WHITE PLAINS WESTCHESTER DAILY NEWS SERVICE VISITS SINCE 2000 A.D. 25TH YEARl REPORTING THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW News Service Since 2000 A.D. 2026 WILL BE OUR 26TH YEAR OF COVERING WHITE PLAINS NEW YORK USA . John F. Bailey, Editor (914) 997-1607 wpcnr@aol.com Cell: 914-673-4054. News Politics Personalities Neighborhoods Schools Finance Real Estate Commentary Reviews Policy Correspondence Poetry Philosophy Photojournalism Arts. The WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER. TELEVISION: "White Plains Week" News Roundup, 7:30 EDT FRI, 7 EDT MON & the incisive "People to Be Heard" Interview Program 8PM EDT THURS, 7 PM EDT SAT on FIOS CH 45 THROUGHOUT WESTCHESTER AND, ALTICE OPTIMUM WHITE PLAINS CH 1300 Fighting for Truth, Justice and the American Way. TOP 10 VISITORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD :1. USA. 2.BRAZIL3.VIET NAM 4. CHINA 5. JAPAN 6.UK. 7.CANADA. 8.INDIA. 9.AUSTRALIA 10.IRELAND 11.GERMANY 12..ARGENTINA 13.BANGLADESH 14.RUSSIA. 15.NEWZEALAND. 16. FRANCE. 17.MEXICO. 18.UKRAINE. 19.SOUTH AFVRICA. 20. IRAQ.
WPCNR Saturday Governor Andrew Cuomo CoronaVirus Brief. (UPDATE):
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo confirmed 2,419 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 348,232 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 348,232 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows (Mid-Hudson Regions in BOLD FACE :
WPCNR SATURDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO CORONAVIRUS BRIEFING. By John F. Bailey. May 16, 2020:
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today cleared Westchester County and Suffolk County Hospitals to begin scheduling elective surgery and ambulatory care patients because their capacity ratios to handle corononavirus patients had been met.
In response to incise questioning by Jesse McKinley of The New York Times in the “Q. & A.,” Governor Cuomo confirmed that all 5 regions that were cleared for reopening have tracing personnel now in place to track the contacts of covid-19 diagnosed individuals social contacts. The Governor said no region could open without in-place tracers ready to go. (FYI: Westchester County this week advertised for persons wanting to be tracers).
The Governor said 157 persons died yesterday from Coronavirus in New York State, up from yesterday. He said new hospitalized cases had declined. The coronavirus infections curve continued its slow decline, saying “Spikes (in fections) rise quickly, resolve slowly.”
He provided no new information on the spread of Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (PMSIS) that was up to 119 cases affecting children from 1 to 21, whom have had coronavirus exposure and show antibodies to corona. In yesterday’s briefing he cautioned on PMSIS:
“You know with this virus, I just want to say on a personal level, and I want to make sure everybody understands this – -the facts here have been changing and the facts have only been getting more negative. This started that it was only going to attack vulnerable people, seniors, people with co-morbidities.
I was speaking to a doctor today about a young person who passed away of a stroke, from Covid. No underlying conditions, nothing else. It was a stroke. No respiratory illness. Well, what happened? Well apparently, the virus can affect the heart, and the liver, and other organs besides the lungs, and we didn’t know that.
Children weren’t going to be infected. Accept now we’re studying 100 cases where children are in fact affected by the virus and some of them very serious. And that 100 cases, I’ll wager that’s going to only go up and it’s going to be much more widespread than anyone thinks. So, the amount of personal responsibility here to keep oneself safe, to keep one’s family safe, I cannot stress highly enough, do not underestimate this virus and do not play with this virus.”
He announced that New York Horse Racing could resume June 1 without spectators, at New York racetracks .
He cleared car racing at Watkins Glen.
He said he anticipated no more lockdowns, but that regions choosing to reopen that have been cleared would have to watch for “spikes.”
The Governor said he expected numbers of infections to increase but had no arbitrary figure as to how much percentage would have to increase before regions had to make adjustments, saying it depends on the population of the region and the locations in the regions where “spikes” in infections were increasing.
He said he realized people are restless: “Everybdy wants to come out. It’s how they react when they come out. You’ll see some increase in numbers but not see a spike. It’s still relying on what we do. So be smart. Be diligent.”
He in a direct plea to the U.S. Senate considering the relief bill for the states passed by the House of Representatives Friday, said “Try to be great in this moment.” (and pass the bill).
He said in a “Q. & A” question regaring the New York State Legislature, that he would not cut the budget until Congress had made its position clear on relief for the states. The governor said that the legislature would have to take up the question of what to cut out of the state budget which faces a $61 Billion “hole.”
“There will be fights,” the Governor said.
