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 COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. SPECIAL TO WPCNR. JULY 31, 2015 UPDATED SATURDAY AUGUST 1, 8 A.M.:

An agenda for a Special Meeting of the Common Council has been posted on the City of White Plains website late Friday.

The agenda may be seen right here and appears to be calling the question on a Resolution to approve closure of Hathaway Lane and approval of a Special Permit for the French American School of New York. This meeting would come two days after the regular Common Council meeting on Monday and begin at 7 P.M. Wednesday evening. The agenda:

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WPCNR QUILL AND EYESHADE. Special to WPCNR  from LCOR JULY 30, 2015:

LCOR, a fully-integrated real estate company specializing in property development, investment and management, has closed on an $80 million construction loan from Wells Fargo for the mixed-use development site located at 55 Bank Street,

. Upon anticipated completion of Phase I in 2017, the property will provide White Plains with a dynamic mix of premier residential and retail space that further evolves and extends this walkable community.

LCOR plans to develop the land at 55 Bank Street into an impressive mixed-use property in two phases.

Phase I will consist of a 16-story, 288-unit leading rental building with 3,000 square-feet of ground floor retail space and 381 underground parking spaces.

Phase II will include a 16-story, 273-unit full-service, rental building with 3,350 square-feet of ground floor retail space and the balance of the underground and above grade parking, for a  total of 570 parking spaces. Of the 561-units, 20 percent have been designated as workforce housing.

“Located in the center of White Plains, 55 Bank Street provides LCOR with an extraordinary opportunity to redevelop an area that was underutilized but will now provide the city with substantial residential and retail offerings,” said James Driscoll, Senior Vice President of LCOR. “The site location is ideal for creating a successful transit oriented development that will further advance the Westside of White Plains into an invigorating walkable community.”

Upon completion, 55 Bank Street will feature a mix of luxury studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment homes. Residents will have exclusive access to a host of first-class amenities that will serve as an extension of their home.

Amenities will include a stunning sky lounge complete with a clubroom, private dining room and outdoor deck featuring barbeque grills and additional seating. A landscaped area for outdoor recreation can be enjoyed on the mezzanine level, along with the swimming pool and fire pit.

Additional amenities include a distinguished resident’s lounge, cyber café and business center, billiards lounge, children’s playroom and state-of-the-art fitness center.

(Editor’s Note: The project is getting on the way 8 years after its approval in 2007, in the Delfino administration in White Plains. The nature and amount of the brownfield clean up program involving the Bank Street commuter lot where the project will be built reimbusements has been asked about by WPCNR, and I await the answer.

Kyle Walker speaking for LCOR, said the exact time frame for the start of construction has not been determined yet by the team, but he is checking on it. He also was checking on when the commuter parking lot will officially close.)

55 Bank Street will also feature a full-service lobby with concierge service and shared parking garage that extends 200 parking spaces to White Plains commuters. The building is slated for LEED Silver certification.

Both the City of White Plains and the Westchester County IDA took important roles in helping 55 Bank Street to come to fruition. The creation of the Bank Street Redevelopment Area, by the City of White Plains, allowed LCOR to develop the northern portion of the redevelopment area into the adjacent 502-unit Bank Street Commons residential and retail complex in 2004.

In 2010, LCOR purchased the former municipal parking lot, now home to 55 Bank Street, from the City with the goal of redeveloping the land into a mixed-use community on the southern portion of the redevelopment area. The Westchester County IDA created numerous incentive programs to allow large TOD projects to be developed in these areas, including a PILOT program, a Sales Tax Exemption, and Relief from the Mortgage Recording Tax.

As part of LCOR’s mission to revitalize the area around 55 Bank Street, the project site is part of the NYS Brownfield Cleanup Program.
(Editor’s Note: The project is getting on the way 8 years after its approval in 2007, in the Delfino administration in White Plains. The nature and amount of the brownfield clean up program involving the Bank Street commuter lot where the project will be built reimbusements has been asked about by WPCNR, and I await the answer.

Kyle Walker speaking for LCOR, said the exact time frame for the start of construction has not been determined yet by the team, but he is checking on it. He also was checking on when the commuter parking lot will officially close.)

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The Waxing Gibbous Moon rising tonight over White Plains New York USA a harbinger of August and illuminating the sky with the orange glow of the lazy setting sun.
The Moon today is in a Waxing Gibbous phase. This phase is when the moon is more than 50% illuminated but not yet a Full Moon. The phase lasts round 7 days with the moon becoming more illuminated each day until the Full Moon. During a Waxing Gibbous the moon will rise in the east in mid-afternoon and will be high in the eastern sky at sunset. The moon is then visible though most of the night sky setting a few hour before sunrise. The word Gibbous first appeared in the 14th century and has it’s roots in the Latin word “gibbosus” meaning humpbacked

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WPCNR QUILL AND EYESHADE. FROM THE NYS COMPTROLLER’S OFFICE. JULY 26, 2015:

Local sales tax collection growth across New York State slowed to 1.6 percent in the first six months of 2015 from 3 percent growth in 2014 and was considerably lower than the 4.2 percent average annual growth over the past 15 years, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

County sales tax collections, excluding all cities, increased only 0.5 percent for the first six months of 2015, with many counties seeing a decline in their collections.

“There has been a general downward trend in sales tax collection growth over the last several years and that is continuing in 2015,” DiNapoli said. “The slow growth in sales taxes could pose fiscal challenges for local governments across New York, especially for counties who rely heavily on sales tax collections to pay their bills.”

New York City’s sales tax collections grew by $91 million, or 2.7 percent in the first half of 2015, accounting for a substantial part of local sales tax growth statewide. Still, the city’s growth rate fell from a 4.8 percent growth rate for the same period in 2014.

The Capital District had the second strongest sales tax growth in the first half of the year at 2 percent. Western New York was next with 1.5 percent growth.

In contrast, sales tax revenue declined in five of the 10 economic regions of the state, with the sharpest decline being in the North Country, which saw a 2.5 percent drop. Also declining were the Southern Tier (1.2 percent), the Mohawk Valley (1.0 percent), the Finger Lakes (0.4 percent) and the Mid-Hudson region (0.4 percent).

Sales tax collections declined in 33 of the 57 counties outside of New York City from the same period in 2014. The largest decline was in Schoharie County, with a 6.1 percent drop. Allegany, Delaware, Lewis and Montgomery counties also had declines of more than 5 percent. In some cases, these declines were due to technical adjustments, which can have a large impact in counties with relatively small populations and retail sectors.

Of the 24 counties that saw sales collections rise, the strongest growth was 8.8 percent in Steuben County. Ulster County had an increase of 8.4 percent, which was due in part to a rate change.  Hamilton and Washington counties also saw growth rates of more than 6 percent. Technical adjustments can explain some of these increases.

See the report here, or go to:http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/research/snapshot/localsalestaxcollection0715.pdf

See the County-by-City Table here, or go to: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/research/snapshot/localsalestaxcollectiontable0715.pdf