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 CITY LIMITS. From the French American School of  New York. (EDITED) September 19, 2012:

Two hours before the start of tonight’s public hearing on the French American School of  New York central campus project at city hall, the announced it has gained an unprecedented groundswell of support for the project.

“FASNY has really gotten a lot of support from many quarters that development proposals typically don’t get.,” said the school spokesperson, Geoff Thompson.

According to a news release just in, more than 3,800 individuals have signed petitions supporting the project. Students from the school gathered signatures over the summer at locations throughout the city and their list currently totals 2,226 individuals, while FASNY’s online petition currently has nearly 1,600 signatures at www.greenstogreen.org/petition.

In addition, many residents from within the Gedney neighborhood and from across White Plains have written letters and emails to the city leaders supporting the plan for the campus and conservancy.

The news release (EDITED):

The county’s two leading business membership organizations, the Business Council of Westchester and the Westchester County Association, both of which have a large number of members in White Plains, each gave solid support to the plan. The Business Council in its letter to the Mayor and the Council said the school will “create economic development for both the city and Westchester County” including generating more than $14 million in economic benefits to businesses in White Plains and $22 million more for businesses throughout Westchester County. It will also generate 530 construction jobs and 317 in support businesses. The County Association has cited the importance of the adding to the diverse educational opportunities found in and around White Plains and the value of the school in attracting international companies. In addition to the support of the two organizations, a number of major corporate employers in White Plains have submitted letters of support for the project including Dannon, The Ritz-Carlton Westchester, and Pernod Ricard.

The public hearing will open tonight at City Hall and is scheduled to continue for a second night on October 17.  The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) prepared by FASNY includes some 1,500 pages and is thought to be the most comprehensive study of its kind ever undertaken on a development proposal in city history.

The FASNY plan proposes a unified campus for its students who now attend classes at former parochial schools in three different Westchester communities.  In January 2011 the school purchased the 129-acre defunct Ridgeway Country Club in White Plains.  Its plan calls for the school campus to be created on 45 acres of the property fronting on Ridgeway, and for the creation of a publicly accessible nature conservancy to be protected by a permanent conservation easement on the 84-acre balance of the property.  The Greens to Green Conservancy would return two thirds of the former golf course to a more natural state that would be used as part of the school’s educational program and be open to the public for passive uses such as walking and nature study.    

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the New York State Comptroller’s Office. September 18, 2012:

The New York State Comptroller’s office released the 2013 property tax cap Monday, informing news outlets the rate that cities and school districts could raise their tax levy in 2013 would remain at 2%, though the comptroller’s office predicts inflation to hit 2.9%.

The property tax cap which affects the amount cities can increase their levy, not the rate of property tax was 2% this year, which resulted in a 4.9% property tax increase in the city of White Plains, and a 3.03% property tax increase in the city school district this year, which supported raising the school tax levy in line with the state tax cap 2.03%.

The nearly 3% inflation rate will put more pressure on the 2013-14 city due to its binding arbitration process (where settlements are traditionally derived considering rates of inflation and parallel contracts in similar sized cities) now engaged with the city police union, and the mediation process begun with the city firefighters last week.

The school district is currently stymied in its attempt to reach a new contract with the White Plains Teachers Association, which narrowly voted (52% to 48%) to reject a mediator’s suggested settlement. The Teacher Association leadership is currently evaluating the reasons why the teachers declined the contract, and remains undecided as to their next course of action.

The inflationary prediction by the Comptroller’s Office will put further pressure on the school district 2013-2014 budget, which will automatically increase the school property tax .72% if the public passes the $48.3 Million facilities construction bond on October 23.

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR ROVING PHOTOGRAPHER. September 14, 2012:

The city of Hoboken, New Jersey, just a Metrocard and 15 minutes from 33rd Street on the PATH has a magnificent waterfront that is free to enjoy the majestic Manhattan skyline.

A stroll along the Hoboken parapet has changed my perspective on the new Freedom Tower rising in lower Manhattan, after seeing the Tower gleaming magnificence and might, upclose and personal. These shots were shot from across the Hudson River in Hoboken. The new tower is creating the center of a striking pyramid of majesty.

Hoboken Terminal (foreground) 1907

Freedom Tower Rising (background,center) 2012

FREEDOM TOWER September 14, 2012  (Center) from the Hoboken waterfront. Note sleek pristine sweep of its growing facade. Immaculate!

The Empire State Building 1933, from the Hoboken waterfront, September 14, 2012.

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WPCNR SOUTH END TIMES. By John F. Bailey. September 13, 2012 UPDATED 5:17 P.M. E.D.T.:

The French American School of New York announced the support of 16 environmental organizations for their Greens to Greens Conservancy and proposed new campus for their school at old Ridgeway Country Club

Mischa Zabotin, Chairman of the French American School of New York, in front of blow-up of a letter 16 environmentals sent on their own and not asked by FASNY to do so,to the Mayor announcing their support for the FASNY project campus and Greens to Greens Conservancy now under review by the City.

Five of 16 environmental leaders looking on(L to Right):

Leigh Draper, NY-NJ Trail Conference; Dr. Michael Rubbo, Teatown Lake Reservation; Ned Sullivan, Scenic Hudson;John Botti, FASNY Conservancy Taskforce; Mischa Zabotin, Chairman, FASNY Board of Trustees;Geoff Thompson, FASNY;  Patti Bressman, Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation; Zywia Wojnar, Pace Univ. Law School Energy & Climate Center) at former Ridgeway Country Club Clubhouse this morning. Only Teatown Lake Reservation, according to Mr. Thompson, has any contractual arrangements with FASNY on the project, and had, according to Thompson, gotten involved long before the Greens to Greens Conservancy concept was created by FASNY

Zabotin, Chairman of the French American School of New York announced, “We are proud to have received the endorsement of 16 (environmental) signatories to this meaningful letter of support (to Mayor Thomas Roach of White Plains and Common Council),” for the school plans to create an 84-acre Greens to Greens Conservancy aadjacent to a new school campus on 46 acres on the rest of the site of the former Ridgeway Country Club.

