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 POLICE GAZETTE. From the White Plains Department of Public Safety. October 30,2011:

On Saturday evening at approximately 11:18 hours, White Plains Public Safety received numerous calls about a head-on two vehicle collision in the Northbound lanes of Mamaroneck Ave.  The accident occurred approximately in front of 1211 Mamaroneck Ave.  Public Safety units arrived within seconds and observed two vehicles heavily damaged. 

In one vehicle, a 1991 Toyota Camry were four occupants. 

 The occupants had to be physically extracted from the vehicle, there were no signs of airbags and this may be due to the age of the vehicle.  The second vehicle, a 1998 Lexus, was carrying one male driver.  The airbags had deployed and the driver had been able to exit this vehicle and was found in the roadway. 

Police, Fire, EMS, a Con Edison Supervisor, and some off duty citizens that were from New Rochelle Fire & New Rochelle EMS were on the scene and all started rendering some type of assistance.  CPR was performed by members of Police, Fire and EMS on three of the most critically injured victims from the 1991 Toyota. 

 All five victims were transported from the scene by EMS ambulances directly to White Plains Medical Center.  Unfortunately, three victims, all in the 1991 Toyota Camry were declared deceased at White Plains Hospital. 

The fourth Toyota passenger suffered serious injuries was stabilized and subsequently transported to Westchester Medical Center, he is listed in serious but stable condition.  The Driver of the 1998 Lexus suffered trauma injuries and lacerations and was admitted to White Plains Hospital for observation.

The victims are as identified as follows,

1991 Toyota Camry Occupants:

Driver, Herbert Royster, Male, DOB 07/16/46 of the Bronx, Deceased.

Front Passenger, Aida N. Royster, Female, DOB 01/20/41 of the Bronx, Deceased

Rear Passenger, David Guerra, Male, DOB 02/04/60 of the Bronx, Deceased

Rear Passenger, Edgar Guerra, Male, DOB 02/22/50 of the Bronx, Serious but Stable, transported to Westchester Medical Center after treatment at White Plains Hospital.

1998 Lexus Occupant:

Edwardo Huezo, Male,  age, 25, resident of the Bronx, admitted to White Plains Hospital for blunt trauma and lacerations for observation.

This is an active police accident investigation, being conducted by our trained Accident Investigations Unit and assisted by White Plains Detectives. 

Preliminary and unconfirmed investigation at this time indicates that the Toyota was traveling southbound in the nortbound lane when it struck the Lexus in the vicinity of 1211 Mamaroneck Ave. 

Mamaroneck Ave. southbound had been shut and barricaded by the Police Department from Ridgeway to Rosedale Ave. due to storm road obstructions included downed trees, branches, and wires.

White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong states

“the investigation is active and we will know more after the Medical Examiner’s report.  As a matter consistant with any tragedy the Department will be working closely with the Medical Examiners office.  Our hearts and prayers go out to all the victims of this horrific event.”

White Plains Mayor, Thomas M. Roach, who was in contact with the Commissioner and Responder’s on the scene said

 “My deepest condolences go out to the families of the victims of this terrible accident.  The members of the White Plains Police and Fire Departments, as well as other first responders, at the scene worked hard to assist the victims and get them needed medical attention. I would like to recognize and thank them for their actions.  I know I speak for everyone in our community in expressing our sympathy to the victims’ families and our gratitude to our first responders.”

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WPCNR Common Council Chronicle-Examiner. Special to WPCNR October 27, 2011:

Decades of quietly illegal procedure were exposed last night at the White Plains Common Council Special Meeting.

Carl Albanese  of White Plains spoke up and demanded Mayor Tom Roach comply with the New York State open meetings law and reveal the subject matter of the about-to-begin executive session at last night’s common Council meeting. Photo, WPCNR News Archive, April 2009.

The mayor tried to stop Mr. Albanese from speaking out, according to Albanese but he continued and rattled off the city violation of New York State Open Meetings Law executive session procedure violations.

According to witnesses of the historic moment, Mayor Roach rose from his seat behind the Mayor’s desk, walked over to chief of staff John Callahan and whispered in Callahan’s ear.

Callahan  recited as quick as he could,  the pending litigation suits and attorneys for discussion in the upcoming executive session primarily lawsuits that the White Plains Professional Firefighters have ongoing against the city on grievances.

Mr. Albanese said, “It  (Callahan’s reciting of cases) was so fast you could not decipher the litigation cases against the city.” Albanese said he was  then directed by Chief of Staff Mr. Callahan to remove all Albanese’s  videotaping equipment from the Mayor’s conference room, before the executive session began.

By standing up and challenging the Mayor on procedure, Mr. Albanese exposed  the procedure the city has been using for years to keep citizens unaware of pending, ongoing and serious policy matters involving, litigation, purchase of land and personnel matters as a violation of state open meetings law.

