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City Plans to Clear and Open the Greenway from Sam’s Parking Lot shown above from Gedney Way to Mamaroneck Ave Have Drawn Ire of residents living along the former tracks of the Weshester New York and Boston Railway, Long overgrown and impassable
Signs on Pleasant Ave Around Corner from Roosters, adjacent the planned Greenway expansion take a leaf from the anti-FASNY signs on Ridgeway
City Response to the Protest is Being Sought. WPCNR is seeking City Reaction
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Dear Editor
Each year dedicated volunteers of White Plains Beautification Foundation (WPBF), a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, spend countless hours raising funds, planning and consulting with local nurseries, and overseeing the planting, maintenance and watering of about 60 gardens in the city of White Plains.
Donations from generous sponsors in the form of small businesses, corporations and individuals have allowed the foundation to continue its work since 1965. This year the gardens are especially lovely, bursting with vibrant colors and textures.
So, it is with much sadness that we have discovered a recent rash of thefts from several of our gardens, including as many as 40 plants from one garden. The thieves may assume the city’s Department of Public Works or Recreation and Parks will simply replace the lost plants, but that is not how it works.
In order to maintain the gardens at the level expected by our sponsors, WPBF must assume the cost of replacing what’s been stolen or vandalized. What makes the crime more heinous is the fact that many of WPBF’s gardens are memorial gardens planted to honor sponsors’ loved ones.
Those who steal plants from the gardens defile their memories and belittle the passion of the WPBF volunteers who endeavor to bring beauty and areas of quiet respite to our bustling city.
To all those who contemplate stealing from our gardens, please show some respect for the labors of others, visit one of our local nurseries and pay for your own plants. Going forward, WPBF gardens will be under increased surveillance; vandals will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
– Deborah Donahoe, President, White Plains Beautification Foundation
– Jean M. Bello, Co-Chair, White Plains Beautification Foundation Adopt-a-Park Program
White Plains Commissioner of Public Safety David Chong told WPCNR today:
” As far as damaging property, depending on the monetary amount of damage, the
charge would be criminal mischief as either a misdemeanor or a felony. If
someone stole items, we would charge them with larceny. We have arrested people
in the past for vandalism and will continue to arrest them as this type of crime
will not be tolerated in this city.”
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WELCOME BACK, CONNORS! Interim Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors Deskside at Education House today.
WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. July 2, 2013:
Timothy Connors reported for duty Monday as Interim Superintendent of Schools in White Plains, while the Board of Education begins a national search for a new permanent Superintendent. Mr. Connors replaces Dr. Christopher Clouet who began Monday as Superintendent of the Tarrytowns school district.
Mr. Connors was Superintendent in White Plains from 2002 through 2009.
He told WPCNR via telephone today, “It’s nice to know you’re out there, John, I look forward to working with you coming in.”
He said, “I’m excited to be here. This is a great school district and there are a lot of people who want to do the right things for children. We’re going to start to plan for going forward. At the beginning of August I’ll give you a view of where we think we are as a district. We’ll talk about anthing you want to talk about.”
“I think the smart thing I can do right now is to make sure I get input from everybody, where they think they are, where they think we can enhance what we’re doing, and collectively come up with a plan to move forward and insure all of our kids are maximizing their potential to learn.”
On the teacher negotiations that have been stalled for six months, Connors said , “We’re going to be going to fact-finding in the fall and once we complete that I’m optimistic we’ll start to move forward.”
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From left: Marissa Quattrone, Empire City Casino; Catherine Stevens, Renaissance Westchester Hotel; Taryn Duffy, Empire City Casino; Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino; Natasha Caputo, Director of Westchester County Tourism and Film; David Leftwich, IBM Learning Center; and representatives from participating hotel partners.
WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Executive Office. July 1, 2013:
Tourism is up again in Westchester County..
At a press conference today at the newly renovated Renaissance Westchester Hotel in White Plains, he reported that tourism in Westchester generated $1.68 billion in 2012, an increase of $26 million over 2011. Visitor spending also produced $108 million in local taxes and supported 23,064 jobs in Westchester last year.
“We are pleased to say that the tourism industry in Westchester County is thriving and growing,” Astorino said. “We have growth in recreation, food and beverage, lodging and transportation, as well as new developments. By building on the momentum of our Meet Me in Westchester branding campaign, we have significantly increased awareness of what the county has to offer visitors and residents.”
