The Envelope, Please: City Selects Helen Hayes/QTP Showmen for Theatre

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WPCNR Common Council Chronicle-Examiner. By John F. Bailey. May 29, 2003, UPDATED 10:00 P.M. E.D.T.: In Executive Session last night, the Common Council hammered out the details of a Memorandum of Understanding between the city and Tony Stimac, Artistic Director of The Helen Hayes Theatre Company of Nyack, and Jeffrey Rosenstock, Artistic Director of Queens Theatre in the Park, Flushing, Queens, to hire the two-man partnership of the two veteran “regional theatre producers” to manage and program the new White Plains Performing Arts Center.

Common Council President Benjamin Boykin told WPCNR tonight the council felt the existing “infrastructure” of the two organizations reduced the amount of investment the city would have to make in the theatre, and that was one of the key factors why the Council, in what Mr. Boykin said was “a consensus” went with Mr. Stimac and Mr. Rosenstock: “They can use the staffs in their present organizations to sell tickets and market the theatre, so the city contribution does not have to be as much.”

Boykin said he expected Mr. Stimac and Mr. Rosenstock would become involved in the “look” of the facility, which is the next issue, Boykin said the Council would be paying close attention to.



“THE PRODUCERS”
Tony Stimac, Artistic Director of The Helen Hayes Theatre Company, in Nyack, and Jeffrey Rosenstock, Artistic Director of the Queens Theatre In the Park, Flushing, as they addressed the Common Council May 19 where they impressed the Council with their programming “synergy” and savvy.
Photo by WPCNR News


George Gretsas, the Mayor’s Executive Officer said this evening that the Mayor and the Common Council had come to agreement to enter into the “Memorandum of Understanding” and put the agreement on Monday evening’s Common Council agenda for an official vote. Gretsas said the public would have an opportunity to comment on the city’s selection and the terms of agreement at Monday evening’s meeting, but that the vote did not require an official public hearing. Terms of the Memorandum of Understanding will be spelled out in the release of the Common Council agenda Friday morning.

The WPPAC is being built into the new City Center, now under construction by Cappelli Enterprises. No other suitor was negotiated with by the city, after initial financials were presented by all three hopefuls May 19.



EMERGING FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION: Council Benjamin Boykin, left, and Robert Greer as they left the approximately 2-1/2 Executive Session Wednesday night, in which the Memorandum of Understanding was finalized with Mr. Stimac. Mr. Stimac was spotted by WPCNR emerging from Executive Session at 9:40 PM Thursday evening at City Hall.
Photo by WPCNR News


The agreement in principle was confirmed today by City Hall officially at 6 PM by Gretsas. Mr. Rosenstock and Mr. Stimac have formed a private partnership to manage the theatre. They are the last entity into the race for the project of managing the White Plains Arts Center.

They were selected over two White Plains groups seeking to run the theatre: Westco Productions, headed by Susan Katz and Centerpoint Stage, a consortium organized by Jonathan Mann, currently with the Westchester Arts Council.

City Committed to a $100,000 Theatre Operating Budget.

As part of the running of the theatre, Gretsas said, the city has set aside a budget of $100,000 for the operators of the theatre. Gretsas reported that the actual name of Mr. Stimac’s and Mr. Rosenstock’s organization has not been determined, and that the next step, according to his understanding, was to form a non-profit organization to run the White Plains Performing Arts Center.

Gretsas told WPCNR this evening that in addition to the $100,000 city commitment, that the city would be responsible for utilities, sanitation, and “general responsibilities” associated with city-owned facilities.



PIONEERS OF CREATIVITY IN A DEMANDING MARKET: Mr. Stimac, left, and Mr. Rosenstock have pioneered, founded and created two “small theatres” in the competitive New York metropolitan area: The Helen Hayes Theatre Company and Queens Theatre In the Park.
Photo by WPCNR News


Mr. Stimac took over a foundering restoration of the Nyack theatre in 1996, and through his efforts renamed it The Helen Hayes Theatre Company, organizing both financing and producing the programming. The theatre has a schedule this year that premiers new plays, stages popular revivals, and tries out Broadway bound productions, one of Mr. Stimac’s fortes.

This season, the Helen Hayes will premier Jackie Mason’s new musical Laughing Room Only; and is currently premiering Swango: The Fusion a new dance spectacular. Also on the fall “playbill” is a premiere of The Mancini Project, a dance and musical extravaganza with storyline featuring the music of Henry Mancini. Revivals to be staged include It Had to Be You and The Music Man at the holiday season.

More about Mr. Stimak’s Helen Hayes operation can be learned by visiting their website at www.hhtco.org.

A Theatre in Queens That Competes with Manhattan.

Mr. Rosenstock is the creator of Queens Theatre in the Park, an operation of his conception that turned the vacant New York State Pavilion in Flushing Meadow Park, site of the 1964 World’s Fair, into a thriving theatre serving diverse ethnic populations of Queens, and introducing hot new properties to New York theatre aficionados.

Rosenstock, is a well-connected individual, who sits on the New York State Council of the Arts, has fund-raised and produced for the theatre, since he founded it in 1989. A lively, enthusiastic visionary of the theatre, he brings with Mr. Stimac an understanding and a pipeline of funding sources, state and federal, who believe in his vision.

Commissioner of Recreation & Parks, Arne Abramowitz, was in charge of Flushing Meadow Park where QTP is based, and is familiar with Mr. Rosenstock’s work with the Queens community.

