WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,374,995 VISITS IN ONE YEAR—65,000 VISITS A WEEK BY 985,281 VISITORS

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WPCNR SOUTHENDER. By John F. Bailey. August 15, 2007—Joseph Apicella, Executive Vice President of Cappelli Enterprises, accompanied by Brian Cappelli, weathered a skeptical and hostile gathering of the Council of Neighborhood Associations Tuesday evening at Education House, presenting a Cappelli Enterprises that was seeking ideas for the development of the White Plains train station area.  He also announced a makeover for the City Center Mamaroneck Avenue marquee and entrance to make access to the second and third floors easier. S. L Green/Reckson also disclosed to this reporter they were coming in with a competing proposal after Labor Day.

Joseph Apicella of Cappelli Enterprises, adroitly handled many questions on the office market that the firm feels is the prime market for the four building and train station complex it proposed last spring. Apicella told Council President Rita Malmud that Cappelli was willing to discuss lowering the density of the project, but felt that decreasing the density by half, from 1.5 Million square feet to half that, as Ms. Malmud suggested, would not work economically.

The genial  and adroit Apicella stood his ground in a very smooth manner when faced with tough questions, and invited persons to submit their ideas to Cappelli Enterprises on what should be done at the railroad station site to an interactive website, www.cappelli-info.com.

Enter S.L. Green/Reckson

Dan Richmond, an attorney for S.L.Green/Reckson, observed the meeting. S.L. Green/Reckson is the firm that submitted a letter criticizing the city considering granting an Exclusivity Agreement to Cappelli Enterprises last May, which some observers felt was instrumental in convincing the Common Council to reject an Exclusivity Agreement with Cappelli Enterprises to develop the site. 

Richmond told WPCNR that S.L.Green would present a competing proposal for the White Plains train station property Cappelli Enterprises is eyeing after Labor Day to the Common Council. Richmond told WPCNR it would be predominantly office space with some retail, but would not provide any further details.

Overview

Apicella in beginning his presentation said “an exchange of ideas is healthy and the residents needed to be involved more in the day to day planning as to what is built and where,” and proceeded to review what Cappelli enterprises has done in the city, fielding sniper questions along the way, criticizing how those projects have developed.

City Center Mamaroneck Avenue Interior Lobby Makeover.

Apicella, in describing the City Center development said that Cappelli  Enterprises “realizes some mistakes were made” in designing the City Center Mamaroneck Avenue entrance.

To rectify generate more walk-in pedestrian traffic at the Mamaroneck Avenue entrance, he said his firm was going to install escalators to the second floor of City Center (where Filene’s Basement is located), and to the third floor (site of the National Amusements Cinema de Lux and the White Plains Performing Arts Center). Presently the second and third floors are accessible only be elevator.

Apicella said that with Silverman Realty opening up new attractions across from the City Center and the Ritz Carlton opening in October, Mr. Cappelli wanted to assure the City Center would attract more pedestrians in from the Ritz and the Silverman properties. Brian Cappelli told WPCNR he expected the new grand entrance would be completed by the end of the year.

CVS and The Melting Pot Across Street.

In a related development, new tenants of the Silverman property across from City Center were made known this week. CVS announced it was taking the space in the Silverman Building and a Silverman executive announced the national fondue chain, The Melting Pot would be taking space across from the Center.

Deflecting Hand Grenades: The news of the evening centered on Mr. Apicella reintroducing the Station Square project that Mr.Cappelli had withdrawn last spring (June 5)  in the face of Council opposition to the Exclusivity Agreement.

Apicella handled the crowd with a deferent  attitude, saying that with “the kind of passion we have for our projects, we make a lot of mistakes.”  Asked how Cappelli Enterprise tax breaks (which Mr. Apicella said he was unable to site specifically, the tax credit had not been received yet, he estimated it to be about $20 Million net) on the 221 Main project would benefit White Plains, Apicella promised that 221 Main, site of the Ritz-Carlton would provide tax pluses and sales tax increases “on the rim” of the project in a five to 10 year period, and that “the (city) tax base will stabilize.”

Questioned on how Cappelli projects seem to have a history of morphing and through rezoining, grow into bigger and different projects after they are approved, Apicella said “we always look for elasticity in a development module, we suggest zoning changes that make sense.”

Carrie Kyzivat, President of CCOS, witheringly chided the lack of greenery in the Renaissance Square Fountain, calling the Starbucks “an atrocity.”  She challenged Apicella about how the open space in front of the Ritz was going to be designed. Apicella invited Kyzivat to participate in helping to finalize the design of the Ritz open space area that would occupy the present site of the Ritz-Carlton sales office. Apicella politely pointed out that Cappelli Enterprises did not design the Starbucks.

