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 COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From Westchester County Department of Communications. July 30, 2004:  Westchester County is monitoring repairs to a White Plains substation that provides power to areas of Central Westchester, and is ready to respond in the event of Con Edison power outages.

The county’s Department of Emergency Services has been in contact with local police, fire, hospitals and other critical care facilities to develop a plan in case power should be interrupted in areas of Central Westchester. All county departments are prepared to respond.

Con Edison is working to repair two of four transformers that supply power to White Plains, Harrison, West Harrison, Eastchester, Scarsdale, Purchase, the North End of New Rochelle and parts of Mount Pleasant, Tuckahoe and Rye Brook. Con Edison has said that it can supply adequate power with the two transformers that remain in service, but there could be outages in all those communities if those remaining transformers fail.

In the event of widespread outages, the county will open its Emergency Operation Center to coordinate response to traffic situations or to help those with critical needs in hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities where power is essential.

Con Edison has assured the county that they are working quickly to resolve this problem, and that the possibility of a power outage remains slim. County officials will continue to monitor the situation.

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WPCNR ROTUNDA REPORT. By John F. Bailey. July 30, 2004, UPDATED 3:05 P.M. E.D.T.: The enthusiasm was contagious in City Hall this week, not only was the big mean old Executive Officer not kicking them around any more, but CSEA employees at City Hall were finally going to get a new contract giving them rumored 3% raises retroactive the last two years they have been without a contract and rolling ahead for the next three years.

 Then, inexplicably, something went wrong in the reported all-but-done deal. But nobody’s talking.

However, Friday afternoon, Paul Wood of the Mayor’s Office, categorically denied the rumor that the city had placed an eleventh hour demand on the table, and said that was all he would say, “I’m not going to negotiate in public,” Wood said. Asked if the union had made the eleventh hour demand, Wood said “no comment.” The CSEA has not recontacted WPCNR.

An anonymous source posting to this article indicates that Wood’s statement is not exactly correct, this source writes:

As with most rumors and gossip that swirls around this frustrating situation, you got some of it right and some of it wrong.

The union has absolutely communicated with its members, and did so the morning after the meeting (Friday) ! CSEA city employees know what the hold-up is. We’re waiting on Mayor Delfino to do the right thing, which is to drop a ridiculous Stipulation of Agreement.

CSEA employees work hard for this city and deserve to have the contract on the table settled NOW! Without this slap-in-the-face stipulation.

WPCNR has recalled Mr. Wood for an explanation of what the “Stipulation of Agreement” is.

When WPCNR first learned of this, we contacted Paul Wood, the heir-apparent to recently departed Executive Officer, asking him for comment or a statement on where negotiations stood. He did not return our call.

WPCNR then contacted Joseph Roche, an engineer in the Department of Public Works who is President of the White Plains Civil Service Employees of America chapter. Mr. Roche did not return calls placed to his home, yet his wife, answering the phone, questioned who gave WPCNR the information that the settlement had apparently fallen through. Mr. Roche did not return two calls to his office at City Hall Thursday morning.

Janice Marra, Communcations Associate for the CSEA based in Rockland County, returned a WPCNR telephone call but did not read a statement into our answering machine stating the status. The CSEA union apparently met locally last night.

Meanwhile, CSEA employees in city hall have not been briefed by their own union as of late Thursday on what went made the rumored settlement fall apart.

No picketing or demonstrations were set up, or news conference was held by the union protesting the city changing the deal, or criticising the city.

This is  leading to questions as to whether the city seriously miscalculated about the cost of the settlement they agreed to. The speculation is that the city made an eleventh hour demand that required a “giveback” on the part of the union. This “giveback” our source says is something the city is going to ask the other unions, police and fire in the city.

