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JOHN BAILEY’S WHITE PLAINS REPORT FROM WVOX 1460 THIS MORNING WITH DENNIS AND TONNY THE NICEST TWO PEOPLE ON THE RADIO ON “GOOD MORNING WESTCHESTER” THE COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT. JOHN IS HEARD TUESDAYS 7:50 AM TO 8 AM ON WVOX.
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“GOOD MORNING DENNIS AND TONNY WHERE IT’S 72 HAZY HUMID WPCNR DEGREES IN WHITE PLAINS NY USA.NOW TODAY IS A VERY BIG DAY. IT IS THE DAY 52 YEARS AGO TONIGHT THAT NEAL ANDERSON WALKED ON THE MOON. IT WAS A PROUD NIGHT IN A DIFFERENT AMERICAN. WE WATCHED THE EAGLE LAND ON THE MOON.
STUFF WE HAD ONLY DREAMED OF WATCHING CAPTAIN VIDEO, TOM CORBETT AND FLASH GORDON SERIALS. THIS IS HARDLY EVER REMEMBERED TODAY. IT IS SIGNIFICANT THAT THE COUNTRY WAS SHARPLY DIVIDED THEN OVER THE VIETNAM WAR, THE 60S GENERATION. THE DAWNING OF AQUARIUS, BUT THE LANDING SHOWED WHAT AMERICAN INGENUITY PLUCK COURAGE AND CREATIVITY CAN AND CAN STILL DO IF WE RECOVER OUR CONFIDENCE.
WELL WESTCHESTER COUNTY HAS TO PAY CLOSER ATTENTION TO THE GROWING INFECTION RATE. NOW WATCHING THE INFECTION RATE WE ARE NOW SEEING MORE INFECTIONS MATHEMATICALLY RELATED TO THE 10 TO 15 DAY INCUBATION RATE FOR COVID AFTER THE END OF THE JULY 5 THREE DAY WEEKEND.
WE HAD 4 STRAIGHT DAYS OF OVER 50 NEW INFECTIONS AND 34 YESTERDAY. INFECTIONS HAVE GONE UP FROM AN AVERAGE OF 34 FOR TWO WEEKS TO OVER 50 FOR 4 OF THE LAST FIVE DAYS. WE ARE ENTERING THE INFECTION RATE OF 1.3% ON THOSE TESTED WHICH IS THE RATE WHERE NEW INFECTIONS GROW AND SPREAD. EVEN GOVERNOR CUOMO NOTED STRONGLY IN HIS NEWS CONFERENCE YESTERDAY WE ALL MUST WHO NOT GO OUT AND GET VACCINATED. MORE PEOPLE GOT VACCINATED LAST WEEK BASED ON COUNTY EXECUTIVE EXHORTATIONS LAST WEEK TO GET VACCINATED.
ANOTHER EFFECT OF COVID THAT MAY RESULT IN SUBSTANTIAL PROPERTY TAX INCREASES AS CITIES AND TOWNS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY FACE ASSESSMENT CHALLENGES FROM COMPANIES AND PROPERTY OWNERS WHO HAVE SUFFERED LOSSES FROM COVID LOWERING THEIR PROFITS. WE WILL NOT KNOW HOW MANY CHALLENGES WE FACE IN WHITE PLAINS UNTIL JANUARY. BUT ANY DROP IN ASSESSED VALUES WE RESULT IN A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE ON CITIZENS.
THESE ANNUAL ASSAULTS BY BUSINESSES ON THE TAXPAYERS ARE KNOWN AS CERTIORARIS ARE FACED BY CITIES AND TOWNS EVERY YEAR. THIS YEAR THE NUMBER CERTIORARIS MAY SET A RECORD. IT SHOULD NOT AFFECT WHITE PLAINS BECAUSE WE DO NOT GUESS OUR REVENUES TO BE MORE THAN WE COLLECT EACH YEAR BUT OTHER CITIES AND TOWNS NOT AS PRUDENTLY MANAGED AS WHITE PLAINS MAY FACE BIG HITS ON THEIR ASSESSED VALUES.
GOOD NEWS ON VACCINATIONS
AFTER COUNTY EXECUTIVE GEORGE LATIMER REPORTED VACCINATIONS LAST MONDAY IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY WERE RUNNING AT A LOW OF 168 SCHEDULED SHOTS THAT DAY,, 1,774 MORE PERSONS HAVE GONE TO GET FIRST SHOTS OF THE COVID VACCINE, APPARENTLY HEARING THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE’S MESSAGE TO GET VACCINATED AND FAST.
MORE PERSONS WITH FIRST SHOTS HAVE STARTED GETTING THEIR SECOND SHOTS, A TOTAL OF 1,687 IN FIVE DAYS AN AVERAGE OF 337 A DAY.
THE COVID TRACKER TRACKER REPORTS THIS MORNING 586,301 WESTCHESTER RESIDENTS HAVE THEIR TWO DOSES OF VACCINE. UP 1,687 FROM TUESDAY JULY 13.