This spring, Queens Theatre In the Park produced Dames at Sea, a new musical about the 30s, and in the summer produces new plays. Rosenstock is also founder of ethnic festivals that are held every year at the QTP, including the first Latin Festival in the United States which he founded in 1996.

A sampling of the spectrum of arts Queens Theatre In the Park offers its community under the baton of Mr. Rosenstock can be seen on the QTP website at www.queenstheatre.org.

Wanted: A Local Impresario.

In their presentation to the Common Council May 19, Messrs Stimac and Rosenstock said they would hire a full-time manager to run the day-to-day operations of the White Plains Performing Arts Center, coordinate with community groups, and execute the marketing and advertising programs. They said they would work with the manager to program the theatre, drawing upon productions they are staging in their own theatres. “The Producers” said the key to small theatres being successful was “synergy,” working together to share productions and give the widest possible venue exposure to a production in the area. They said at the May 19 meeting with the Council that there were great possibilities of sharing productions at their two existing theatres and by seeking playdates from other similar “small theatres” around the Northeast.

Promised: A Premiere Week.

Rosenstock reported at that May 19 meeting that he envisioned a weeklong opening festival at the White Plains Performing Arts Center when it opened in the fall, building a weeklong series of performances of local groups around one major professional performance, as one idea he had in mind for “Premiere Week.”

Stimac said May 19 that he would be taking a leave of absence for two months in July from his Helen Hayes “watch,” to devote full-time to organizing the opening of the White Plains Performing Arts Center, and would be taking a similar leave in November and December. Rosenstock said he had informed his Executive Director of his possibility of creating the White Plains Theatre company, and said he had received encouragement.

Mr. Stimac is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in England. He has directed over 120 productions at showplaces in London, on Off-Broadway, in summer stock and regional theatres, including The McCarton, Roundabout Theatre, Goodspeed Opera House, and Cincinnati Theatre in the Park. He knows the regional audience, having produced 700 shows at the John Drew Theatre at Guild Hall in East Hampton.

Mr. Stimac has a track record for what works artistically and commercially, blending nicely with the White Plains Performing Arts Center desire to produce new works. As founder of Musical Theatre Works in 1983, he had produced 49 world premieres of new musicals and 275 staged readings. Of those productions, 40 have gone to Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theatres.

When asked, Mr. Gretsas could not recall whether the Queens group had been in the list of approximately 15 organizations originally informed about the Request for Proposals by the city theatre consultant, Duncan Webb.

Westco Productions and Centerpoint Stage have been informed of the Common Council’s decision, subject to confirming vote Monday, to strike a deal with Mr. Stimak and Mr. Rosenstock.

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City Hires Grant Writer, Ted Lawson, to Assist Commissioners

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WPCNR CITY HALL CORRIDORS. From Councilman Glen Hockley. May 29, 2003: White Plains Common Councilman Glen Hockley reports today that Ted Lawson has been officially hired as the Grant Writer for the City of White Plains. Mr. Lawson’s position, according to Mr. Hockley, is paid for out of the Community Development Fund, but Mr. Lawson reports to the Mayor’s Executive Officer, George Gretsas

Mr. Hockley noted that by organizing the position within Community Development, Mr. Lawson is able to seek out and apply for grants to various community organizations receiving Community Development Funds.

Hockley said it was his understanding that previously city Commissioners applied for various grants, and that Mr. Lawson now was available to aid the Commissioners in that process. It is not clear at this time how Mr. Lawson would liaison and relate to the various Commissioners on which grants would be pursued.

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Council President Benjamin Boykin on the City Adoption of the Budget

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WPCNR CITY HALL HERALD. May 29, 2003: Wednesday evening, the Common Council adopted the 2003-04 City Budget. Here are Council President Benjamin Boykin’s remarks on the new budget:

I want to thank the Budget Department under the leadership of Ann Reasoner for developing a budget that is easy to follow and that lays out the opportunities and risks faced by the City of White Plains. Let me also thank Eileen Earle, our former budget director, who retired in February, and has continued to assist us through this budget cycle. In addition, I commend all the departments for their ongoing efforts to improve productivity and contain costs while maintaining our high quality of services to our residents and visitors to our city.

As a financial executive, I know the renewed emphasis that has been placed on financial disclosure. I am pleased to report that the City of White Plains continues to win awards for fiscal integrity and presentation.

This was a very difficult budget year for the city. Our city’s two main sources of revenues are sales taxes and property taxes. For the upcoming 2003/04 budget year, sales tax will fund 36% and property taxes will fund 35% of the general fund budget. These two categories provide 71% of the general fund revenue.

The overall economic slowdown has impacted our sales tax revenues, which are budgeted at $35.0 million versus $37.0 million in last year’s budget. The actual sales taxes that were received last year were $35.5 million, a $1.5 million shortfall versus budget. The shortfall in sales taxes reduced last year’s fund balance. Sales taxes have helped to stabilize our property taxes. The ½ of 1% additional sales taxes for White Plains has been extended for two years, with the sunset in August 2005.

The reinvestment in our downtown will enable us to maintain our high level of public services while keeping our property taxes low in comparison to surrounding communities. We are fortunate that the renaissance of this city will drive economic benefits and quality of life improvements for all our residents. We have made strategic and visionary decisions that will serve us well into this century.

While we are reinvesting in our future, the full impact of these decisions will not be realized until the 2004/05 budget year and we will still be at risks for economic and other factors beyond the city’s control.

