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WPCNR WESTCHESTER LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. June 6, 2024:

The Westchester League of Women Voters District Attorney Forum held on zoom Tuesday was described in the words of civil rights lawyer William Wagstaff, candidate in his closing statement, when he described it as “A contrast and choice.”

You can view the complete Forum at

The choices  are:  Susan Cacase, retired judge with 30 years experience; Adeel Mirza a pro bono defense lawyer and former prosecutor in New Rochelle; and William Wagstaff, a civil rights lawyer.

Ms. Cacase said she has 30 years experience in the Westchester justice system, recently retired as a judge,  she has a “passion” for protecting children, continuing to confront and diminish the opioid crisis, gun violence  diminish fentanyl deaths, explore alternatives to incarceration and protect reproductive choice

The other two candidates in the June 25 primary are a seasoned prosecutor, Mr. Mirza formerly prosecutor with the City of New Rochelle and recently a pro bono defense lawyer; and William Wagstaff, a civil rights lawyer.

The contrast between the candidates being the veteran experience of  judge and former prosecutor, Ms. Cacase and two persons, veteran litigators,  familiar with the practices in Westchester courts where D.A. policies on decisions playout.

Mr. Mirza and Mr. Wagstaff  feel there should be change in treatment of those charged in the Westchester justice system with emphasis on prosecution practices, more preventive community programs to influence positive behavior, more assistant D.A.s hired to speed prosecutions; less incarceration, and cutting back the alleged practice of  delaying trials in domestic violence cases when divorce proceedings are going on simultaneously.  The two court-seasoned opponents say the justice practices in Westchester need more programs in the communities, and working with the police, especially in the cities.

Here is a summary of positions and answers to the questions asked in the forum Tuesday night. Again you can see the candidates saying what I have truncated here in my notes at

Opening Statements:

MS CACACE: 30 Years experience. Passion for protecting children. Stopping gun violence.   Addressing stopping sharp rise in opioid and fentanyl deaths, trafficking. Increase alternatives to incarceration, 100% endorsed by Pro Choice

1. MIRZA: Address mental health factor in those committing crimes and intervention in paths that lead to crime: poverty and addiction, and crimes against tenants.
2. WAGSTAFF: Has personal experience with crime. Father robbed at own gas station. Mother was also assaulted. Strong on expanding prosecution of hate crime violence. Action to intervene in mental health issues that can cut down on inevitable turn to crime.

3 MOST IMPORTANT HOT ISSUES IN COUNTY JUSTICE:

1. CACASE: GUNS, GUN TRAFFICKING, OPIODS, SEX CRIMES
2. MIRZA: GET GUNS OFF STREET, MORE GUN BUYBACKS
3. WAGSTAFF: GUN VIOLENCE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, RELIEF FROM PROSECUTIONS LEADING TO INCARCERATION

INEQUALITY OF TREATMENT

1. CACASE: ANALYZE CRIME STATS TO SEE HOW PEOPLE OF COLOR, HISPANICS ARE HELD TO SAME STANDARDS. CONCERNED ABOUT INCARCERATION PROPORTIONS BASED ON ETHNICITY. WOULD NOT NAMES, RACE, OF PERSONS CASES TO PUBLIC. WOULD RELEASE CRIME NUMBERS TO PUBLIC.

Mr. MIRZA: “I SAW IT EVER DAY”…MINORTY DEFENDENTS TALKED INTO GUILTY PLEAS TO GET OUT OF THE SYSTEM. ASSISTAN D.A.’S NEED MORE EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS. WE NEED STATS ABOUT HOW DIFFERENT RACES ARE TREATED WHAT IS BEING DONE. AT THE IVORY TOWER IN WHITE PLAINS (CITY COURTS), I SEE THIS HAPPEN.

1. WAGSTAFF: I AM A CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYER. I HAVE BEEN THE RECIPIENT OF IT (INQUALITY OF TREATMENT).

