THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR

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WPCNR CITY CIRCUIT. Special to WPNCR from the Mayor’s Office.  November 18, 2011:

The Mayor’s Office has released the costs involved in purchasing and constructing the new Bengal Tiger parking lot at Court Street and East Post Road, to confirm WPCNR’s report stated the cost to be $1.1 Million for land acquisition of the site from the Bengal Tiger owners and $550,000 for construction, for a cost of $91,666 per parking space.

However the cost is actually $100,000 per parking space, according to the Mayor’s Office. Karen Pasquale, Senior Advisor to Mayor Tom Roach furnished the details today:

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WPCNR CITY CIRCUIT. November 17, 2011:

Mayor Thomas Roach, Councilwoman Beth Smayda and Council President Benjamin Boykin officially opened a new parking lot at the corner of East Post Road and Court Street today just off Mamaroneneck Avenue. The new facility was created on the site of the Bengal Tiger fire that took place in July, 2010, that gutted half a city block. 

Bengal Tiger Lot Opens

Mayor Roach said that for now the lot would remain a parking lot, and would not say whether negotiations were taking place between the city and the owners of the vacant building between the new lot and the Court Street city municipal lot. Asked if the building being in the Urban Renewal Area might be acquired by eminent domain, Roach said there were a lot of things the city could do, but did not commit to saying the city wanted to acquire the building.

Council President Benjamin Boykin (L), Mayor Thomas Roach, and Councilwoman Beth Smayda open up the Court Street/East Post Road Lot

At the time when the lot was acquired from the former owners of the Bengal Tiger for $1.1 Million, the city stated that the lot was acquired to prevent a similar situation to that of the old railroad station which for years was known as a “the hole in the ground.”

The city needed parking in that area, Roach said today, and that was why the lot was converted into a parking lot. WPCNR awaits the exact cost of the lot construction from city hall. WPCNR recalls the construction cost to be estimated at $550,000. If that is correct, the cost of the 18 spaces per space (including purchase of the land) is about $91,666.

First Parkers arrive 11:05 A.M.

The lot has 18 parking spaces, (1 handicapped space), and connects with the Court Street lot, making it accessible two ways. Multi-space meter parking is in use in the new lot, and the Court Street lot will be converted to multi-space meters in the future.

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. November 14, 2011:

The city sales tax receipts for October slumped 9.3% after a 15% surge in sales tax receipts in September.

October receipts, were down $380,076 from last October 2010 figure of $4,469,015, with $4,088,939 funneled into city coffers last month, due in part to a week of power outages in White Plains and the county from the October snowstorm.

White Plains, after the first quarter  of its fiscal year 2011-12, is up 2% over the 2010 pace, slightly less than the inflation rate. The first four months of  fiscal 11-12 shows the city having collected $16, 870,644 compared to $16,556,980 in the first quarter of fiscal 2010–2% ahead of last year’s pace.

Westchester County heading into the home stretch of its fiscal year ending in December continues to be 2% over last year’s pace in sales tax receipts, thanks to a solid October at the cash registers. The county through the first ten months of 2011 has received $369,262,423 in sales tax receipts compared to $361,958,134, up $7.3 Million over the same ten month period.

Westchester County is on pace, if they earn the $80 Million they collected in sales tax in November and December last year, to top $449 Million in sales tax for fiscal 2011. Up 2% on the year.

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WPCNR PRESS TABLE. News and Comment by County Roving Correspondent, Nancy King. November 12, 2011:

The campaigns are over, the votes have been cast and of course there are winners and losers in this week’s local elections here in Westchester County.  Starting of course here in White Plains, the Republican ticket of Richard Cirulli, James Arndt, Mike Donnelly and Terence Guerriere had hoped to break the Democratic supermajority on the White Plains Common Council.

Nancy King

Guerriere, a local activist in the southern portion of the city was thought to have been a sure thing given his position as neighborhood spokesperson against the French American School of New York coming to his neighborhood.  However, given the fact that he lost his election bid in a big way (801 votes behind Dennis Krolian)  can only mean one thing….the neighborhoods in the Ridgeway area of White Plains really either aren’t that upset that FASNY is coming to town or at this point they just don’t care.  

Council President Benjamin Boykin won a fourth term and was the leading vote-getter. Dennis Krolian won in a bid to join the council for the first time. Milagros Lecuona won reelection for a second term, while John Martin defeated Mr. Arndt to complete the remain two years of Mayor Thomas Roach’s council term. Mr. Roach won a Special Election to become the Mayor through 2013 last March. For a look at the final White Plains unofficial results, go to the Board of Elections at http://www.westchestergov.com/boe99/link24.aspx

White Plains resident, Democrat Bill Ryan will also keep his seat on the County Board of Legislators easily defeating Republican challenger, Dr. Iris Pagan.