The Governor previously announced that the state will allow elective outpatient treatments to resume in counties and hospitals without significant risk of COVID-19 surge in the near term, and a total of 49 counties can now resume elective surgeries:
Albany
Herkimer
Rensselaer
Allegany
Jefferson
Saratoga
Broome
Lewis
Schenectady
Cattaraugus
Livingston
Schoharie
Cayuga
Madison
Schuyler
Chautauqua
Monroe
St. Lawrence
Chemung
Montgomery
Steuben
Chenango
Niagara
Suffolk
Clinton
Oneida
Sullivan
Columbia
Onondaga
Tompkins
Cortland
Ontario
Ulster
Delaware
Orange
Warren
Dutchess
Orleans
Wayne
Essex
Oswego
Westchester
Franklin
Otsego
Wyoming
Fulton
Putnam
Yates
Genesee
The Governor called on the U.S. Senate to pass the coronavirus relief bill that was passed by the House last night. The bill includes $500 billion for states and $375 billion for locals; Medicaid funding for the most vulnerable; increased SNAP food assistance; 100 percent FEMA federal assistance; funding for testing; and repeals SALT to help states most affected by COVID-19.
THE SUPER GOVERNOR OPENS UPSTATE UP DOWNSTATE HAS THE BLUESWESTCHESTER AND MID-HUDSON DRAGGING THEIR FEET, LEAVING THEIR MASKS AT HOME WHY MID-HUDSON IS NOT WORTHY.JOHN BAILEY AND THE NEWS — 20TH YEAR OF REPORTING TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE AMERICAN WAY…PENETRATING, THOUGHTFUL, ANALYTICAL, DISTURBING
MEMORIAL DAY THIS YEAR IS ON MAY 25. STATE BEACHES IN NY WILL BE OPEN MAY 22.GOVERNOR CUOMO AND GOVERNORS OF NJ, CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE OPEN BEACHES WITH REGULATIONS. REGULATIONS IN FORCE APPEAR AT CLOSE OF ABOVE VIDEO.LOCAL GOVERNMENT OWNED BEACHES MUST NOTIFY STATE THEY WANT TO OPEN BY MAY 20, AND MUST OBEY STATE RESTRICTIONS.
PRESIDENTIAL, CONGRESSIONAL, STATE & LOCAL PRIMARIES – JUNE 23
Voting in Person
Early voting for the June 23 primary elections will take place from Saturday, June 13 through Sunday, June 21, throughout the county. (Polling sites to be determined.)
Primary Election Day – June 23, 2020, polling sites will be open throughout the county for in-person voting from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Polling sites to be determined.)
If you wish to vote by absentee ballot here is what you need to know:
Requesting an Absentee Ballot Application
All eligible voters will be mailed applications to request absentee ballots for the June 23, 2020 primary elections (both the presidential primary and congressional/state/local primary elections). These mailings will include a postage paid return envelope. Voters should start to receive applications in the mail starting May 15. (If you do not receive one by June 1 call the Board of Elections at (914) 995-5285.)
If you previously submitted an absentee ballot application between January and April 2020 for the presidential primary scheduled for April 28, the Board of Elections may have already sent you one ballot for the presidential primary; they will send you a second ballot for the congressional/state/local primary elections.
If you discarded the April 28 presidential primary absentee ballot and would like to request a replacement for the June 23 presidential primary election, please contact the Board of Elections.
Filling out and Filing the Absentee Ballot Application
In filling out the application for the absentee ballot, check “Temporary Illness” in Box 1; and
Select “Primary Election” in Box 2 to receive ballots for the presidential primary and for the congressional, state, and local primary elections.
Absentee ballot applications must be received by the Board of Elections (BOE), and no later than Tuesday, June 16 in order for ballots to be received by voters in time for the elections.
Voting by Absentee Ballot and Important Deadlines
Once the Board of Elections has processed your application, the BOE will mail you two absentee ballots for both the presidential primary and the congressional, state, and local primaries.
Included with your absentee ballots will be a postage paid return envelope. Absentee ballots must be postmarked on or before June 22, 2020 and must be received by the Board of Elections no later than Tuesday, June 30; or
The absentee ballots can also can be hand delivered up to 9 p.m. June 23, 2020 to the Board of Elections located at 25 Quarropas Street, White Plains, NY 10601.
Voter Registration Deadlines for the June 23 Primary Elections
Voter registration forms must submitted to the Board of Elections at 25 Quarropas Street, White Plains, NY 10601. Those applications must be postmarked or delivered in person by Thursday, May 29.
AMID ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES FIFTH REGION HITS BENCHMARK TO BEGIN REOPENING MAY 15TH
Central New York Joins North Country, Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley Regions, Which Have Met the Seven Metrics Required to Begin Reopening After NYS on Pause Orders Expire on May 15th
Business Guidance for Phase One of the State’s Reopening Plan is Available Here
Initial $3 Million in Grants Available to Businesses to Manufacture Emergency Medical Supplies and Equipment
Announces President Trump has Expedited $3.9 Billion in Funding for the MTA at the Request of the Governor
Confirms 2,390 Additional Coronavirus Cases in New York State – Bringing Statewide Total to 343,051; New Cases in 45 Counties
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that as of today, Central New York has met all seven metrics required to begin phase one of the state’s regional phased reopening plan when NYS on PAUSE orders expire on May 15th, joining the North Country, Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley Regions.
If the trend continues, these five regions can begin opening businesses for phase one, which includes construction; manufacturing and wholesale supply chain; retail for curbside pickup and drop-off or in-store pickup; and agriculture, forestry and fishing. Business guidance for phase one of the state’s reopening plan is available here. A guide to the state’s “NY Forward Reopening” Plan is available here. The state’s regional monitoring dashboard is available here.
The Governor also announced an initial $3 million in grants are available to businesses to manufacture emergency medical supplies and equipment. Companies interested in growing or starting a medical supply business should go to www.esd.ny.gov.
Governor Cuomo also announced that President Trump has expedited $3.9 billion in funding for the MTA at the request of the Governor.
“All the arrows are pointed in the right direction and now the question becomes focused on reopening – people have to get back to work and the state needs an economy – but we have to make sure we don’t reopen too soon,” Governor Cuomo said. “We are doing this in a calibrated way and monitoring the data, facts and metrics every single day and using the lessons we’ve learned from others who have already gone through this. And right now, based on our criteria we have five regions that are poised to reopen beginning tomorrow, and as they start to reopen certain businesses we will continue to monitor the level of activity and make sure it doesn’t create a second wave of this virus.”
Finally, the Governor confirmed 2,390 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 343,051 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 343,051 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows (MIDHUDSON REGION COUNTIES IN BOLD FACE):
WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From a White Plains CitizeNetReporter. May 14, 2020:
A resident of Battle Hill informs WPCNR that
“Battle Hill was hit hard last night 5-13-20. Larcenies from UNLOCKED vehicles. Many neighbors have (surveillance) cameras so that is helping police. Please lock your car doors at night! Police are asking if you were targeted last night please call 4226111 non-emergency WPPD.”
WPCNR is awaiting details from the White Plains Police.
The White Plains Police have this observation on their website:
There have been recent car larcenies from unlocked vehicles in private driveways within our city and our neighboring jurisdictions. This has become not only a local crime issue, but one that extends throughout the country.
The White Plains Police actively seek to detect, deter and arrest persons involved in these crimes. For all the police effort, the single most effective way to not become a victim of this crime is to lock all the doors of your vehicles. It is as simple as that.
Please help the Police Department fight crime. – Lock your cars and do your honest best to safeguard all of your belongings in and around your residence.
New York State now has over 340,661 positive cases. The total number tested in Westchester is 115,572; the number of people who have tested positive in the county is 31,611. The county currently estimates the number of active cases in the county to be 2,985. There are currently 498 Westchester Residents hospitalized in Westchester County. The cumulative number of positive cases in White Plains is 1671 with 147 of those estimated to be active- 4 of which are new cases today (Wednesday).
Today it was announced that on Friday 4 of the 10 New York State economic development regions will be permitted to enter phase 1 of reopening. The regions impacted are North Country, Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley. We are in the Mid Hudson region which is currently meeting 5 of the 7 metrics required to begin the reopening process. The two metrics we are not meeting are moving in the right direction.
As a reminder, individuals with symptoms of COVID-19 which include fever, cough and congestion can walk in to be tested at White Plains Hospital Emergency Department. Testing is also available at urgent care facilities such as City MD at the corner of Maple and Mamaroneck and Forme on Broadway near Main St. or contact your health care provider.
There will be food distributions in White Plains on Friday, one at George Washington Elementary School from 11am until noon,sponsored by the GWPTA, and two city run distributions at Delfino Park and Battle Hill Firehouse both at 2pm. If you are in need of food assistance please email feedingwp@whiteplainsny.gov. If you are in need of a mask please email maskwp@whiteplainsny.gov. If you would like to help please email volunteer@whiteplainsny.gov. Our next call will be Friday until then..
Remember we are standing together by staying apart!
WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE.From the NYS Comptroller’s Office. May 14, 2020:
Local sales tax collections dropped 24.4 percent in April compared to April 2019, leaving many of New York’s local governments grappling with shortfalls, according to State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Sales tax collections totaled $1.02 billion in April.
Plummeting sales tax collections were widespread, leaving counties, cities and some other local governments short by about $327 million compared to last year. White Plains experienced a 20.1% decline in April.