GUN VIOLENCE

1. CACASE: CONTROLLING GUN VIOLENCE REQUIRES COOPERATION WITH VARIOUS AGENCIES (STATE, LOCAL, FEDERAL), COORDINATING INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTION. (FAMILIAR WITH HOW THESE INVESTIGATIONS WORK.)
2. MIRZA: TOO MANY GUNS IN WESTCHESTER. I WOULD GO AFTER GUNS TRAFFICKING. PROVIDE MORE “GUN BUYBACKS.” REVISIT THOSE (PEOPLE, INSTITUTIONS) WHO SHOULD HAVE HELPED YOU (TO SEE HOW TREATMENTS AWARENESS COULD BE IMPROVED)
3. WAGSTAFF: INVESTIGATE THINGS THAT TARGET BEHAVIOR IN COMMUNITIES. ESTABLISH MORE JOBS. MODEL HOW TO BE A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE COMMUNITY

RELEASE OF PRISONERS (BAIL)

1. CACASE: EARLIER RELEASE DEPENDS ON THE CRIME. SEX OFFENDERS NEED MORE TIME THAN ANY OTHER CONVICTED OFFENDER. (MOST RECIDIVIST)
2. MIRZA: SHORTENED SENTENCES SHOULD ONLY APPLY TO NON-VIOLENT CONVICTIONS. VICTIMS OF THE CRIME MUST AGREE TO A SHORTENED SENTENCE.
3. WAGSTAFF: AGREES TO LIMIT SENTENCES . ADVOCATES FOR IT.

SEX CRIMES:

1. CACASE: I WILL WORK TO HIRE MORE PROSECUTORS
2. MIRZA: PROSECUTORS NEED HELP. THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE TO INVESTIGATE ALL THE SEX CASES
3. WAGSTAFF: I WILL WORK TO REDUCE PROSECUTING DELAYS BROUGHT BY TWO PARTIES BECAUSE THEY ARE GOING THROUGH A DIVORCE AND ASK FOR DELAYS (IN GOING TO COURT) TO LEVERAGE DIVORCE NEGOTIATIONS

FINAL STATEMENTS (From Transcripts):

1. CACASE:

I referenced earlier I’ve spent my life my career pursuing criminal justice as a judge of 19 years a criminal court judge of 19 years an assistant district attorney in the office office that I seek to lead for 15 years and a criminal defense attorney all here in Westchester County my experience combined actually is more than both of my opponents put together.

The position of district attorney is the chief law enforcement officer of the county it’s an important position it’s not one for someone to learn on the job figure it out once they get in there my Triad of experience makes me the most qualified for the position.

 I’ve worked with the office in the office I’ve worked with law enforcement across the county. I have the respect of law enforcement I commit to work with law enforcement as the chief law enforcement officer of the county my commitment will be to take guns off the streets tackle the opioid crisis in the county protect victims of crimes especially the most vulnerable children and the elderly and add more resources to the biased crimes unit in light of the uptick of biased crimes across the county I want to use my experience to make Westchester a safer place to live for everyone and with your support I can get there and get this job done 

1. MIRZA:

 You know what the reality is Ms. Cacace is right the DA’s office is not a job you can learn on the Fly no way no how the ADAs (Assistant District Attorneys)  who have been in that office some of them are fantastic Adas great trial lawyers and they’ve been there and they’ve dedicated their careers to Public Safety and they need someone who’s done their job someone who has stood in the trenches with them somebody who has handled the criminal courts of Westchester with them it’s not that they’re looking for, you know, someone to come in and save them because the system is not a complete and total disaster. Criminal justice in New York Works.

 Does it need fixes of course it needs fixes.  The reality is it’s not something you want to just toss out though because we have good ADAs, have good judges we have good investigators we have good police departments 42 of them some of the Westchester police departments are some of the best in the country and we are not going to just throw take a a flamethrower to the whole place because we need them and a combination of all of us will make Westchester a better place but what are the fixes we can make to the system right—

There’s some crimes that are over prosecuted and there’s some crimes that don’t get enough attention right 18 years as a prosecutor I’ve learned that there’s people that belong in jail and there’s people that don’t belong in jail because of mental illness addiction poverty so let’s focus the time efforts of the D.A.s who are there right now some of who are great lawyers right and let them — for morale for expediency– for time let them focus on the crimes against Community, crimes against Reproductive Rights crimes against tenants gun crimes shootings homicides and the office will be a better place.

1. WAGSTAFF:

This primary is about contrast in choice if you think that the justice system and its current iteration is working fine then you have two candidates that have been a cog in the wheel of Injustice that you can vote for but if you’re looking for someone who is going to be that breath of fresh air who’s going to bring a unique perspective and has a different background somebody that is proven that they are a transformational leader if you look at the obstacles that I’ve overcome to get to this point now is not the time to bet against me and I submit to you that if we are going to be serious about safety it takes somebody that has a combination of Education experience and passion to get us to the place that we all deserve to be if you want to continue the rut of succession politics which is an indictment on our democracy then you can go that pathway but I don’t suggest it and I implore you that the next district attorney should not be somebody that is trying to package entitlement as experience or looking for their old job back but should be somebody that is a transformational leader that has proven that they can overcome obstacles and solve intractable problems because we’re trying to solve generational issues and it’s going to take a generational Talent William Wagstaff is that talent.

