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 VARIETY. October 31, 2003: White Plains Week, the city news roundup show on WPPA-TV, White Plains Public Access, “The Spirit of 76” will show exclusive footage shot by WPPA-TV crews from the top of City Center Thursday, showing the new Renaissance Plaza in action, the only live television coverage of the fountain. In addition, John Bailey, White Plains Week host, and Jim Benerofe will discuss the election campaign winddown, the current status of the White Plains Performing Arts Center, and introduce the newest White Plains crime specialist, “Officer Fenway.” The program will be cablecast on Channel 76 Monday evening at 7:00 P.M.

OFFICER “FENWAY:” Three Month Rookie as a member of the White Plains Mounted Police shown with his trainer, Officer Jacques Pettit, right. Fenway is a gift of Fenway Golf Club, which has donated $25,000 to the White Plains Department of Public Safety, including 6 defibrilators, at a cost of $3,000 each, for each of the 6 White Plains Fire Companies. Fenway, Officer Pettit says is just about trained, has seen parade duty recently, and is fitting in just fine. Photo by WPCNR News

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WPCNR STAGE DOOR. From  Jim Brownold, The Fort Hill Players. October 31, 2003:  Fort Hill Players will be auditioning for it’s Spring production:  RADIO DAYS/TELEVISION NIGHTS:  a comedy and music review of the early days of television and radio in early December which will begin rehearsals in January for production in mid-March, 2004.
They are seeking 6 to 12 male and female comedic actors.  Some roles will require singing; some will require a little dancing or choreographed movement…think of the Jackie Gleason Show or Laugh-In.   

Additional skills that might be nice to have include juggling, acrobatics, ventriloquism, unicycling, and stuff like that. …think of Ed Sullivan.

And think of auditioning… at Rochambeau School, 228 Fisher Avenue in White Plains; Saturday December 6^th at 10 AM, and Tuesday December 9^th at 7:30 PM.  Callbacks will be Thursday the llth at 7:30PM. 

If you sing, please bring sheet music, or a cassette or CD. 

The Players will rehearse three times a week starting in early January; and performance dates are March  12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27.  For more information call 914-946-5143.

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WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. October 30, 2003, UPDATED WITH NIGHT FOTOS, 11:30 P.M. E.S.T.: Mayor Joseph Delfino and Louis Cappelli introduced Renaissance Plaza, the new “meeting and greeting” place in the center of downtown today, as the new fountain park, built in less than seven months by HRH Construction for the city lofted its delicate water plumes to the sky on a perfect autumn day. A crowd of 200 persons and dignataries gathered for the historic moment, and the fountain wowed the skeptics with discreet water plumes falling with precision, acoustically correct and pleasing American standards, and piping hot Starbucks coffee.

REFRESHING PLUMES OF WATER SHOOTING SKYWARD at the Renaissance Plaza Thursday morning in the lee of City Center. Several hundred spectators dig the scene. The Renaissance Plaza fountain will perform three times an hour lunchtimes and evenings. The sound system, consisting of 10 (not 4 as previously reported) speakers at a cost of $4,000 each, delivers rich, crisp sound that so inspired one observer, she simply had to dunk their head in the fountain.  Dunking is not permitted and fines will be imposed for persons attempting to enter the fountains. No floating of boats in the fountain is permitted. Folding chairs are about the fountain for casual observation. The Starbucks restaurant is scheduled to open within the first two weeks of December, according to a Starbucks spokesperson. Photo by WPCNR News

RENAISSANCE PLAZA BY NIGHT AT 7:15 P.M., creates a wonderland by night, as seen from across Main Street. Photo by WPCNR News

DANCING TO THE HARBOR LIGHTS, DOWNTOWNERS REVELLED at the novelty of the dancing waters at 9:30 P.M. Thursday evening, forming “conga lines” to the tune, Hot Hot Hot. Passersby of all ages and and types smiled, greeted each other and dug the waters. One young lady, said, “This is definitely worth the money. It is definitely cool.” Photo by WPCNR News.

