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 WHITE PLAINS WIRED. By John F. Bailey with Technical Assistance from Don Hughes.  April 4, 2007: The White Plains Cable Television Access Commission deadlocked last night 2-2 when they were asked to approve the proposed Franchise Agreement between Verizon and the City of White Plains introduced two weeks ago. However, three of the four members attending learned to their surprise that whether or not they had questions or reservations about the agreement,  their input would not be considered. The deal had already been decided according to the Chair of the Commission, Dr.  Valiere Alcena.

White Plains Cable Television Access Commission meeting Tuesday evening on the Verizon proposed franchise agreement.

 

 Though  four members of the Cable Commission  present all were in favor of another company coming in to compete with Cablevision in the White Plains market, Mary Ann Keenan and Milogros Lecuona  said they had many questions to be answered to determine if the $250,000 tech support upfront, $1 a subscriber  paid each month for 15 years (approximately $228,000 to $240,000 a year, and 5% of Gross Revenues agreement was the best arrangement White plains could negotiate. Lecuona had numerous questions. Keenan said $250,000 technical support for the White Plains Public Access studios did not seem enough compared to the $800,000 the city received from Cablevision in cablevision’s recently expired franchise agreement with White Plains.

 

Dr. Valiere Alcena, (left) Chairing the meeting with Jim Kenny, (right) Executive Director of the White Plains Public Access Television studios.

James Kenny, the Executive Director of White Plains Public Access Television said it was the best agreement negotiated by any community in New York State.

Dr. Alcena, recently appointed chair of the commission, said the moneys from the $250,000 would be used to upgrade the station equipment to digital technology, and to build new studios. He did not say when this was expected to take place.  He said he though Verizon proposed franchise agreement was a very good deal.

$228,000 Plus to Come to Cable After $250G grant ends.

Kenny told the gathering that the $1 a subscriber monthly fee for  the 20,000 White Plains wired households would result in $228,000 a year for the cable television station, expected to develop meaningful dollar numbers after about three years (allowing time for Verizon to acquire subscribers). He said it would be significant money replacing the $250,000 technical grant beginning in the fourth year of the agreement.

WPCNR notes, on reading the agreement, that this would however depend upon the city allocating most, if not all the subscriber money to the station. The agreement as written does not specify that the $1 Verizon payment for each subscriber a month is required to be plowed back into cable television. It goes into the general fund, according to city Corporation Counsel Edward Dunphy at a public introduction of the agreement two weeks ago.  Dr. Alcena said City Chief Financial Officer, Gina Cuneo-Harwood said that cable television could have “whatever they need.”

No time for answers from legal 

As Ms. Lecuona  and Ms. Keenan peppered Dr. Alcena and Mr. Kenny with questions, Alcena became defensive,  and said that there was not time to answer questions and make changes in the agreement because the city might lose the deal due to Federal Communications 90 day rule that required the agreement to go into effect as is. Kenny pointed out the option that Verizon has of applying to the state asking for the present deal that Cablevision has previously, by which Cablevision pays 38 cents per subscriber, Kenny later said. But, they are no longer paying that having already paid out $800,000 over the 10 years of their contract, plus their 5% of gross revenues. 

Kenny said the state is also preparing legislation that would negotiate a one-size-fits-all deal for each public access operation franchise in the state. Verizon, through a spokesperson told WPCNR, the company opposes this deal. Kenny also advised the city did not want to be stuck with a deal negotiated by the state.

A Dawning

After an hour an a half of discussion, and questions from the “studio audience,” this frank talk about a time limit on the part of Dr. Alcena and Mr. Kenny, shook up Ms. Keenan and Ms. Lecuonos who came to  the realization they were not going to be able to make changes in the agreement. Thanks to a recording of the next dramatic moments made by Don Hughes, WPCNR is able to bring you this real life drama of government in action:

Dr. Alcena: (explaining the agreement):We gain some stuff. We lose some stuff.

Ms. Keenan: You’re saying there’s no —

Alcena,(interrupting): This is it. This is the deal.

 Keenan: You got that from on high?

Alcena: Yes this is it

Keenan: So we’ve wasted our time tonight

Alcena: No, because it has to be presented to you.

Keenan: (Shouting) Yes…definitely!