In other legislative races around the county, it appears that the Republican County Executive has finally broken the Democratic supermajority on the 8^th floor which he believes has hindered him from putting forth any and all legislation that he would like to complete before his term is up in two years.  It seems that Mr. Astorino has  unofficially picked up the 3^rd district with Michael Smith edging out John Nonna.  It also appears that incumbent legislator Sheila Marcotte of Eastchester has narrowly hung on to her seat in Eastchester.   These counts will most likely be heard in court on Monday, November 14^th,

Other races of interest for Mr.Astorino are in the 16^th legislative district where Gordon Burrows easily won his seat again even after facing charges for snorting cocaine upstate last winter.  Nonetheless, WPCNR heard today from an inside source that Mr. Burrows may not be sticking around the County Board Of Legislators and will be off to Albany before we know it.   It is believed that Mr. Burrows may be seeking the Assembly seat of Yonkers Mayor Elect Mike Spano. 

 It is also believed that although Bernice  Spreckman easily won her race, it is speculated that she  will be stepping down in January or February of the upcoming year.  Can you say special election?

Astorino also added David Gelfarb to his stable of Republicans who will help him move his legislative agendas forward.  Gelfarb defeated Port Chester trustee Dan Brakewood.

However Rob Astorino must be pulling his hair out of his head with Suzanna Keith’s defeat by incumbent Judy Meyer.  If you need your memory refreshed, Judy Meyer is the legislator who was the mistaken recipient of what some thought was a sexually charged email by Astorino’s Chief of Staff George Oros.   Astorino and  his favorite Political Action Committee , New Yorkers for Growth and the Republican party threw all of their resources in the direction of Keith but it was to no avail.   Democrat Mike Kaplowitz from Somers will also be retaining his seat since  Dr. Terrence Murphy was no match for “Tax Hike Mike”.

So what went so wrong for Rob Astorino that he barely broke the supermajority? He never treated his candidates equitably and after October 5^th when he released his preliminary budget projections, he forced them to run on his agenda; not theirs. Astorino is also believed to have supported the Democratic candidate in the 17^th District instead of the Republican candidate.  But at the end of the day none of this really matters. What matters is that during an important election cycle the voters were not buying what any of the candidates were selling.

There comes a time when even the most savvy of voters loses confidence in the process. 

With a county average of only 10% voting, it becomes quite clear that the vox populi in this county has neither the respect or the confidence of their elected officials or the candidates.  Voters chose not to vote because quite frankly, they are tired of being the pawns in the elaborate game of political chess that is endemic to both local, countywide, state and ultimately the federal election process. 

White Plains will muddle through the next two years praying that the recession ends, the sales tax projections continue to increase and that the residents of the south end of town will become so tired of the FASNY controversy that before they know it, the students will be there. 

Rob Astorino will pin his hopes for re-election on his new seven member Republican additions to the board.  Who will the voters pin their hopes on? 

If someone can come up with an answer, please let me know.

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WPCNR POLICE Gazette. Interview with David Chong, White Plains Commissioner of Public Safety. November 10, 2011:

 Monday evening at the Common Council meeting, the council approved acceptance of grants that will enable the police department to add a single K-9 operative; step up pedestrian safety  and cellphone violations enforcement. WPCNR asked Commissioner Chong about the details:

“Fenway Golf Club and its Charitable Committee has generously donated $15,000 towards the Police Bureau’s development and acquisition of a police canine.  The money, a one time donation is to pay for the dog and essential start-up costs.  We anticipate that there will be lots of interest in the private sector to help and contribute through private funds to support this much needed asset.

East Haddam Canine Officer making a public appearance at the East Haddam Library surrounded by fans. The White Plains Canine will be chosen in spring 2012, the Commissioner says.

2)  Police K-9’s are used in every major police department in the region.  As a City with all of our valuable assets and infrastructure responsibilities, we have never had a K-9 unit and we rely heavily on the units from the MTA Police, The Westchester County Police, The NY State Police, and the Cities of Mount Vernon or Yonkers when available through mutual aid.

3) The White Plains Department of Public Safety envisions two K-9’s if public support continues.  Certainly, thanks to Fenway’s generosity, we have funds for our first K-9.  We are still in our planning stages and the K-9 and its police handler are anticipated in the spring of 2012.

4)  The K-9’s are highly trained and highly intelligent dogs.  The first K-9 will be crossed trained for patrol and explosives. 

Patrol duties include searching for and locating missing persons including children and elderly and searching for dangerous suspects.  K-9’s are not and will not be typically deployed into crowds unless someone is in immediate physical threat.  The first K-9 will be crossed trained for sniffing out explosives, due to our heavily used commercial centers, transportation hub, government facilities, various house of worship etc.  If we can get private funding for a second K-9, it is our  intention to cross train the second dog for Patrol and Narcotics Detection. The typical working life span for a police dog is 7-9 years, after that, the dog deserves to be retired.

       In answering the second question about the traffic safety grants, this Department will always look for available grants to enhance our service and public safety for our residents and visitors.  Traffic Safety is always a concern and being a center of commerce, transportation and government we must do all that we can to insure that traffic flows smoothly and pedestrians as well as drivers are protected.

      The Cell Phone Grant and the Pedestrian Safety grant are part of the  NY State Governor’s Traffic Committee initiative and allows extra officers to enforce cell phone laws, as cell phones are the major cause of accidents due to driver inattentiveness. 

 The Pedestrian Safety Grant allows us to use money for the education of pedestrians and vehicle operators on pedestrian safety and to enforce cross-walks and major intersections.  This grant allows the department flexibility and we can use the money for enforcement as well as to print educational materials etc. for high school or young drivers and safety awareness tips for everyone.