Photographs of the Day

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. September 10, 2009: The new Post Road School on Sterling Avenue opened for its demanding clientele this morning smoothly and efficiently, with no traffic problems, and a smooth and orderly arrival, beginning with the first school bus arriving at 8:02 A.M. and the last bus coming in about 8:50 A.M.



First Bus Arrives, 8:02 A.M. and the New Post Road School Goes Live!



Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christopher Clouet, disembarks, arriving on one of the buses to a media blitz, and reported excellent bus management, with kindergarteners seated towards the front of the bus and older grades in the back. He said the students on his bus were very excited to start their first day at the new school.



 Staff were there to guide students into the school via the new gymnasium entrance (not through the front entrance), and parents dropping their students off dropped them on the Soundview Avenue side of the school, entering into the back of the school. That will be standard procedure: Drop-offs in the back lot, school bus disembarkment on the Sterling Avenue side.  The bus drop-off area easily swallowed four busloads at once, with no affects on traffic on Sterling Avenue.



Students arriving by bus will enter the school through the Gymnasium Entrance to the right of the main entrance to the school (below)




Parents dropping children off at school have to let their charges off on  the Soundview side of the school. That will be standard procedure for the drop-off students.



Parking Lot fully occupied on Soundview Avenue Side:8:45 A.M.



Principal Laura Havis and Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Christopher Clouet greeting Post Roaders this morning.



Mayor Joseph Delfino of White Plains congratulating Principal Havis.



Playground has been paved. Equipment Not yet in place. Earthmoving machines (beyond green fence, continued to clear the field portion of the site. Work continued on the exterior of the gynasium, (left).


 


 

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Patrick Dunne (OLS Ex-Pastor) Heads to Trial on Grand Larceny Charge October 13

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John Bailey September 10, 2009: Patrick Dunne, the Our Lady of Sorrows parish Pastor for sixteen years until he was removed by the Archdiocese last year after  suspicion arose that  Mr. Dunne embezzled $432,000 from OLS church accounts from January 2002 to December 30, 2007  appeared in Supreme Court in White Plains this morning to set a trial date on charges brought by the District Attorney of one count of Grand Larceny, punishable by a maximum of five to fifteen years in prison.


Mr. Dunne slipped into Judge Richard Molea’s courtroom at 9:33 A.M., dressed in blue blazer, blue-green golf shirt, khaki pants and loafers. When his case was called, Judge Molea motioned attorneys to the side of the Judge’s bench and discussed matters with Richard Ferrante, Dunne’s attorney, and attorneys from the District Attorney’s Office.


Dunne stood at the elegant maplewood ballustrade at the defensive attorney’s table, his hands folded below his waist, balancing on the balls of his feet and staring at the “In God We Trust”  saying on the white wall behind Judge Molea’s bench. After thirteen minutes, the three attorneys and the judge had come to agreement.


Judge Molea set a trial date for Tuesday, October 13 with the judge to be named. Dunne’s attorney told WPCNR jury selection would begin the week prior. Asked how Mr. Dunne was holding up, Ferrante said “well.”  Asked if Dunne was still being paid by the Archdiocese, Ferrantehadno comment. Ferrante said he may have a comment before the trial date.

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BOARD OF ELECTIONS PREPARES APPEAL OF NICOLAI DECISION PUTTING HOCKLEY ON BALLOT

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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 09. By John F. Bailey. September 10, 2009: Commissioner of the Board of Elections, Reginald LaFayette, told WPCNR today that the Board of Elections is going to appeal Judge Nicolai’s New York Supreme Court decision Tuesday ordering the Board to place Mr. Hockley’s name on the November 3 city election ballot opposing Adam Bradley.


 


Lafayette said Judge Nicolai’s decision in which the judge said election law has been liberalized since 1987 when the Appellate Court ruled that failure to file a Certificate of Acceptance was grounds for being denied the ballot, and that denying the right to run for office by someone who obviously wanted to run (Mr. Hockley gathered 100 pages of petitions to run for Mayor himself), in view of a technicality was not the spirit of the intention of the Certificate of Acceptance stipulation. Nicolai in explaining his decision said the Certificate of Acceptance  was primarily for the purpose of declining the nomination. 