Tax Break Free

Apicella described the Station Square project as not requiring any tax breaks to be built, that it would be fully taxable. He said the project needed to deliver within 24 to 30 months to take advantage of the office market opportunity Cappelli Enterprises sees available now with prime office space in Manhattan at $100 a square foot. Apicella, when confronted with an article citing the vacancies in office space in the county, said that did not apply to the White Plains market because the most vacancies are occurring in Northern Westchester, which is not as attractive as White Plains.

Questioned on infrastructure costs that the city would face with new development at the Station area, Apicella said that infrastructure issues are driven by the nature of the projects, and that the infrastructure envisioned in the days of urban renewal in the 1960s cannot be relied on in the same urban renewal area today to handle the projects of today.

Apicella listened and invited the public’s input on what Station Square should be, “we need to do better in the process, we need to involve you in the process.” He said Cappelli Enterprises wanted residents to send ideas and thoughts on the project and what should be done to www.capelli-info.com That he was going to travel to all neighborhood associations to sample their opinions. He emphasized, “We don’t make the judgements. We don’t grant ourselves approvals.”

Asked if he would share Cappelli Enterprise financial projections on the project, Apicella said he would if he were the “designated developer,” otherwise he would not, saying Cappelli Enterprises projections were proprietary information.

MTA Metro North Attitude Dictates Local Action.

Apicella said he had gone to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Metro North Railroad about redoing the station, and said that they do not feel the station is inadequate.  He characterized their response to the Cappelli proposal for the station as being “What’s the problem?”

Rita Malmud, Common Council President expressed the opinion that she’d like to see the 1.5 Million square feet proposed for the Station Square project cut in half, and the density reduced. Apicella said he’d be willing to discuss that once a proposal is again before the council.

Apicella showed how the Station Square Project would turn the Bronx River into a Riverwalk, and also create a Veterans Park (base of rendering) across Tarrytown Road

Apicella returned to his main theme towards the close of the meeting, saying of Louis Cappelli and the market for the project:  “He’s not looking to dictate anything.  There’s no other way to be at this point. We don’t have all the answers. We use our projections.”

Apicella said the parking garage would be built first on the site of the firehouse that Cappelli Enterprises hopes to acquire from the city, to accommodate commuters, before the balance of the project commences, should the city find the project acceptable, of course.

He called the station area a “blank palette,” which invited the community’s ideas. At one point he said, he wanted to “bring down the wall” that he saw was between his firm and the community.

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. August 14, 2007: The new White Plains Building Department Policy of requiring persons asking to  see a site plan to fill out a question asking why they want to examine the plan, and prohibiting photographing of site plans in the Building Department as WPCNR was prevented from doing last week, violates the Freedom of Information Law, according to Robert Freeman Chair of the New York State Committee on Open Government .

Robert Freeman, Executive Director of the New York State Department of State Committee on Open Government clarified that the city is out of compliance. As Freeman puts it, “if you can look at it, you can photograph it.”

Freeman said the city is allowed to require a Freedom of Information Law request to see a plan, but they have no right to ask you why you want to see it.

Last week, WPCNR was told by the Building Department we could not photograph a site plan with the WPCNR digital camera. No photography lights or disruption to the offices would have been involved.

 I was told by a Building Department employee that I had to request the Building Department to make a copy and also file a FOIL request for it and have the request for a copy approved by the Commissioner of Building. To date no one has contacted me saying my request for a copy of the site plan was approved.

Since this policy obviously delays putting out information to the public on stories in a timely manner, WPCNR checked with the Committee on Open Government to the see of the city is allowed to restrict photography and demand explanations from people wishing to see site plans.

They are not. 

Freeman said usually plans are too bulky to photograph and that is why departments send them out for copies – but the White Plains Building Department has no right to stop you from photographing site plans.

The new policy of requiring reporters and presumably citizens to complete a FOIA form and say why they want to see a site plan has been in place since last December by the Building Department.  

Sections 87(2) of the Freedom of Information Law says that accessible records must be made available for copying.

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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2007  News & Comment By John F. Bailey. August 13, 2007: The Democratic Primary is 5 weeks away and features Benjamin Boykin, the two-term councilman fighting for his political life based on a pro-administration voting record, Dennis Power trying to retain his nomination with his earnest concerned warm image and no current record, and newcomer nominee Milagros Lecuona attempting to keep her nomination against a challenge by the Democratic Party ousted incumbent , Arnold Bernstein also with a pro-administration voting record, and long denied Democratic Party personality, Candyce Corcoran.

Bernstein, in a mailing last week was portrayed as not a real Democrat. Council President Rita Malmud in a Democratic Party flier endorsed Boykin, Lecuona and Power as follows:

“Ben Boykin, Dennis Power and Milagros Lecuona are the real Democrats in this race, leaders committed to making White Plains a better place to live, while moving forward with a people-oriented agenda”

This raised the issue of what is a real democrat.

