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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPH OF THE NIGHT. Submitted by Roving Photographer Ray Frederick. May 29, 2012:
Powerful thunderstorms are now desultorily working their way across Westchester County showcasing some power bursts of lightning. Ray Frederick photographed this spectacular blast from his backyard on his I-Phone moments ago.
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WPCNR SOUTH END TIMES. From French American School of New York. May 29, 2012:
Under direction from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and with full city of WP approval – the French American School of New York is scheduled to begin today the removal of trees that are growing on the earthen dam at the south end of the pond on the former golf course.
The issue of the dam was raised by neighbors. The DEC was contacted by the city and after inspecting the dam developed a plan requiring FASNY to remove large trees and underbrush on the dam.
This work includes the removal of 5 large (80 foot) trees and other vegetation. Some of the small trees (under 6” diameter) will be left. A large tree crane was scheduled to be on site today. Passersby may see and/or hear the activity, and that’s the explanation. The entire plan has been developed in full collaboration with the DEC and the city and is sanctioned by both the DEC and the city.
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WPCNR SOUTHEND LIFE. By The American Grillman. Reprinted from The CitizeNetReporter Archives. July 5, 2008: It’s the come home day of another Memorial Day Wekend in White Plains, coming home for that Memorial Day picnic. After Monday’s Memorial Day Parade starting at 10 AM in downtown White Plains, honoring our veterans it is time to usher in summer officially. Thanks to the chimney charcoal starter and its glowing orange coals, the backyard American barbeque DNA macho in the amateur chef is once again the equal of the overpriced steak cooked indoors at any restaurant. Steak was raised outside, it was born to be cooked outside, and the barbequed steak on orange charcoal’s glow puts the Cartier- priced steakhouse in its place! In this griller’s opinion, ourdoor grilling proves once again to be the equal and superior to the overpriced artificial-tasting steak that sleek decor and atmosphere cannot duplicate backyard orgins. The economy may be a press secretary’s fantasy, your home price declining, your taxes going up, but remember, even the hobo can grill! To do real steak right , you have to do it outside on charcoal. The instinct of generations of the American backyard barbeque tradition passed up from the cave, enjoyed at Valley Forge, sunk into y cowboys around chuck wagons on the prairie and up from the Southland barbeque inbred and passed on from American father to American son – cutting across nationality and station – gives you real steak – not $100 technology enhanced cuts. Flaming charcoal makes steak a living thing in your mouth! What is it about the American Grillman that’s so special that his or hers backyard cuts beat the insider professionals’ inflation-friendly ostentatious steaks? It’s the unique chemistry of being American and charcoal flame. You’re not really part of America unless you’re grillin” like an American. And on Independence Day Weekend coming up, it’s not July 4 unless you’re grillin’. There’s just something about the searing intensity of glowing charcoal combining mystically with the testosterone and instinctual synergy between red meat and the dedicated outdoor griller — it beats in taste, juiciness and texture the contrived technology of the most expensive restaurant equipment. No matter how tasty the megabuck meat is in the swank sticker shock steak palaces, there’s always that articificialness packaged taste that marks the indoor steak. The butteryness. The soft crust of the black topped surface of the indoor steak just does not have the nubile grizzled roughhewn flamed yield of the outdoor one-on-one grilled steak that fights your bicuspids every cillemeter.It is like a showgirl seen from a distance who looks older the closer you get. Only one whose money is easily parted would pay $50 and up for a buttery indoor steak dinner when you can do it yourself in the backyard even in 20 degree weather even in the rain – the steaks done to perfection with the juices sealed in. The chimney starter – the secret to the hot start. No more charcoal fluid needed. Take a copy of The Journal News and scrunch up the news section or the sports section in the bottom of the Chimney Starter. (Experience shows that copies of the Journal News — any Gannett paper — burn better than the New York Times which is very slow-starting) Pour in a helping of those ultimate black beauties, Kingsford charcoal briquettes into the chimney top. Fifteen minutes before the wife has the sides ready, take a wooden match to the aperatures in the base of the starter and light up the edges of the newsprint. Within 10-15 minutes you’ve got coals a firey orange red. You’re ready to outcook the pros. Eat Your Heart Out, Mr. or Ms. Professional Food Designer and Celebrity Chef! After the Griller’s wife has marinated the meat – these Stop and Shop trimmed New York Strips sizzling in the caressing deep searing heat of glowing orange briquettes – 3 minutes a side and deft turning and surgical rareness checks – the seasoned grillista simply has a feel for the meat – passed genetically down from generations of American grillers. The combination of cauldron, flavored steel grill rods coated in the char of former grillings, and perfect licking flames create the branded grillmarks that deliver the natural taste of the backyard steak – impossible to achieve for any price in the tehnologically nuanced, high tech steam tables of today. No one can do a great cut like you can, Mr. America! FEEL THE BURN! As any redblooded American Grillman will tell you when doing a steak – you can’t deliver a steak by manual or instructions. You have to feel the meat. Feel it cook. You just know its time. Every cut is not the same. The American Grillman becomes one with the meat. With eye and knowledge of the hue of red – you just know by instinct when she’s done. Cooking is slowed down by moving the meats to the side off the heat to keep the American beauties warm With the wife’s deft presentation, sweet potato fries, corn pudding, fresh beans and mushrooms without the sog of infrared glare, the Grillman’s natural art relegates the indoor steak out of the taste sweepstakes. Gentlemen, start your grils and fire up to get that taste of summer you cannot get in any indoor steakhouse no matter how much you pay. And–gas grills, are you kidding me? Only charcoal does it the American Way!