Alcena:  Mrs. Keenan, you’ve been in government a long time You know there is a process. (Unintelligible, conflicting voices) We lose some points, we gain some points. It’s not a perfect document. But this is the deal. Like it or not, this is the deal that was made. The lawyers for Verizon agreed to. Our lawyers agreed to. (Unintelligible)This is the facts. This is what the Verizon lawyers negotiated with us. This is what the lawyers for the city negotiated for us. This is what the Mayor agreed to. We are going through the process but this is it. I don’t want to say something that’s not real.

Keenan: Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, I wish you would add  to whatever statement you’re going to make — the fact  that this group, if their opinion — and we can only give an opinion and we have no legal authority to vote up down or sideways — (on the agreement)  but if the opinion that we (the Cable Commission)  have was valued at all, we should have been shown the courtesy three months ago, that’s not over two years, to have a meeting with our attorney to tell us about — to ask us  to give us the document and say is there anything here  that you think ought to be looked at? Then we would have had an opportunity to say yes. And then we would have a month or two to have them come back to us and say you can or you can’t or what. That is the only kind of thing that makes this kind of meeting (tonight’s) sensible. And we didn’t do it.”

Alcena: Except from what I know of it, this was done at the very last moment. There was tough hard nosed negotiations… There was a lot going on in the background that I don’t know anything about… This was the deal that was negotiated…(Unintelligible, voices override) You’ve been in government, you know sometimes things are done behind closed doors, sometimes at 12 o’clock.

Keenan: That doesn’t mean we have to agree with it.

Alcena: I’m not saying you have to agree with it. I agree with it. You’re sort of like half way, half for it or not for it. Your points are very well taken. It’s going to the Common Council tomorrow night for a public hearing. By the 26^th or whatever is the council (not clear) … The mayor has already commented on it in the newspaper, agreeing with it. The Mayor will not turn it down.

Keenan: Dr. Alcena, all I can say is, why didn’t you call us, and say, look, I’m sending you an agreement. This is what has been agreed to and this is it. Why didn’t you do that?

Alcena: The commission still has the right to go through this.

Keenan:) But For what? For what?

Alcena: This is the process.

(Then Dr. Alcena called the vote.)

 

Keenan: I am for another company in the city of White Plains. I am not necessarily for this franchise agreement.

(Laura Pinson, the only other member present voted for the agreement. Lecuona said she had too many questions, but was for competition in the city in cable television )

Alcena: 2 are for it, 2 are modified..

Keenan: Modified is not really the word

Keenan (summing up): We could get all the information in the world if we sat here for another 15 months  it wouldn’t matter that is the point.

Alcena: I agree with you.

It was asked by another member of the Commission, if the cable commission voted it down, if it would affect the agreement, Alcina said, “I doubt it.”

Present Status:

The promise of  as much as $228,000 to $240,000 a year in the $1 a subscriber income (split between subscribers Verizon’s FiOS-Tv signs up and Cablevision’s subscribers, is contingent on Cablevision agreeing to the same deal as Verizon has just done, which remains to be seen. Cablevision may comment at this evening’s public hearing.

Should Cablevision agree to a similar deal, they too may give the cable access television station $250,000 over 3 years in tech support, too. 

Councilman Dennis Power, in attendance, said he did not know the 90-day deadline date the council was working against by which the city has to accept or decline or modify the negotiated agreement.

Who gets free service?

During the course of the evening leading up to the realization that the White Plains Public Access Cable Commission had no real say in the matter, Mrs. Keenan  raised the issue of who determined that certain churches, organizations, institutions and private schools in White Plains would receive free Verizon FiOS TV service as part of the agreement. Mr. Kenny said this was determined by what buildings and institutions  currently received free cable from Cablevision.

 

According to the Verizon  draft agreement, in addition to city and public-owned buildings, those institutions to receive free FiOS TV, are: Stepinac High School,  Our Lady of Sorrows School,  Calvary Church, and Good Counsel Schools.  Kenny advised Ms. Keenan that was still an open issue and that if they wanted to discuss it they would have to go into executive session.

Asked by Keenan when it was decided those institutions had been singled out for free cable from Cablevision in the past, Kenny did not know the answer to that question.

300 Days time frame to Hook Up Public Access?

It was also questioned why it would take ten months for Verizon to provide Mr. and Mrs. White Plains with Public Access Television channels 75,76 and 77.

According to the agreement, Verizon promises one station to be available in six months from the date of the agreement being approved, another station in and the third station within 10 months.  Kenny explained that is still one of the open issues.

 

Members of the White Plains Cable Television Access Commission  attending the meeting were: Dr. Valiere Alcena, Mary Ann Keenan, Milagros Lecuona, and Laura Pinson. Absent according to membership roles on the city website were Reverend Lester Cousin, Reverend Everett Parker, and John Taddei. There are two positions vacant.

