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 SOUTHEND TIMES. January 3, 2011: 

The Gedney Neighborhood Association will hold a forum on the proposed development of Ridgeway Country Club by the French American School of New York on Thursday evening at 7:30 P.M. at Ridgeway School.

MYSTERY PLAN FOR RIDGEWAY EMERGES! A Flyer circulated promoting the forum contained this drawing of alleged plans for the Ridgeway Country Club by the French American School of New York. A source for the drawing was not disclosed.

The Numbers on the country club property above indicate supposed locations for 1. Proposed Middle School; 2. Proposed High School; 3. Proposed Nursery/Elementary School (off Bryant Avenue) and 4. Proposed Track and Ballfield.

The flyer advertising the forum shows the school plans 4 buildings on the property plus athletic fields. The source of the drawing was not disclosed.

According to a message from Terence Gurriere, the President of the Gedney  Association:

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey January 3, 2011:

The Common Council approved the first phase of A.J. Rotondi’s Main Street Mall and possible hotel Monday evening. It took great pains to explain to a city wide television audience that the hotel portion of the project was not approved at this time. Councilmembers Lecouna and Buchwald questions about access to parking for the hotel, and Councilman Boykin pointed out that any sky way connections from the Rotondi mall to the City Center Garage would require a variance which had to be approved by the Cappelli organization which owns the City Center.

First Phase of Rotondi Mall on Main Street Approved.The hotel below…anywhere from 120 to 150 rooms was not approved yet.

The council did not ask how close Mr. Rotondi was to acquiring financing for the project. Spokespersons for the Rotondi organization said during the hearing that they expected to be coming back to the council within 30 days with more information on the hotel possibilities. During the work session two weeks ago, Mr.Rotondi said the hotel was a key selling point to get retailers to rent up the mall.

180-Bed Rehabilation Facility at Church and Barker. Approval Looks Very Good at this time. Back of building is show below

Mark Weingarten, of DelBello, Donnellan & Weingarten, in his first appearance before the council in a long time,  presented a meticulous review of the 180-bed Rehabilitation facility planned for thge corner of Church and Barker Streets, and the hearing was adjourned to February 7, the next Council meeting. Weingarten said the project would cost $50 Million to construct and $60 Million in total. He said it would take 12 months to acquire the government insured financing, and two years more to construct.

The Council also approved $500,000 in new capital projects to rehap a series of city garages. Councilman Buchwald expressed annoyance that this was not presented in early capital project reviews. Commissioner of Public Works Joseph Nicoletti had no answer for why the council was not informed earlier of the need for the garage rehabs. Councilperson Milagro Lecouna said the first time she had heard of the $500,000 in bonding was last Friday morning when she received her agenda packet.

At the beginning of the Council meeting, Mayor Adam Bradley publicly honored Joshua Colas of White Plains for his outstanding performance and achieving Grand Master status in chess.

Mayor Adam Bradley announced that Shoprite was having its grand opening in the City Center on Wednesday at 9 A.M. and that Dick’s Sporting Goods was moving into the Fortunoff vacated space.

Mr. Bradley, Mr. Boykin, Ms. Smayda, Mr. Power and Ms.Lecouna and Mr. Buchwald all praised the Department of Public Works for their great job of snow removal in the Christmas blizzard. Smayda congratulated the police on their cracking two high profile cases in the last month — the Walmart robbery and the Palisades Mall robbery.

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. By John F. Bailey. December 31,2010:

A spokesperson for the  Astorino Administration told WPCNR that Kenneth Jenkins, Chair of the Board of Legislators, and the Board erred in their procedure overriding County Executive Astorino’s vetoes of the County Legislature revised budget, in effect giving Mr. Astorino the choice between the 2-1/4% property tax cut budget approved by the Legislature last Monday, and the 1% property tax cut the Astorino Administration wanted, that the Board overrode by its action on December 23.

“In their haste to override our vetoes,” Ned McCormack, Director of Communications for the Astorino Administration, “they neglected to amend the tax levy, (when 249 vetoes of 260  were overturned), increasing the property tax cut to 2-14%, therefore the 1% levy is still in effect, unless they do something about it.”

Earlier Thursday afternoon, Tara Martin, spokesperson for the  County Board and Chairman Jenkins, told WPCNR the imposition of the 2-1/4% tax levy which County Executive Astorino vetoed, was simply “bookkeeping” to create the math to reflect and fund the Board of Legislator veto overrides (and increased tax cuts). Martin added that according to the charter, the County Executive could not veto the new tax levy as it went along with the budget.

Late Thursday afternoon, McCormack returned a call to WPCNR to explain that the County Attorney  maintained the position that the County Executive is able to veto “any act of the legislature. An act is an act is an act,” McCormack said.

As of Friday morning, the last day of the year, the administration, McCormack said is planning to use the original 1% tax cut levy which according to the administration and the Board of Legislature failure to amend the original levy when it overrode, still remains in effect.

He said there were no plans to seek a show cause order in court to stop the 2-1/4% property tax cut budget passed by the legislators, because in the administration opinion, the 1% tax cut budget of the administration is still operative.

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WPCNR MAMARONECK AVENUE AMBLER. From Heineken USA. December 30, 2010 (EDITED):

Heineken USA of White Plains will sponsor its seventh annual “New Year. Safe Ride.” program, which provides free, safe rides home to Westchester residents of legal drinking age celebrating New Year’s Eve in downtown White Plains.

Revelers can take advantage of this service between 11:00 p.m. on December 31 and 3:00 a.m. on January 1. The car service will be located in the heart of downtown, on the corner of East Post Road and Mamaroneck Avenue.

Kicking off 2011 the responsible way, this year’s transportation will be provided by a dedicated, 30-car fleet to ensure passengers a safe and comfortable ride home. The service is complimentary for revelers traveling anywhere in the Greater White Plains Area. Cars will not travel beyond Westchester County lines.

Additional details on the “New Year. Safe Ride.” program and the Taxi Magic application can be found at www.responsiblymeans21.com and in participating restaurants and bars, as well as other locations throughout downtown White Plains.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE By John F. Bailey. December 29, 2010:

Commissioner of Public Safety David Chong has confirmed to WPCNR White Plains Police have identified “persons of interest” in last week’s hit and run accident involving a White Plains man, Raul Rios, 23, struck by a late model Mercedes-Benz at 4 A.M. in the morning of December 19, leaving him severely injured.

Commissioner Chong released this statement to WPCNR Wednesday morning:

This case is ongoing and not to compromise or try the case before its presentation this is what we are releasing.

The Hit and Run case is very active and proceeding along.  Detectives have recovered some key pieces of evidence that are being examined.  We also have some persons of interest that we are looking at and interviews are continuing  We continue to ask that any witnesses please come forward as we put this case together.

Police may be contacted at 422-6111, if any witnesses wish to share information on the incident in confidence.