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 GRASSROOTS GAZETTE. By John F. Bailey. January 16, 2006: The ghost of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. walked among us this morning at Crowne Plaza Hotel in the living words of Raphael Peacock and the Reverend W. Darin Moore.

 

 

From the moment Raphael Peacock delivered the spine-tingling words of the “I Have a Dream Speech” the very ghost of  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to begin the Thomas H. Slater Center  13^th Annual Unity Breakfast,  the call to arms of Dr. Martin Luther King gripped  tthe over 200 persons celebrating the legacy of “The Twentieth Century’s Greatest Leader,” as Reverend Moore was to call him. Reverend Moore, with fist clinched, makes a powerful point and members of the audience begin to rise, clapping. Photo, WPCNR News.

Rafael Peacock recreated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous speech to begin the celebration. His rendering was so real, this reporter believed it was a recording. Photo, WPCNR News.

 

A clarion call to  “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”  was worthily delivered by a speaker recalling Dr. King’s oratory power by  the Reverend W. Darin Moore of the Greater Centennial AME Zion Church, of Mt. Vernon.

 

Reverend Moore brought the “Who’s Who of White Plains” to their collective  feet  4 times with a keynote address that rolled through the ballroom like the elite Southern Crescent  Pullman Train on the old Southern Line. He picked up speed, pausing at stations for key personal laugh-filled anecdotes,  tempering his unflinching message with laughter and honesty,  prefacing his powerful messages, then he’d roll on picking up steam,  taking us to the next emotional level down the line. The smooth, mellow booming, impassioned voice shook chandeliers, entered spirits of all with the inspiration that Dr Martin Luther King stands for today.

 

He reenergized the challenge Dr. King presents to us for the future. Calling upon the community leaders in the audience, he praised them for being there today, saying “This morning reflects the best of humanity,” and prior to closing his speech, informed the 200 participants in the breakfast,  when leaving this hotel, “ you can turn White Plains upside down.”

 

Reverend Moore warmed up his audience with the ease of a Southern Line “Conductor,” warning that despite the gains since Dr. Martin Luther King’s time, he was disappointed that in America today, citing a poll he had heard of over the weekend, whites are satisfied with the level of diversity and opportunity today, while minorities are not so sure.

 

 

Reverend W. Darin Moore, being congratulated on his message. Photo, WPCNR News.

 

“It is still a tale of two cities, despite education access and more opportunities,” as he engaged the issue.  Dr. King, he said, made America “see first-hand” the racism that existed 50 years ago, and there are still “on-going vestiges of racism in the United States. Race does matter.” Moore warned the nation had become complacent, there was more to be done  to bridge “the great division that exists in this country.”

 

He prefaced his speech with the story of hotel guests who were offered a great suite on the 24^th floor, but had to walk up 24 flights of stairs to get to the suite. To make his point said that for champions of minority causes  to be complacent now, “we have left the key in the lobby.”

 

He said Dr. King has become “acceptable” today, but reminded his audience King was “ostracized and excoriated “ during his time as a “radical,” and that we need to remember to keep that “agitation” of his.

 

He reminded the audience of Dr. King’s own stated mission: “to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”

 

He told the enrapt that King had a dual aspect of his message, “to challenge institutional racism, and challenge the system that has the deck stacked against the person of color.” Moore said the minority community needs affirmative action to make a difference:  “It is time for the deck to be stacked against those who stacked the deck.”

 

He implored the listeners to intervene where they do not see diversity or see children falling behind. “You can’t be lazy. You can’t be satisfied. You can’t say I raised mine. All of the children are ours.” (This brought one of four jump-to-your-feet-clapping ovations.)

 

As the speaker of last year at this very breakfast did, Reverend Moore heaped scorn on the culture of narcissism and pleasure afflicting both rich and pooer cultures today. Selecting suggestive lyrics from current rap star songs, he ridiculed the lines as messages of narcissism that waylay young and old. He ridiculed the attraction of “bling.”