The letter sent the Mayor announcing the 16 environmental leaders who support the project was furnished to the media at a news conference Thursday morning at the old, deserted Ridgeway Country Club clubhouse.

The letter to the Mayor and Council concludes with this statement: “Because of the thoroughness of analysis, research, planning and the commitment shown by the FASNY leadership to create and share with the public two thirds of their property as a bio-diverse, healthy and sustainable nature preserve, we strongly endorse the French-American School of New York’s proposal and encourage you and the Common Council to approve its application for a Special  Permit. This is a unique chance for the city leaders to leave a legacy of a healthy, livable White Plains for future generations to enjoy.”

Zabotin was flanked by six of the organizations signing the letter. The organization signees to the letter to the city are:

Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Bard MBA Program in Sustainability; Scenic Hudson; Cary Institute of  Ecosystem Studies; Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture; Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation; Teatown Lake Reservation; Green Schools Coalition of Westchester; Walkable Westchester; Hudson River Valley Environmental Education Institute; Westchester Land Trust; Jonathan Rose Companies; Westchester County Pest Management Committee; New York-New Jersey Trail Conference; Westmoreland Sanctuary; Pace Energy & Climate Center, Pace Law School, and Benjamin Van Doren, Intel Science Talent Search, 5th Place, USA White Plains High School 2012.

A question from Rich Liebson of the Journal News asking what made the conservancy alternative better than letting the land grow wild, was answered by Ned Sullivan of Scenic Hudson,(Center,above) who said that the conservancy would rehabilitate the land and revive animal habitat, which propbably would not happen if a subdivision or a sports complex (suggested by the city’s Open Space Recreation District Ordinance under consideration) were built instead.

Mr. Sullivan said more than once that FASNY had conducted a “model” SEQRA review process.

The environmentalists on the panel were asked if their groups would participate in a legal action to overturn a city decision to reject the project. All indicated by not answering and shrugs of shoulders they were not going to respond to that question. Mr. Zabotin said that was a matter for Michael Zarin, the FASNY legal advisor.

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WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. By John F. Bailey. September12, 2012:

White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach conducted two 9/11 Commemoration Ceremonies ago yesterday. recalling the horror of the World Trade Center attack eleven years ago yesterday.

He  struck the right emotional message  commemorating that infamous day; comforting those gathered who lost loved ones, and thoughtfully constructing a  enduring legacy of how we can or should live going forward.

In an 8 A.M. observance Tuesday at a pristine and tranquil Liberty Park, the Mayor noted how those gathered in the awesome sunlight yesterday were struck by how similar the day was to September11,2001:  “what stood out that day was the day…They (the people) felt good because of the beautiful day. We will never forget how we felt that day. “

Mayor Roach said that each generation has a day they remember with overwhelming sadness.  Pearl Harbor. For his generation it was the day President John Kennedy was shot. For this generation it was 9/11. He observed “for the next generation, I hope they have no day they cannot forget.”

He recalled the bravery of the first responders who lost their lives. He spoke of the victims, and  ordinary citizens  “how we all came together through the pain and aftermath and remembered in the end, we are all Americans. That for me is very important.”

Roach said the monument in Liberty Park inscribed with the names of White Plains residents killed in the attack on the Twin Towers: Sharon Balkom, Marisa Dinardo, Hemanth Kumar Puttur, Joe Riverso, Gregory Rodriguez and Linda Sheehan, was designed by the sculptor, Gayle Nauls,  so persons visiting the site would “find peace in this beautiful vista and commemorate their memory with simple dignity.”

Rabbi Lester Bronstein opened  with a prayer  with an enhanced reading of the 23^rd Psalm, where instead of walking in the shadow death, he substituted “as I go up the stairs,” emphasing  the faith that responders,  rescuers and victims alike demonstrated that horrible day.

In  closing the ceremony, Rabbi Bronstein commented on the simple marble memorial as being a place persons could “sit and contemplate what it means to be alive.”

He said from that horrible act, came “thousands of acts of good works done by our citizens on that day,” and the legacy of 9/11 was “to build a better world.”

He then sounded the shofar to end the ceremony.

Color Guard Awaits Start of Noon Ceremony

At noon in Renaissance Square the Mayor conducted a ceremony to recognize the sacrifices of first responders, firemen, police and emergency responders who selflessly attempted to save the victims of  “this horrible act.”

The ceremony was highlighted by readings of two poems one by fireman Anthony Scopellitti (above), “Where Is My Buddy?” recalling the anguish of comrades lost that day

White Plains Police Officer Edward Calvano (above) who recited a poem written in memory of the 60 police officers killed that day, 37 Port Authority Police and 23 New York City Police Officers. The poems simple lines were glowing with meaning:

They chose to go where others rushed away, into the horrors

They did not die in vain

They died that day doing what they loved to do.

Guitarist Gene Matero sang songs that gently brought back bittersweet memories and good feelings. His “I just Called to Say I love you,” ironic but comforting recalled the thousands of frantic calls of that day, “Susan the plans they made put an end to you, but I always thought I’d see you again,” in a soothing touch recalled those losses never to be forgotten, of course, in a positive way. The ceremony ended with God Bless America and My Country Tis of Thee.