Astorino also announced the launch of a new program through which Empire City Casino will provide free round-trip shuttle service Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 Westchester hotels to the casino in Yonkers and back to each hotel.
The county executive noted that over the last year, there has been more than $100 million invested in hotel renovations, development and tourist attractions.
These include:
Two other hotels currently are under construction: a 130-room Cambria Suites hotel on Main Street in White Plains, part of a $47 million mixed-use development; and the Green Holiday Inn in Peekskill, which is the first platinum LEED Certified Hotel in the Northeast.
Dan Conte, general manager of the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown and president of the Westchester Hotel Association, said the robust construction was a sign of a healthy hospitality sector.
“We have an outstanding collaboration in Westchester between the county, our hotels and our tourism attractions,” said Conte. “And it continues to get better, thanks to the efforts of County Executive Astorino.”
Ryan Murphy, vice president of marketing at Empire City Casino, said that he expects the new shuttle service to be a great success.
“Empire City Casino is a top entertainment destination,” he said. “More than 8.4 million people come to our casino each year, including both residents and out-of-county visitors. Partnering with Westchester hotels to increase tourism for the area is something we’ve been working on for some time. We are proud to announce today’s launch of this shuttle service and look forward to its success and expansion.”
Several tourist attractions also opened in the last year, contributing significant dollars to the area and adding to Westchester’s status as a destination. These include:
Westchester accounted for 53% of all travel and tourism spending in the Hudson Valley region, according to Tourism Economics, a leading economic forecasting and assessment consulting company that prepared the 2012 “Economic Impact of Tourism” report for the New York State Department of Economic Development.
The tagline for tourism in the county, Meet Me in Westchester, is the center of a multi-disciplinary campaign that incorporates print and digital advertising, public relations, social media and a comprehensive website that features information on hotels, events, restaurants, retailers and destinations throughout the county. For more information, please visit www.visitwestchesterny.com.
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A LEGO Replica of the new One World Trade Center towers over the MINILAND Exhit at LEGO Discovery Center Friday at Yonkers Ridge Hill next to TJ MaXX, The model weighs 100 pounds and is constructed of 4,873 LEGO Bricks.constructed over 260 hours by expert LEGO model builders
(Photo Credits: Port Authority by Mike Dombrowski
Guests at LEGOLAND watch the LEGO replica light up following a Special Ceremony unveiling the model on Friday at Ridge Hill. Every five minutes the One World Trade Centrer Model and MINILAND complete a day to night cycle, with the building and landmark locations illuminated. Interactive LEGO MINIFIGURES and vehicles and sound effects, including a working subway train. LEGOLAND DISCOVERY CENTER WESTCHESTER is a $12 Million, 32,300 square foot indoor attraction geared to children 3 to 10, including educational and interactive experiences with hands-on play areas, a 4D cinema, Model Builder Academy, two LEGO amusement rides and MINILAND
Steve Plate, Director of World Trade Center Construction places a LEGO US Flag on the replica during the model unveiling.
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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2013. By John F. Bailey. June 27, 2013:
I interviewed White Plains Councilman Benjamin Boykin on White Plains Week Monday evening on his positions as he starts his run for County Legislator in the White Plains, Harrison, Scarsdale District 5. in his bid to replace Bill Ryan who is retiring and decided not to run. Boykin is opposed by Miriam Flisser, Mayor of Scarsdale up until four months ago.
I thought Mr. Boykin said several interesting things.
He said revaluation countywide is not the answer to cutting property taxes, mandate relief is. He said the state should take over Medicaid, pensions and child disability services from the county (not charging the counties for them).
He said county revaluation of properties was a distraction and would cost the county $50 to $100 Million dollars to execute.
Boykin criticised the number of jobs the Rob Astorino administration had added to the management side of the county, saying it had to be trimmed.
He said taking fund balance dollars to avoid a property tax increase was a procedure he believed in ,(“sometimes you have to do that”).
Boykin got on board with the Noam Bramson (Democrat candidate for County Executive), saying he advocated retaining social services while keeping property taxes in check.
Asked how incentives to attract businesses can be offered and still avoid losing benefits of new business taxes, he called for “clawbacks” attached to business incentives if businesses granted tax breaks did not meet job creation promises.