Although the first quarter of 2020 was relatively strong, March sales tax collections had already begun to show the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown–a decrease of 3.7 percent statewide with the largest declines downstate.
The April figures show shrinking revenues for local governments throughout the state.
Every county in every region of the state saw a large drop in April collections. New York City experienced a 23.1 percent decline, amounting to $141.8 million in lost revenues for a single month. Unknown at this time is how collections are impacted by consumers’ growing reliance on e-commerce shopping for products that are now subject to State and local sales taxes.
The least severe, though still substantial decline in sales tax collections occurred in the Mid-Hudson Region (-21.5 percent).
The Capital District had the most severe decline (-28.8 percent).
Outside of New York City, the state’s 57 counties had a decrease in collections of $159.5 million compared to April 2019.
In addition, 17 cities (not including New York City) impose their own general sales tax. April collections were down $5.7 million in April in aggregate compared to April 2019. Nearly every city saw large losses ranging from a decline of 20.1 percent in White Plains to a decrease of over 37 percent in Gloversville. A few cities tax only specific goods or services. Most cities, towns and villages and some school districts also rely on sales tax revenues to support their operations, through sharing agreements with their counties.
GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO BRINGS MORE FOCUS ON THE INFLAMED BLOOD VESSEL DISEASE BEING INVESTIGATED BY STATE. HE SPEAKS OF NEW INFORMATION ON THE 102 CASES OF INFECTED CHILDREN THE STATE KNOWS ABOUT.
WPCNR WEDNESDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO CORONAVIRUS BRIEFING. By John F. Bailey:
Governor Andrew Cuomo reported Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker briefed Health Commissioners across the country Tuesday night on what New York State has found out about the Inflamed Blood Vessel disease that the state has discovered in 102 children of ages 1 to 18.
Dr. Zucker will also go online in a webinar with healthcare providers to discuss the disease tomorrow.
The Governor said in the video that 60% of the 102 tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and 40% for the COVID anti bodies, and 14% of the 60% were positive for both covid-19 and the antibodies.
Of the 60%, 71% were admitted to ICUs. 19% were put on ventilators, and 43% were still hospitalized as of yesterday, demonstrating the serious nature of how this derivation from coronavirus has been affecting young persons, all of whom have tested positive for the corona virus, and some of whom have been found to have antibodies. As I understand the meaning of this is that the antibodies may or may not make corona virus positive children (who did not contract the COVID virus) immune to getting the new condition , the inflammation of the blood vessels condition.
There is no indication of how many children across the state have tested positive for coronavirus in various locations, though infection rate of children was estimated at 1% on testing results.
The Governor reported 14 other states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Washington, D.C. have reported cases of this new affliction. The Inflammation of Blood Vessels condition has been reported in Spain, France, England, Italy and Switzerland.The Governor said the Department of Health is discussing the new condition with these countries.
The governor said in the video sequence at the top of this page that the new infection may be being contracted by children as a side effect of being corona positive, but not actually coming down with coronavirus (within two weeks or at all). The upshot is that the Governor has directed hospitals to test all children with these systems for corona virus positive condition.
He is having hospitals identify previous corona virus positive children who have not gotten the corona virus (but may get the new infection 5 to 6 weeks after quarantined), to screen for the blood vessel affliction that has infected children of all ages and ethnicity in the first 102 reported cases of the new threat.
The Governor said it was important for parents to have any
child exposed to a COVID-19 positive patient, relative or friend to be tested for
the corona virus., if they are seeing any of the symptoms the governor goes over in the video, to see a
physician as soon as possible.
New York continues steady on the numbers of new cases and
hospitalizations.
The Governor said the new cases of hospitalizations were “a
little bit up” but not so much that they broke the average rate of new infection streak of lowering new cases.
The Governor stated there were 166 deaths from the
Coronavirus Tuesday, 122 in hospitals, 44 in Nursing Homes.
He announced 12 new counties hospitals were cleared to begin
scheduling elective surgery again.
The Governor said antibody testing of all essential workers
had been completed and all transit, police/fire, EMS, medial personnel, and Department
of Corrections employees had been tested and all corona virus cases were virtually half the
infection rate of the general public. Again, the governor held up a mask, and
said “PPE’s work.”
He announced the North Country Region was opening up..
In discussing his call for government reimbursement to
states, he noted that Representative Nita Lowey had introduced a bill to repeat
the State & Local Tax law point out how much revenue New York and
Massachusetts had lost in revenues by
this legislation enacted by the Trump Administration.
In the “Q. & A” with reporters from the North County region at Jefferson College, the governor said he could not put a handle on how many employees would be cut from the prisons, until he saw the Washington “in process” relief bill.