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WPCNR’S ELIOT SPITZER’S ALBANY. By Governor Eliot Spitzer. April 3, 2007: This weekend, the New York legislature passed a budget that achieves the goals we have all strived toward: health care funding to give all children in New York State health insurance; aid for the schools that most desperately need it; relief from the high property taxes that are burdening working families; and resources to help our communities continue to grow and prosper. While the battle was not won easily, it produced many great outcomes for the people of this state. Many newspapers across the state have been supportive, but most notable are today’s editorial pages of The New York Times and New York Daily News.

Both recognize that one of my top priorities as governor has been to expand health coverage for New Yorkers, while establishing smart financial practices that will ensure our health care system’s stability in years to come. The enacted budget expands the current Child Health Plus program to cover 400,000 uninsured children, growth the Times explains “expands health insurance in ways that could make New York a leader in the nation.” The budget also makes sure that Medicaid dollars follow Medicaid patients, while fulfilling my commitment to bring the growth in Medicaid costs under control. The budget also provides an historic level of investment in our schools–an increase of $7 billion in education aid, hailed as an “education bonanza” by the Daily News. The new funding will be targeted to districts most in need, with all districts receiving an increase of at least 3 percent. This aid will be tied closely to accountability: school districts will have to show that the funds they receive are producing measurable improvements in the learning environments of students. Special attention and funding will be given to preschool and prekindergarten, and the cap on charter schools will be raised. I know that our parents, teachers and students will rise to the challenges set before them, and make the most of this historic investment. We have also made great strides in easing the tax burden on the families of New York State, while providing funding for growth in our state’s hardest-hit communities. The budget provides $1.3 billion in property tax relief targeted toward middle-class homeowners, and is only the first phase of a three-year plan to provide over $5 billion in tax relief to New York’s families. Also, a greater number of distressed cities, towns, and villages will receive increases in aid to drive economic development or investments in technology. Businesses of all sizes will also be helped by substantial targeted tax relief, benefiting thousands of companies across industries throughout New York State. These changes will spur development, help our small businesses, and once again make New York a great place to live and work. What we have accomplished here in New York–and that we’ve accomplished on time–is no small feat. Nothing we have done would have been possible without the empowerment of the people of our great state.

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WPNCR STAGE DOOR. By John F. Bailey. April 1, 2007: WPCNR has learned according to a highly reliable source, that the White Plains Performing Arts Center has hired a highly credentialed new Executive Producer, Jack Batman, a Tony-nominated  associate producer (for Enchanted April for Best Play and 2 Outer Critics Circle Awards in 2003). He has also produced 12 professional ice show extravanganzas for Olympic and Figure Skating Champions as well as numerous New York City productions Mr. Batman is now scheduling the WPPAC’s 2007-2008 season. Mr. Batman has informed friends and associates that he has been appointed the new Executive Producer of the WPPAC.

 The new appointment is a new direction for  the troubled WPPAC which has been producing children’s shows the four months of the spring season, with no major production,  in anticipation of a new $1,000,000 fundraising drive, recently announced, to right the WPPAC ship and send it in a new direction.

WPCNR is attempting to confirm this appointment.

Mr Batman is currently hard at work co-producing Gayfest NYC  with Bruce Robert Harris to be staged at the TBG Arts Center in New York May 9 to June 2, described as the “premier festival of new works by LGBT authors and gay-friendly subject matter.”  Sponsors of Gayfest include HSBC Bank, Bud Light, RockStar energy drink, Coughlin Insurance, DG Neary Real Estate, Sutter Home Vineyards, Theatermania.com, Where New York, IN New York magazine, Back Stage, HX, The New York Blade, Next magazine, MetroSource.   Gayfest chose its works from more than 175 plays and musicals.

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WPCNR CITY HALL PERSON-TO-PERSON. March 29, 2007: Paul Wood, City Executive Officer, has answered some of WPCNR’s questions about yesterday’s landmark LCOR Bank Street project and the purchase of 4 Cromwell Place.

 

Paul Wood, City Executive Officer. WPCNR News Archive

Mr. Wood assured WPCNR the Urban Renewl Agency has not issued any bonds: “The Agency did not approve bonds. It only added a paragraph that permits expenses back to this date to be covered by bonds if they are ever issued.”