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STATEMENT ON CONGESTION PRICING TAX HALT BY KEEP NYC CONGESTION TAX FREE FROM COREY BEARAK, ONE OF THE LEADING CRITICS OF CONGESTION PRICING:

“Governor Kathy Hochul would be one-hundred-percent right to halt the controversial congestion pricing tax fiasco.

She should then kill it and bury it deep in the ground.

This regressive and totally unnecessary tax would be terrible for New York’s struggling economy, and it would increase traffic and air pollution in some of New York’s most vulnerable communities…

This tax is not only unnecessary, it would be a permanent inflationary drag on New York’s economic future. It needs to go, root and branch.”

COREY BARACK OF KEEP NYC CONGESTION TAX FREE

ON WPTV’s “PEOPLE TO BE HEARD” IN A PREVIOUS APPEARANCE.

http://keepnycfree.com/media/files/2024-06-05_HALTED.pdf

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ON TRACK FOR 8^TH CONSECUTIVE WEEK OF INCREASED COVID CASES IN COUNTY

WPCNR CORONA VIRUS REPORT. From NY Covid Tracker. Observation & Analysis By John F. Bailey. June 4, 2024 UPDATED 1:30 PM EDT:

May 25 through May 31 was the third consecutive week of sharply increased new cases of covd all 5 days of the work week  Monday through Friday indicating people are catching covid faster after exposure on the weekends.

Through Friday of last week, the Westchester Covid Tracker reported 324 new cases of covid.

From April 28 to May  4, there were  250 cases of covid, up 36% from  April 21 to 27. The next two weeks May 5 to  11, cases declined to 233 but rose to  241 May 12-18; to 340 May 19 to 25; and  324 from May 26 to May 31.

Westchester is on track for its 8^th consecutive week of rising covid infections after having had decreasing cases per week for 13 of 14 weeks. If we have 33 new covid cases reported for last Saturday we will hit 357 cases more than last week,340.

The average number of new covid cases Monday through Fridays  the third week of May  averaged 54 CASES A DAY

The fourth week of May, the new covid postives Monday-Fridays averaged 56  cases a day.

In the last week of May last week averaged  58 cases a day Monday through Friday.

The total for May with two days to go 1,388 new cases of covid.

The takeaway here is people are spreading the disease faster than last year when the entire month of May totaled  814 infections which resulted in  826 infections in June that after July 4 resulted in 10,298 new cases in June.

The 1,388 covid infections in May indicate that the lack of a completely vaccinated population  in Westchester is contributing to people catching a disease and spreading it much faster than last year.

The spread of the disease of one infected person spreading it to another person varies. 241 infections  from May 12 to 18 spread the disease in the County divided into 340 infections May 19 to 25, indicates 1 infected person spread the disease to 4 other persons..

The 340 infections through  May 31 have spread it to  324 so the spread rate is about 1 person infecting 1 person. However the spreading Monday through Friday increase for  three consecutive weeks may mean  infections in June could remain steady at over 300 a week or more.

If the infection rate continues at a 1 person spreading the disease to 4 others rate, June could see 1,360  to 5,900 infections in June.

Those not up to date on vaccinations are most at risk for continuing this disturbing trend of fast spreading the disease Monday through Friday at  54 new infections per day.