The total proposed operating budgets for the city is $104.6 million, an increase of 1.7% over the current year’s adopted budgets. The operating budgets are:

• General Fund – $96.045 million
• Library Fund – 5.0 million
• Self-Insurance Fund – 2.2 million
• Water Fund – 7.7 million

Interfund transfers total $6.3 million, resulting in the total operating budgets of $104.6 million.

In addition, our debt service fund budget to be adopted tonight is $7.3 million.

The budget is our commitment to provide services to our residents – public safety, public works, quality of life, governmental and community services. The 2003/04 budget includes a property tax increase of 7.5% or $7.31 per thousand dollars of assessed value. While I do not like to raise property taxes, it is important that we continue to provide our residents with the high level of services that make us a great city. In order to continue to provide these services, it is necessary that we increase property taxes.

Let me assure you that we have worked diligently to maintain services with the least impact to you, our taxpayer. We have retained the City’s Archivist position and we will continue to do infrastructure work and repair potholes. This is a budget that is fair and reasonable.

The assessed valuation of taxable properties is $317.1 million, a decrease of $1.7 million from the previous year. This decrease is primarily due to the removal of Bank Street Commons, City Center and Fortunoff from the tax rolls. Even though these properties have been removed from the tax rolls, the overall revenue to the city has increased due to the PILOT payments.

The upcoming budget is affected by items beyond the city’s control. As previously mentioned, sales taxes are budgeted at $2.0 million less than the previous year driven by economic factors as well as the lost of J. C. Penny and Saks retail facilities. Interest income is budgeted at $715,000, a decrease of $535,000 from last year.

Pension contributions are up $1.2 million. After an outcry from nearly every municipal government in New York, the State Controller revised the pension calculation which will require White Plains to pay a minimum contribution of 4.5% of total payroll each year to cover pension costs.

The city is a service organization. As such, personnel costs are our largest expenditure – approximately 79% of the budget. Sales and property taxes are no longer sufficient to cover personnel costs. The city has a dedicated and loyal work force that is committed to serve the residents of White Plains.

I want to thank them for their service. We must continue to seek ways to manage personnel costs and health benefits that is fair to employees and fair to the taxpayers.

We have worked hard to find new sources of revenues to add to our cultural and entertainment activities without shifting the burden to our taxpayers. The new Performing Arts Center, scheduled to open this fall in City Center and the new Renaissance Plaza and Park in downtown is being funded without increasing property taxes.

I am proud of our city’s renaissance and the hard work done to make it happen. We have reinvested in our downtown with new residential housing and commercial development of Stop and Shop, City Center and Fortunoff. We’ve made our city vibrant, kept property taxes low and enhanced our quality of life.

The budget that we adopt tonight maintains services at current levels in a cost effective manner. This is an outstanding accomplishment given the state of economic affairs. We are investing for our future to keep our city fiscally sound. White Plains has a bright future and all of us will be proud of this city. This is a great city to call our home.

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WPHS Middle School Concert Fills Eastview Music Hall With a Big Sound

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WPCNR STAGE DOOR. May 29, 2003: The White Plains Middle School Eastview Campus held its third concert in three weeks Wednesday evening, showcasing the Eighth Grade Orchestra, the Eighth Grade Band, and the Sixth Grade Chorus. The musical interludes provided an audience of approximately 200 parents proof they could hear that the music program of the White Plains schools (ranked 7th in the nation), is extraordinary in its ability to develop, nurture, challenge and inspire young musical talent.



READY! Conductor Laura Mazziotti takes her trademark stance on the podium to begin the Eight Grade Concert Band performance Wednesday evening. The band, demonstrating remarkable clarity, tone, depth, power and harmony between the sections, filled the hall with excellence.
Photo by WPCNR ArtCam


HIGHLIGHT TRIO: Seth Kreielsheimer, Serena Qui, and Elizabeth Meier, (L to R), perfomed a flawless, lyrical Rigadoon in an enthralling blending of their three crystal-clear violin stylings evoking thunderous applause and cascading “Bravos!” from the audience.
Photo by WPCNR ArtCam


HIP-HOPPERS CAN BE-BOP, TOO: In the reception following the concert, the Middle School Jazz Band made the Eastview halls jump, playing brassy, toe-tapping arrangements of Stand By Me, The Twist, and YMCA featuring mellow sax, solid percussion, the stylish “Kenny Burrell” style of Josh Rosenblum’s guitar that got parents nodding their heads in time like a jazz band should.
Photo by WPCNR ArtsCam


TAKE A BOW! The Eighth Grade Band is honored by applause, after presenting conductor Mazziotti with a bouquet for her conductorship throughout the year.
Photo by WPCNR ArtsCam


The Eight Grade Orchestra, under the direction of Lisa M. Giordano impressed the audience with seamless blending of woodwinds, violins and violas and basses on Shaker Fantasia Handel’s Hornpipe. Conductor Giordano noted it is rare to have an Eighth Grade Orchestra playing Mozart, and proceeded to demonstrate with their performance of Andante and Allegro, and finished their program with I Want to Hold Your Hand .

The orchestra was precise and delicate in their transitions of themes from section to section, drawing out moments when appropriate, and executing flawless seques in the variety of pieces.

Conductors Mazziotti and Giordano clearly enjoyed both working with and developing their young musicians as evidenced by their tearful goodbyes before the groups’ last numbers.

Chorus Develops Difficult Pieces

The Sixth Grade Chorus, directed by Carol Myers, demonstrated poised and fearless transitions on the tricky Addams Family theme and the playful tongue twister song, Peter Piper. Wholesome young voices in the making touched the audience with their sincerity in their versions of Colors of the Wind and Heal the World.