Everybody Gets Into the Act

A gathering of eagles all spoke briefly as Mayor Delfino introduced all who had helped build the Renaissance Plaza at a cost of $3.5 Million, $1.1 Million of which was donated by Louis Cappelli, its builder; $500,000 from Westchester County, and $1.9 Million from the White Plains Urban Renewal Agency. The Mayor emphasized, “not 1 penny came from White Plains property tax dollars.”

AMERICA’S FAVORITE MAYOR, Joseph Delfino, Renaissance Plaza Ringmaster of Ceremonies hosted the festivities. Photo by WPCNR News

THE MAYOR AND THE MAN:  Mayor Delfino, (back to camera) introduces the “Super Developer,” Louis Cappelli, who humbly stepped to the microphone and said, “These aren’t projects, it’s a privilege to contribute to the revitalization of White Plains, and to build a project that will stand the test of time.” Photo by WPCNR News.

County Executive Andy Spano, said he was pleased to contribute to the project that would help build “a great solid economy downtown.”

Paul Delay of the New York Public Land Trust, said he was proud to point to the city of White Plains “open space incubator” as a model for “helping open space spread, because it will give birth to future parks.”

CUE THE FOUNTAIN: Louis Cappelli has just started the first Renaissance Plaza show with fog slowly coming out of the water jets. Photo by WPCNR News.

“COMING TO WHITE PLAINS:” It’s showtime, and to the preluding strains of Neil Diamond’s America floating on the autumn air out of speakers as mesmerizing as you will hear at any big time rock concert, the fountain comes to life with slowly gathering fog, then shooting its streams to the blue sky as the song gathered momentum. Photo by WPCNR News

Mayor Joseph Delfino in his remarks, prior to Mr. Cappelli cueing the first fountain water and music show, said the 3 fountain pools hold 48,000 gallons of recycled water. The fountains contain 75 jets that spout water to the height of 15 feet in the air, 24 jets that shoot water 25 feet aloft, and 3 “superjets” that propel and shape the water as high as 50 feet in the air. The fountain also has 13 Leaperjets that spout water from one pond to the other. It supplements its water artistry with a fog machine, 160 lights and 6 water pumps, all computer controlled and coordinated with a “state of the art” sound system.  It was manufactured and programmed by Crystal Fountains, creator of the famous fountain at Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

MEET ME AT THE FOUNTAIN: Benjamin Boykin, Common Council President coined the afternoon’s key phrase, saying this was an “Extraordinary Day in the life of White Plains,” and said it would not be long before everyone would be saying, “Meet Me at the Fountain.” (Mr. Boykin was perhaps remembering famous lines of the fictional past: In the novel, This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald has his heroine tell his protagonist, “Meet Me at the Clock in Grand Central,” and in the movie Mr. Lucky, Cary Grant tells Laraine Day, “Meet me at Plaza Fountain.”). The Bar Building presides over the scene. Photo by WPCNR News.

RENAISSANCE PLAZA ON BREAK: The new fountain showcases freshly planted trees, flowers, and a green, underwhich is housed the computerized control center, waterworks and pumps that power the fountain. The Starbucks gazebo in the background is the Open Space Incubator which will house a Starbucks cafe within six weeks, WPCNR is told. The Starbucks will feature indoor and outdoor seating. It was built at a cost of $575,000 and was paid for by a federal grant of $90,000, a project allocationof $75,000, a state grant of $50,000, and a city floated bond of $360,000 that will  be financed out of the Starbucks lease. The “Open Space Incubator” is expected to raise $30,000 a year minimum for open space acquisition. Photo by WPCNR News.