It is  “custom”  procedure that no member of the press of any media  has ever challenged, but accepted as “procedure.”

Albanese cited NYS OM L, Section 103 which  says that a governing body may enter into Executive Session–.

“upon a majority vote of its total membership taken in an open meeting pursuant to a motion identifying the general area or areas of the subject or subjects to be considered.”

It is Albanese’s contention that the city by this statement is required to state specifics of the matters, naming names and matters they are going to discuss, and not hang out a general explanation “for purposes of discussing pending legislation,” or “for discussion of personnel matters,” or for “purpose of selling or acquisition of land.”

WPCNR has a call in to the Mayor’s Senior Advisor to see if the city is going to contest this interpretation in the courts.

WPCNR has asked Mayor Roach, and city Chief of Staff  John Callahan, if the disclosure of subject matter and principles will be followed in future calls for going into Executive sessions on land acquisition or sale matters and personnel discussions…going forward.

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Where’s Mass Transit? Scopers Ask.

WPCNR BRIDGE NEWS. By John F. Bailey. October 26, 2011 UPDATED WITH EXHIBIT CHARTS 10 P.M. E.D.T.:  

The Department of Transporation unveiled its new Tappan Zee Bridge Reconstruction option at the Tarrytown Doubletree Hotel Tuesday afternoon in a scoping presentation that kicked off an accelerated environmental review of the Tappan Zee Bridge Replacement Project. 

The agency and chain of command responsible for funding, engineering and building the bridges has not been determined at this time.

The environmental review that began yesterday is scheduled to be completed in December 2012, with work beginning in 2013 and the project completed by 2018.

Choice of Two Designs, Cable Suspension Above, or  Arch Bridge below:

The new “bridge” is really two bridges, higher off the Hudson River and straighter than the present 1959-built Tappan Zee Bridge. The proposed spannings  allow more speed because they are level and add permanent lanes to the East West corridors, raising the total of lanes to 4 in each direction. The design met with widespread complaints in the scoping session because it has no mass transit component according to observers in the audience who spoke with WPCNR.

The New Bridge Profile (In yellow will be higher than the existing Tappan Zee Bridge, allowing for straighter, more level crossing rather than the alleged slowing of traffic on grade experienced now with the present bridge (profile and grade is colored in blue

Officials making explanations of the exhibit of the design in the reception area toured by WPCNR as well as officials making the official scoping presentation went to great lengths to assure the public that the dual bridge would be engineered to add mass transit of rapid bus transit or rail transit sometime in the future to be determined. A second scoping session is scheduled to be held in the Palisades Mall from 4 to 9 P.M. Thursday afternoon, when officials will again make the presentation they made Tuesday evening.

Mass Transit Could be Added in the future to this structure in the cantilevered space underneath the roadways or in the space between the bridges — bus or rail according to engineers.

The Chart immediately below shows how the Project engineers would add mass transit (rail, bus,or both in the future)

Who’s the Czar?

Browsing the bridge exhibits, WPCNR  asked William Reynolds, Communications Director of the Department of Transportation what agency is ultimately going to  be responsible to build and have ultimate control of the project: funding, engineering, choosing contractors, building the bridge.

“That (decision) is well down the road” according to William Reynolds, Communications Director, of the Department of Transportation the Federal Highway Administration  that stepped in last week to “fast track” the project environmental review to speed replacement of the bridge, or the New York Department of Transporation that has spent 10 years tinkering with the design of a replacement. Reynolds said the present stage beginning yesterday is the environmental review and designation of responsibility for the project has not been determined at this time. He said he would get back to WPCNR with more details on when and how the assignment of responsibility for building the bridges will be made.

Here is what WPCNR learned in discussing the design with DOT personnel at the reception area displaying key charts showing the new bridges (Press read-on instruction):

Overview of the new position of the new Tappan Zee Double Bridge, presented Tuesday. The Double Bridge will position slightly north of the present bridge (represented by blue line in the overhead view above. It will connect with the present Nyack and Tarrytown approaches (using the present Tappan Zee Toll Plaza).

Closeup view of the Nyack Side Connection to the new bridge.There appears to be no eminent domain land-taking. (Blue at right of overhead is the present Tappan Zee bridge.)

The Tarrytown Connection: Double Bridge connecting to prsent toll-plaza. No eminent domain appears needed.

The North Structure of the Double Bridge will be built first and when it is completed in an estimated 2-1/2 years, it appears the old Tappan Zee Bridge will be closed approximately 2016. The completed northern structure will carry 8 lanes of traffic, 4 east and 4 west bound, while the south side of the double bridge is built.

