mayor in his Economic Development Plans Two and Three had already articulated a vision for this section of the downtown, one very similar to the Cappelli proposal.  But the City was not actively seeking to market the city-owned parcels at this time.

Mr. Cappelli had a very creative idea regarding this section of the City, coupled that with the realities of the office market at this time and brought a unique proposal to the City.  No other developers have approached the City in recent history regarding the city-owned parcels in question.  Mr. Cappelli, asked the City simply to give him a period of time (in this case seven months) to protect his “intellectual property,” or creative vision for the area, by not acting to move on the parcels in question.

It seemed a fair proposal.  Why would any developer with a creative vision and the track record of completion that he has had in White Plains, spend several hundred thousand dollars to develop the vision into a concrete proposal only to have someone else highjack the idea and offer the City something else.

Again, the City was NOT actively engaged in marketing the parcels at this time.  In order for the City to do so, it would require the City to go to the expense of undertaking studies, appraisals, and other preparatory work in order to develop a concrete proposal for the area.

Mr. Cappelli did show his proposal to the executive board of the Battle Hill Association at meeting earlier this week.  The representatives of the Association were very receptive and open to the idea, especially to the new train station that would be included in the plan.

In any case, the proposal was not being “rushed” in any way by the administration and the “exclusivity agreement” had nothing to do with approving the resulting project.  It only would have enabled the developer to refine his creative vision into a concrete proposal without the fear of the idea being “ripped off” by someone else for seven months.  At the end of that period he would return with a plan that the Mayor and Council could accept and work with or reject.

I also need to defend the administration which is attacked routinely as being engaged in “secret” negotiations and “springing” things upon the  Council.  The Council was informed of Mr. Cappelli’s idea shortly after the administration became aware of it, and was briefed on it. 

This is the second time in recent months when the Council was involved in the development of a proposal (the other being the most recent New York Hospital proposal for parkland)  at nearly the same time as the administration.  In both cases, the Mayor was then left out of discussions the council members then subsequently had before the issues were brought to the floor.

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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2007. May 25, 2007: Marc Pollitzer, the perpetual activist turned activism into action Thursday, when he opened up his campaign for the Common Council with Robert Levine and Robert Stackpole by inviting all of White Plains to his North Street Area Civic Association Annual Meeting June 20, from 7:30 to all hours for citizens to hear four community leaders on the future of White Plains. The meeting will be at Ridgeway School in White Plains and the topic will be When Did We Lose White Plains and How Do We Get It Back? 

Marc Pollitzer, longtime addessor of the Common Council — sponsors communitywide meeting June 20 to galvanize the issues.

The Civic Association meeting will feature his running mates, Robert Stackpole and Robert Levine,  and Dr. Saul Yanofsky, former Superintendent of Schools and former Planning Commissioner Mike Graessle. The four speakers will address four issues facing the city:  Fiscal Responsibility (Stackpole), Protecting Our Neighborhoods (Graessle), City/School Interdependence (Yanofsky), and Comprehensive Planning (Levine).

Citzens Plan Committee, January 13, 2005 — at a town meeting at Ridgeway School when the “CPC” first energized, attracting some 200 persons to a meeting on “Where is White Plains Headed.” Dr. Saul Yanofsky is seen addressing the throng, while John Kilpatrick, Mike Graessle and Robert Stackpole, (left to right) look on. Photo, WPCNR News Archive.

The “Big 4” city personalities Pollitzer has put together for the panel created the Citizens Plan Committee in 2004 that drove city to reexamine its 1997 Comprehensive Plan, but were not given a hand in being part of the Mayor’s panel that wrote the review of the 1997 Comprehensive Plan.

Pollitzer writes in the flyer advertising the meeting: “We encourage all residents in the North Street community to attend this annual meeting.The preservation of the residential character of our neighborhood, which drew us all here, is dependent upon our show of concern and support. Be an activist in protecting the value of your property and the quality of life in our community.”