White Plains CitizeNetReporter

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. Special to WPCNR. May 29, 2019:

A consortium of residents has appealed the Judge Joan Lefkowitz decision of August 24 of last year, that ruled that SEQRA regulations had not been violated by The City of White Plains in approving the French American School of New York school campus plan, and simultaneously ruling that the 1925 covenent that went with any sale of the former Gedney Farms /later the Ridgeway Country Club, could not be used for any institutional use. Lefkowitz in her decision said the word institution was ambiguous and did not necessaryily prohibit a school from being built on the property.

The appeal means the case may last through 2020.

The appeal papers were filed yesterday.

WPCNR STARS AND STRIPES. Contributed by Carl Albanese. Originally published  by WPCNR May 30, 2011:

Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

“Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.” — General Logan – May 5, 1868

We need to remember with sincere respect those who paid the price for our freedoms; we need to keep in sacred remembrance those who died serving their country. We need to never let them be forgotten. However, over the years the original meaning and spirit of Memorial Day has faded from the public consciousness.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day.

There is also evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping” by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication “To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead” (Source: Duke University’s Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920).

While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860’s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868.

It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states.

The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).

It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis’ birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

City of White Plains Now Accepting Applications for a City Court Judge Position

The City of White Plains is accepting applications for a City Court Judge position.  The City Court Judge position requires an attorney who is a resident of the City of White Plains and has been admitted to practice law in the State of New York for a minimum of five (5) years. The appointment will be for a ten (10) year term.  Applications may be downloaded at www.cityofwhiteplains.com/judicialapplication and may be submitted to the City Court Judicial Review Committee, c/o Office of the Mayor, 255 Main Street, White Plains, New York 10601, or may be transmitted by e-mail to jcallahan@whiteplainsny.gov.  Applications must be received by 5 p.m. on May 30, 2019.  Questions may be directed to Corporation Counsel John G. Callahan at jcallahan@whiteplainsny.gov or (914) 422-1411.

WPCNR STREET LEGAL. May 22, 2019:

Leo Glickman, of Stoll, Glickman & Bellina will represent White Plains’ Kat Brezler appeal argument for validation of her primary petitions to run in the June 25 Democratic Primary to the Appellate Court in Brooklyn today.

Brezler is contending that her petition signatures for the Democratic Primary approved by the Board of Elections were unfairly declared by a New York Supreme Court Judge as “insufficient” after the judge had reviewed them. The judge, Sam Walker declared her petitions invalid.

Unless the Appellate Court finds in Ms. Brezler’s favor, she will not be able to run in the Democratic Primary scheduled for June 25 against the Democratic Party nominated slate of Nadine Hunt-Robinson, Victoria Presser and Jennifer Puja for Common Council.

The argument is scheduled to heard at 10 AM this morning.

With 7 Days to Go Before Westchester County terminates the Standard Amusements Playland Agreement County Executive Appears to Stand Firm:

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION LEDGER. Statement by County Executive George Latimer on Playland from the Westchester County Department of Communications. May 21, 2019:

“The County elected to terminate this contract because Standard did not engage in the ongoing process to resolve its breaches of the Playland Agreement.  We outlined in detail ovCounty Executive With 7 Days to Go Before County Terminates the Standard Amusements Playland Agreement Appears to Stand Firm:er a year ago the basic problems we had with the original deal, and more recently, the failures of Standard to honor its commitments in the manager’s investment.

We wanted to work toward an amicable termination of the contract; later in the process, we offered an opportunity for Standard to provide consulting services in partnership with the County to reposition and strengthen the park. 

Those meetings, held between counsel for both Standard and the County, was the opportunity for there to be a new construct of our relationship that could be beneficial to the park, and to the people of Westchester. 

 “Subsequently, Standard has embarked on a campaign to undermine public confidence in park health and safety, working to purposefully injure the County’s ability to operate Playland.  This is disappointing behavior from a company that claims to be focused on the best interests of Playland. 

“Standard’s public relations firm has also been falsely accusing the County of a lack of transparency.  But it has been Standard that has failed to be transparent. 

Our Administration met publicly with the Board of Legislators for 2+ hours to answer questions and outline our position. We have held press conferences answering all questions from the press about this matter.

 On the other hand, Standard has not been forthcoming about the source and terms of the investment it claims is available to the company to satisfy its obligations to invest $27.75 million in Playland. 

Standard has refused to allow the County to complete its audit of the amounts Standard claims to have invested in the park. 

We already know that the vast majority of those amounts cannot properly be claimed as part of the company’s contractually defined Manager’s Investment.

Standard has yet to publicly answer questions about its investors, its specific plans for the park, the specific projects it would use its capital to fund, and a wide range of legitimate operational questions.

And financing an on-line petition that seeks to get people – who want to simply save Playland – to endorse their private takeover of the park, is deceptive.

“We all want what is best for Playland, and we agree that a public private partnership can accomplish that mission – but this deal with Standard Amusement is not a partnership; it is a giveaway of authority and responsibility of a precious public asset to a private organization whose motives and processes are at best, unclear, and at worse, deceptive. 

“We would be derelict in our public duties to simply accept a bad deal struck by others, and meekly acquiesce to the end of public management of Playland for the benefit of the people of Westchester.”