I think America can pull itself out of this temporary hiccup in the American economy and “anything-but-the-issues-politics”. as long as the American grilling tradition is handed down, the pioneer “can-do” spirit lives!
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WPCNR STARS AND STRIPES. Contributed by Carl Albanese. Originally published by WPCNR May 30, 2011:
Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.
“Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.” — General Logan – May 5, 1868
We need to remember with sincere respect those who paid the price for our freedoms; we need to keep in sacred remembrance those who died serving their country. We need to never let them be forgotten. However, over the years the original meaning and spirit of Memorial Day has faded from the public consciousness.
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day.
There is also evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping” by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication “To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead” (Source: Duke University’s Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920).
While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860’s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868.
It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states.
The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).
It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis’ birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.
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WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. May 26, 2012 UPDATED May 29, 2012:
The Planning Department’s Ray Frederick is a Vietnam War Navy veteran, having served from 1970-76.
This year he felt compelled to undertake a gruelling effort to commemorate those comrades with whom he served in that bitter conflict, 40 years ago.
White Plains Planning Department’s Ray Frederick. Former Track and football star at New Rochelle High, and respected Fastpitch Softball Coach is pedaling to remember and respect Veterans and his former comrades in the Mount Washington Bike Race July 7.
He is devoting himself to training and doing what is considered in the cycling profession as the toughest hill climb bike race in the world. On July 7, 2012 he will be entered in a race that see him pedal 7.6 miles up Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. He describes the course has an average uphill gradient of 12.5 degrees, increasing in difficulty to 18 degrees, and finishing at 22 degrees at the top for the final 100 yards.
The shirt Ray will wear in his race to the top of Mount Washington, July 7
Ray, long considered a builder of work ethic in the softball players he has trained in hitting and prowess to the point where they have won scholarships, says:
“I am dedicating this climb to those who have lost their lives to the wars of our past. I am doing it in honor of those that have fallen. If you look up Newtons Revenge Bike Race you will be more informed of its difficulty as well as adverse weather conditions.
There are past and present veterans of foreign wars that will never forget their Comrades. Our thoughts this weekend go to all those who served both past and present. I am a Vietnam war era veteran, and honor all those who put their own lives before others for this countries future.”
We’ll be checking in with Roy as he prepares for his big run up the mountain
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With Memorial Day Weekend drawing near, get out your bathing suit and sunscreen and head out for some sun and a dip!
PLAYLAND BEACH OPENS THIS WEEKEND–POOL JUNE 22ND
The Memorial Day Weekend forecast for the tri-state area predicts hazy hot humid uncomfortable weather, temperatures in the 80s all three days with strong chance of thunderstorms developing in the afternoons Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Memorial Day Parade, May 31, 2005,White Plains New York, USA
Memorial Day Parade, White Plains New York USA, 2006
The White Plains Memorial Day Parade will be staged Monday at 10 A.M. in downtown White Plains.
White Plains Pools at Gardella and Kittrell Park will open June 16, according to the Department of Recreation and Parks.