I asked him about the never-ending wrangling between County Executive Robert P. Astorino and the county legislature over the affordable housing HUD settlement. Boykin brought up an interesting take: He said what HUD is overlooking is that smaller communities targeted by the settlement as being in need of affordable housing and zoning restrictive do not have the infrastructure in place now such as sewage systems and transit services required by dense units such as townhouses or cluster housing.
The councilman who has supported quotas of affordable units in new White Plains developments, said each community targeted as needing certain numbers of units had to find the solution on their own and work out the solution to HUD satisfaction. Mr. Boykin stopped short of saying the county should intervene with zoning in place in the HUD-pinpointed communities.
On the ongoing analysis of how Bus Rapid Transit could be incorporated into the Cross Westchester Expressway corridor (just recently completed by the Department of Transportation), traveling through White Plains and Harrison, he supported placing Bus Rapid Transit stops at the White Plains and Harrison railroad stations (whenever the new Tappan Zee Bridge is completed).
To see the complete interview with Mr. Boykin with John Bailey and Jim Benerofe, go to www.whitplainsweek.com
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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From Michelle Schoenfeld, Clerk to the Board of Education. June 27, 2013. Graduation Photos by Theresa Nuovo:
The annual White Plains High School Graduation was held last week at the Westchester County Center. A total of 395 seniors received diplomas, 89% of the senior class.
Of the 395 graduates, 58 students earned Advanced Regents Diplomas with Honors; 136 students earned Advanced Regents Diplomas; 136 students earned the President’s Award for Educational Excellence be graduating with a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
The graduates included 3 National Merit Scholarship Program Commended students; 1 National Achievement Scholarship Finalist; 3 National Achievement Outstanding Participants, and 2 National Hispanic Recognition Program students
Four year graduation rate is released by the NYState Education Department in the fall. (It includes students from other countries, other districts, etc., which make the calculation complex.)
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WPCNR THE HOUSING NEWS. By John F. Bailey. Interview with Mike Graessle, Rand Realty. June 25, 2013:
Housing sales in the City of White Plains are up 48% as of Monday according to Mr. Real Estate in White Plains, Mike Graessle of Rand Realty.
WPCNR talked with Mr. G Monday afternoon and through Monday, Closings in White Plains for the first six months of 2013 are 83 compared to the first six months of 2012 (5)8—up 43%. Prices have bottomed out and appear slowly on upswing.
The average selling price the first six months of this year is $583,505 almost even with the first 6 months of 2012, still down 4% from the $601,602 it was in 2011. Mike tells your reporter that there are a number of contracts negotiated the last two months that will be closing in July and August which he feels will sustain this robust White Plains market.
The median price is another story: It’s even with the $530,000 median price the last three years.
It’s taking longer to sell a house this spring. The average days on the market on closings was 8 months, that is up from 6 months on the market in the first half of 2011. Mike interprets this to mean homeowners are holding out for higher prices in midst of the demand.
However buyers have been selling at just 6% off their first offering price and 3% off their final listing price. Prices are fluctuating up, Mr. Graessle reports. This in contrast to three years ago when the drop from the first offering price final price was 15%.
Another factor in White Plains is appraisers are being cautious, so as not to run afoul of the Dodd Franklin Act. Mike warns sellers they have to not price homes too high and negotiate too high a selling price that an appraiser working for the mortgaging bank would characterize as too high. Graessle warns sellers they need to make sure that banks have the most up to date information about their house.
Mike has seen instances where buyers could not get a mortage because the appraiser had appraised the house lower than the agreed-on mortgage. By the same token sellers lost money when mortgages were turned down because the appraisers thought the price at which they agreed to purchase was too high.
Mike’s rosy report: the White Plains housing inventory is down, meaning good news for homeowners wishing to sell.
Potential buyers have to decide if interest rates are going up as the fed indicated this week, should they mortgage now.
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Mayor Tom Roach Stressed the value of the White Plains Public Library as a lifelong resource and how the construction of The Edge would promote reading with today’s technology at the Book-Moving Ceremony Recognizing the Beginning of Construction of The Edge at the Library Monday morning.
Mayor Tom Roach moves the first rack of books out of area where The Edge, a state-of-the-art teen gathering, learning, research and multi-media center with computers, video and digital labs will take shape over the next 4 months.
Key community leaders gathered behind books to be moved out in the Book Moving Ceremony (as opposed to a ground-breaking) to cap off the long-awaited renovation of the first floor of the White Plains Public Library which opened in the 1970s. The construction is to be completed by the end of 2015. The Edge, the first phase, a teen gathering and learning center for youth is scheduled to open in November of this year.