Director Myers consistently challenges her young singers with very difficulty material on all levels. When this reporter went to school, choruses were burdened with straight singalongs of spirituals, patriotic songs and Stephen Forster songs. Ms. Myers never gives her choruses boring material and the attention and effort the young singers deliver is touching. Better microphoning of the young singers, though, would be appreciated.

Not only softball players play up, and down.

An innovation of the White Plains music program is the way musicians support other grade groups. The Eighth Grade orchestra was supplemented by four seventh graders and five high school students, formerly Eastview graduates. In the Band, there were five seventh graders, and one sixth grade member.

The practice of having talented members not in eighth grade “sit in” and play in the orchestra and band groups, challenges younger players and provides more outlets for the developing talent, delivering an orchestral experience, for example, when otherwise there would not be one.

Band In Harmony

The Eighth Grade Band performed two splendid marches, Noble Quest and National Emblem showcasing ranks of accomplished sections, a toney, not too-overbearing brass, a mellow and melodious woodwind and flute corps, and a rumbling percussion bed.

It is a tribute to the conductorship and the ability of the young musicians to respect their roles in the pieces they play with respect to the other sections , that the band coalesces to deliver a complete piece. In many bands, the sections had an “every section for itself” attitude with woodwinds overbearing on the brass solos, and the brass blasting away. White Plains bands are not like that. They play together and as a team.

Pieces that showed this coalescent quality were Two Celtic Folksongs where the band developed an “orchestra” quality, brass respecting the “glen-like” sweetness of the woodwinds carrying the picture-painting melody. There was none of the condesending indifference that young brass usually deliver in those kind of pieces.

The showcase piece of the evening was Song of the Matador that displayed all of the colors of the band in a rousing piece. Beginning with the band’s youngest member, Audrey Silverman portraying the power of the bull with her sensitive and awesome timpani solo to the splendor of the matador’s cape swirling in the “flash and swirl” of the splendid brass, to the thunder of the bull’s charge and clouds of dust evoked by the woodwinds. A difficult piece of changing tempos and blending tides and emotions, the band nailed it.

The band displayed the contrapuntal cohesion of its play ethic on The Lion Sleeps Tonight where trombones, trumpets, baritones, sxophones, clarinets and flutes played variations on the old African folk song with bravado, celebration and flare.

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The Sea Chase Ends:Hong Kong to NY in 72 Days. GA II Beats Sea Witch

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WPCNR ADVENTURER’S LOG. By Cynthia Goss. (EDITED) May 28, 2003: A legendary sailing ship record that has remained untouched for a century and a half toppled on Tuesday night when
the trimaran Great American II sailed into New York Harbor, 72 days out of Hong Kong, 1 day and 17 hours faster than the legendary Sea WitchThis morning, American adventurers Rich Wilson (Rockport, Mass.) and Rich du Moulin (Larchmont, N.Y.) were greeted by cheering family and supporters as their 53-foot sailboat passed the Statue of Liberty soon after 10:00 AM.

“Two and a half months at sea is a long, long time for a classroom session . . . but it was worth every minute!” said Wilson, skipper of the Great American II, as he and “Captain Larchmont,” Rich du Moulin stowed their ship’s sails at Chelsea Piers on Manhattan’s West Side. For their entire journey, two men have been communicating with 360,000 school children who were following a series of lesson plans linked to the voyage, on Wilson’s www.sitesalive.com web site and in the Newspaper In Education program for schools.

About a 2-Day Margin of Victory

Great American’s time from Hong Kong on the 15,000 mile passage to the Ambrose Light Tower off Sandy Hook at the entrance to New York Harbor was 72 days 21 hours 11 minutes and 38 seconds. Her time eclipsed the record of 74 days, 14 hours set by the extreme clipper ship Sea Witch in the China Tea Trade in 1849. The record, which is one day and 17 hours faster than the old mark, has been reported to the World Speed Sailing Record Council for formal ratification.

Although 154 years of technological development separated these two
vessels, Wilson and du Moulin struggled to keep pace with the ghost of the 192-foot clipper ship, as they trailed her several times in the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

Reflections on the Sailors of the Past

“This voyage was never straightforward,” said Wilson, recounting their day by day battle with the Sea Witch. “Every time we turned around, we were behind that great clipper ship . . . We have lots of appreciation for those great sailors who went before us. Even with the technological advances we enjoyed, we learned not to take any of that for granted. The ocean is a great leveler.”

Charting New Courses

Wilson is already planning future projects for his non-profit sitesALIVE
Foundation, in Boston, Mass., with the aim of training teachers to make
effective use of communications technology in their classrooms. Another goal is to identify funding sources for schools and school districts with insufficient resources to tap the full power of computers and technology.

Du Moulin, who is also Vice-Commodore of the Storm Trysail Club, will be briefly at the desk of his Intrepid Shipping Company in Stamford, Conn., before helping to run the Club’s biennial Block Island Race Week at Block Island, R.I., in late June.

The Northeast Trades the Difference

This was the first time that du Moulin, a former America’s Cup racer, has undertaken a passage of such duration. “I had to have an element of competition in this,” said du Moulin. “I had to have the daily
benchmark–so I was keeping all these statistics, my own tally. Until we got to the Northeast tradewinds off of Brazil, ten of the eleven fastest daily passages were held by Sea Witch. The Sea Witch could handle the heavy seas of the Indian Ocean. She could charge through them doing 300-mile days, one after another, while we had to slow down in those conditions. Our advantage was in the light stuff. Taking Sea Witch on in the trade routes was a bigger challenge than people realize.”

Adventurers Unwind.

On arrival, both men said time with their families and fresh food were
their top priorities as they prepared to return to their normal business
life after weeks cooped up in the tiny cabin of their wave-tossed boat.
Without the benefits of refrigeration they were limited for most of the
voyage to a diet of freeze-dried, preserved and packaged food.

The Finish.

Fatigued but buoyant, Wilson reported their arrival off New York Harbor to the Sandy Hook pilot vessel on Tuesday night after a frustrating day of slow sailing in calms and light airs that followed in the wake of wet and squally weather that drenched New York.

Hailing the pilots on VHF radio, Wilson employed the traditional vernacular of the era of sail. “Sandy Hook pilots, this is the sailing vessel Great American II,” Wilson said. “We are 72 days out of Hong Kong by way of Sunda Strait, Cape Agulhas and the Cape of Good Hope, bound for New York. We request you log the finish time of our voyage at Ambrose Light.”

A History of Records for the Trimaran.

Great American’s return to New York Harbor marked a homecoming and the completion of a brace of record passages – the just-finished voyage from Hong Kong, plus one from New York to Melbourne, Australia, in 2001 when she smashed the record set by the American extreme clipper ship Mandarin that carried prospectors to the Australian Gold Rush in the winter of 1855-56.

Tugboats Greet the Adventurers

Even though they broke the record on Tuesday night with their arrival at Ambrose Light, the two men continued sailing overnight, waiting out calms and light winds until a light breeze carried Great American II across her original 2001 starting line this morning at the Statue of Liberty. The tug Zachery Reinauer was on hand to record the finish and was joined by the tugs Miriam Moran and Baltic Sea, plus well wishers and supporters on several other boats.
In 1993 Wilson sailed the same boat around treacherous Cape Horn from San Francisco to New York, breaking the record of the clipper ship Northern Light and setting a new mark of 69 days 20 hours. A prior attempt in 1990 in a previous Great American trimaran nearly ended in tragedy when she capsized in hurricane force winds and giant seas off Cape Horn. Wilson and his crewman were rescued in a daring feat of seamanship by the containership New Zealand Pacific that went to their aid.

A life-long asthmatic – he takes four medications daily – Wilson knows that his accomplishments have a strong resonance with schoolchildren who suffer from asthma and other medical conditions. “I had to be a scientist about my own body,” he tells young students, “because even if I saw my doctor twice each year, for a half-hour, that was only an hour each year. But I had to live in my body for the rest of the year: he didn’t. So I had to be smart and help him to help me with my asthma.”

Back to “Normal Life.”

Wilson, 52, lives in the tiny seaport town of Rockport, north of Boston.
Raised and educated in Boston, Wilson received an A.B. Degree in
Mathematics from Harvard College, an S.M. Degree in Interdisciplinary
Science from MIT and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He has worked as a math teacher in Boston, a defense analyst in Washington, DC, and as technical consultant on power/desalination plants in Saudi Arabia. He was also a successful investor in six entertainment companies in Massachusetts.

Captain Larchmont.

Du Moulin, 56, lives in Larchmont, New York. His love of sailing and his career in the shipping industry indicate the depth and breadth of his
passion for all things maritime. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (1968) and
Bachelor of Engineering (1969) from Dartmouth College, and an M.B.A. (1974) from Harvard Business School. Du Moulin has competed at all levels of sailing competition including four America’s Cup campaigns, two Transatlantic Races, and 17 Newport-Bermuda Races.

Some 360,000 schoolchildren followed the adventure of Great American II on a daily basis through the sitesALIVE! educational program at www.sitesALIVE.com. Students have been schooled in math, science, history, language arts, and the hard lessons of life at sea, through the unique Internet-based programs Wilson has created around his record runs across the world’s oceans.

* * *Quayside

HOW THE PUBLIC CAN FOLLOW GREAT AMERICAN II: The website which tracked the voyage of Great American II is http://www.sitesalive.com. Daily position reports and a Captain’s Log were posted on the site so classrooms, students, and families who purchased licenses could follow the progress of the boat. For information, go to http://www.sitesalive.com/oceanchallengelive/
Great American II’s Newspaper In Education participation is supported by the sitesALIVE Foundation. Established in 2002, the Foundation addresses teacher training in computer technology and funding for budget-constrained schools. The mission of the foundation is to enhance K-12 education by promoting the use of technology with real-world, real-time content from around the globe.

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Hugh McKiernan’s Thoughts on Teaching.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. An Address by Hugh McKiernan, Principal, Mamaroneck Avenue School at the Board of Education Tenure Meeting. May 28, 2003: The Principal of Mamaroneck Avenue School in White Plains, Hugh McKiernan, is retiring this year. When he introduced the teachers being recommended for tenure at MAS last Wednesday evening, he made some very moving remarks about the teaching profession and the quality of White Plains teachers. Here are his remarks:



HUGH McKIERNAN
The Principal of Mamaroneck Avenue School addressing the Board of Education last week on the new breed of 21st Century Teacher.
Photo by WPCNR News


GOOD EVENING, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, SUPERINTENDENT CONNORS AND COLLEAGUES, ALTHOUGH THIS IS MY LAST APPEARANCE AT THE ANNUAL TENURE APPOINTMENTS, THE CANDIDATES I BRING BEFORE YOU TONIGHT MAKE THE EVENT A VERY SPECIAL ONE FOR ME.

AN ANONYMOUS WRITER ONCE SAID,

“THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER NEEDS THE EDUCATION OF A COLLEGE PRESIDENT, THE EXECUTIVE ABILITY OF A MANAGER, THE HUMILITY OF A DEACON, THE ADAPTABILITY OF A CHAMELEON, THE HOPE OF AN OPTIMIST, THE COURAGE OF A HERO, THE WISDOM OF A SERPENT, THE GENTLENESS OF A DOVE, THE PATIENCE OF JOB, THE GRACE OF GOD AND THE PERSISTENCE OF THE DEVIL.”

IT’S ONE HECK OF A JOB DESCRIPTION.

SOME FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO, IT BECAME CLEAR TO ME THAT A NEW STRAIN, A NEW KIND, A NEW GENUS, IF YOU WILL, OF TEACHER HAD BEGUN TO APPEAR AT M.A.S. WHO FIT THAT PROFILE.

THIS NEW ITERATION OF PEDAGOGUE SUBSCRIBED OF COURSE TO THE BELIEF THAT ALL CHILDREN CAN LEARN, EACH IN HIS OR HER OWN WAY, IN HER OR HIS OWN TIME. THIS IN ITSELF WAS NOT STARTLING.

WHAT I HAVE FOUND THAT WAS MOST INSPIRING IN THIS NEW TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY TEACHER IS NOT THAT FIRMLY HELD BELIEF TO WHICH ANY TRUE TEACHER WOULD SUBSCRIBE.

NO, WHAT I FOUND WAS THAT THIS NEW BREED OF TEACHER HAS DEVELOPED AN INTUITIVE SENSE OF HOW CHILDREN LEARN, HAS MATCHED THAT INTUITIVENESS WITH THE SKILLS NEEDED TO TRANSFER THE BELIEF INTO PRACTICE, HAS THE LEVELS OF ENTHUSIASM AND ENEGRY TO SUSTAIN THAT PRACTICE AND, MOST SIGNIFICANTLY, HAS THE DEDICATION TO REMAIN FOR THE LONG TERM.

HERE TONIGHT YOU HAVE THREE PEOPLE WHO EPITOMIZE THE PROFILE I DESCRIBED.
IT MATTERS NOT WHERE THEY CAME FROM: ANOTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT OR VIDEOTAPE PRODUCTION OR TOTS AND TODDLERS. IT MATTERS THAT THEY HAVE COME TO WHITE PLAINS TO HELP US WITH OUR MISSION.

A WRITER NAMED NATHAN PUSEY WROTE:

“A TEACHER’S TASK IS NOT TO IMPLANT FACTS BUT TO PLACE THE SUBJECT TO BE LEARNED IN FRONT OF THE LEARNER, AND THROUGH SYMPATHY, EMOTION, IMAGINATION AND PATIENCE, TO AWAKEN IN THE LEARNER THE RESTLESS DRIVE FOR ANSWERS AND INSIGHTS WHICH ENLARGE THE PERSONAL LIFE AND GIVE IT MEANING.”

THESE THREE CANDIDATES HAVE THOSE CHARACTERISTICS.
THE AUTHOR JAMES HILTON PENNED THESE WORDS:

“IF I HAD A CHILD WHO WANTED TO BE A TEACHER, I WOULD BID HER GODSPEED AS IF SHE WERE GOING TO WAR. FOR INDEED, THE WAR AGAINST PREJUDICE, GREED AND IGNORANCE IS ETERNAL, AND THOSE WHO DEDICATE THEMSELVES TO TEACHING GIVE THEIR LIVES NO LESS BECAUSE THEY MAY LIVE TO SEE SOME FRACTION OF THE BATTLE WON.”

THESE THREE TEACHERS, WHO STAND BEFORE YOU HERE: GIVE WITNESS TONIGHT TO THAT DEDICATION.

TONIGHT WHEN YOU VOTE TO APPOINT (THEM) TO TENURE, IT IS WITH OUR GREATEST CONFIDENCE THAT THEY WILL CONTINUE THEIR HARD WORK AND DEDICATION, BEARING IN MIND THE WORDS OF CARL JUNG:

“ONE LOOKS BACK WITH APPRECIATION TO THE BRILLIANT TEACHERS, BUT WITH GRATITUDE TO THOSE WHO TOUCHED OUR HUMAN FEELINGS. THE CURRIUCLUM IS SO MUCH RAW MATERIAL BUT WARMTH IS THE VITAL ELEMENT FOR THE GROWING PLANT AND FOR THE SOUL OF A CHILD.”

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Stratford Brakettes, ASA Champions, Open Season Saturday.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. From The Stratford Brakettes. May 28, 2003:Entering their 57th consecutive season of play, the Brakettes begin the 2003 season on Saturday, May 31 against the Allentown, PA, Pates in a Northeast Seaboard Women’s Fastpitch League doubleheader at Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field in Stratford, Connecticut. First Pitch 7 PM.

Manager John Stratton, who led the team to a 78-1 record in 2002, returns his entire team in addition to a few newcomers. The Brakettes will be playing in the prestigious Canada Cup in Surrey, B.C., July 5-13 and they will be out to defend their national title in Pekin, IL, August 12-16.

For additional information on the Stratford Brakettes, call (203) 378-7262.