 


 


 


Lafayette told WPCNR that candidates of established political parties are not required to file Certificates of Acceptance, because they usually accept nominations when they are nominated. He saidn only “independent” candidates are required to file Certificates of Acceptance, or candidates who are members of a party who are cross-endorsed by other parties need to file a certificate of acceptance to accept another party’s line on the ballot.


 


Mr. Lafayette said the appeal had not been filed yet, but expected it to be filed soon. He said the Appellate Court in Brooklyn is required to deal speedily with election matters, and he noted that there was still 7 weeks before the election.


 


The reason for filing the appeal, Lafayette said was that two other independent candidates , Robert Goett of Lewisboro (who filed a Certificate of Acceptance late) and John Cronin of North Castle had not filed Certificates of Acceptance and were currently off the ballot. Lafayette told WPCNR the Board was appealing to “clarify” the law in view of the Nicolai decision.


 


Asked if Mr. Cronin and Mr. Goett would be automatically put on the ballots in their towns as a result of Judge Nicolai’s decision, LaFayette said these decisions “are not retroactive,” they (Cronin and Goett) would have to appeal.


 


Hockley told long before petitions filed he had


To file Certificates of Acceptance


 


Lafayette told WPCNR he stood by his statement he made  after Judge Nicolai’s decision Tuesday that he had told Melody Hockley that her husband had to file a Certificate of Acceptance the very day Mrs. Hockley had filed her husband’s petitions.


 


Mr. Hockley had called Mr. Lafayette “a bald-faced liar” when he was informed of Mr. Lafayette’s statement that he’d told Mrs. Hockley about the need to file a Certificate of Acceptance.


 


LaFayette was indignant about the liar remark, saying, “a lot of these things are racially motivated.” LaFayette said he was particularly sensitive to racist undercurrents because of calls for him to recuse himself when Susan Pollet was running against Kathy Davidson (a black woman) in spring 2005 for the position of Family Court Judge, because Mr. LaFayette was African-American. To read the details of this racially-charged episode go to http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/article1447.html


 


Mr. LaFayette introduced Tajian Jones to WPCNR  who told WPCNR that when Mr. Hockley first came in to the Board of Elections she took him through the process, went over the blue Board of Elections Calendar and dates when documents were due for Independent Candidates, and she said she specifically told him about the need to file a Certificate of Acceptance, weeks before the petitions were due.


 


He also introduced WPCNR to Deputy Commissioner of the Board of Elections, Jeanne Palazola, who said she had offered Mr. Hockley a complete Board of Elections law book and he refused it before the petitions were due, and she also said she had told him he needed to file a Certificate of Acceptance. Palazola said the Board officials can’t tell everything, because “We don’t know what you don’t know.”


 


A copy of the postcard Mr. Hockley claims he did not receive (which is generated by computer and sent  to all filers of petitions (numbering some 2,000 this year) telling them when they have to decline the nomination (not accept, as Judge Nicolai’s decision pointed out), was not available because Ms. Jones advised WPCNR the postcards are generated by computer. There was not a hard-copy script available. Samples of postcards returned to the Board of Elections were entered into evidence in Judge Nicolai’s hearing Tuesday.


 


Asked why the postcards are not sent out registered mail, LaFayette said it would be costly, and the Board of Elections would be criticized for spending money unnecessarily.

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Photo of the Day

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WPCNR PHOTO OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. September 9, 2009: Your Roving Photographer was not roving at the time he captured this photo, but news just finds him wherever he goes. Today’s photo shows that the 2009 political campaign has officially started, a “new, improved Bill Ryan” candidate, for County Legislator in District 5 (White Plains and Scarsdale) has officially started his walking tour of the district by introducing himself door-to-door with his aide-de-camp, Mike Amodio. Ryan, resident of White Plains, is running for reelection against White Plains Bob Hyland,  said the purpose of the walking tour was name recognition and making sure residents in his district knew who to call to discuss issues once the election was over.