Upon Completion of the South ramp, the new North Bridge will revert to a 4 lane West bound only direction with a bicycle and pedestrian lane at far left,a 10-foot buffer/breakdown lane and 4 12-foot westbound lanes, an 8 foot buffer/breakdown lane, and a 12 foot Emergency Access lane.

The South Bridge will carry 4 lanes of eastbound traffic, and have a 10 foot breakdown/shoulder lane on the right andf Emergency Access on the left. It is scheduled to be completed by 2018.

The Tuesday Scoping Session kicked off the “fastrack” environmental review scheduled to be completed by December, 2012. The Bridge is expected to begin construction 2013 with completion of both structures by 2018.

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WPCNR FBI WIRE. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. October 25, 2011:

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JANICE K. FEDARCYK, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and RAYMOND W. KELLY, the Police Commissioner of the City of New York (“NYPD”), today announced charges against 12 defendants, including eight active-duty and retired NYPD Officers, for participating in a variety of schemes involving the illegal interstate transportation of stolen goods.

According to the Complaint filed today in Manhattan federal court, from September 2010 to the present, some or all of the defendants conspired to transport across state lines: stolen slot machines; firearms, including three M-16 rifles, one shotgun, and 16 handguns, the majority of which had been defaced to remove or alter the serial number; and stolen cigarettes and counterfeit goods. In total, the goods that the defendants allegedly illegally transported carried a street value of over $1 million.

The active-duty NYPD Officers charged are: WILLIAM MASSO, EDDIE GORIS, and JOHN MAHONEY, who work in Brooklyn’s 68th precinct; ALI OKLU, who works as a member of the Brooklyn South Task Force; and GARY ORTIZ, who works in Brooklyn’s 71st precinct. The retired NYPD Officers charged are JOSEPH TRISCHITTA, MARCO VENEZIA, and RICHARD MELNIK, who worked in Brooklyn’s 68th precinct. TRISCHITTA and VENEZIA were active-duty officers for part of the time that they allegedly committed the charged offenses.

Also charged are, former NYC Department of Sanitation Police Officer ANTHONY SANTIAGO, active-duty New Jersey Corrections Officer DAVID KANWISHER, and associates MICHAEL GEE and ERIC GOMER. The defendants were arrested this morning and are expected to be presented in Manhattan federal court later today.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said:

“The Complaint describes how a group of crime fighters took to moonlighting as criminals; how a gang of police officers who should have been keeping guns off the street instead smuggled 20 firearms into the City; and how a number of men once charged with enforcing the law are now charged with breaking it. An officer who betrays his badge betrays every honorable officer, as well as every member of the public. The NYPD is the finest police force in the world, and has done more to protect our city and keep us safe than any comparable force in any city, anywhere. I am proud to work with a police department that has the courage to police itself, as is it has shown today. ”

FBI Assistant Director in Charge JANICE K. FEDARCYK said:

“This morning’s arrests are the culmination of a long-term undercover investigation that began in 2009. These crimes are without question, reprehensible—particularly conspiring to import untraceable guns and assault rifles into New York. The public trusts the police not only to enforce the law, but to obey it. These crimes, as alleged in the Complaint, do nothing but undermine public trust and confidence in law enforcement. We are committed to continuing to work with the Internal Affairs Bureau of the NYPD to root out corruption, wherever it may be.”

Commissioner RAYMOND W. KELLY said:

“I want to commend the U.S. Attorney and the FBI who, together with the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau, today arrested a dozen individuals, five of them police officers, who believed they were helping to transport stolen goods, as well as firearms. The fact that the goods really weren’t stolen and the guns didn’t work doesn’t lessen culpability, especially for those who had sworn an oath to uphold the law. The most disturbing aspect of this sting was that, according to the Complaint, William Masso actually saw what he must have certainly believed were functioning guns. He had no way of knowing that the guns to be transported had been rendered inoperable. It was a betrayal of the highest order of an officer’s oath.”

According to the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:

In late 2009, MASSO met a confidential informant (“CI”) who was working for the FBI. During conversations over the next several months, MASSO allegedly expressed an interest in obtaining and selling cigarettes and other contraband. At the direction of law enforcement, the CI began to supply MASSO with cigarettes that the CI described as having been stolen from out of state, and MASSO sold these cigarettes. In the Spring of 2010, the CI and MASSO discussed whether MASSO could assist the CI and the CI’s purported boss, who was really an undercover law enforcement agent, (“UC-1”). MASSO agreed, saying he could get a “retired cop, active cop, ex-cop, bad guy…You want a guy who beat the s—t out of somebody who bothers him, we got that. We got cops with vests and guns.”

