WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. September 10, 2019:

Hello Everyone–
I hope you are doing well.  I am running for White Plains Common Council on November 5th, and being the huge underdog in this race, I am reaching out to every possible channel that I can think of.  Being President of the White Plains Council of Neighborhood Association (WPCNA) for the past 2 years (along with Bill Brady and Chris Price — thanks Gents!), I’ve committed a lot of my time and effort to reaching out to the different neighborhoods as well as residents approaching me with issues they have that pertain to them and the city.  Those past WPCNA Presidents know exactly how much time and effort is involved, and it is a thankless job with a big salary of $0.  

Ever since moving with my wife to White Plains 5 years ago, I’ve been very passionate about helping those who’ve had similar needs and concerns to me that relate to White Plains.  We all know how unresponsive our current city administration can be (i.e. the mayor, Mr. Callahan, various Commissioners), and always finding the right person to address your questions and/or concerns can be challenging.  That is exactly why I decided to run for Common Council 2 years ago and again this year.  I am not a politician, BUT I strongly believe that people should be treated fairly.  It doesn’t matter about your gender, race, age, political party, etc.  We are all equal, and should be treated as such.  

I want to STRONGLY emphasize, especially in a local election, that this Common Council race is not about Political Parties; rather, it’s about how capable someone is to perform the duties of a councilwoman or man.  Two of the 3 Democratic candidates for Common Council have no involvement with the communities, whatsoever. 

It’s quite ironic because these two individuals–Victoria Presser and Jennifer Puja–have only been present at community events within the past several months.  Where were they before that?  It’s also very funny because the running joke with the WPCNA is that you only see the current Common Councilman/women and candidates show up to WPCNA meetings around election time.  Otherwise, you’ll never see them.  Exception to this was Milagros Lecuona (neutrally speaking, but it’s the truth).

I would also like to point out that my full-time job as an Engineer / Project Manger make me the best qualified Common Council candidate out of everyone that’s running.  I’ve personally managed operating budgets and capital projects that exceed the annual operating budget of White Plains.  The most expensive capital project that I’ve managed as Project Manager was $500 Million, for Metro-North Railroad, which was completed under budget and ahead of the scheduled completion date. Interesting how 2 of the more successful mayors in White Plains (subjectively speaking) were Professional Engineers (as am I)–Al Del Vecchio (a Republican) and Sy Schulman (a Democrat).  Food for thought.

So, to conclude my long-winded, but very important email….  I am seeking your support for my candidacy of White Plains Common Council on Tuesday, November 5, 2019.  If you firmly believe in my cause, who I am, and what I’ve just stated to you above, then I humbly ask for your vote.  I also ask you to please share this email and my message to your family, friends, colleagues, neighbors and anyone else in your network.  Again, I am at a huge disadvantage running on the Republican and SAM lines, but I hope you believe in me as much as I believe in you.  Every vote counts!
Thank you very much and God Bless!

Here is the front side of my campaign card for this upcoming election:

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WPCNR CONNECTED. SEPTEMBER 9, 2019:

Despite assurances Saturday that the interruption in Altice-Optimum television, internet, phone and cellphone services were restored, the company is still reporting 7,317 outages in Weschester, New Jersey, Manhattan and Connecticut on their “outage” website that can be viewed at this address:

https://istheservicedown.com/problems/optimum-cablevision/5145215-yonkers-westchester-county-new-york-united-states

The most recent outage reports and issues originated from White Plains, Saddle River, East Rutherford, The Bronx, Bronx, Larchmont, Hartsdale, Whitestone, West New York, New Rochelle, Yonkers, Bronxville, Pelham, Manhattan and Westwood.

The website lists the number of customers out as of this hour:

Location	Reports
Brooklyn, NY	2449
New York City, NY	1492
The Bronx, NY	1421
Stamford, CT	324
Norwalk, CT	211
Pawtucket, RI	137
Newark, NJ	129
Westport, CT	127
Bronx, NY	102
Taunton, MA	78
Greenwich, CT	68
New Canaan, CT	66
Albany, NY	58
Darien, CT	57
Hartford, CT	50
Newburgh, NY	50
Edison, NJ	48
Providence, RI	46
Wayne, NJ	44
Philadelphia, PA	43
Middletown, NY	42
Washington, D.C., DC	41
Dorchester, MA	40
Yonkers, NY	39
Bridgeport, CT	39
Baltimore, MD	39
Hamden, CT	38
Hoboken, NJ	36
Jersey City, NJ	36
Poughkeepsie, NY	35

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Senior Law Day

Please join us at Senior Law Day on September 10th from 8:30am to 2:00pm at the Westchester County Convention Center for a day of FREE workshops and one on one consultations with attorneys, certified financial planners and geriatric care managers. Topics will include estate planning, elder law, health care, Medicare, Medicaid, housing options and more. Great educational event for seniors, family members and care givers. For more info, please go to: http://www.seniorlawday.info/

FREE parking at County Center Parking Lot. Call 914.813.6300 for info.

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WPCNR MILESTONES.  By Tim James. September 5, 2019:

 Liz Shollenberger, my wonderful, kind, sweet, vibrant, funny, keenly intelligent, fiercely competitive, loving (and greatly loved) wife of 29 years and partner of 42 years, died this morning. 

She was 63. 

She had been in a series of hospitals since June, primarily for respiratory problems, and succumbed to an infection that struck on Labor Day, which she was unable to fight off even with the help of excellent medical care.

 Liz had been under nearly constant assault from her own body, for mostly mysterious reasons, for more than 15 years, but never let her persistent health issues affect her cheerful personality or stop her for long from doing the  things that she loved, including practicing law, leading the White Plains Democratic City Committee, reading, going to movies, keeping up with friends, helping others, doting on our cats (and other cats she met) . . .

and keeping alive her attendance streak at Princeton Reunions, which she maintained through this year. 

Liz grew up in two small towns in Ohio – Alliance, a steel town, and Circleville, a rural community in the northernmost county of Appalachia, where she attended junior high and high school. 

But she wanted to make an impact in the wider world, and worked methodically to get there.  A teacher gave her a long reading list of books one should know for college . . . and Liz read all of them.  She became the co-valedictorian of her high-school class. 

When she learned that the subjects tested on the math branch of the SAT would include trigonometry, which was not taught in her school, she asked her math teacher to help her learn it.  When it turned out that her math teacher did not know trigonometry, Liz got a book and taught it to herself. 

She ended up with a 1500 on the SAT and became the only student from her school in memory to go to Princeton – where we met, and where she earned a grade-point average of 3.9 on her way to Yale Law School. 

After working at three highly regarded private law firms in Manhattan during her first years out of law school and teaching for two years at NYU Law School, Liz spent the bulk of her legal career as a Legal Services attorney, representing indigent clients, first in the Bronx, where she became the head of the Housing Unit, and later, of their Senior Unit, and then in Queens, where she headed the public-benefits unit.  

In Housing Court, Liz loved being the equalizer, altering the imbalance of power that normally exists between low-income tenants (usually unrepresented) and the attorneys for landlords.  Armed with her “Housing Court Spanish” (as she called it), a quickly acquired expertise in the substantive and procedural aspects of housing law, and a cheerful but steely willingness to go to trial in any case where she felt the landlord was not being reasonable, Liz became a force in Bronx Housing Court. 

She knew a lot of ways to win a case, or at least make the adversary settle on terms her client could live with. Liz and I got involved in Democratic politics in Greenwich Village in 1981.  In 1983, at age 27, she became the first President of the Village Reform Democratic Club, which we helped to found. 

In 1986, the small-town-Ohio girl was elected in a primary as Female Democratic District Leader for Greenwich Village, representing a district that encompassed about three-quarters of an Assembly District.  She held that position for nine years, winning two more primaries and then winning two more terms without opposition. 

While she was District Leader, we were able to play a significant role in the initial election to Congress of Jerry Nadler, who now chairs the House Judiciary Committee.  

In the mid-1990s, Liz decided that she wanted to be a judge.  In 1996, she ran for Civil Court in a district that encompassed most of the Village and other parts of Lower Manhattan.  But she lost the primary by 24 votes out of approximately 7,300 –the closest primary in New York City that year.  

We moved to White Plains in 1999 and immediately got involved with the White Plains Democratic Party.  Liz’s leadership abilities were so apparent that, just four years later, in 2003, she was elected  Chair of the White Plains Democratic City Committee, succeeding Adam Bradley, who had been elected to the Assembly the year before. 

She served joyfully and successfully as Chair of the City Committee for over 13 years, until her appointment by the Common Council at the end of 2016 to be a City Court Judge.    Liz was thrilled to become a judge, 20 years after her near-miss in Manhattan. 

Unhappily, as a result of both her health issues and (even more so) the very misguided response to those health issues by the State’s Chief Administrative Judge, Liz did not have the opportunity to make much of a mark on the bench – which was a source of great frustration and sadness for her over the past two years. 

During her periods of enforced idleness, she worked on a book she had long planned to write about her time in Legal Services and the clients she served, did a lot of reading, and took an increased interest in cooking (to her husband’s benefit). 

Liz showered me with love for over 40 years.  She has been at the center of my life for so long – throughout our entire adult lives – that it is difficult right now for me to imagine a version of my life without her.  But I will work on that. 

There will not be a funeral or memorial service for Liz right away.  I expect to hold a memorial service for her later this year or early next year, and you are all invited.

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JOHN BAILEY, PETER KATZ ,JIM BENEROFE INTERVIEW

DR. JILL HARKAVY FRIEDMAN

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION

IN A SPECIAL PEOPLE TO BE HEARD REBROADCAST AT 7

ON ALTICE CABLEVISION CH 76 AND VERIZON FIOS CH. 45 COUNTYWIDE

AND RIGHT NOW on www.wpcommunitymedia.org

THE SIGNS OF SUICIDE,

WHO COMMITS SUICIDE

HOW TO INTERVENE WHEN SOMEONE YOU LOVE YOU THINK IS AT RISK