“Hi, I’m Bill Ryan…”

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Cappelli Enterprises to Remove Island Monument, Ending 17 Month Dispute

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WPCNR THE DEVELOPER NEWS. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. September 9, 2009: Cappelli Enterprises spokesperson, Geof Thompson, confirmed to WPCNR today that the company will be removing the controversial Ritz Carlton Renaissance Square traffic island monument very shortly, ending a dispute between the city and the company that has lasted 17 months.



Thompson did not have a date when the now-blank sign would be collected and removed, but said it would be removed. WPCNR noticed yesterday that the gold “Ritz Carlton” lettering and “Ritz Lion” had been removed from the monument Monday.


The dispute arose when it became clear that the monument had been erected without approval by the Common Council. Cappelli Enterprises said that the Mayor’s Office had given them verbal approval to erect the monument as an “enhancement.” The Council objected at this overreaching of the Mayor’s office, usurping their authority and demanded the removal of the stone. Cappelli Enterprises offered to pay the city $118,000 to rent the space on the traffic island, which the Common Council rejected, and demanded the removal.


The company sued in May, 2008, asking a show cause stay of removal, claiming the Common Council was “arbitrary and capricious” in denying rental rights, considering there were many other locations of signs of commercial establishments existing on city property. Fifteen months later, Judge Susan Cacace of New York State Supreme Court ruled the council had used due diligence and was thoughtful in considering the request. Judge Cacace ruled in July of this year.


Now, Cappelli Enterprises is quietly complying with the city request to remove the ediface.

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Council Passes 1st Hotel Tax; OKs 1st 5 Yr Site Plan for WP Hosp.Tables Union $

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. September 8, 2009, UPDATED 3:03 P.M. with detailed analysis of the Con Edison Certiorari in Italics: White Plains enacted its first ever  Hotel Sales Tax of 3% Monday evening by a 7-0 vote with no public comment on the legislation. The hotel tax will go into affect October 1. The tax will be collected by the individual hotels in the city which include the Ritz Carlton, the White Plains Renaissance, the Crowne Plaza, The Esplanade, and the Hyatt Summerfield Suites, and returns will be due quarterly at the end of December, March, June, September. The tax has been touted as having the potential to raise $350,000 a year.


 


In other action, 


 


The Common Council approved a 5 year site plan approval for White Plains Hospital Medical Center planned expansion. It is the longest window of site plan approval ever granted by the city, and was done as a convenience to the hospital which is in the process of fund-raising for the major expansion of the facility, which pointed out in requesting the elongated period allowed to get the project under way, that it did not expect to raise the funds to build for at least that amount of time. This was approved in a time frame of  about six months.


 


The Council extended for another month the hearing on the North Street Community senior condominium and assisted living project.


 


The council tabled a resolution generated by the Mayor’s Office to transfer $2 Million to


Salary and benefit accounts. Councilman Boykin objected because of the vague nature of the request. Mayor Delfino said this was the best estimate of the monies needed for the expected binding arbitration settlement of the fire and police union contracts. Boykin said he wanted a more specific definition of what the end of the year deficit was and who would be getting paid the funds.


 


Rita Malmud said, in response to Mayor Delfino’s testy response to Boykin that these transfers are done every year and are nothing new, said that this was not the case, this year, with the council rejecting a 3.75% raise for the first year of the fire fighters’ contract last December, and the city being “forced into a voluntary binding arbitration.” Dennis Power suggested tabling the matter and it was done by a vote of 5-2, with Mr.Roach and the Mayor voting “No.”


 


The binding arbitration has not begun yet because the council has tabled until September 24 the discussion of selection of a city labor legal counsel. At that date the transfer of funds will also be discussed. The Mayor said he refused to identify how much of the $2 Million was for union and non-union managerial personnel.