THIS PAST SUNDAY MORNING, 637,920 ARE REPORTED AS NEEDING SECOND SHOTS TO BE FULLY VACCINATED. THAT TOTAL INCLUDES THE 1,774 WESTCHESTER RESIDENTS JUST GETTING THEIR FIRST SHOTS THE LAST 5 DAYS. THOSE INDIVIDUALS STILL NEED THEIR SECOND SHOTS COMPARED TO 638,000 LAST MONDAY
IF SECOND SHOTS AND FIRST SHOTS CONTINUE THIS UPWARD TREND THE COUNTY COULD BE FULLY VACCINATED BY MID-NOVEMBER. TO COMPLETE SECOND SHOTS FOR THE 637,920 NOW NEEDING 2ND SHOTS, THE COUNTY HAS TO RAMP UP THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE COMING IN FOR SECOND SHOTS, OR CONVINCE THOSE WHO HAVE MISSED THEIR SECOND SHOT APPOINTMENTS TO COME IN AND GET THEM.
MEANWHILE IN WHITE PLAINS NY USA, THERE HAS BEEN NO INDICATION YET THAT WHITE PLAINS WILL APPEAL THE APPLELLATE COURT DECISION DENYING THEM EMMINENT DOMAIN OF EAST POST ROAD PROPERTIES.
ON AUGUST 2, THE CITY MAY MAY TAKE UP APPROVAL OR DENIAL OF THE 701 WESTCHESTER SENLAC PROJECT
I HAVE TO CONGRATULATE THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF WESTCHESTER SHELTER JUST DOWN THE STREET NEAR THE RADIO STATION FOR THEIR GREAT NEW FACILITY FOR THE HOMELESS CATS AND DOGS AND THEIR NEW ADOPTION POLICIES. YOU CAN NOW RECEIVE ADVANCE COUNSELING FOR FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS SEEKING A PET BY CALLING AND MAKING ADOPTION APPOINTMENTS AT 914-632-2925 OR LEARNING ABOUT THE PROCESS OR GO TO THEIR WEBSITE, WWW.HUMANESOCIETYOFWESTCHESTER.ORG.
IN 2020, THE SOCIETY WAS ABLE TO ARRANGE ADOPTIONS OF 900 CATS AND 250 DOGS. THEY WILLHELP YOU FIND THE HOMELESS CAT OR DOG WHO WILL FIT INTO YOUR FAMILY AND PROVIDE COMPANIONSHIP THAT NEVER LETS YOU DOWN AND HUMAN COUNSELING WE ALL BENEFIT FROM OUR PET’S EMPATHY. A WONDERFUL JOB OF CARING BY THE HUMANE SOCIETY, A PAWS UP PURRRR OF GRATITUDE.”
52 YEARS AGO TONIGHT. NEIL ARMSTRONG WALKED ON THE MOON
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This column originally appeared on WPCNR on February 1, 2003, and celebrates the Dreamers, the Achievers, the High and the Mighty:
The Space Blazers:
The Apollo 11 Crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Jr. Mr. Armstrong set foot on the moon 52 years ago on July 20, 1969 (NASA Photo)
One of the papers I receive at WPCNR White Plains News Headquarters, White Plains, New York, USA did not tell me ALL week this week was the 52nd anniversary of the week when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.
The exact hour was 20:11 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). That was the culmination of the last great American achievement – the personal computer, the cellphone and the internet, social media were to come after the amazing great American achievement conquering space in 9 years — when Apollo 11 with Armstrong in command, with astronauts Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. blasted off to the stars for real.
They became the real Flash Gordons, Buck Rogerses, Tom Corbetts and Captain Videos for all-time.
The Apollo 11 mission was a success.
But there have been the tragedies associated with striving for the stars and being the best, achieving the best, working for the good. Those are the persons who keep dreams alive by their deaths and personal sacrifice. I wrote the following after the explosion of the Columbia Space Shuttle upon reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere after 19 days in space in January 2003.
Saturday’s fatal Columbia Space Shuttle accident killing all 7 astronauts aboard when the historic spacecraft broke up over East Texas at daybreak Saturday morning begins a period of national mourning.
The expected media speculations have started, guessing at the cause of the reentry that went bizarrely, awfully wrong.
The truth is the civilized world takes absolute scientific miracles for granted. We do not appreciate the courage and skills of the men and women creating the future.
Those of us with cell phones, internet connections, high-speed trains, satellite communications and entertainment (all products made possible by the space program), do not realize the magnitude of daring achievements that you and I have come to accept to be executed like clockwork.
I first learned of Columbia’s fate late Saturday afternoon when my wife mentioned that instead of sports programming being videotaped on our television, there was coverage of a live NASA event on ABC.
(Incredibly, the radio station I had been listening to on the way from a sports clinic had not reported any hint of the accident. That station was Z-100, the most listened-to station in the New York metropolitan area. America Online also on their first up page did not mention the missing craft as of midday. That kind of communications misjudgment is sad.)