THAT CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENT:
Casey Clark fires the last third strike of the season to win the 2002 ASA 23-and over Women’s Fast Pitch Championship. The Brakettes, who have called DeLuca Field, Stratford, home for the past 15 years, also play host to the Danbury Debs on Sunday, June 1 in a 7 p.m. twinbill.
Photo by WPCNR Sports

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Tigers Softball, Baseball Seasons End.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. May 27, 2003: The White Plains Tigers softball team polished off Saunders in the first game of their rain-necessitated Sectional doubleheader Tuesday afternoon, but lost the nightcap to North Rockland, 2-0, ending another successful winning season. Coach Ted O’Donnell’s young team finished at 18-5 and has a bright future ahead.

In baseball, Carmel down White Plains, 7-3, to end their run in the Sectional. Coach Marcel Galligani’s club finished 16-7.

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Adam Bradley and Fumiko Machinaga Are Wed.

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WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. May 27, 2003: Ms. Fumiko Machinaga of White Plains was married to Adam Bradley Sunday at a private ceremony held at the Women’s Club of White Plains, with Mayor Joseph Delfino performing the ceremony. Mr. Bradley is the newly elected Assemblyman from the 89th New York State Assembly District.



MRS. ADAM T. BRADLEY.
The former Fumiko Machinaga, shown observing Mr. Bradley’s swearing-in as Assemblyman on January 4, 2003. Ms. Machinaga has long been a fixture, seen with Mr. Bradley at policital events, meetings and on his campaign to unseat Naomi Matusow last summer. The now newlywed couple will reside in White Plains.
Photo by WPCNR

Mr. Bradley said the couple would continue to live in White Plains, with him in Albany during the week.

The ceremony was in the planning for about two-and a half months, Mr. Bradley said, and was attended by the bride’s mother and brother who flew in from Japan for the wedding. Both Mr. Bradley’s parents attended, and Mr. Bradley said Mayor Delfino conducted a “wonderful” ceremony.

The Assemblyman said he was introduced to Ms. Machinaga five years ago through a mutual friend. The Bride is an educator employed by a Japanese school, who teaches both upper grades and Pre-K in a multi-cultural bilingual educational environment.

Mr. Bradley, an expert election law specialist, and leader of the White Plains Democratic Party City Committee, as well the new Assemblyman for the 89th district, said the new Mrs. Bradley “enjoys what I do (politics)” and said she would be involved with him in his political career.

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The Alvarez-Hernandez Trial: The Jury Delivers Its Sentencing Verdict

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WPCNR White Plains Law Journal. Analysis & Comment by S. Richard Blassberg, WPCNR Legal Affairs Correspondent. May 27, 2003: Friday morning May 23rd at approximately 11:40 A.M., the foreperson announced the Jury’s findings and actions. Having found Dennis Alvarez-Hernandez guilty of six counts of First Degree Murder some two weeks earlier in the Guilt Phase, the panel of four men and eight women were then compelled to determine the appropriate punishment in the sentencing phase under the 1995 Capital Punishment Statute. There were three possible outcomes:



WPCNR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT
S. RICHARD BLASSBERG
Photo by WPCNR News


1. The Jury after considering twenty-four court-approved “Mitigating Factors,” and then weighing the mitigating evidence against the “Aggravating Factors” could unanimously decide to impose Death by Lethal Injection.

2. The Jury having so weighed the mitigating versus the aggravating factors could unanimously choose Life Without Possibility of Parole.

3. Or, in the event that all twelve jurors were not able to reach a unanimous sentencing decision, they could so declare, and thus turn over the sentencing decision to the Presiding Judge whose options would not include either of the above, but merely successive life sentences.

Judge Kenneth Lange had already instructed the jury that in the event they did not return a unanimous sentencing decision, he would impose a sentence of 115 years.

The Tense Courtroom Scene

Friday morning, the gallery was packed to capacity with family of both the victims and the convicted defendant as well as reporters, interested citizens, the Capital Defender, Kevin Doyle, and several of his staff, and, of course, many Assistant D.A.’s, Yonkers Police Detectives, and District Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

Mrs. Pirro sat between Yonkers police detectives Lorenzo and Craft who had led the original investigation, and who gave important testimony in the first phase of the trial. This reporter was pleased that she chose to sit between them because weeks earlier, following their court appearance, I had shared with them my belief that the D.A. had probably squandered police efforts by rejecting Alvarez-Hernandez’ plea offer.

The Significance of The Plea Offer

The Defendant had long ago offered to plead Guilty to Murder One, in exchange for a sentence of Life in Prison Without Possibility of Parole, additionally waiving all rights to appeal. Mrs. Pirro, by turning a “deaf ear” to that plea offer, instead demanding the Death Penalty, in effect set up the possibility that a jury could “deadlock” and thus compel the Presiding Judge to sentence to life, without the ability to impose the parole restriction. I had remarked to the two detectives jointly that such an outcome was not unlikely.

How the Jury Found

The courtroom was dead silent as the foreperson, Juror Number One, rose to her feet. Responding to Judge Lange’s question, she acknowledged that the jury had considered and weighed the Mitigating Factors and Aggravating Elements and had voted and acted upon their beliefs. The Judge then proceeded to go down the list of twenty-four approved Mitigating Factors and Juror Number One revealed how the Jury had voted on each one.

It quickly became apparent as Mitigator after Mitigator, 17 out of 24 in all, had been accepted by all twelve Jurors, and several others by a majority, that this Jury was not likely to call for a Death Sentence.