 


Assessment Erosion Continues


 


The Council approved the lowering of the assessment rolls to the tune of $782,477, resulting in a total of $359,730.40. The School District will pay approximately a $1,440,000 certiorari tax refund, based on the ratio that for every $1 the city collects in taxes, the school district collects 4.


 


 The bulk of the total assessment reduction was made up by a $556,587 assessment reduction granted Con Edison properties on Water Street. Con Edison receives a $208,995.70 tax refund for the years 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, and 2009-10. 


 


The assessment reduction represents the total assessment decline of 35 different Con Ed-owned lots around the city with various Con Edison installations and equipment on the premises, according to Lloyd Tasch, the City Assessor.  The 35 properties were reduced from $908,000 of Assessed Value to $351,413. Tasch said an expert was hired by the city to assess the properties and fight Con Edison’s claims involving depreciation, replacement value and other categories. Tasch said the city did the best it could but still wound up with “a real hit” that will be deducted from the city Assessement Roll in 2010-11.


 


CVS Albany LLC at 434-452 Mamaroneck Avenue and 434-440 received a $39,881.11 certiorari tax refund and a $93,800 reduction in assessed value. Tasch said this decline in assessment were partly as a result of decreased sales

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Photograph of the Day Foretells Future?

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DAY By the WPCNR ROVING PHOTOGRAPHER. September 8, 2009: As our man with a camera scanned the streets of White Plains today on his never-ending quest for truth, justice and the American Way, he squeezed off this revealing photograph. Could it mean that the controversial granite stone on Renaissance Square in front of the Ritz Carlton hotel was coming down? Within the last few days the words “Ritz Carlton” had been removed from the monument.



Prelude to a Removal?


Photo by the WPCNR Roving Photographer


On July 28, Judge Susan Cacache ruled the city had been diligent and reasonable in its effort to deny Cappelli Enterprises the privilege of erecting the stone on city property. Cappelli Enterprises had until August 28 to appeal the ruling. As of today, ten days after that deadline, the words Ritz Carlton no longer appear,raising speculation the stone will soon be removed.


 

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Judge Puts Glen Hockley on the November Ballot.

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. September 8, 2009: Judge Francis Nicolai, after a 2 hour and 45 minute hearing this morning, punctuated by two 1 hour recesses, the second of which he used to review an Appellate Court decision on a similar case, directed the Board of Elections to put the name of Councilman Glen Hockley on the November 3 ballot for the office of Mayor.


 


Judge Nicolai said the Board of Elections did nothing wrong in denying  Mr. Hockley a place on the ballot due to Mr. Hockley’s failure to file a Certificate of Acceptance, but that it was clear that Hockley wanted to run for the office.


 


Nicolai taking an hour recess to review a1987 Appellate Division decision of 1987 that had ruled against an independent candidate in similar circumstances, returned to the court room at 12:10 P.M. and then dismissed County Attorney Matthew Gallagher’s citing of the 1987 Appellate court case, saying that if the courts really felt a Certificate of Acceptance was necessary they would have said so.


 


Glen Hockley, in the hall after the decision, said, “the people have won this day. I will never forget it.”


 





Nicolai discounted the question of conspiracy against Hockley by the Board of Elections, as Hockley had claimed, saying that the notice the Board of Elections claimed they sent to Mr. Hockley, which Mr. Hockley said he never received, did not specifically deal with a candidate’s need to accept the nomination of a party.


 


Rather, Nicolai said, the intent of the notice(a postcard) copy advises the candidate of the last day to declaim (refuse) a nomination. Nicolai sharply rebuked Hockley’s attorney, Nelson Canter for Mr. Canter’s continuing refusal to see that distinction.


 


Nicolai said in reviewing the Irdine vs. Sachs case of 1987, cited by the County Attorney Mr. Gallagher as speaking to the  present Hockley case, said “that case was decided on strict construction of the law…if the legislature felt it (a Certificate of Acceptance) was as important, it would have said so.”


 


Nicolai said, in directing Hockley’s name be placed on the ballot,  that  running for office was “a very important right that must not be denied” unless there were very extenuating circumstances.


 


Commissioner of the Board of Elections, Reginald LaFayette told reporters he would be consulting with Mr. Gallagher whether or not  to appeal the Judge’s decision. LaFayette said that there were other candidates who had been denied places on ballots due to failures to supply Certificates of Acceptance in a timely manner, noting a case in Lewisboro where that also was the B.O.E.’s ruling.


 


LaFayette told reporters that Mrs. Hockley (Melody), when she was filing Mr. Hockley’s petitions that he had told her personally Mr.Hockley had to file a certificate of acceptance. LaFayette also said he had supplied Mrs. Hockley with a large paper clip to bind Hockley’s petitions, and advised her that she had to fill in “Mayor, City of White Plains” on the petitions, as evidence of how he had cooperated with the Hockley entourage. He said he resented Mr. Hockley’s conspiracy theories, considering how much he personally had helped Mrs. Hockley when the petitions were presented.


 


Hockley two weeks ago had told WPCNR that when petitions were filed, the Board of Elections had never told his representatives, including his attorney, Nelson Canter, that a Certificate of Acceptance needed to be filed.


 


When told of Mr. LaFayette’s contention he had told Mrs. Hockley personally that her husband had to file a Certificate of Accepance, Hockley  told WPCNR this afternoon, “That’s a bald-faced lie. My attorney was standing right beside her,” as far as giving Mrs. Hockley a paper clip and fill-out advice, Hockley said, “that’s what he’s supposed to do.”

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KICKOFF!

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Kickoff!


 


Above fabled ramparts pennants furl whip-snapping in the autumn sun.


The crescendo of a hundred drums rumbles across the immense green.


Puffy clouds float on blue horizon above the festive bowl rim


A hundred-thousand voices roar as one in sustained, building scream!


 


A whistle! The knights of a hundred seasons live once more


Ghosts of  galloping heroes of autumns’ past dash down the field


The brown sphere lifts and soars above stadium rim caught by breeze and hopes


Descending end over end to the lone sentinel to begin another season like hundreds before.


 


Like cascades of waves reseeding and surging


 the players hear  the cheers drift down engulfing


As the carrier is brought to earth


Again and again, the combatants sally forth strength to strength hurling


Stealth and guile and heart thrown against swiftness, effort, will and girth.


 


Punctuated by swift bursts of peppy brass and drum thunder


 from minstrels pomped  and proud


Spurred by bursts of roars rewarding  nimble run by  deft running backs


The paladins of striped  green plain struggle in golden sun lifted by the ultimate crowd


Awarding the diving miracle, the driving first down, the breakaway from the pack.


 


The reach-to-sky of  over-the-shoulder touchdown catch down the sideline jaunt


Brings multitudes to their feet with a cheer the valiant receiver hears forever.


The turning aside of a powerful drive by defender gallant


Earns rapturous response as enemy back is caught and tossed asunder.


 


On into the afternoon shadows the struggle and tumult unfold.


Heroes emerge to replace the legends of stories told of past plays


Today’s young become tomorrow’s old.


Who will tell the tales of this afternoon’s heroes on other golden days


 

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Photograph of the Day

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. September 7:


 



Aspara Warrior


By Ouk Chim Vichet


Your Roving Photographer was reminded again of why artists create, when he turned the corner in a gallery at the University of Michigan Museum of Art and was confronted by this amazing sculpture. It represented the power of personal expression and imagination to say more than words can say. For the rest of the story…



The arms and torso are constructed of barrels of AK-47 rifles, triggers, handles. What is the warrior saying? What is the warrior’s message? The shock of seeing Vichet’s warrior for the first time is profoundly disturbing. It is haunting, evoking sorrow, repulsion, thought. What does the warrior say to you? What does the warrior inspire in you?


The sculpture points out the ability of one person’s imagination to state and evoke and to move us to another dimension of sensitivity.


 

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