BEACHES
Glen Island Park, New Rochelle – (914) 813-6720
Schedule:
· May 26 – June 21: open Saturdays and Sundays and Memorial Day
· June 22 – Aug. 19: open Wednesday through Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday)*
· Hours: 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with no admittance allowed after 6 p.m.
Fees:
· $4 for adults and $3 for children ages 5 to 11; children under 5 are admitted free.
· Seniors pay $2 on weekdays only (except holidays) with a valid Westchester County Senior Citizen Park Pass.
· Parking $5 — Westchester County Park Pass required for admittance.
Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson – (914) 864-5290
Schedule:
· May 26 – June 21: open Saturdays and Sundays and Memorial Day
· June 22 – Aug. 19: open Wednesday through Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday)*
· Hours: 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with no admittance allowed after 6 p.m.
Fees:
· Swimming is free
· Parking $5 with a County Park Pass and $10 without Pass.
Playland Beach at Playland Park, Rye – (914) 813-7000
Schedule:
· May 26 – June 21: open Saturdays and Sundays only
· June 22 – Sept. 3: open Wednesday through Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday)*
· Hours: 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with no admittance after 6 p.m.
Fees:
· $4 adults and $3 children ages 5 to 11; under 5 years old are free.
· $3 Seniors on weekdays only (except holidays) with a Westchester County Senior Citizen Park Pass
· Park Pass not required for entry.
· Parking fees are $5 weekdays, $7 weekends and $10 holidays.
POOLS
Saxon Woods Park, White Plains – (914) 995-4480
Schedule:
· June 22 – Aug. 19: open seven days a week*
· Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with no admittance after 6 p.m.
· Park Pass or proof of county residency is required for admittance.
Fees:
· $6 for adults, $4 for children 12 and under, $4 for seniors on weekdays only (includes parking)
The Brook at Tibbetts Brook Park, Yonkers – (914) 231-2865
Schedule:
· June 22 – Aug. 19: open seven days a week*
· Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with no admittance after 6 p.m.
· Park Pass or proof of county residency is required for admittance.
Fees:
· $8 for adults, $5 for children under 12, and $5 for seniors weekdays only
· $5 parking Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Willson’s Waves at Willson’s Woods Park, Mount Vernon – (914) 813-6990
Schedule:
· June 22 – Aug. 19: open seven days a week*
· Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with no admittance after 6 p.m.
· Park Pass or proof of county residency is required for admittance.
Fees:
· $8 for adults, $5 for children under 12, and $5 for seniors weekdays only (parking included)
Playland Pool at Playland Park, Rye – (914 813-7000
Schedule:
· June 22 – Aug. 19: open Wednesday through Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday) Hours: 11 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., with no admittance after 6 p.m.
Fees:
· $6 adults, $5 with a Park Pass; $4 children 12 and under, $3.50 with a Park Pass; children under 5 are free.
· Seniors with a Westchester County Senior Citizen Park Pass pay $3 on weekdays only (except holidays).
· Parking fees are $5 weekdays, $7 weekends and $10 holidays.
*Schedule changes Aug. 20. Check for updates at westchestergov.com/parks.
SEASON SWIM PASS
County Park Pass holders are eligible for a Season Swim Pass, which allows unlimited entry to Glen Island Beach and all pools except Playland throughout the season. Fees are $250 for a family, $100 for individuals, and $75 for seniors. It can be purchased at all pools (except Playland) or at Glen Island park. For Family Pass, all members must be present at time of issue.
For public bus transportation availability, visit www.westchestergov.com/beelinebus.
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WPCNR County Clarion-Ledger. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. May 24, 2012:
Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino and New York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Carter Strickland today reopened Kensico Dam Road for recreational access. Visitors to the Kensico Dam will now be able to enjoy views from the top of the structure while walking, jogging, in-line skating, or bicycling. This is the first time the roadway has been open for public access since 2005 following a $42 million restoration.
The road, which runs across the top of the dam, has been closed to traffic off and on since Sept. 11, 2001. The road closed permanently to vehicles in 2002 and then closed to pedestrians in 2005 to begin the rehabilitation work.
“I know the public will enjoy having access once again to this beautiful landmark,” Astorino said. “Kensico Dam Plaza is a vital public space in Westchester, where each year tens of thousands of visitors enjoy exercising, gathering with friends on the great lawn, celebrating at heritage festivals, and much more. Reopening the roadway will further expand the recreational opportunities that make Westchester a great place to live and visit.”