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Aubrey Sinn Thoroughly Thrilling as Maria in WBT’S SOUND OF MUSIC!
WPCNR THEATRE REVIEW By John F. Bailey. June 23, 2013:
What is the best super musical of all time? My Fair Lady? Anything Goes? Phantom? Annie Get Your Gun? Forty Second Street?
My vote is The Sound of Music.
The measure of a musical entertainment is its impact at the time and how it plays a half century after it was first produced. The Cole Porters, the Lerner and Lowes, the Irving Berlins, the Rodgers and Hammersteins’ they hold together charming audiences decades removed from when they first awed critics and were hot tickets.
You see the magic that sets the supermusicals apart from the rest through August 11 at Westchester Broadway Theatre, (the Super County’s number one entertainment value). Bring grandma, grandpa, and the grandchildren to see Bob Funking and Bill Stutler’s (creative teams in their own right) production of R & H’s The Sound of Music. Sound of Music flaunted its charm before the distinguished members of the press Thursday evening.
As the nuns of Nunnberg Abbey wonder where Maria is, there is the intrepid Maria, played with poised aplomb by Aubrey Sinn, singing The Sound of Music against a majestic mountain, you come alive! As if an old friend is back again.
You’re grinning to the nuns of Nunnberg Abby singing “What do you do about a problem like Maria?” as they in song, define the character you’ve just met:
How do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find the word that means Maria?
A flibbertigibbet, a willow the wisp, a clown
After these first two songs, if you’re not already in love with Ms. Sinn’s Maria, who hits just the right nuances of independence, spirit, courage and spunk, with repressed sex appeal, and sense of wonder too, of course, hitting all the notes just right, emotionally, comically as well as personnally connecting,
Karen Murphy as the Abbess is taken in…reminiscing with the repentant Maria dueting on A Few of My Favorite Things” (Whiskers on kittiens…remember)
Aubrey Sinn’s Maria charms The Sound of Music’s charming von Trapp children at first encounter
Ms. Sinn (last seen in Legally Blonde at this venue) is totally believable, interacting naturally and selling Maria’s connection with the von Trapp children, played by the best acting collection of kid thespians I have seen in a long time since the Mousketeers.
Captain von Trapp (Matthew Shepard) is shocked, shocked to see his children singing under Maria’s tutelage and whistles them back into march step
And I want to name them all now: Mollyjane Boyle, Evelyn Carr, Harrison Cohen, Jasmine Cores, Olivia Fanders, Giann Florio, Hannah Moore, Michelle Moughan,, Matthew Quirk, Travis Ramirez Race Rundhaug and Brandon Szep.
They did not all play on the night I saw the show, but the ones who did play had such great rapport, choreography and presence particularly on Do-Re-Mi. Maria transforms the regimented children of Captain Von Trapp, and teaches them to sing. (Von Trapp summons his children with a naval ship whistle that’s how domineering he is).
When Maria is first introduced to the dashing Captain Von Trapp and the uplifting attraction between the three: Maria, von Trapp and the children clicks on stage! The singing children capture you in the nonsensical “So Long Farewell” at the close of the ball in Act One. (Surprised how songs you know keep cropping up?). Come on you slightly older people–you remember how So Long Farewell goes:
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good night
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu
Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu
The oldest of the children Leisel is brought heart-rendingly to life by Molly Emerson whose love for a young man engulfed in the Nazi occupation of 1938 cannot be. Ms. Emerson’s emotionally true reactions – the dramatic confrontation in Act Two in the Abbey Garden with Rolf (Cameron Bartell) is a dramatic highlight – are played flawlessly.
Molly Emerson as Liesl duetting with Cameron Bartell singing Sixteen Going on Seventeen duet in Act One is pitch perfect between the two. I liked these two actors in this cameo romance.
I am assuming everyone knows the story of The Sound of Music. I saw this with my journalism colleague, Brenda Starr who in her career of reporting for The Flash, had never seen either the musical or the movie of this musical. Ms. Starr is very demanding in her entertainment. Well, she felt the production was “Well done. Maria was great sang beautifully and sweet and innocent and the kids were all fun.” This is high praise from the no-nonsense redhead.
The musical is based on the story of Maria Von Trapp who published her autobiographical book, The Story of the Von Trapp Family Singers in 1949. It is the true account of how she and von Trapp fled German-occupied Austria in 1938, escaping with nothing, eventually settling in Vermont, making a new life for themselves, and toured the world as The von Trapp Family Singers.
Mary Martin, the actress bought the rights for a stage version, commissioned a script and Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote new songs. It became a Broadway hit that plays today with all the heart, inspiration and magic it had 54 years ago.
So you’re getting the idea here that WBT has in its reverent respect for the great musicals of yesterday and beyond yesterday has brought this classic back? I hope so.
Karen Murphy, The Abbess, consoling Aubrey Sinn (Maria)
Karen Murphy, playing The Abbess will send chills up your spine and replace your lost courage with her glorious over-the-top house-pleasing Climb Every Mountain. Ms. Murphy exhorts Maria – who of course has fallen in love with Captain Von Trapp – and has left to return to the abbey in shame — to go back to the family because her love for von Trapp is a higher calling – as love always is. Murphy steals the show with her two belt-it-out-of-the-park Climb Every Mountain performances.
Matthew Shepard as Captain von Trapp and Aubrey Sinn is his Maria. All photos by John Vecchiola, courtesy Westchester Broadway Theatre
Matthew Shepard is a game Captain von Trapp to the iconnette Maria, Aubrey Sinn. I would have liked to have seen a little more chemistry, (but you know these military types!) But perhaps that is what is most charming about Shepard and Sinn in these two roles. They are an incongruous striking couple without the faux passion that Hollywood so often sells us. You root for them.
The clinches between Von Trapp and Maria are delicately and expressively played. Shepard appears genuinely enchanted. Maria not knowing what is happening to her. And they will get better. It’s true romance. Everybody in the audience feels it and wanted it.
Maria’s return to the von Trapp family in Act II is well –played by them both. The marriage of the two excellently staged.
When the nasty Nazi high command shows up demanding von Trapp take a commission in the Nazi navy, Maria and her new husband know they must escape. (A note: the menace of the Nazis is superbly rendered by the brown-shirts in this.)
Jamison Stern plays a deft comic foil in Max Detweiler who encourages the von Trapps to appear in the national talent show that plays a key role in their attempt to escape.
Michelle Dawson does a glamorus 30s heiress with her cap set for the Captain, delivering laughs as she observes the threat Maria is to her designs.
The talent show Max arranges sets the stage for the von Trapp escape. The lovely Edelweiss sung by Maria,the children and the Captain at the conclusion of the talent festival means there is no turning back.
Does true love triumph? What do you think?
In my mentioning all these songs, don’t you want to hear them again? You bet.
This is a show where the book is so seamless with the music, tunes so good they move the plot, and that the frequent reprises in the show tell the timelessness of their message.
A tip of my panama hat to Jonathan Stahl, the director and choreographed whose controlled staging and plot-concious choreography did not distract from the emotional drive and momentum of this musical. And this one really moved, ladies and gentleman. An hour and a half first act that seemed short. The relaxing 30-minute intermission. A 45-minute second act filled with suspense and left you walking out uplifted, entertained, and enthralled. The orchestra under Leo P. Causone laid a musical bed that made the singers’ lyrics glitter. No overriding!
As Piia Haas, the ballyhooette who writes WBT program notes observes, “It has been said of the pair (Rodgers and Hammerstein) that they changed the destiny of American musical theatre. The Sound of Music ended up being the most financially successful film adaptation of a Broadway musical ever made.”
Ms. Haas who can be considered the curator of musical history at the WBT, notes in a poignant anecdoate, Edelweiss was the last song Oscar Hammerstein II wrote.
Sound of Music ran for five years on Broadway for 1,443 performances.
In my book, I had no expectations going to see this. My natural cynicism was ready to dismiss it. But, it’s right up there slightly better than My Fair Lady, I’d have to say the musical’s songs and book speak to the doubts we all have in life. The many reasons we find not to chase our dreams and addresses the reasons why we should have the courage to never let them go..
The ball, where von Trapp is distracted by Maria.
This is Number one in my book. You will love it. And not one nasty word in it. Perfect for children of all ages.
The Sound of Music reprise at Westchester Broadway Theatre plays through August 11. Tickets which include dinner may be purchased at 914-592-2268 or on the theatre website, www.BroadwayTheatre.com