The Stolen Slot Machine Scheme

Between October 2010 and March 2011, the defendants conspired to transport what they believed to be stolen slot machines across state lines. Specifically, on October 5, 2010, MASSO, SANTIAGO, GORIS, GOMER, and OKLU transported a number of purportedly stolen slot machines via U-Haul trucks from New Jersey to New York. Subsequently, on March 25, 2011, MASSO, SANTIAGO, GORIS, and OKLU along with VENEZIA, MAHONEY, MELNIK, TRISCHITTA, and KANWISHER transported a number of purportedly stolen slot machines from New Jersey to New York.

In preparing for, and carrying out this scheme, the defendants specifically discussed using their credentials and knowledge as law enforcement officers. For example, in a meeting on March 24, 2011, MASSO explained that the men should carry their law enforcement badges during the operation and, if stopped, should say they were police officers working off-duty to deliver items another person had purchased at an auction. MAHONEY described a route they could take in order to avoid detection by law enforcement, and OKLU advised that the vans should not travel together on the highway.

For their participation in the March 2011 transport, MASSO was paid $10,000 in cash; SANTIAGO was paid $7,000 in cash; GORIS and TRISCHITTA were each paid $5,000 in cash; MELNIK and OKLU were each paid $4,000 in cash; KANWISHER was paid $3,000 in cash; and MAHONEY and VENEZIA were each paid $2,000 in cash.

The Stolen Cigarettes and Stolen Merchandise Scheme

On a number of occasions between Fall 2010 and September 2011, the defendants conspired to transport what they believed to be stolen cigarettes and stolen merchandise, such as handbags and clothing, across state lines. On one occasion in May 2011, GORIS, OKLU, SANTIAGO, ORTIZ, KANWISHER and GOMER traveled from the New York City area to Virginia to take part in a purported theft of more than $500,000 worth of cigarettes from two trucks.

On the way to Virginia, SANTIAGO, along with the CI and UC-1, stopped to buy a bolt cutter and duct tape to prepare for the theft. The men then transported approximately 270 cases of cigarettes back to New York and, along with MASSO and GEE, they sold the cigarettes to various buyers. For their participation in the May 2011 cigarette transport, SANTIAGO received $23,000 in cash; GORIS received $20,000 in cash; OKLU received $15,000 in cash; KANWISHER and ORTIZ received $10,000 in cash each; GOMER received $5,000 in cash; and MASSO received $9,000 in cash plus cases of the purportedly stolen cigarettes.

The Firearms Schemes

As alleged in the Complaint, in July 2011, MASSO, SANTIAGO and GEE conspired to sell a shotgun to UC-1 for $2,000. After providing the shotgun, MASSO told UC-1 that the gun was just a “sample” and that they could get anything “from A to Z.” GEE promised UC-1 six to eight guns a month. MASSO, SANTIAGO and GEE had subsequent discussions with UC-1 about the possibility of obtaining handguns and transporting them interstate.

Ultimately, UC-1 informed MASSO that he could obtain firearms but needed them transported to New York. Subsequently, on September 22, 2011, MASSO, GORIS, OKLU, ORTIZ, SANTIAGO, KANWISHER, TRISCHITTA, and VENEZIA transported numerous firearms and purportedly stolen cigarettes from New Jersey to New York. The firearms—all of which had been rendered inoperable by the FBI—included three M-16 rifles, one shotgun, and 16 handguns—the majority of which had been defaced to remove or alter their serial numbers. The defendants transported the firearms, as well as cigarettes they believed to have been stolen from New Jersey to Long Island.

The firearms were delivered to another undercover agent, and the cigarettes were sold to various buyers, including individuals who were not undercover law enforcement agents, prearranged by MASSO and SANTIAGO. For participating in this scheme, MASSO was paid $6,000 in cash; GORIS, ORTIZ, TRISCHITTA, OKLU, KANWISHER and VENEZIA were each paid $5,000 in cash; and SANTIAGO was paid $2,000 in cash. On October 5, 2011, MASSO met with UC-1 at a hotel in Manhattan and paid UC-1 $147,600 in cash, representing UC-1’s share of the proceeds from selling the purportedly stolen cigarettes.

* * *

A chart identifying each defendant, the charges, and the maximum penalties, is below.

Mr. BHARARA praised the investigative work of the FBI and the Internal Affairs Bureau of the NYPD.

This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit and the Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys CARRIE H. COHEN, BRENT S. WIBLE, and AMANDA KRAMER are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

U.S. v. Masso, et al.

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. Interview with Councilperson Beth Smayda,  City Budget & Management Committee. October 24, 2011:

Councilwoman Beth Smayda is Chair of the Mayor’s Budget & Management Committee. Two weeks ago the committee met and was given a snapshot of financial issues facing the city. Ms. Smayda responded Friday to these WPCNR questions over the weekend and highlights the issues coming up that the city has to face in preparing the 2012-2013 budget and current fiscal 2011-12 trends: