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WPCNR TAPPAN ZEE NEWS. (News & Comment) By John F. Bailey. October 30, 2008 UPDATED 1:47 PM EDT: Some 35 citizens appearing for the latest Department of Transportation Public Information “seminar” on their Tappan Zee Replacement project at White Plains High School Tuesday evening learned there is no progress in determining how White Plains will be affected by the public transit winning system, a Bus Rapid Transit system envisioned by the DOT “army of engineers.”

 In six months since last they addressed White Plains, the Department of Transportation Tappan Zee Bridge project of replacing the crumbling Tappan Zee Bridge has after eight years come to the conclusion the bridge needs to be replaced after 52 years of life with a new bridge they say will last 150 years and a Bus Rapid Transit System  (as above), that no design or station locations throughout Westchester County have been determined, with a commuter rail from Suffern to Manhattan that may or may not be built, and plans for financing for it non-existent. (The sentence is deliberately long to make a point.)

Dennis Power, a City Councilman who attended the meeting Tuesday  (shown above) told WPCNR today this is an extremely important issue facing White Plains that the city needed to pay attention to now. He said he was reserving comment until he talked with city commissioners and the administration about their input to date and how they expected to move forward in dealing with the DOT  on the location of stations and bus routes in White Plains.  Mr. Power and Ms. Lecuona were the only city officials at the meeting.

(Two days before  New York Governor David Patterson and Governor Corzine of New Jersey pleaded before congress for a financial bailout of New York and New Jersey yesterday), the situation the DOT presented was no different than what they presented six months ago, other than, to say we’re going with Bus Rapid Transit, they are in the same place they were.

Nevertheless, 35 persons attending the latest public hearing heard all the reasons why the Tappan Zee could not be rebuilt. Five persons spoke at the public hearing after Michael Anderson the head of the project and other experts had explained the status of the project and the decision to go new bridge with eight lanes, built in one of three designs, supportive of commuter rail  supplemented by a Bus Rapid Transit System.

Persons were allowed to give testimony for 2 minutes, at which point they were brusquely cut off. Persons were also allowed to give private testimony to a stenographer. The ground rules of the presentation did not allow commentators from the floor to ask questions, just state their opinion. I submit this is going through the motions. They don’t want your input when they cut you off on two minutes.

After two years of presenting hearings to the public, the Department of Transportation has not presented solid details on how the Bus Rapid Transit system, now the West-East rapid transit system of choice based on models in cities elsewhere that have generated new ridership. Commuter rail from Rockland County across the new Tappan Zee Bridge to Manhattan will be built third in the process as funding becomes available.

The glaring omission of the elaborate books, statistics, and diagrams of how Bus Rapid Transit routes would be built into the present I-287, Route 119, Westchester Avenue corridor was detail: where stations would go, where Bus Only Rapid Transit lanes would be incorporated.

Though persons making public comments could not ask questions there was a question and answer table paneled by DOT consultants and engineers where you could ask questions. This reporter was shown colorful maps of the White Plains area showing routes drawn on small thumbnails of the White Plains highway and street system.

What was missing were precise designs of locations of BRT Stations in WP, areas affected. I was told by Russell Robbins, (seated at table, foreground in above photo), Planning/Transit Manager that beginning in 2010 after the Environmental Impact Study is completed, those designs and routings would be designed.

 Robbins added there was another possibility that instead of bringing the BRT lane in on 119, it might continue alongside the I-287 East West right of way and divert alongside the Metro North tracks right of way from I-287 down to the White Plains Transit Center, and continuing through White Plains routes on either Hamilton Avenue, Main Street or Martine Avenue.

That was reviewed by Tom Soyk, White Plains Traffic Commissioner last February. Soyk, according to city spokesperson, Melissa Lopez, said Mr. Soyk, last spring had “provided  a detailed list of comments (on the routes) after that meeting (held in 2007). “

Now that the BRT system has been selected by the DOT as the East West transit mode of choice, as Ms. Lopez indicated last spring,  Mr. Soyk will have more input on design and direction of the actual BRT routes through White Plains. As the Environmental Impact Statement proceeds, Mr. Robbins of the DOT explained to WPCNR, in a recent article, “these are conceptual alignments that will be further refined in the Environmental Impact Statement process with full participation of all municipalities and the public.”

From the vast elaborate booklet on display at the Question and Answer table, only routes are displayed, with no renderings or lane design to show the public how the streets through White Plains would be affected – or anywhere along the east-west Central Westchester envision BRT “corridor.” 

In the Transit Mode Selection Report document on the Tappan Zee Project website http://tzbsite.com,  on page 2-12, the report states that BRT HOV/HOT lanes from Rockland County across the new Tappan Zee Bridge would end and “be limited to the use of exclusive bus lanes on local roads, dedicated busways adjacent to I-287, and buses in mixed traffic, where projected congestion levels determined…light enough to allow buses to travel at speeds that would maintain their schedules. Providing BRT on local arterials has the advantage of providing more stations…but overall travel times would be longer. “

the following paragraph describes how at this time the BRT lanes are to proceed through central Westchester, which appears to indicate an extra lane added alongside the right of way of I-287. The Transit Mode Selection Report states emphatically “I-287 and I-87 in Westchester County has been precluded from additional highway improvements such as the addition of HOV/H0T Lanes, based on the FHWA April 1998 ROD that provided selective safety and operational improvements along the highway.”

Continuing the use of dedicated bus lanes on Route 119 through Elmsford was considered, but rejected because of the heavily congested nature of the arterial (2 lanes each direction) and the negative impacts that would result from taking away the curb lanes (widening) for buses. Alternatively, an exclusive barrier-separated busway alignment adjacent to I-287 was developed. This alignment would rise up on a viaduct and cross over I-287 at Exit 1 and continue east on the south side adjacent to I-287 and drop down beneath the Sprain Brook Parkway (Exit 3) to an at-grade station – Elmsford East possibly at the Bed Beth and Beyond/Syms  shopping center just west of Knollwood Road (Exit 4). (Proceeding) east of Knollwood Road, the alignment adjacent to I-287 continues to Exit 5 (Hillside Avenue). Directly east of Hillside Avenue , the busway would join the Exit 5 ramps (off I-287)  and transition onto exclusive curbside bus lanes on Route 119 – Tarrytown Road for access into White Plains.”

A station would be located at the Westchester County Center. The Bus lanes (one-way pairs) would cross onto Hamilton Avenue and Main Street. Then of course there is the other possibility of a lane down the Metro North right of way from I-287, spoken of by Mr. Rollins.

Dennis Power and Milagros Lecuona, White Plains Common Council persons, attended the public meeting Tuesday evening but did not make public comment. WPCNR placed a call to Mr. Power to see if he had made a statement to a stenographer on considerations of routing BRT through White Plains 

Mr. Power told WPCNR today, he did not offer private testimony to a stenographer, and was reserving comment until he spoke with city officials on how much input or expected input city commissioners, planners and the administration has had or expects to have in the structuring of Bus Rapid Transit through around or within the White Plains area. He told WPCNR this is a huge issue that the city has to address now.

This reporter came away with a sense of puzzlement. For 9 months of work, there is no visual rendering all along key spots on the central Westchester BRT route of how the road landscape will be affected; what businesses would have to be moved; what stations would look like; what lane closures and times of travel would be affected, if any. These are the details a plan needs before a decision – not after it. Otherwise you wind up with an Exit 8 in White Plains situation (the decimation of a neighborhood, lowering of realty values, years of inconvenience, for dubious benefit).

During the presentation Tuesday night, Mr. Anderson took pains to say that Bus Rapid Transit has worked in other cities and can work here.  The designs and configurations of the routes and execution of them,  in this reporter’s opinion should have come first before this decision on Bus Rapid Transit was made. The “hands-off I-287” decision made a decade ago appears ludicrous in retrospect and a testimony  showing no advance planning by the Federal Government or the Department of Transporation, but an incredible lack of vision. Didn’t anyone realize a decade or more ago,  the Tappan Zee was going start falling into the Hudson in ten years? I mean did they wait for the first concrete slab to drop? I know they started this commission but — there is no sense of urgency.

The snail’s pace of this planning executed by  this Department to build one bridge is troubling. After six months months, White Plains, Tarrytown, Elmsford, Harrison, Rye and Port Chester have no idea how their communities will be physically affected by a Bus Rapid Transit line or – a commuter rail line for that matter.

Despite the smug, self-congratulatory attitude by the Department of Transportation that they are involving all the stakeholders – those stakeholders are not being listened too – or maybe it’s because not enough stakeholders, especially government officials have been paying attention and demanding more detail.

What have the stakeholders been saying? Have they been thinking? It does not look like it to me.

It is as if I was doing a model train layout and went out and bought the trains and the track without knowing how big my traintable was going to be or how big my cellar was.

Charts, DVDs and public meetings where questions cannot be asked and answered on the spot with anything but generalities and no specifics is not planning – it’s railroading to a preconceived notion.

The DOT Tappan Zee Project, and I have been following it now for three years – has always proceeded with a prejudice towards the bus transit system.  It really shows. Showing how a rail route might go through the county east to west was even less detailed, meaning it was never considered a serious option in the first place.

A real Rapid Transit Bus System has to have buses every 6 minutes during a rush hour, because if you have to wait 20 or 30 minutes, you may as well drive — especially in Westchester County.  How many buses, how fast, how long a ride? Is this what they envision? Will there be north-south coordination on the County bus routes? Please!

And this process has to speed up! They have taken eight years to ram a solution through that no one even knows the ramifications on real estate values and city ambience at a time when real estate values are dropping.

More glaring is they have never explained or shown in any presentation where the new bridge is going to go and how it is going to connect to the present I-287, I-87 plaza.  Is there going to be a whole new plaza? Will they have to take property on the north and south of the present plaza?  One of the key problems of the TZB is the curve into the present toll plaza. If the new bridge is going to curve into the old plaza, you’ll be creating another problem. This is basic! Public officials have to be asking questions like this.  Stakeholders? They are more like enablers.

Of the five speakers Tuesday evening at the hearing, one woman from a commuter rail group deplored making commuter rail the last part of the project to be delivered. Another speaker pointed out the fact that the bridge is already using a five lane system to handle existing traffic meant that the 4 lanes in each direction was already obsolete. (This is debatable since the five lanes were created due to the construction steel plates that slow down traffic.)  A representative of Richard Brodsky demanded the DOT provide details of models for public-private financing “forthwith.”

Another speaker deplored the expense and suggested the old bridge be kept, rehabilitated and be used as a compliment to the new bridge (instead of being removed).  This is a stroke of enlightenment. It is amazing none of the geniuses working on this project for eight years have not considered this. This is the bridge that could be used for rail, perhaps, or for the bus lanes. Just a thought.

By the sheer ineffectiveness of this process, the DOT has made the project much more difficult to finance and execute and places hundreds of commuters lives at the mercy of the decaying bridge. I tell you when the superstructure collapses killing hundreds, the press conferences  and the memorial services will be filled with bureaucrats, saying “we vow that this will never happen again.”

It is an example of the ineffectiveness of the Department of Transportation, its lack of planning, professionalism and common sense. 

We never would have beaten the Nazis if we had waited for the Department of Transportation to get us across the Rhine with a bridge.

When Louis Cappelli designs a project he knocks it out in weeks, works out the kinks quickly with far less engineers than the DOT has and shows you vivid drawings of what he has in mind. If the DOT had done this there would be far less questions. And I would not be writing this column, because the DOT would have shown us some thinking.

If fact let’s bring in Louis on the project now. I would feel more comfortable.

How can you do an Environmental Impact Statement on this bridge project when there is no specific idea of what will be put into the environment?

One thing is sure, the DOT engineers have assured themselves of a lifetime project that will keep them on the state payroll consulting, designing, building this boondoggle for another 9 years at your expense.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. October 29, 2008 UPDATED October 30, 2008: Peter Bassano, a member of the White Plains Board of Education, clarified to WPCNR the present of state of talks on a new contract between the School District and the White Plains Teachers Union, who have been  working without a contract since June 30.

Mr. Bassano said that the two sides were, based on Monday afternoon discussions and prior that those negotiaons had not been “fruitful,” and the district and the teachers were “far apart” on the issues of salary and benefits, though progress had been made on teacher contributions for benefits being based on a percentage of salary rather than a straight cash contribution.  Salary is the issue.

White Plains Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors

Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors confirmed to WPCNR Thursday afternoon that both the Teachers Union and the School District have jointly declared an impasse in contract negotiations. Connors said the first step would be mediation by a mediator appointed by the New York State Employer Relations Board, a state government department, whose mediation services are available at no cost to the district.

 Connors did not indicate how long he thought mediation would take, but did say that the if mediation did not reach an agreement, the next step would be fact-finding, then arbitration.

Connors said teachers this year would receive no salary increases except for the contractual increases based on years of service and progressions achieved in their degrees earned.  He said service increasew would amount to about 1.5%, and if a person earned both a service increase and an increase based on academic progress it would amount to 2%. He said teachers who had reached the maximum years of service would not receive the 1.5% increase.

Bassano said that the next step would be mediation, then a process called fact-finding, followed by bringing in a mediator. He said that mediation was not binding. Arbitration was the next step after that. He said neither fact-finding, mediation, or arbitration was binding.

“Money is the issue, “ Bassano said, “We are very far apart on that. We don’t see any benefit in continuing these meetings.”

Bassano said that Governor Patterson’s recent announcements of a $47 Billion deficit over the next four years and a current $1.5 Billion deficit in the current state budget, raised the possibility that the District’s state aid in the budget for the current school year would be cut, as well as cut in 2009-2010.

The state aid in the current year is $15,306,590, a 9.35% increase over 2007-2008.  

The teachers continue to be paid at the salaries in effect last year with all step levels in effect, Bassano said, according to the Triborough Law.

Bassano said he did not think the public would be accepting of large teacher raises in the present economic climate.

Two years ago, teachers signed a one year salary agreement which expired June 30. In that contract teachers received  a 3% raise across all levels and steps, and conceded that they would pay a cash amount for certain coverages. However, the increases in Co-Pays and other fees in the health plans have cut substantially into the raises received at that time, according to Teachers Union President Kerry Broderick.

A total of $1.4 Million of  the $2.4 Million state aid increase was paid for in part by  the reduction in the STAR EXEMPTION statewide which forced White Plains taxpayers to kick back an additional $1.4 Million in taxes.

The present White Plains School Budget is $184.4 Million and if salaries stayed the same and the budget increased only 7%, essentially the average increase over the last five years, the budget will hit $197 Million in 2009-2010. A 5% raise in teacher pay – the rate of inflation in the New York metropolitan area dating back to September 2007 – would mostly likely increase the budget to  the $203 Million level.  Projecting forward, if salaries remain at current levels, and the district budget increases  10%  a year (assuming salary increases and increased expenses), in five years the school budget will reach $300 Million. Should year to year expenses be held to 5% increases a year, the budget will be $250 Million. Increases would most like have to be paid for by  substantially increased property taxes due to the slow down in real estate values in White Plains. The  

The School Aid Increase in White Plains  this year was paid for directly in part by White Plains taxpayers. About $1 Million of the $2.4 Million in  much-ballyhooed state aid came out of property tax increases that occurred when the STAR EXEMPTION was cut 10%, lowering the amount you could deduct from your home assessed value. WPCNR was the only media to report this clandestine move by the legislature.

Benefits Issue Revisited.

As reported last month, the benefits issue has hurt teacher salaries in the past, and we reprint that discussion:

The sticking point, Ms. Broderick said were the increases in premiums paid the district health care provider the teachers have had to pay out of their salaries the last year and increases in the co-pays. She said the teachers are seeking to make up those costs.

The agreement on a two-year contract insulates any new Superintendent of Schools hired by the district from negotiating with the union in his or her first year of their contract.

Fred Seiler, Assistant Superintendent for Business for the district confirmed that premiums with the Statewide Schools Cooperative Health Plan, the consortium the district has contracted with for health benefits have gone up 17% since July 2007. He said, Co-Pays have doubled from $10 to $20 for doctors visits.

Teacher Share of Health Premium, 7%.

Seiler said the total premium for an individual with “SWSCHP” as it is known, this year is $7,293, of which a teacher pays $625  annually (8.6%) . For a two-person family, the premium is $15,388, the teacher share they pay is $1,075 annually (7%). The premium for a family Two Person, is $16,336, of which a teacher on the family plan pays $1,220 (7% of the cost).

Seiler told WPCNR, “That changed in July, 2007, a year and a half ago. What that meant on an individual basis  It went $15 to $20 a visit for a individual visit. The deductible stayed the same. It’s the CoPay for either your primary physician or your medical prescriptions, but also at the same time, was introduced a plan with MEDCO there, where people could buy 90 days supply of their regular medication at a much lower than what they were paying before. For some employees they actually were saving money.”

Seiler said he was a member of the SWSCP Board (with the state). He said he had heard nothing criticizing the increases that took place in mid-2007.

 Seiler recalled that when the SWSCHP increases took place, “Everyone understood it was an increase in the premium and an adjustment in the CoPay(s), you need a little bit of both to make it (the health plan) reasonable.”

A year and a half ago it went up 9% plus a change in the CoPay. This year, there were no change in benefits, coPays, or anything, then the overall increase was 8- 8-1/2% (in the premium). It was the first time in 12 years it was less than double digits.  Not as low as we’d like it to be, but that’s true of every health plan.”

The Last Contract: 3% Across Board

In the last contract, benefits were paid for by teachers for the first time. Assistant Superintendent of Schools Fred Seiler, speaking to WPCNR in June 2007, explained it this way:

In return for a one year 3% hike in wages across all salary levels, White Plains teachers agreed to pay about $200 more as their share of health insurance in 2007-2008. According to Assistant Superintendent for Business Fred Seiler,  the 3% wage increase approved by the White Plains Board of Education Monday evening, would cost the school district $1.8 Million in the next budget year beginning July 1. The teachers, he said, agreed to pay more of their share of their health insurance provided by the district which would have the teachers paying $150,000 more a year.

Seiler reports that Health insurance for a single employee would increase from $450 to  $635 a year; for two person plans, from $800 to $1,075; and, for family coverage the portion teachers pay would rise from $900 to $1,220.In return for a one year 3% hike in wages across all salary levels, White Plains teachers agreed to pay about $200 more as their share of health insurance in 2007-2008. According to Assistant Superintendent for Business Fred Seiler,  the 3% wage increase approved by the White Plains Board of Education Monday evening, would cost the school district $1.8 Million in the next budget year beginning July 1. The teachers, he said, agreed to pay more of their share of their health insurance provided by the district which would have the teachers paying $150,000 more a year.

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From Westchester County Department of  Communications. October 28, 2008: County Executive Andy Spano put in place directives this year to save taxpayers $13 million as a way to deal with reductions in state aid and reduced revenue from mortgage filing fees.

Departmental savings range from cutbacks in overtime and hiring to reductions in supplies and equipment and to restructuring of some programs. 

, County Executive Andy Spano put in place directives this year to save taxpayers $13 million as a way to deal with reductions in state aid and reduced revenue from mortgage filing fees.

Departmental savings range from cutbacks in overtime and hiring to reductions in supplies and equipment and to restructuring of some programs. 

These savings from department budgets are in addition to the savings accomplished by smaller measures that will have long-term effects, such as reducing by 10,000 the number of light bulbs and fixtures; changing the temperature of county office buildings; electronic billing to vendors; discontinuance of printing of pay checks or pay stubs; and decreased use of gasoline.

“Government must be as efficient as possible,” said Spano. “Nothing is too large or too small to be looked at. These are hard economic times for our taxpayers and we in government must do what we can to decrease our costs. This year, we already lost $6.6 million in state aid and have a $10 million loss of revenue from mortgage recording fees. So every department in the county government was told it had to cut its expenses.”

Spano said each department was given an amount to cut from their budgets, but the actual items to be cut were left up to the commissioners. Savings came from efficiencies made possible by the use of new technology;  program changes; and reductions in  office supplies and equipment, travel, printing and  postage. In addition, $4.5 million was saved by reducing overtime and by not filling vacant positions.

Beyond departmental savings, the county government has re-examined every expenditure and every piece of equipment to see if it was still needed or if there was a better way of accomplishing the same objective. For example, pages have been eliminated; cell phone plans have been changed and in some cases cell phones eliminated completely;  many printers have been eliminated to reduce maintenance costs; and thermostats set higher in the summer and lower in the winter to save on energy costs. (Attention is now focused on getting rid of fax machines.)

 The majority of the county’s budget is for programs that are required by the state for which the state only partially reimburses the county. The cuts made by the county were from the discretionary side of the county budget –  those items that are not state-mandated.

County property taxes account for about 15-20 percent of a property owner’s tax bill. To help local governments and school districts control costs of their portions of property taxes, the county government has taken additional steps to encourage shared services. For example, through the county’s Bureau of Purchasing and Supply, local governments can save money by joint public bidding. Through the county’s Department of Information and Technology, these districts can access various technology programs.

     “Our goal is to save taxpayer money wherever we can,” said Spano. “People don’t care who is taxing them – they just want the whole amount reduced.”

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. October 28, 2008: White Plains Commissioner of Public Safety Dr. Frank Straub, responding to questions from residents of the Havilands Manor neighborhood at a meeting on traffic concerns at City Hall, said that the police were 99% sure that Sheldene Campbell, accused of Leaving the scene of a fatal accident in the death of a Havilands Manor resident eight days ago was driving alone during the entire sequence of events that Sunday morning. He said the car she was driving belonged to a brother of hers. WPCNR asked if police had tested the suspect for possible drug use. Dr. Straub said that “the investigation was continuing.” 

When a resident asked what Ms. Campbell was doing in the Havilands Manor neighborhood that Sunday morning, Dr. Straub said the police have to this point come to the conclusion Ms. Campbell “had no connection” with anyone living in the neighborhood.  Ms. Campbell does have some connecton with Westchester County, however.  According to Old Tappan Police speaking to the CitizeNetReporter last week, Ms. Campbell’s mother, Hyacinth Campbell lives in Mount Vernon.

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WPCNR ROCK AND ROLL RADIO with KKIX’S BIG MELVIN MEAD, Host of Your Rock N Roll Party on Big Music Radio 1440, the Man in the Crazy Sport Jacket. October 27, 2008: Hey, Gang, White Plains Own Westco Productions threw a Saturday Night Rock N Roll Party honoring Pamela Rapp, Managing Director of the Irvington Town Hall Theater rocking Ms. Rapp for her role in restoring the ITHT (a replica of old Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.) and turning it into an arts “destination” on the Hudson River with original programming and they did it with two originals and a host of rock all-stars, Flo and Eddie – the Turtles!

I NEED SOME GAS MONEY! Flo (Mark Volman) left, and Eddie (Howard Kaylan)  “The Turtles” reprise the obscure gem Saturday night at “The Irv”  with New Ro’s Donnie Ice on Bass of Alice Cooper, Rick Derringer and Shondells fame,  and Greg Hawkes of The Cars on the Keyboards

Steve Sledzik (left), President,  and White Plains Susan Katz, Executive Director of Westco Productions (celebrating its 29th Year), present Pamela Rapp with her “Westie,” Star for her service to the Irvington Town Hall Theatre since 1983 where she lead the complete restoration of the Theater from seating to sound system and has created a community and county “theatre destination.”

 New Yawk’s own Glen “660 Man  (6 Jokes In 60 Seconds)” Anthony opened the evening. He told  200 jokes in 45 minutes, keeping the laughs and the hoots coming, one after another. The jokes are a comic’s perfect jokes. Mr. Anthony tells all the great Henny Youngman gags and modern absurdities in the one-liner style Henny made famous he has made uniquely his own. Anthony has mastered the perfect joke: short, fast funny and you forget them immediately after you’ve heard them, so when you hear them again they’re funny all over. Sample:  “I saw an ad in the paper: If you have a drinking problem, call this number. I called, it was a liquor store.”

Flo (foreground) and Eddie reprise The Cars hit You’re Just What I Needed, with original Car on Keyboards, Greg Hawkes.

Happy Together — The Turtles finish off the concert with their classic “Happy Together” to a standing ovation from the throng.

 Then came the legends — the Turtles – who brought back their unique feel good driving sound of the 60s with their steady rocking founders Flo and Eddie rockin  da house with one hit after another.

Howard Kaylan (Eddie) spotted an album held by an audience member in the front row and showed the historical artifact to the audience and explained what it was. After the concert, a unique highlight of Westco concerts, the autographing signing (below) continued where Flo and Eddie signed Turtles original albums, pictures and pieces of the rock and roll past.

My main lady,  Susie the K (for Katz) the woman who springs rock live on unsuspecting stuffy Westchester  welcomed the near sellout throng of Flo and Eddie fans who brought their Turtles albums for Mark Volman (Flo) and Howard Kaylan (Eddie) to sign.

The Turtles take over the house and wake up your dormant rockin souls ripping them out of your body and get the heart of rock roll beating again, getting you moving in your seats with their cascading sound. Flo and Eddie the legends are backed by an all-star rock team with them for years: Meat Loaf’s legendary drummer,  Joe Stefko who lifts you out of your chair with his swashbuckling thunder swats and smashes;  Greg Hawkes, keyboardist of The Cars, bringing the liquid rock organ cascades so unique to 60s upbeat hits; the clear-as-bell boss bass New Rochelle’s Donnie Ice (Kisselbach) formerly with Alice Cooper, Rick Derringer and Tommy James and the Shondells; and lead guitarist Joel Hoekstra of Big Brother and The Holding Company, REO Speedwagon,Stykx.  His chords just snarl at you. The Turtles turned the ITHT into a rockin good time fraternity party.

Flo flying on Guitar.

 They had everybody moving like they could 40 years ago – especially on the classic B side gem – “I Need Some Gas Money.”  They opened the show with “You, Baby, You,” “It Ain’t Me, Babe,” “She’s My Girl,” “My Obsession,”  and the feel good hits  that were the soundtrack of baby boomer lives in the late 60s and early 70s brought back in that sweet time before top 40 went all-talk.

Flo and Eddie who’ve been rocking for 46 years on the road always rock. Their humor and banter with the audience was engaging, and the show was non-stop straight ahead.

Mr. Sledzik and Ms. Katz listen as Ms. Rapp thanks Westco for the award.

Howard Kaylan (Eddie), Mr. Sledzik, Ms. Katz, Ms. Rapp, and Mark Volman (Eddie) Saturday night.

The event was followed by a toney After Party at Doubltree Hotel in Tarrytown  which saluted Pamela Rapp and also celebrated Westco’s 29^th anniversary.  Ms. Rapp was awarded the coveted “Westie,” crystal Star for her service to Irvington Town Hall and the arts.  

Mr. Volman and Mr. Kaylan  graciously circulated with the after party crowd, signing albums, posing for pictures and talking about their 46 years on the road. And, they said rock and roll would never last. Well, it has.

Your deejay was leaving the theatre after the show and we encountered two young people in their late teens who had come to the show, and I asked them if they liked it and they said they sure did. Rock and Roll is here to stay!

Suzy the K with Howard Kaylan.

I asked Mr. Kaylan (Eddie) how he kept rocking in his 60s. Kaylan said the band never rehearsed, because the songs on his “playlist” – which they jokingly refer to throughout their show – require down deep and mellow all the way to rasping, shouting lyrics (“No, No, No, It Ain’t Me, Babe.”). He said if they rehearsed their voices would not be able to handle the performance. He emphasized the need to go into each performance with a spontaneity that makes the hits the same but different  every night. He said that word quickly gets out among promoters if you’re just strumming the songs and mailing it in “In rock, it’s real or it’s not,” he said.

I asked Mr. Kaylan the story behind the very timely tune “I Need Some Gas Money.” It was a song I’d never heard before. Kaylan reminisced, saying he and his friend of 46 years, Mark Volman  listened to records (“all kinds of music”)when they were children in California, when Mark’s brother left home to go in the Navy he left a ton of 45 RPM records (the little records with the big hole in the middle), and they found “Gas Money on the B side of an old Jan and Arnie record. Years later they decided to record the song with all the band playing different parts. It was a song that electrified the theatre Saturday night! At least me, anyway.

Another great moment was the reggae song, I’m In a Dancing Mood, that Flo and Eddie recorded with the Whalers when they lived in Jamaica. This was another soul-swaying-theatre-involving moment, especially when they weaved the Bobby Freeman hit, Do You Wanna Dance into the tropical tempo.

We learned about Flo and Eddie’s 46 years of rocking on the road. They still do 50 performances a year. Flo and Eddie told us what happened to the Turtles when they dissappeared.

 It seems the Turtles got into a dispute with their record company and were sued and prevented from performing with the name, The Turtles. They were invited to join Frank Zappa for a 2 week gig and they stayed with Mr. Zappa touring the world for 2-1/2 years. Flo and Eddie eased into an astounding medley about those times (Don’t You Miss Your Hot Mama) of songs from the movie 200 Motels. The movie became   a cult hit that made fun of life on the rock and roll road. The medley captured the ethereal, psychedelic, psychotic, scintillating Zappa style with a mean hard suggestive beat that was rock and roll soul involvement at its best. It sure sounded good Saturday night.

White Plains Candyce Corcoran,left, and Brenda Starr were on the scene.

Saturday night the rock was real. Which raises the philosophical question, is rock and roll the only real honest thing left in America?   Have we become a country where the classic rock musician cares about honesty, purity and flavor, in an era where accountants cannot count, stockbrokers are broke, bankers cannot bank, and wealth is an illusion? But that’s for a Times columnist to decide.

Susie The K.

This is a busy week for my buddy, Suzie the K. Tomorrow Ms. Katz (a 1965 graduate of WPHS) as officially inducted into the White Plains High School Hall of Fame for her foundin of Westco Productions, at a ceremony at old WPHS at 3 PM Tuesday afternoon with companion inductees Philip Kent, ’72 CEO of Turner Broadcasting System, Lawrence Graham ’79, author and posthumously Dr. William Homan, ’65, surgeon.

Coming up next in the spring on Westco’s “soundtracks of your lives”  are Jay and The Americans (Come a Little Bit Closer), plus a double rockin bill featuring Orleans (Still The One) and the Buckinghams (Kind of a Drag, Susan, Don’t You Care ), and back by popular demand Gary Puckett.

 Remember, until Westco’s next rock n roll party, this dedication goes out to Susie the K, who through Westco Productions introduces Westchester’s kids to the performing arts, entertains the young in hospitals,  and through her concerts preserves  America’s music culture heritage.  Keep rockin’ gang, and remember “it’s not good-bye, it’s just good night.”