 

 “You have to act right, think right, and speak right,” Moore said, (prompting another “lift-you-out-of-your chair” round of applause, as his voice rung above the applause.) “Some are not goin’ up in the club,” he paraphrased a pop rap star. “Some are goin up in the classroom to get an education. Some are going up in the boardroom and getting paid.”

 

Referring to the preoccupation with vehicles, he noted, “It’s not what you’re driving, it’s where you’re going while you’re driving.” (Another raucous ovation followed that statement.)

 

Noting the trend towards gated communities, he said that “homeboy” you are leaving behind will go over those walls if he is not paid attention to.

 

Motivating his audience of “movers and shakers” to action, he told the story of the mother gorilla who rescued a young human child from other gorillas in her compound and handed the human child back to its mother. The Reverend noted by implication, if a gorilla can do it you can do it.

 

Bringing in personal analogy, after analogy, the Reverend exhorted a renewed commitment to the King legacy. He referenced a game of checkers with his 13 year old son, and how with his son losing, his son told him, “If I can just get to King’s row, I can change the game.” Moore challenged his audience to get to that King’s row…Dr. King’s row to follow the example of the man he called “The Twentieth Century’s Greatest Leader,” because he said, Dr. King brought about worldwide change even though he led no government and had no army.

 

Moore concluded his speech with the rising excitement of an old time revival, saying once he got to “King’s Row,” he’d be talking with not only Dr. Martin Luther King, but great religious leaders and social leaders, and as he named each, “Talkin with Issac, and Abraham,” the applause grew louder. The entire house was his.

 

The audience was for the moment galvanized, struck with possibilities, which is what the Dr. Martin Luther King Unity Breakfast is all about.

 

In the stunned euphoria of what the future could be (a presence you could feel in the room), the breakfast ended quietly, solemnly. Because there was little left to say. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have told Reverend Moore, “pretty good, kid.”

 

Mayor Joseph Delfino embraced Reverend Moore after his talk, and gave a short talk about how he was profoundly moved by Moore’s speech and that he (Delfino) stays his course because he consults his conscience each night to see if he is doing the right thing. He encouraged the audience to follow the Reverend’s example.

 

Rabbi Lester Bronstein of Bet Am Shalom Synague followed with a Prayer of Peace, recalling how Rosa Parks, the heroine of  Birmingham was at his ordination as a Rabbi twenty years ago, offering a prayer that expressed the sentiment  “in turning to each other, we discover You.” (God).

 

 

Reverend Dr. Lester Cousin of the Calvary Baptist Church, White Plains stirred all souls with his signature song, “If I can just help somebody, my life will not have been in vain.” Photo, WPCNR NEWS

 

Reverend Virginia Sanders of the Allen AME Church of White Plains invoked the Lord for the Benediction, encouraging the audience to “Remember, Celebrate and Act.”

 

 

 

Heather Miller, Executive Director of the Slater Center welcomed the throng and introduced her daughter, Jo-Ann Enwezor, who performed a smooth and low-key performance as Mistress of Ceremonies. Dr. Bruce Golden, Chairman of the Thomas H. Slater Center Board of Directors recognized board members. Mrs. Rebecca Waller Bright sung America the Beautiful and the audience joined in with her on the hymn, Lift Every Voice. Photo, WPCNR News

 

After breakfast was served, INVEST Enrichment Program children read a tribute to Rosa Parks, and Praise Dance of Bethel Baptist Church performed.

 

It was announced by Ms. Miller that the Louis Cappelli Foundation had donated $10,000 to the Thomas H. Slater Center After School Program.

 

The event drew a number of celebrities: Assemblyman Adam Bradley, County Legislators Bill Ryan and Lois Bronz, the White Plains Common Council members,  Benjamin Boykin, Glen Hockley, Arnold Bernstein, and Thomas Roach; State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer.  The former Executive Director of Slater Center, Charlie Booth traveled from North Carolina to be there, Bruce Berg of Cappelli Enterprises was there, as were former Councilman Robert Ruger, former Commissioner of Planning Michael Graessle, realtor Nick Wolfe, and Ron Jackson was there, courtesy of the Crowne Plaza Hotel which by a special van pickup enabled Mr. Jackson to attend.

 

 I have left a number of persons out, but this gives you an idea who was there. Tables were sponsored by Bet Am Shalom Synagogue, Community Housing Management Corp., Community Unitarian Church, Congregation Kol Ami, Martin Luther King Center for Non-Violence, Memorial United Methodist Church, Mount Hope AME Zion Church, NAACP, the Rotary Club of White Plains, the Theodore Young Community Center, WESPAC and White Plains Beauticians.

 

Ms. Miller thanked the City of White Plains, the Community Development Fund, Verizon, the Cappelli Foundation, New York Life Foundation, United Way of Westchester/Pelham and the Rotary Club of White Plains for sponsoring the Thomas H. Slater Center.

 

It was a morning to remember, celebrate and act.

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WPCNR Daily Mirror. By John F. Bailey.  January 14, 2006:  I wrote this column in 2004. It still stands relevant today, for on Monday morning at 8 A.M. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains, the man, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be remembered. I am not that familiar with Dr. King’s life, but I do know that he, like other great men of America who have their days, Dr. King’s name stands for a value that America holds dear.

 George Washington stands for honesty.

 

Abraham Lincoln for freedom

 

Columbus for discovery,

 

Dr. King’s name stands for Opportunity.

 

 

When I think of Dr. King, I think of the Selma marches, I think of Birmingham, I think of Little Rock, Arkansas, where he lead the African-American community in demonstrations asking for the right of equal opportunity in America: a seat on a bus wherever they chose; a restaurant or hotel of their choice; the right to apply for a job without being turned down because you were black. Blatant in-your-face- discrimination was publicized by Dr. King and America was shown it was not right.

 

It took fearlessness to do that. Who today has that fearlessness that Dr. King and his followers showed all of America?

 

Today, subtle discrimination denying equal opportunity, and guaranteeing less opportunity are the evils that Dr. King, had he lived,  would be attacking today. 

 

When I write those sentences I just wrote, it seems incomprehensible to me that someone would deny another person that. When you think about it, it is an awful situation to think about. In the 36 years since Dr. King was murdered, the nation has come a long way in my opinion, in breaking down the visible barriers of racism based on creed and the color of one’s skin.

 

Today the barriers to Equal Opportunity are more subtle and just as effective.

 

Barriers still exist: in the classroom. There is reluctance to deliver quality education to the black and Hispanic populations in America today. The only reason there is a concentrated effort to do so are the state achievement tests which showed the shame of our education programs for minorities.

 

There is the perception that because your name and skin color are different, you automatically need help and are slow-tracked into remedial classes; the inclusion of the slower (read minority) children in one corner of a classroom so you can deal with the “problem children” all at once; the notion that it is all right to use millions of dollars meant for rebuilding poor performing schools with better buildings, better teachers, but is used to create educational  bureaucracies for the politically connected instead.

 

In the last ten years the products of this subtle unequal educational opportunity have been well documented and given a name: The Achievement Gap. The educational establishment invests millions in studies to fine solutions to it and they have learned a lot about it. It takes more School District heads to stand up and say like Dr. King, “we simply are not going to educate half the population any more.” 

 

The lagging behind of minority youth is blamed on the home and family breakdown. Well then you have to bring more attention to the family unit and those youngsters’ home environment, putting the education in there. It’s expensive but if you want to solve the Achievement Gap you have to do that.

 

The argument that you have to speak English in the schools and learn through English is  racial superiority. Of course you have to learn to speak English, but really, Bilingual education is how we English-speakers learn another language.

 

Why not have teachers educate children in their own language with English simultaneously? It is proven to work in Port Chester and New Rochelle. It is time to stop the subtle prejudice that we do not want non-English speaking children in our towns and schools because they are too hard to educate and will cost us money to do that. They are children, you simply cannot throw them away because they do not speak English.