As I watched the close of Peter Jennings’ coverage at about 3 PM, he signed off with no recap, no names of astronauts, and some parting words about what he thought was the cause of the disaster.
I’ll write what he should have said.
Columbia’s seven astronauts who died — we know their names: they were
Columbus, Magellan, Cook, Lewis, Clark, the Wrights, Lindbergh, De Laroche, Earhart, Markham, Gruber, Chaffee, Grissom, White, Gargarin, Komarov, the Challenger Crew, the crew of Soyuz 11. They are a handful of the hundreds of brave men and women who went into the unknown. Some did not come back.
Apollo 11′s Crew which landed and walked on the moon turned the dreams of the 1950s visualized in television shows like Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (above, Astro, Roger and Tom) and Captain Video, “The Master of Science” below into reality.
America’s Spacemen and Spacewomen and the explorers before them are the people who trust in their ability and their vessel to expand the world’s horizons, to know the unknown, whose legacies build a better world. Whose deeds inspire and achievements are the catalysts for achievement to come. Their failures ever reminders of the uniqueness of their courage and resolve.
From Captain Cook’s fragile vessel which sailed the Pacific, to the marvel that was the Columbia, the captains courageous who sailed the Roaring 40s, blazed the Oregon Trail, discovered how to fly, flew the oceans without radar, journeyed to the stars, knew the risks they were taking. They loved the concept of being ever onward.
The media trivializes their courage, their skills, and the difficulty of what they did and wanted to do, to concentrate on the causes of their failure, as if knowing the cause will make their loss acceptable.
The Magnificent Seven
I do not know Columbia’s Magnificent Seven. I just see their smiling faces in their photograph, and I regret the loss of every one. They had achievement on their faces, pride in their demeanor. Their eyes shown with the glow of being alive and striving to do the great things they set out to do.
Civilization has been created because of people like the crew of the Columbia’s Magnificent Seven, not the incompetence we see demonstrated daily today where technology is concerned.
The Columbia itself had flown 26 missions since launching in 1981. It was guided and outfitted with the best 2003 communications and equipment had to offer.
Not like Captain James Cook’s bark, Endeavour, a 100-foot ship powered by sail that conquered the “space” of his time, the Pacific Ocean. It was the Columbia’s Magnificent Seven’s “Endeavour.” They were tracked, they were backed up, but they perhaps more than anyone here on the ground knew the high dangers of the shuttle mission.
Liftoff, as their predecessors, The Challenger crew fell victim to, is fraught with risk.
Reentry, which needs to be negotiated at precisely the right angle of attack, is equally risky.
Soyuz 11’s spacecrew of Dobrovolskiy, Volkov, and Patsayev died in 1971 on reentry, when the Russian cosmonauts took too long to descend.
No guarantees in real life. Machines sometimes run out of miracles.
The magnificence of the explorers’ sacrifice and dedication, is that they accept the risk of “the Endeavor.”
They accept the challenge, bear it alone, seizing challenge with an indomitable spirit and confidence, facing death when it comes with the satisfaction that they made the effort, and I suspect analyzing, coping, trying to fix it until the end, the very end.
They never give up.
Columbia’s Magnificent Seven, after 16 days in space, are gone now. My sorrow is with their families who will miss these Magnificent Seven, and who know in their hearts that they died trying to reach the pinnacle of their aspirations.
They are only human.
They tried their best, achieved their best, and experienced what they longed to experience. They dared to live the great adventure.
Not all of us have the courage to follow our longed-for adventures and make them real. You can watch movies that attempt to give that experience by transference. That’s why, I believe, you and I take it so personally when we lose heroic personalities of our time. We wonder what they are like. We glorify them, rightly so.
Follow Me! They Say.
I wonder how those Magnificent Seven felt, how satisfying it must have been, to be at your best, doing what you love, coping with the risks.I envy them that.
The Columbia Crew is the Miracle.
In reality it is not machines that conquer, it is the intrepid personalities, each unique, each contributing, who perform the miracles with God’s help. That they fall short is an example to us, not to take ourselves, our fates, or our existences for granted.
This is true of the everyday people we take for granted: the firefighter, the policeman, the train engineer, the airline pilot, the construction worker, the doctor fighting COVID, the nurse, the leader trying to do what must be done despite opposition. All are highly trained disciplined workers, executing precise tasks for which the non-expert has no feel or understanding . When one of them gives up it is rare. And when they do, they leave the task to us.
What makes for the desire to achieve? What is out there or up there that leads them on?
The Feel of the Unknown
I took Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s biographical adventure diary, Listen! The Wind down from the aviation bookshelf.
She was the young bride of the aviator-pioneer, Charles Lindbergh. She navigated for him in his aircraft, and ran his radio communications on his many exploratory flights around the world.
In a passage she describes a night flight over the ocean, in which she was operating the radio for her husband Charles, who was at the controls. Mrs. Lindbergh is describing the feelings she has as she tries to tune in the South American coast at sea in the dark of night in 1933, 88 years ago.
The feeling, the courage of the adventurer, the explorer has not changed. This is great:
“Night was the hardest. It would be all right once it was day. I kept saying…We began to hit clouds. I could tell without looking up, for the plane bumped slightly from time to time, first one wing down and then the other. And the moon blackened out for short periods.
Then for longer periods. I could not see to write my messages. I stiffened, dimly sensing fear – the old fear of bad weather – and looked out. We were flying under clouds. I could still find a kind of horizon, a difference in shading where the water met the clouds. That was all. But it seemed to be getting darker.
Storms? Were those clouds or was it the sky? We had lost the water. We were flying blind. I turned off the light quickly (to give my husband a little more vision), and sat waiting, tense, peering through the night. Now we were out again. There were holes through which one could see the dark sky. It was all right, I felt, as long as there were holes.
More blind flying. This is it, I thought is what people forget. This is what it means to fly across the ocean, blind and at night. But day is coming. It ought to be day before long… Daybreak! What a miracle. I didn’t see any sign of day and yet it must be lighter. The clouds were distinguishing themselves more and more from water and sea.
Daybreak—thank God—as if we had been living in eternal night—as if this were the first sun that ever rose out of the sea.
Note: This column originally appeared February 1, 2003 on WPCNR.
WESTCHESTER REDISTRICTING HEARING BASED ON 2020 CENSUS COUNTS–MEETS AUGUST 2 “VIRTUALLY” TO GATHER INFO ON REDISTRICTING SENATE-ASSEMBLY DISTRICTS FOR NEXT DECADE
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| WPCNR INFLUENCER. From the Westchester League of Women Voters. July 20, 2021: The Independent Redistricting Commission, New York’s first bipartisan Commission is responsible for drawing our State’s district lines after the 2020 Census. The IRC is committed to drawing New York’s maps based on input from the Public. To do that, they need you to tell them about your community as well as how your district lines can be improved. Note that Westchester County is included in the Mid-Hudson Region. In addition, the August 2 public hearing will also include the Capital Region. We need you to attend and testify, or submit written testimony from your Community of Interest! Do not let Westchester County’s voice be diluted within two vast regions! REGISTER HERE You can attend a meeting and testify OR submit testimony without testifying. Virtual Meeting login will be sent from the IRC. |
NYC UNION OFFICIAL COPS A PLEA FOR DIPPING INTO THE COOKIE JAR AGAIN-TAX EVASION.
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WPCNR FBI WIRE. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. July 19, 2021:
Audrey Strauss, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that STEVEN WHITTICK, the former treasurer of the Law Enforcement Employees Benevolent Association (“LEEBA”) and an officer with the New York City (the “City”) Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”), pled guilty today before United States District Judge P. Kevin Castel, to charges of conspiring to evade more than $250,000 in federal taxes, including payroll taxes owed by LEEBA and its employees, and his own personal income taxes.
WHITTICK also pled guilty to lying to federal officers during the course of the investigation in this case. LEEBA is a labor union that represents certain law enforcement officers employed by the City, including officers from DEP, the City Department of Sanitation, and the City Department of Transportation.
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Steven Whittick today pled guilty to charges that reflect a betrayal of his duties as a law enforcement officer, his legal obligations as a union official, and his responsibilities as a taxpayer. As a police officer, Whittick swore to uphold the law, not to obstruct it. As a union official, he betrayed the rank-and-file membership by paying himself off the books. As a taxpayer, Whittick evaded his legal obligation to pay what was owed. Now, Steven Whittick awaits sentencing for his crimes.”
According to the Indictment and the underlying complaints filed in this case, as well as other publicly available information and prior court filings, and recent court proceedings:
Law Enforcement Employees Benevolent Association
LEEBA is a labor union that has acted as the collective bargaining representative principally for law enforcement personnel at various City agencies, and has entered into agreements on behalf of those law enforcement employees, including agreements for insurance and retirement benefits. The City agencies whose employees LEEBA represented included, at various times, DEP, the Department of Sanitation, and the Department of Transportation.
WHITTICK
WHITTICK is a DEP police officer, the former treasurer of LEEBA, and a member of the board of directors of LEEBA and the boards of trustees of the LEEBA Annuity Fund and the LEEBA Welfare Fund. As LEEBA’s treasurer, WHITTICK had responsibility for LEEBA’s financial matters and accounts, including arranging for LEEBA to pay its payroll through an outside payroll processing firm (the “Payroll Processor”) starting in 2016. WHITTICK also held signatory authority over LEEBA’s main operating bank account.
The Tax Evasion Conspiracy
As charged in Count Two of the Indictment, to which WHITTICK pled guilty today, from at least in or about 2015 through 2019, WHITTICK participated in a conspiracy with Kenneth Wynder Jr.,[1] the president of LEEBA, to cause LEEBA to make payments to WHITTICK and Wynder, by check and in cash, and to conceal such payments from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). WHITTICK further conspired to ensure that such payments were made outside of LEEBA’s Payroll Processor. He then concealed these payments from the IRS – including off-the-books payments to himself of more than $100,000 and off-the-books payments to Wynder of more than $400,000 – in order to evade his own personal income taxes and the personal income taxes of Wynder, and to evade the payroll taxes that were owed by LEEBA and certain LEEBA employees.
WHITTICK’s False Statements to Federal Agents
In or about October 2019, while serving as LEEBA’s Treasurer and after learning of a federal investigation into LEEBA’s finances – including the investigation of an alleged embezzlement scheme that ultimately resulted in wire fraud charges against Wynder – WHITTICK repeatedly lied to federal agents in an effort to obstruct that investigation. WHITTICK did so despite personal involvement in some of the financial improprieties with which Wynder is charged. For example, as alleged, on at least two occasions, on or about February 1, 2018, and March 30, 2018, WHITTICK withdrew $16,000 in cash from a LEEBA bank account, and on each occasion deposited $15,000 cash into Wynder’s personal bank account and $1,000 cash into WHITTICK’s own personal bank account.
After the FBI executed a search warrant of LEEBA’s offices in September 2019, WHITTICK attempted to obstruct and to influence the ongoing federal investigation by making, in two different interviews with law enforcement agents, false statements about, among other subjects, cash withdrawals he made from LEEBA’s bank accounts, unauthorized withdrawals from LEEBA’s Annuity Fund and from the individual retirement accounts of Fund participants, and LEEBA’s payment for certain travel and entertainment expenses for union officers, including WHITTICK and Wynder.
* * *
WHITTICK, 51, of Kingston, New York, pled guilty today to: (1) one count of conspiracy to evade personal and payroll taxes for the tax years 2015 through 2018 and the first three quarters of 2019; and (2) one count of lying to federal investigators. Each of those charges carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, and an order of restitution. WHITTICK is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Castel on November 17, 2021, at 11:00 a.m.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding work of the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the Department of Labor Office of Labor Managements Standards. Ms. Strauss also thanked the New York City Comptroller’s Office and the New York City Department of Investigation for their assistance.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Raymond Lewis and Eli J. Mark are in charge of the prosecution
GOVERNOR CUOMO ASSESSES WHERE STATE , COUNTIES ARE IN GETTING VACCINATED AND WHO IS GETTING COVID. STATE POSITIVE NEW CASES RISING OVER 1.18% POSITIVES DAILY. CALLS FOR MORE VACCINATIONS. MID-HUDSON REGION VACCINATING 1,019 A DAY OVER 7 COUNTIES. MID-HUDSON AVERAGING 1% NEW CASE RATE. WESTCHESTER HAS 34 NEW CASES SUNDAY TRAILING NASSAU WITH 99 AND SUFFOLK WITH 88.
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WPCNR OFFICIAL STATE CORONAVIRUS REPORT. From the Governor’s Press Office. July 19, 2021:
“After over a year of containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now being told that COVID is now mainly a pandemic among the unvaccinated,” Governor Cuomo said. “If you haven’t already, I encourage you to get your shot to best protect yourself and your loved ones against the variants spreading through the nation.”
Today’s Statewide data is summarized briefly below:
· Test Results Reported – 69,665
· Total Positive – 823
· Percent Positive – 1.18%
· 7-Day Average Percent Positive – 1.26%
· Patient Hospitalization – 378 (+26)
· Patients Newly Admitted – 71
· Patients in ICU – 79 (0)
· Patients in ICU with Intubation – 30 (-2)
· Total Discharges – 185,906 (+61)
· Deaths – 3
· Total Deaths – 43,034
· Total vaccine doses administered – 21,812,432
· Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours – 22,627
· Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days – 235,134
· Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose – 71.1%
· Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series – 65.8%
· Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) – 73.9%
· Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 67.4%
· Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose – 59.3%
· Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series – 54.6%
· Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) – 61.7%
· Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 56.0%
Each region’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:
| Region | Friday, July 16, 2021 | Saturday, July 17, 2021 | Sunday, July 18, 2021 |
| Capital Region | 1.52% | 1.66% | 1.75% |
| Central New York | 0.83% | 1.03% | 1.00% |
| Finger Lakes | 0.85% | 0.96% | 1.01% |
| Long Island | 1.37% | 1.47% | 1.61% |
| Mid-Hudson | 1.01% | 1.01% | 0.99% |
| Mohawk Valley | 0.70% | 0.80% | 0.81% |
| New York City | 1.24% | 1.30% | 1.27% |
| North Country | 0.89% | 0.86% | 0.94% |
| Southern Tier | 0.64% | 0.61% | 0.69% |
| Western New York | 1.13% | 1.36% | 1.42% |
| Statewide | 1.19% | 1.26% | 1.26% |
Each New York City borough’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:
| Borough in NYC | Friday, July 16, 2021 | Saturday, July 17, 2021 | Sunday, July 18, 2021 |
| Bronx | 1.11% | 1.16% | 1.24% |
| Kings | 1.35% | 1.42% | 1.24% |
| New York | 1.09% | 1.17% | 1.19% |
| Queens | 1.21% | 1.22% | 1.24% |
| Richmond | 1.72% | 1.88% | 1.87% |
Yesterday, 823 New Yorkers tested positive for COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total to 2,110,317. A geographic breakdown is as follows:
| County | Total Positive | New Positive |
| Albany | 24,823 | 13 |
| Allegany | 3,569 | 0 |
| Broome | 18,710 | 4 |
| Cattaraugus | 5,749 | 0 |
| Cayuga | 6,373 | 0 |
| Chautauqua | 8,982 | 1 |
| Chemung | 7,814 | 3 |
| Chenango | 3,520 | 1 |
| Clinton | 4,866 | 5 |
| Columbia | 4,096 | 0 |
| Cortland | 3,942 | 1 |
| Delaware | 2,404 | 3 |
| Dutchess | 29,632 | 6 |
| Erie | 89,976 | 15 |
| Essex | 1,614 | 2 |
| Franklin | 2,567 | 0 |
| Fulton | 4,443 | 1 |
| Genesee | 5,449 | 0 |
| Greene | 3,428 | 1 |
| Hamilton | 316 | 0 |
| Herkimer | 5,225 | 0 |
| Jefferson | 6,214 | 0 |
| Lewis | 2,829 | 0 |
| Livingston | 4,545 | 0 |
| Madison | 4,592 | 2 |
| Monroe | 69,463 | 15 |
| Montgomery | 4,265 | 0 |
| Nassau | 185,134 | 99 |
| Niagara | 20,129 | 4 |
| NYC | 947,740 | 461 |
| Oneida | 22,733 | 0 |
| Onondaga | 39,212 | 3 |
| Ontario | 7,439 | 3 |
| Orange | 48,612 | 17 |
| Orleans | 3,134 | 0 |
| Oswego | 7,660 | 0 |
| Otsego | 3,475 | 0 |
| Putnam | 10,657 | 4 |
| Rensselaer | 11,305 | 3 |
| Rockland | 47,236 | 9 |
| Saratoga | 15,487 | 9 |
| Schenectady | 13,245 | 1 |
| Schoharie | 1,715 | 1 |
| Schuyler | 1,082 | 0 |
| Seneca | 2,019 | 1 |
| St. Lawrence | 6,691 | 0 |
| Steuben | 6,988 | 1 |
| Suffolk | 202,363 | 88 |
| Sullivan | 6,718 | 1 |
| Tioga | 3,852 | 0 |
| Tompkins | 4,377 | 0 |
| Ulster | 14,001 | 2 |
| Warren | 3,711 | 5 |
| Washington | 3,178 | 1 |
| Wayne | 5,809 | 3 |
| Westchester | 130,421 | 34 |
| Wyoming | 3,608 | 0 |
| Yates | 1,180 | 0 |
Yesterday, 3 New Yorkers died due to COVID-19, bringing the total to 43,034. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:
| Deaths by County of Residence | |
| County | New Deaths |
| Queens | 2 |
| Suffolk | 1 |
All New York State mass vaccination sites are now open to eligible New Yorkers for walk-in vaccination on a first-come, first-serve basis. People who would prefer to schedule an appointment at a state-run mass vaccination site can do so on the Am I Eligible App or by calling 1-833-NYS-4-VAX. People may also contact their local health department, pharmacy, doctor or hospital to schedule appointments where vaccines are available, or visit vaccines.gov to find information on vaccine appointments near them.
Yesterday, 11,458 New Yorkers received their first vaccine dose, and 12,058 completed their vaccine series. A geographic breakdown of New Yorkers who have been vaccinated by region is as follows:
| People with at least one vaccine dose | People with complete vaccine series | |||
| Region | Cumulative Total | Increase over past 24 hours | Cumulative Total | Increase over past 24 hours |
| Capital Region | 678,175 | 349 | 634,352 | 296 |
| Central New York | 536,942 | 258 | 505,844 | 225 |
| Finger Lakes | 688,813 | 372 | 652,718 | 387 |
| Long Island | 1,565,064 | 1,489 | 1,428,827 | 1,747 |
| Mid-Hudson | 1,257,799 | 1,071 | 1,142,539 | 1,019 |
| Mohawk Valley | 265,698 | 182 | 249,580 | 151 |
| New York City | 5,509,667 | 7,102 | 5,023,823 | 7,556 |
| North Country | 248,833 | 85 | 228,449 | 82 |
| Southern Tier | 352,128 | 157 | 330,676 | 171 |
| Western New York | 749,654 | 393 | 694,311 | 424 |
| Statewide | 11,852,773 | 11,458 | 10,891,119 | 12,058 |
The COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker Dashboard is available to update New Yorkers on the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The New York State Department of Health requires vaccinating facilities to report all COVID-19 vaccine administration data within 24 hours; the vaccine administration data on the dashboard is updated daily to reflect the most up-to-date metrics in the state’s vaccination effort. New York State Department of Health-reported data from NYSIIS and CIR differs slightly from federally-reported data, which is inclusive of federally-administered doses and other minor differences. Both numbers are included in the release above.
NEW WESTCHESTER COVID INFECTIONS CROSS OVER INTO SPREAD ZONE FOR SECOND STRAIGHT DAY. ON SUNDAY: 34 NEW INFECTIONS, 1.3% INFECTION RATE, OF 2,678 TESTED POSITIVE. SATURDAY 1.4% TESTED POSITIVE.
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WPCNR CORONAVIRUS MONITOR. By John F. Bailey Based on New York State Covid Tracker July 19, 2021:
On Saturday, the New York State Covid Tracker reported 55 of 3,808 persons in Westchester County tested positive for corona virus.
The one day crossover into the volatile spread infection rate of 1.4% positive based on 3,808 tests (1.1% results in stable case rate of the disease according to the New York State Department of Health a 1.1% new case rate maintains a covid new case level that does not spread).
Sunday test results on the covid tracker indicated that with 1,608 less tested, 34 of 2,678 tested positive for covid, with the infection rate staying at the 1.3% (postive spread of the disease)..
On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday the county averaged 50 new infections for 4 straight days. Fifty-five persons of 3,808 tested in the county 1.4% of those tested positive. In the five days through Saturday infection rate doubleded to 1.1, 33 a day average new cases turned into 50 a day average. In 4 days ending Saturday.
The results for Sunday will be in this afternoon.
WESTCHESTER CITIZENS WITHOUT FIRST COVID SHOTS GO GET THEM. 1,774 GOT FIRST SHOTS IN 5 DAYS (354 A DAY). 1,687 COMPLETED THEIR SHOTS (337 A DAY). GOOD BUT MUST GET DONE FASTER. MORE PARTICIPATION NEEDED PRONTO.
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WPCNR COVID VACCINATION MONITOR. By John F. Bailey. From the New York State Covid 19 Tracker. July 18, 2021:
After County Executive George Latimer reported vaccinations last Monday in Westchester County were running at a low of 168 scheduled shots that day,, 1,774 more persons have gone to get first shots of the Covid vaccine, apparently hearing the County Executive’s message to get vaccinated and fast.
More persons with first shots have started getting their second shots, a total of 1,687 in five days an average of 337 a day.
The Covid Tracker Tracker reports this morning 586,301 Westchester residents have their two doses of vaccine. Up 1,687 from Tuesday July 13.
This Sunday morning, 637,920 are reported as needing second shots to be fully vaccinated. That total includes the 1,774 Westchester residents just getting their first shots the last 5 days. Those individuals still need their second shots compared to 638,000 last Monday
If second shots and first shots continue this upward trend the county could be fully vaccinated by Mid-November. To complete second shots for the 637,920 now needing 2nd shots, the county has to ramp up the number of people coming in for second shots, or convince those who have missed their second shot appointments to come in and get them.
The state has released no figures on the persons who have skipped their second shot dosages.
Without that obvious vital stat there is no way to determine if the lag in fully vaccinating progress is from consumer indifference.
The state has released no figures on no-shows for second shots, either, or whether those no-shows for second shots are being traced and recontacted, or whether second shots will come to them. They should.
Given the spread of coronavirus the last week back to the brink of out of control spread (more than 1.1 Infection Rate) this situation of shot-skipping ignoring getting a shot altogether, and how it is being addressed needs to be addressed calculated and executed. Depending on today’s numbers due at 2 PM, the Third Wave could be about to begin.
The state has to dig into the weeds of the stats they do not want to tell.
The state needs to stop talking about recovery and back to normal because the spread is already on in Westchester and the reasons for that have to be isolated: is it vaccination skipping, too relaxed rules, or stronger covid strains. Wishful thinking does not replace what the facts tell you.
With the number of people still needing second shots and the still low rate of vaccinations running at 700 (337 second shots a day and 354 first shots) (1st and 2nd combined) we are not vaccinating fast enough to get the county fully vaccinated by the start of the school year. We need 2,000 shots a day 1st and seconds combined to get the county full vaccinated by mid-September.
NEW COVID CASES IN WESTCHESTER HITS SPREAD RATE OF 1.1% 12 DAYS AFTER JULY 4 WEEKEND ENDS. FRIDAY FIGURES: INFECTION RATE CONTINUES AT 1.1% POSITIVE–51 OF 4,637 TESTED–1.1% INFECTION CONTINUES. 312 NEW CASES IN 8 DAYS AVG 40 A DAY.
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SHOWING ANOTHER 51 PERSONS INFECTED WITH COVID FRIDAY OF 4,632 TESTED.
WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. NEWS & COMMENT By John F. Bailey. Updated with chart July 17, 2021 UPDATED WITH FRIDAY TEST RESULTS, 3:45P.M. EDT
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Westchester new covid case percentage of positives tested has doubled from a low of .3 testing positive the previous late April 12 weeks through June 30.
The new case rate is back to 1.1% of 24,310 tested in last 7 days. That 1.1% continued when Friday Test results were posted on the New York State Covid Tracker showing another 4, 632 persons were tested and 51 or 1.1% were found positive with Covid.
The rate of 1.1% positives is the start of the infection rate that builds cases exponentially, 2 for every infected person.
The spread of new coronavirus has suddenly gone from less than 30 a day to 50 a day in Westchester alone in 7 days. It was only 7 days from the end of a very loose holiday three-day weekend that new positives starting going up instead of continuing its previous continued steady-controlled number of 1/2 % and significantly growing number of infections.
The number of daily cases averaging slightly over 30 new cases a day (34,32,33,37,32 from July 9 to July 13, has gone to 51 new cases Wednesday July 14 to 47 on Thursday July 15, paralleling the incubation period of exactly 12 days since the end of the July 5th 3-day holiday weekend in Westchester.
The spread of the disease is now ahead of reduction in new covid cases.
The concern is with less Westchester people getting tested, an average of 3,501 a day the last seven days, there may be more than just 50 persons a day with new cases who are coming down with covid but simply have not shown full symptoms, and are spreading it bigtime.
This raises the question of how many other super spreader weekends coming up in this hottest of all summers in Westchester is going to spread coronavirus and how quickly the new cases will be arriving in hospitals, threatening a healthy fall school opening.
The days paralleling the standard recognized incubation period of 10 to 14 days from the end of the July 5 weekend demonstrates how quickly the disease can reinfect and come back.
The “Anything Goes” policy by authorities in in the state, counties, towns and businesses and the state of reducing wearing masks, allowing in-person gatherings with unlimited persons, heavy beach and swimming facility usage, restaurant and movie restriction liftings is perhaps accelerating this jump.
The unwillingness to get vaccinated, as lamented each week by County Executive George Latimer, is another factor.
A reporter I was having lunch with yesterday wondered aloud Will the Governor as the Governor of California did yesterday bring back close-down restrictions, masks and require vaccination proof before Covid seizes upon the vulnerability of Westchester and all counties reckless wishful thinking?
In the sudden rush to go back to normal, and follow wishful politicians’ thinking that the vaccine is controlling the virus, and politcians’ eagerness to claim credit from the governor for opening up the economy again, are coronavirus and its delta variant reasserting its spread?
The 7 days of spread spread (going up everyday for 7 days) say that.
We need to know whether persons coming down with the new cases had been vaccinated.
Two letters from caregivers of covid cases appeared in the New York Times letter column this morning said that all persons they were treating from covid had not been vaccinated. That tells me it is time to require vaccinations of eligible children before schools start. That tells me there has to be vaccination drives in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County.
It also tells me that if you have not been vaccinated or have not gone back for you second shot, you are going to get the disease if you are not careful
As a study published in The New York Times today pointed out celebrations of birthdays and special occasions have pointed out as leading spreaders of the disease
The horrifying 50 cases a day figures tell me that vaccinations have to be ramped up and required.
When Friday test results from yesterday for Westchester come out at 2 PM today, I hope they do not show more of an infection rate.
I just worry about wishful thinking that covid is over because it restart the disease bigtime..
Because people are already out there spreading covid but do not know it.
Governor Cuomo has to wake up and smell the coffee.
If we start to whistle past the graveyard, we will have more hospitalizations and graveyards to fill in less than a month at this rate in Westchester.
In 7 days, it already has.
WHITE PLAINS WEEK AND WPCNR NEWS “THE RECOVERY REPORT” HOW MUCH ARE WE “BACK?” A LOT! JULY 16 REPORT TONIGHT 7:30 ON FIOS CH. 45 COUNTYWIDE AND OPTIMUM WHITE PLAINS CH. 76 AND WWW.WPCOMMUNITYMEDIA.ORG
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WHITE PLAINS GETS AND ICE CREAM SHOPPE AGAIN
CRYSTAL HAWKINS-SYSKA , PRESIDENT
OF HUDSON GATEWAY ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS ON
RED HOT REAL ESTATE MARKET IN WHITE PLAINS AND WESTCHESTER
CHAIR OF BOARD OF LEGISLATORS MID-YEAR REPORT: WE’RE BOUNCING BACK
SETS COUNSELING, APPOINTMENTS FOR ADOPTING PETS WITH
ON HER EXPERIENCE
AS AN ADOPTED CAT FROM THE SHELTER
COUNTY EXECUTIVE GEORGE LATIMER
ON VACCINES RISE IN COVID POSITIVES IN LAST 10 DAYS