RENAISSANCE FOUNTAIN SHOWCASES OVERSEEN BY THE BAR BUILDING: The fountain artistry consisting of “curley-q’s,” “mushrooms,” “high streams,” and “syncopated spoutings,” choregraphed to music handchosen by a mysterious City Hall Program Director animated the posh, red South American granite plaza with an inviting refreshing new energy both uplifting and relaxing. Songs heard included Under the Boardwalk and a Sinatra tune. The sound of the speakers is clean, impeccable fidelity, fullbodied, bass and treble perfectly in harmony, played at a volume that is ingratiating, not overbearing, creating an uplifting ambience. The fountain has windsensors that gauge how high to shoot the water and in which direction to avoid sousing pondside spectators. The shows are automated. Photo by WPCNR News.

DREAMING THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM: Renaissance Plaza fountain gives its all on the final lyrics of To Dream the Impossible Dream, concluding its Thursday evening of shows at 9:30 Thursday evening. The Fountain will assume full automated operation Friday. Photo by WPCNR News

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WPCNR Roll-O-News Reel March of Time. From Westchester Aviation Association. October 30, 2003:  The Sky was the Limit at the Westchester Aviation Association’s Career Fair on Friday, Oct. 24^th and Saturday, Oct.  25^th at the Westchester County Airport. Students, parents and individuals seeking employment and career guidance in aviation related careers were able to speak to professionals, employers, educators and experts.  With some 1,300 workers, the Airport is a major employer in Westchester.  Approximately 100 businesses and organizations as well as branches of the armed forces had exhibits and information booths.  Many aircraft were on also on display from WWI era biplanes to modern jets.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. By John F. Bailey. October 29, 2003: AT & T and Verizon are warning customers of a telephone “legal” swindle sweeping the country, that is, according to reports being left on answering machines and in e-mails in the local area.  The swindle is, according to AT & T, occurring with increasing frequency, can cost you a minimum of $2,400 and up and you can only avoid it if you are aware of it.

According to an official release from an AT & T Field Service Manager, you should not respond to telephone calls, e-mails, or websites requesting you to call back to a number in the 809, 284 and 876 area codes.

The 809 Area code is located in the British Virgin Islands, not subject to United States legal jurisdiction. Consumers receiving the “set-up call” are asked to call back that number for some urgent reason. Calls received vary the ploy. You will be asked to call back to receive information about a member of your family who may have died, been in an accident, or won a prize, and instructed to call back the 809 number immediately.

AT & T advises not to do it, and advises all family members not to call back if they should receive such a call.

The internal AT & T memo describes the expensive results if you should call the 809 number. You get a long recorded message to keep you on the phone to 809 as long as possible to ratchet up the charges. Some unfortunate people have received bills over $24,100.

No Warning. No Statement of Charges.

The sad truth is, this is legal, though fraudulent. The 809 Area Code is used as a “pay-per-call” number, like “900” numbers in the U.S. However, it is not subject to United States “900” number regulations, which stipulate, you be contacted and told the charges and rates when you call a “pay-per-call” number.

When you call an “809,” you also are not given a time period in which you can end the call without charges. You also cannot block “809’s” in the United States.

According to the AT & T Field Service communication, there is no easy way out of the thousands of dollars you may incur on your next Verizon and AT&T bill as a result of this.

According to the AT & T memo, the position of telephone companies is that they are providing billing for the foreign company. The memo indicates you will have to take up the charge with that foreign company that will claim you did make the call.

WPCNR has heard of this scheme before, but calls of this nature were received in White Plains within the last week and residents should be aware that the 809 swindle is very much in play.

First Time Caller, Charges Will Not Be Enforced.

John Bonomo, who handles media relations for Verizon in the New York Downstate area told WPCNR that Verizon customers who have made a call of this nature for the first time, and didn’t know about the scam, that “we’ll refund the charges.” Bonomo said that this scam had beend dormant for a while, but now has started up again. He said that the telephone companies work with authorities to try and eliminate these operations, but that he knew of no prosecutions of organizations or individuals floating these types of scams.