The Kensico Dam stretches between West Westlake Drive and Route 22, measuring 1,843 feet in length and 307 feet in height. As a Public Access Area, the walkway will not require a DEP Access Permit and will be open seven days a week from dawn to dusk.
“Reopening Kensico Dam Road will give local residents and visitors a wonderful opportunity to spend time outdoors with family and friends, enjoy the spectacular views of the Kensico Reservoir and the surrounding area while taking a leisurely stroll or going for a jog or bike ride,” Strickland said. “DEP continues to expand public access for recreational use to benefit our neighbors, while at the same time protecting the drinking water supply of over nine million New Yorkers. I thank County Executive Astorino for partnering with New York City to expand recreational access to residents in the community.”
The $42 million rehabilitation work, which was paid for by DEP and began in 2005, included cleaning and repairing the spillway, acid washing the facade and colonnades, and replacing the colonnade roofs, the gate house, and the valve chamber that controls the flow of water through the dam. There was also repair of pavilions, colonnades, terrace, and fountains as well as installation of new technology to remotely operate equipment. Drains and drainage systems were restored, electrical equipment was replaced, heating and ventilation systems were installed, ornamental fencing was replaced, and landscaping was performed. The rehabilitation work was completed in December 2011.
The Kensico Reservoir was placed into service in 1915 and at full capacity can hold up to 30.6 billion gallons, serving as a terminal rather than a collecting reservoir. It receives most of its water from the city’s west-of-Hudson reservoirs through the Catskill and Delaware aqueducts, and serves as the last stop for water before it flows into the Hillview Reservoir in Yonkers for distribution in New York City.
Since 2003, DEP has significantly expanded the amount of city-owned water supply lands open for recreation to 108,000 acres — more than double the amount available in 2003. Of the 108,000 total acres open to recreation, 75,000 are land and 33,000 are water. In 2011, DEP opened approximately 6,600 acres of land for recreation over the course of the year. Expanding recreational opportunities in the watershed along with operating and maintaining New York City’s network of dams are two of the Operations goals outlined in Strategy 2011-2014, a far-reaching strategic plan that lays out 100 distinct initiatives to make DEP the safest, most efficient, cost-effective, and transparent water utility in the nation. The plan is available on DEP’s website at www.nyc.gov/dep.
DEP manages the city’s water supply, providing more than one billion gallons of water each day to more than nine million residents, including eight million in New York City, and residents of Ulster, Orange, Putnam and Westchester counties. This water comes from the Catskill, Delaware, and Croton watersheds that extend more than 125 miles from the City, and the system comprises 19 reservoirs, three controlled lakes, and numerous tunnels and aqueducts. DEP employs nearly 6,000 employees, including almost 1,000 scientists, engineers, surveyors, watershed maintainers and others professionals in the upstate watershed.
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WPCNR THE HOUSING NEWS. By John F. Bailey. May 23, 2012:
The Common Council Special Meeting Monday night brought news of a setback in the much anticipated Winbrook Revitalization Project in collaboration with HUD.
Larry Sallee, Chairman of the White Plains Housing Authority told the Council that HOPE VI Housing and Urban Development funding had dried up, and though HUD is still very “enthusiastic” about the project, HUD will not be funding the $200 Million project.
Instead the plan to replace the five Winbrook World War II public housing buildings will be executed as funds become available from the private sector, through tax credit instruments. Mr.Sallee expressed hope the City of
Mack Carter, Executive Director of the Authority said that the first floor of the first replacement building, housing the Community Education Center, a $5 Million project, with HUD supplying $3.5 Million and the city $1.5 Million will be built first, hopefully beginning in 2013. Carter told WPCNR the first building would require approximately $30 Million in financing.
Architect rendering of first new building in the “New Winbrook,” on the corner of Quarropas and South Lexington Avenue.
Carter assured WPCNR that
Attorney William Null went through a totally new concept for the first building (containing the
From the information presented, it appears the new replacement structures will not be connected and instead, be free-standing in the complex similar to the way they are today, but newer, bigger, attractively designed. Null said that 93 of the present 450 Winbrook residents would be moved to the first new building whenever it is completed. The present Winbrook residents would have first priority on new housing. Null said the overall project would have 1,400 units, with 450 committed to the present tenants.The decision as to which presently standing Winbrook building would go down first has not been made.
Councilman David Buchwald and Councilwoman Milagros Lecuona questioned how moving residents from one building could produce a mixed income project as originally envisioned three years ago.
Terry Walton of the Housing Authority, said Winbrook residents from all 5 Winbrook buildings, who pay a mix of rent amounts ranging from the lowest to up to $2,000 a month would be interviewed as the first occupants of the new building. Under this pick-and-choose system, purely voluntary, Walton stressed.
WPCNR notes this would mean that some residents from the first building to be demolished would have to move out of and into another Winbrook building (or other location) as an interim living location, (when the first new replacement building is completed whenever that happens). In this manner, the first new building presumably would have an income mix promoting mixed income open market housing as the original Winbrook Rehabilitation project envisioned.
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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE EXAMINER. May 21, 2012: The Common Council approved the 2012-13 budget pf $166.5 Million with a 4.75% property tax increase and 2% raises for Commissioners.
According to the legislation, they will raise salaries of appointed Officials, including Commissioners 2%, (their first increases since 2010-11) and provide for future labor settlements with police, fire and teamsters contracts by transferring $5 Million out of the Tax Stabilization Fund into the General Fund.
The Mayor and his office staff will not receive raises, and at this point neither will the Common Council.
The new salaries for Commissioners will be:
Assessor: $129,540, and increase of $2,540
Commissioner of Building, $144,330, up $2,880
Deputy Commissioner of Building, $128,529, increased $2,520
City Clerk, $103,020 up $2,020
Corporation Counsel, $193,800, up $3,800
Chief Deputy Corporation Counsel, $161,160, increased $3,160
Deputy Corporation Counsel, $154,020, moved up $3,020
Commissioner of Finance, $153,000, up $3,000
Deputy Commissioner of Finance, $132,090 up $2,590
Director of Information Services, $132, 600 up $2,600
Library Director, $143,820, an increase of $2,820
Personnel Officer, $151,980, up $2,980
Deputy Personnel Officer, $85,000 an increase from the previous pay of this position which was $72,000
Physician, $50,490, up $1,090
Commissioner of Parking, $149,940, up $2,940
Deputy Commissioner of Parking, $125,000, a decrease from the previous pay for this position which was $137,000
Commissioner of Planning, $165,240, up $3,240
Deputy Commissioner of Planning, $122,400, up $2,400
Commissioner of Public Safety, $180,822, up $4,330
Commissioner of Public Works, $173,400, an increase of $3,400
Deputy Commissioner of Public Works No 1, $140,760, up $2,760
Deputy Commissioner of Public Works No 2, $128,010, up $2,510
Commissioner of Purchase, $113,230, up $2,230
Commissioner of Recreation and Parks, $140,234. An increase of $2,750
Deputy Commissioner of Recreation and Parks, $120,774, increased $2,368
Commissioner of Traffic, $131,580, increased $2,580
Director of Youth Bureau, $125,460. Up $5,460
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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DAY. BY THE WPCNR ROVING PHOTOGRAPHER . MAY 18, 2012:
Bicycle Lanes creating a one way South-North loop from Post Road down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard down Water Street to the TransCenter, and from the TransCenter South back to Post Road on Lexington Avenue were painted and created overnight by the Department of Public Works. The project was announced by the Mayor last month. Here is how they look as of dawn. The bicycle lane symbols were painted by the White Plains Department of Traffic Crew.
ENTERING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR BOULEVARD POST ROAD FROM THE SOUTH
PEDALING HARD PAST THE COUNTY COURT FOR THE GALLERIA ON KING BOULEVARD
UNDER THE GALLERIA GARAGE ON A BIKELANE HEADING FOR MAIN STREET
CRUISING THE ROAD PAST THE POWER AUTHORITY, THE JIM BENEROFE SUBURBAN STREET OFFICES GEARING UP FOR THE TURN DOWN WATER STREET AND YOUR TRAIN!
ENTERING SOUTH LEXINGTON AVENUE FROM TRANSCENTER HEADING BACK TO THE GOOD OLD SOUTH END
DOWN LEX WE ZIP PAST PUBLIC SAFETY HEADQUARTERS AND WHITE PLAINS TV STUDIOS,(THE WORLD TELECAST HOME OF WHITE PLAINS WEEK), AND PEDALING FOR POST ROAD