 

This discrimination Dr. Martin Luther King would find hard to take. He would bristle at lowering standards for minorities, because he would see right through that argument, saying:  when are you going to raise the standards for my people because you don’t have to work any harder at educating them if you do not raise your expectations for them.

 

I think Dr. King would look around today and appreciate how Blacks and Whites, Hispanics and Jews, Catholics and Protestants, Muslims and  other races mingle together in today’s America.

 

I think he’d observe we are all becoming more appreciative and respectful of each other. But, I do not think he would like today’s buzz word :”diversity” and our smugness about our diversity.

 

He would say that’s nice, but let’s keep our eye on the prize, to borrow the wonderful motto of the White Plains Department of Public Safety, let us treat all with integrity, professionalism, respect, and to that add opportunity.

 

Now, let’s think how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would handle the present homeless situation in White Plains.

 

I believe Dr. Martin Luther King if he were in White Plains tomorrow would bring the homeless 30 spending short nights at 85 Court Street to breakfast with him.

 

He’d introduce the 30 men  being treated like cruel political pawns by our leaders this week.

 

He’d ask each  to tell their stories at that breakfast tomorrow. He’d prey for compassion from us the wealthy, the powerful and the decent, and the respectable to have compassion for the weak, the misdirected, the addicted and disturbed.

 

He’d ask White Plains leaders to accept the responsibility of leadership and by reaching out personally to the homeless to provide them meals and, perhaps jobs during the day, to welcome them in to White Plains somehow. To help them make a new start in White Plains in a firehouse, a church, or a vacant hospital. To challenge businesses to weave these persons into the fabric of the downtown, instead of telling them they are not welcome.

 

He’d challenge us  to step up our humanity,  as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did when no one else was.

 

He’d shame  the two governments, county and city, for not treating the homeless with simple human respect.

 

He’d ridicule the county decision to make homeless wait in damp, cold conditions up to a half hour or more for vans to drive them one block — apparently to keep the homeless, black, Hispanic and old — from offending the well-heeled diners at a posh restaurant next door to 85 Court Street.

 

Why cannot the homeless simply show up at DSS instead of vanning, Dr. King would ask?

 

He’d wither the geniuses at the Department of Social Services  with scorn for taking up to 30 minutes to unload vans, then  locking them into a gated compound with two bathrooms for 30 people, no food, no midnight snack,  no television, no showers; herding them in like cattle, and out like cattle at 6 in the morning when they have schedule. No one wonder, Dr. King would say, why a lot are too tired to function during the day.

 

He’d ask White Plains to rise up and forgive the persons with the prison records who have done their time,  and find jobs for them and through forgiveness, and respect for them,  melt away the homeless’s suspicion and resentment alleged by our “leaders.” 

 

As we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Monday. Ask ourselves what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would think of the way we have treated the homeless this week. What he would think about how we have “reached out.”

 

Would Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. approve?

 

 

He’d remind us that Jesus Christ chose to minister to the “hardcore” of his time. He went into their midst. He  healed them and made them fishers of men.

 

The way to honor Dr. King tomorrow is to honor the homeless, not humiliate them, not shun them.

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From Westchester County Department of Communications. January 13, 2006: Westchester County’s African American Advisory Board (AAAB) is looking for organizations interested in joining a new coalition that will work to improve the lives of African Americans throughout the community.Those interested in getting involved are invited to attend an introductory reception on January 24 at 6 p.m. at the Westchester Arts Council, 31 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains.

Groups will work together to provide community services and promote civic involvement related to the advancement of African Americans. Volunteers will work together on goals such as influencing policies, closing gaps in services and removing inequalities. The coalition will also strive to establish new relationships and present a “united front” on issues; let media, public officials and corporate leaders know how they can help; and plan joint community events and programs.

 

“By working together, these organizations should be able to bring more attention to many of the issues impacting the African American community that need to be addressed,” said County Executive Andrew J. Spano, who is co-hosting the Jan. 24 meeting. “Advisory Board members will talk about what they plan to do and how everyone can be involved.”

Organizations or individuals wishing to attend the reception or get more information should contact Symra Brandon, director of the Office of African American Affairs, at (914) 995-2934.

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WPCNR NAMES IN THE NEWS. From Cappelli Enterprises, Inc. (EDITED). January 13, 2006: Cappelli Enterprises, Inc., one of the area’s leading development companies announced the appointment of  Peter Palazzo of Yorktown as President of the George A. Fuller Construction Company, a Cappelli subsidiary. Mr. Palazzo supervised the construction on the new White Plains landmarks: The City Center, (including the White Plains Performing Arts Center), The Residences at Jefferson Place, the 285 luxury condominiums now selling at a record pace on Mamaroneck Avenue, and the building that started the Renaissance, Bank Street Commons.

 

 

PETER PALAZZO — Builder of Whtie Plains’ Rennaissance — New President of Guller Construction. Photo, Courtesy, Cappelli Enterprises.

 

Mr. Palazzo has more than 18 years of experience in the construction industry.  Prior to joining Cappelli, he was Vice President, Project Executive with HRH Construction in New York City for the past six years, and a Project Manager with HRH since 1989.   He has been involved with projects from the pre-construction and design phases, through project closeout.  Some of the development projects he has managed over the years include:

 

q       Riverside South – Building A, New York City, a 170-unit curved precast façade building offering studio to five bedroom apartments, ultra luxury living overlooking Riverside Park and the Hudson River. 

 

q       Stone Gate at Bellefair, Rye Brook, NY, a 166-unit luxury active senior residence.

 

q       The Grand Beekman, New York City, a 33-story high-end luxury residential building with 89 units.

 

q       Hotel Giraffe, New York City, a 12-story, 72-room boutique hotel on Park Avenue.

 

q       Trump International Hotel and Tower, New York City, conversion of the existing 45-story Gulf & Western building into one of the nation’s premier luxury hotel and condominium residences.

 

 

Mr. Palazzo holds an M.S. in Construction Engineering from Columbia University and a B.S. in Construction Engineering from Manhattan College, both located in New York City.  He is also a licensed Site Safety Manager. He is also on the Board of Directors of the White Plains Performing Arts Center, which he also supervised construction.

 

Cappelli Enterprises Inc. is a leading real estate developer and general contractor in the Northeast.  Headquartered in Valhalla, NY, the company has built more than 10 million square feet of mixed use, retail, waterfront, residential, office building, and laboratory and parking facilities.

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WPCNR STAGE DOOR. By John F. Bailey. January 12, 2006: WPCNR has learned of two more changes in the makeup of the White Plains Performing Arts Cener Board of Directors. Yesterday, Ted Lawson, Director of Economic Development for the City of White Plains, told WPCNR he was a member of the board, which WPCNR had not been aware. 

This morning, Peter Gisondi, Sr., through his secretary, acknowledged to WPCNR that he, Gisondi,  remained on the Board of Directors but was no longer the Treasurer. Gisondi’s secretary reported when asked if Mr. Gisondi could confirm that Ted Peluso, had assumed the duties of Treasurer, she said “He has.” 

Ted Peluso is a financial consultant for the City of White Plains and a member of the city Budget Management Commitee is now  also a member of the Board and assumes the responsibilities of Treasurer for the Theatre. A Board source said Mr. Peluso had joined the board in October and was present at the October meeting, of the Board.

The makeup of the WPPAC Board has changed over the last four months, with Eli Schonberger and Patricia Keegan resigning in September to devote time to other interests, as reported by WPCNR this week. Going forward the Board continues to be comprised of Rick Ammirato, Louis Cappelli, Peter Gisondi, Sr., Marsha Gordon, Thomas Hales, Ted Lawson, Peter Palazzo,  Ted Peluso, Dr. Jeffrey Schlotman,  and Chauncey Walker.