On what fees would be charged on any bonds issued for the project by the Urban Renewal Agency, Wood wrote: “We do not know what fees would be charged as we do not know the scope of the bond or the costs we will be incurring at this time.

On the possibility of PILOTS for the LCOR Project, Wood said it was too soon to know: “We can’t answer whether LCOR will get a PILOT. If we get the state legislation to do a New York City-like 80/20 project, there will be no PILOT. There would only be a PILOT if they use an IDA.

On the potential of the LCOR Urban Renewal Agency offer of a “helping hand” to upgrade and possibly finance other projects around town by declaring them urban renewal areas in places like South Lexington Avenue and East Post Road, Wood said, “Whether we do this in other areas of the City? It depends on the projects and the need.”

Mr. Wood reconstructed how LCOR and the city arrived at the $15.5 Million price for the land that the new apartment towers will be built: “We do not have to pay LCOR to build the Parking spaces. The land value without providing us with parking was $20.5 Million. The parking will cost them about $5 Million to construct, the purchase prices is $15.5 Million. Why would we reduce the price and then pay them for parking. The cost of the parking is a credit against the total purchase price, so the net purchase price is $15.5 Million.”

On the White Plains Hospital Center share of paying for construction of the new garage in connection with the Sunrise Senior Living project, Wood issued this statement: “White Plains Hospital will pay the full pro rata share of the cost for the construction of the parking spaces they will be leasing and they will pay their full pro rata share of the operating and maintenance costs for those spaces.”:

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. March 28, 2007: The White Plains City School District, despite frequent statements at public meetings over the last few years, did not inform the City Safe Housing Task Force of any possible locations where overcrowded housing existed in the city in the entire year 2006, or in the first three months of 2007.

 

School representatives say at Council of Neighborhood Association meetings, particularly, have said that they cooperate with the city and share information to identify possible single family homes, rented out in violation of zoing, and thus,  containing multiple families,  based on school records of names and addresses of children attending White Plains schools. This may have been done in the past, but not in at the last 15 months.

Patti Cantu, President of the Battle Hill Association, prompted by the recent deaths of children in a Bronx home March 8, sent an e-mail to the Superintendent of Schools and Safe Housing Task Force, asking “How does the White Plains City School District notify the Safe Housing Task Force of a list of addresses that may be of concern with too many children residing in dwellings?”

 

Ms. Cantu, contacted by WPCNR in a routine follow-up call, said she received an answer from the Superintendent of Schools reporting that no lists of possibly overcrowded homes were sent to the task force in all of 2006 and 2007.

 

Ms. Cantu told WPCNR today, “I don’t care who is illegal, as far as we are concerned the issue is safety. I don’t know what he reports. None were reported (by the school district to the Safe Housing Task Force) in 2006 or in 2007, according to his e-maill.  Many other municipalities’ computer systems are in sync with their school district computers. Our city and school district are not. They are not working jointly to attack this problem (of overcrowding).”

 

Ms. Cantu and her neighbors on Battle Hill have assembled a list of approximately 50 or more dwellings committing alleged violations of parking, litter, and assorted quality of life issues,  and possible overcrowding for the Safe Housing Task Force to take action on. She is attempting to have a meeting with Damon Amadeo, the Acting Building Commissioner, to discuss the list and develop a plan of action.

 

In a related development last week, Damon Amadeo, the Acting Building Commissioner discussed addition of another building inspector for the Building Department, which Battle Hill Association and Councilman Glen Hockley have been encouraging. Amadeo said most violatons that the Safe Housing Task Force investigates are uncovered by police responding  to locations, who report alleged unsafe conditions to the fire department and the building inspectors who go in and analyze the premises for violations. Amadeo said the city does not put families out on the street, but follows up with the landlord.  He said that there would be some night hours and stepped-up inspections at odd hours.

 

 

Glen Hockley, the Councilman took issue with Amadeo on the intensity of the enforcement. Mayor Delfino defended the Safe Housing Task Force, on the grounds that “are we perfect, no, we’ll never be perfect.”

 

 

WPCNR asked Amadeo how many overcrowded dwellings had been discovered by the SHTF in the last year, and how many violations of code at residences had been documented by  the Safe Housing Task Force in the last year. Amadeo said he did not have those figures available and I would have to get them from the police.

 

A month or more ago, WPCNR asked Glen Hockley, the councilman for a report card on the Safe Housing Task Force activities: overcrowded residences cited, their current fates, and violations of code. To date, Mr. Hockley has apparently not been able to obtain such a performance report.