In fact, after delivering the Jury’s Action on all twenty-four factors, the Foreperson, to the amazement of many, announced that they had, on their own initiative, added a 25th Mitigating Factor, which took into account the fact that the principal victim, Patricia Torres, at 28, was significantly older than the Defendant, who was 22 at the time. Eleven of the twelve had approved this voluntary additional Mitigating Factor.

Road Map of Jury’s Thinking

The list of Mitigating Factors, together with the Jury’s responses to them, appeared to this reporter to be a veritable road map of their collective thinking about the man they were being asked by the D.A. to put to death.

Before Lange had even gotten half-way down the list, Prosecutor Patricia Murphy had thrown her hands behind her chair and clasped them in utter defeat and resignation. She knew the prosecution had failed miserably.

Sentencing

Following the review of the list of Mitigating Factors, Judge Lange proceeded to ask the Foreperson what sentence the Jury had arrived at, if any, for each of the Six Counts of First Degree Murder of which they had found Dennis Alvarez-Hernandez guilty just two weeks earlier. Although he had been found Guilty of each of fourteen counts of the indictment, only the convictions for six counts of Murder One were eligible for sentence of Death by Lethal Injection.

As Lange slowly went down the Six First Degree Murder Convictions, each was met with the same response, “Not Unanimous.” The Prosecution’s worst nightmare had materialized. Not only had the Jury refused to sentence Alvarez-Hernandez to death, but it also failed to sentence him to Life Without Possibility of Parole.

By deadlocking, (and this reporter believes it may actually have been 11 to 1, the majority against Lethal Injection), the jury insured only the lightest, least desirable sentence from the D.A.’s standpoint, could be imposed by the Judge.

The District Attorney’s strategy had clearly failed and she had suffered the most crushing defeat of her prosecutorial career.

Motion to Send the Jurors Back to Work.

Mrs. Pirro was not willing to respect or accept the actions of the Jury. Following the foreperson’s announcements, she dispatched her Chief Assistant, Richard Weill, to approach Judge Lange with a motion to send the jurors back into Deliberation.

Judge Lange, visibly annoyed by this irregular and highly improper motion, offered the stern admonishment, “The law allows them to disagree,” and dismissed the motion.

Mrs. Pirro’s action was wrong, very wrong, because it was disrespectful to the court as well as to the Jury. She, once again, simply could not contain herself. Her actions clearly demonstrated her disregard for the written law. As usual, it must be “her way or the highway.”

Analysis

Under any other District Attorney than Mrs. Pirro, Dennis Alvarez-Hernandez, killer of Patricia Torres, and two of her young children, would have begun serving a Life Sentence Without Possibility of Parole more than two years ago, as per his plea offer. To understand why Mrs. Pirro chose instead to subject the family of the victims as well as the defendant’s family to the anguish, pain and torture, not to mention the extraordinary expense of human resources and taxpayers’ money by the County of Westchester and the City of Yonkers, one must realize, like most everything she does, this capital punishment trial was, in this reporter’s opinion, all about her career, her position in the public eye, and “all about herself.”

Specifically, analysis of her decision to press for the Death Penalty, can be best understood in terms of four events which occurred in relatively close succession in the year 2000.

1. On June 20, 2000, Al Pirro, her spouse, is convicted in Federal District Court in White Plains, on all counts, of a massive ten-year tax fraud, involving joint returns.

2. On September 3, 2000, Dennis Alvarez-Hernandez kills his girlfriend, Patricia Torres, and two of her young children, Ashly 4, and William, 7.

3. In October 2000, Mrs. Pirro releases trial balloons that she will seek reelection to a third term.

4. Shortly thereafter, she announces her intention to seek the Death Penalty for Alvarez-Hernandez, in an apparent effort at shoring up Conservative support for her upcoming reelection.

Media Stranglehold.

Quite simply, Jenine Pirro’s calling for the Death Penalty was just another instance of her survival tactic, “Deflect and Distract.” Over the past nine years, she has used the method many times with great success. No wonder. She has almost total control over press and media in Westchester County, and nationally as well. (It is because Mrs. Pirro continues to be the “darling,” of the media that this series of reports was commissioned.)

Conclusion.

Dennis Alvarez-Hernandez committed a dreadful, murderous act on September 3, 2000, taking the lives of his girlfriend and two of her young children, while severely intoxicated with alcohol.

His plea offer to accept life in prison without possibility of parole, and to waive all possible appeals, should have been accepted by District Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Surely to do so would have been in the best interests of the people of Westchester County whom she is sworn to protect. It would also have been in the best interests of the families most closely touched by the tragic events.

Not to Be.

Mrs. Pirro chose to pursue the Death Penalty, disregarding the cost in human anguish and pain, not to mention the incalculable cost in human and financial resources. She knew all along that by taking the path she chose, for very transparent political reasons, she would set in motion years of hardship and expense no matter what the outcome of the trial might be. Now that she has done what she has done everyone has come away as losers for the following reasons:

1. The family of the victims as well as the family of the defendant have been put through a 2-1/2 year emotional wringer.

2. The People of Westchester have spent, and will likely continue to spend many millions of dollars and huge amounts of human resources for years to come, in the event that Alvarez-Hernandez exercises his rights to appeal..

3. The Law Enforcement Community specifically, the Yonkers Police Department, has seen a lessening of the consequences to the Defendant as compared with what he was willing to accept in his plea offer.

4. Finally, Mrs. Pirro comes away a huge loser, no matter how she may struggle to “spin the facts.” Her selfish, politically-motivated choice coupled with her inappropriate and disrespectful actions with regard to the law have not gone unnoticed by the legal community nor by the People of Westchester.

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