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WPCNR CITY CIRCUIT. By John F. Bailey. July 29, 2004, UPDATED 3:30 P.M. E.D.T., July 30, 2004: Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard was closed off between Barker and Main Street today as over 40 Con Edison trucks, fans, and flatbeds and hundreds of Con Ed workers converged to replace a transformer at the Barker and MLK Boulevard substation. The failure of two transformers, the third major breakdown in Con Edison’s city infrastructure in two months, was reported to police last Friday, and work began replacing the transformer Sunday evening according to Con Edison spokesperson Dan Lyons on the scene.

Paul Wood of The Mayor’s Office said, he had heard from Con Ed that first one tranformer went off, and that when a second one came on line to replace the first one, that it went out too. He also commented that it was his understanding that one transformer was from the 1920s, and that some of the wiring was very old. He said Con Edison had told the city the problem was one of outdated infrastructure. He quoted Joseph Nicoletti, Commissioner of the Department of Public Works as saying some of the feeder cables in the city were of aluminium which was part of the problem on Soundview Avenue, Wood said. Wood said Nicoletti had advised Con Ed not to use aluminum cables in the distant past when they were installed.

CALLING LIONEL TRAINS: Massive cranes prepare to lift out bum transformer (background, center), onto flatbed truck at noon on transformer site in downtown White Plains. Awaiting installation (at the left) is the brand-new transformer of the same size and capacity. Dan Lyons of Con Edison told WPCNR on the scene the new baby would be in service in mid August. One Con Ed worker told WPCNR he had to get a camera, because “this was a big job.” Photo by WPCNR News.

The White Plains Department of Public Safety released a statement from Deputy Commissioner David Chong that said “The city has not experienced any significant lack of power, nor do we expect any. We’re well aware of the situation, we’re in touch with Con Ed. If there were to be a power failure, both the police and fire bureaus have contingency plans and will be ready to respond.”

TASK FORCE of over 40 trucks lined Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard today supplying the logistics to put the new transformer in place. WPCNR counted over 40 trucks and estimated the personnel at close to 200 workers. Photo by WPCNR News.

WPCNR contacted Chris Olert, of Con Edison’s Media Relations office. Asked what the cause of the transformer outage was, he said it was a problem with a feeder cable, but did not specify what that problem was, and said he would check. WPCNR asked Dan Lyons, the Con Edision spokesperson on the site what the cause was, and Lyons said upon being told of the feeder cable report, said “it had nothing to do with the feeder cable.” Mr. Olert notified of this comment, said he would triple-check.

WPCNR asked Olert, in view of this being the third infrastructure failure in two months in White Plains whether developers in White Plains interface their power needs with Con Edison in detail before they build. Olert said Con Edison is in “constant contact” with developers. “They ask us where they can connect, and discuss it with us.” WPCNR asked if  studies are filed with Con Edison as to Con Edison ability to supply power needs on massive new projects. Olert said they did, and that Con Edison signs off on their ability to supply power to new projects.

A GATHERING OF CRANES: The view down Barker Street Thursday afternoon, showing the Con Ed Task Force, and four cranes administering to the stricken transformer. Photo by WPCNR News.

WPCNR went a step farther, we asked if there was enough power to support the present scale of White Plains growth. Olert responded, ” There is nothing in the Con Edison system that would constrict the growth of White Plains or Westchester County.”

WPCNR asked if the power supply was adequate, then was the infrastructure been sufficiently upgraded to handle the new power demands of White Plains, considering the feeder cable failures that knocked out, according to Mr. Olert, Battle Hill and the Soundview neighborhood. Olert said he would get back to WPCNR on that matter.

We asked if Olert’s technical division in the Bronx had isolated what had caused the feeder cables to fail in the two previous White Plains blackouts within the last two months, one knocking out Soundview Avenue and a large portion of the Highlands, and another feeder cable leading to the Fortunoff complex, burning out. He said he would have to check.

According to Westchester County’s Department of Communication, in a news release issued today (see country story on transformer and outages), the four transformers in downtown White Plains supply power to White Plains, Harrison, West Harrison, Eastchester, Scarsdale, Purchase, the North End of New Rochelle and parts of Mount Pleasant, Tuckahoe and Rye Brook.