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Home About Services Contact    Want to keep getting updates from my office? Subscribe   Dear neighbor, I hope you had a great May and are enjoying the warmer weather as summer begins. My team and I have continued assisting our neighbors, advocating for the district in Congress, and spending time in our community. This month I was proud to celebrate the $1.6 million in community project funding I secured for the Youth Shelter Program of Westchester and their YouthHeal Initiative. The funding will be used to pilot a mental  health and educational support program for 150 at-risk 18 to 24-year-olds in Mount Vernon. They will provide behavioral health support, vocational and educational support, and training on trauma-informed behavioral healthcare. I am so proud of the work the Youth Shelter Program of Westchester carries out and am grateful I can support their essential work on the federal level. I additionally had the opportunity to visit Safe Place 4 Our Girls, a project created through the Mount Vernon Youth Bureau with $999,000 in federal funding I brought in last year. The program provides support and development activities for girls between the ages of 10 and 21 to promote healthy social, mental, academic, and physical well-being. It was an honor to meet so many of the young women who have benefitted from the program so far, and I’m excited to see it continue to expand and serve as a positive force in Mount Vernon. As we look ahead to the next year, I announced $36.6 million in funding requests for community projects across the district. This included safety improvements for Mamaroneck and Tarrytown, environmental infrastructure for Yonkers and Hastings-on-Hudson, and affordable housing improvements in New Rochelle along with 10 other projects. You can read more about each request here . I was also grateful to be able to speak with so many of you this month as I was out in our community. I joined a memorial in Mamaroneck to commemorate the lives of members of our community who have lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Americans continue to be infected and others live with the lingering effects of Long COVID, we must strengthen our healthcare system, fight for Medicare for All,  and research the effects of COVID to save lives. Mamaroneck’s First Baptist Church celebrated their 100th anniversary, and I had the honor of presenting them with a Congressional proclamation to honor the occasion. Serving as a source of community, charity, and spirituality for community members for a century is a monumental achievement, and I’m honored to have celebrated with them. Over Memorial Day weekend, I had the opportunity to be out in the community to honor the courageous people who sacrificed their lives for our country. We must continue to grieve with the loved ones they left behind and hold the memories of our departed service members close in our hearts. I hope we can commit to honoring our departed service members by prioritizing peace and diplomacy to stop the cycle of never-ending wars. On June 13, my team will host a workshop on federal grants that are available for Houses of Worship and faith-based organizations. The meeting is intended to provide information about the grants process, what grants are available, and information on applying. The workshop will take place at 10 am on June 13 at Calvary Baptist Church, 32 W Post Rd., White Plains. Please RSVP by emailing Quantel.Bazemore@mail.house.gov and we hope to see you there! Some of the work I am proudest of is being able to provide direct assistance to members of our community who are facing unique challenges and need help in dealing with federal agencies. Our team went out into the community and set up mobile constituent services in the Bronx this month. Helping our neighbors with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services inquiries, passport issues, post office delays, and concerns with the IRS is a crucial part of my office’s work, and making this assistance accessible to all continues to be a priority for myself and my team. My team and I will continue mobile constituent services , and we may be visiting your neighborhood soon! If you need assistance with a federal agency, you can find us at an upcoming mobile constituent services event, email bowman.casework@mail.house.gov , or call our office at the numbers below. Stay tuned for future updates from my team and me on the work we’re doing for our community! Peace and love, C

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WPCNR REALTY REALITY. From the Hudson River Gateway Association of Realtors (edited) June 3, 2024:

Last week’s  report by the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors (HGAR), based on data supplied by OneKey® MLS, also indicates that sales of single-family homes in the Bronx, Putnam and Sullivan counties decreased in April. The largest decline was in Putnam at 32.3%, followed by the Bronx at 31.4% and Sullivan at 22.2%.

Westchester County

Sales of condos in April experienced the highest jump at 32.5%, compared to single home sales with an 11.3% gain.

Co-op sales, however, saw a decline of 15.1%.

The median sales price for single-family homes keeps climbing – this time by 16.4% to $870,000. In April 2023, the median was $747,500.

Co-op median sales prices rose by 5.6% to $190,000, while the median for condos declined by 10.3% to $477,500. This time last year, the median stood at $532,500.

New listings for all property types increased, with single-family homes taking the lead at 11.3%, followed by condos at 10.8% and co-ops at 1.7%. Pending sales for all properties are up by 16.5%.

 Inventory fell for all property types with co-ops experiencing a 38.9% drop, followed by single-family homes with a 25.2% decline and condo, at 11.8% less. As of April, there were just 2.4 months of supply availability, which is down 17.2% from last year.

New listings of single-family homes rose in the Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, and Orange counties, while pending sales for all property types increased in every region except Rockland and Orange counties. Westchester showed the highest amount of new single-family listings at 11.3% over this time last year, while Putnam County had the highest growth in overall pending sales at 17.6%.

Condos in Rockland and Orange counties saw double-digit jumps in median sales prices, while median sales prices for condos in the Bronx and Westchester decreased by double-digits. Rockland County’s median priced condo sold for $390,000 – an increase of 12.6%. Conversely, new listings for condos declined in both Rockland and Orange counties, while increasing in the Bronx, Westchester, and Putnam counties.

Co-op median sales prices were also on the rise in the Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, and Orange counties. Orange County experienced the highest gain of 95%, with a median price of $195,000, up from just $100,000 in April 2023.

However, demand continues to outpace supply. Single-family homes in Westchester County saw the largest drop at 25.2%. “While inventory remains low across our region, signs are pointing to a more vibrant spring and summer market with both new listings and pending sales growing,” said Lynda Fernandez, HGAR CEO. “The fact that property sales continue to rise is also a good indicator of the consistent demand for housing in our region.”