Mr. Bernstein, the Democrat incumbent, denied nomination for reelection by the Democratic Party this spring countered with a piece charging the Democrats with “an unprecedented act of political retribution, I was denied renomination by our party. Instead, the nomination was given to someone with no legislative experience, but who is beholden to party bosses.”  Bernstein declares himself a person that “puts you first and his party second.”

This innuendo could mean presumably Ms. Lecuona, who came out of nowhere to get the nomination over such notable contenders  and “issue-raisers” as Ms. Corcoran, Claire Eisenstadt,  Don Hughes and Robert Stackpole .  

Lecuona appeared to fit two needs for the Democratic Party:  her ethnicity would appeal to the rising Hispanic population in the city, and her gender would put another woman on the council. Her only political experience  has been with the Weschester County Planning Board, the White Plains Cable TV Commission and as a Board Member of the Westchester Hispanic Coalition, Inc.

Mr. Bernstein was, according to inner party circles, denied the nomination on the basis that he supported the Mayor on issues, such as sale of the controversial Railside Property. However, so did the other incumbent Benjamin Boykin, who now finds himself in a struggle with Mr. Bernstein. Mr. Boykin has voted consistently with the Administration on all major issues  (often the swing vote), while a laissez faire attitude towards the city budget as Chair of the Budget and Management Committee has rubber stamped every Delfino Budget for the last three years.  Boykin’s lone exception to his pro-Mayoral stance was the Station Square Exclusivity Agreement proposed by Cappelli Enterprises this past spring. That proposal was told the council in advance and they were prepared to grant it, (otherwise why put it on the agenda), but when their prior knowledge was exposed by this reporter, public pressure forced them to vote it down.

Ms. Corcoran is organizing a door-to-door campaign attempting to go to voters directly. Ms. Corcoran has grown tired of waiting for the Democratic Party to nominate her for Council. They refused to do so in 2001  when they nominated Glen Hockley instead of her, and she ran for County Legislator against Bill Ryan at that time.

 The Democrats punished Corcoran for the Republican transgression in 2003 and 2005, and again refused her this year, despite her dedicated work with the party as an organizer for a decade.  Corcoran was frustrated with the Democrats and ran as a Democrat on the Republican line against County Legislator Bill Ryan in 2001, when Ryan was nominated for Mayor, and was denied that nomination when the late Robert Greer mounted a challenge. Corcoran then switched over to run as a Democrat on the Republican ticket against Ryan when Ryan moved back to run for County Legislator..

 Lecuona, though nominated for three months (since May) has stayed in the background, being noncommittal on most issues with two exceptions: she spoke out against the Verizon cable agreement, and criticized the 189 Main Street approval last week because citizens committees were not asked for their input on what should be done at the 189 Main Street site or the design.

Mr. Power has benefitted from a series of press exposes in recent weeks of alleged Republican Party illegally funded mailing sallies against him in his runoff election against Cass Cibelli in November 2006. The exposes (that rehash campaign events of a year ago) for some reason were not run in the press until now. Their effect is to portray Power as an unfairly targeted candidate by illegally funded mailings. Mr. Power has been cleared of any conflict of interest resulting from his county job which those mailings had targeted. The effect of the strangely belated exposes sets up Mr. Power as a sympathy candidate in this primary – paints him as a victim – (when he was criticized for comflict of interest at the time of the mailings) – and enhances his teddy bear image.

 Mr. Power despite the findings of no conflict of interest, continues to be reluctant to criticize county policies towards the homeless that affect White Plains and continues to ignore seeking solutions to sewage backups in White Plains due to incompatible county sewer pipes.

Mr. Power is employed by the Westchester County Department of Environmental Facilities. Presumably he might be a helpful ally, catalyst, or in the popular vernacular these days a “facilitator” in helping the Department of Public Works in White Plains and the County Department of Public Works work out a solution to the storm flooding problems which plague the Beverly Road area.  To date, he has not taken that initiative. With his experience at Westhab as director there, he would be uniquely positioned to develop  “facilitate” a White Plains homeless initiative perhaps in cooperation with the compassionate Mayor’s Office  to handle the Drop-In Shelter problem “dropped” by the county last week. But he has not.

The nominated candidates will attempt to campaign by not campaigning, because the more they say the more their opponents can react to them. While the challengers have to reach out and get some voters to vote for them.

The Primary will depend upon the challengers getting out to voters who will support them against the slate, and finding voters who will analyze the records of the incumbents vs. the promise, the criticisms, and the record of the challengers, and balance that against what they want their Common Councilpersons to do.

In the long analysis, the candidate who stands the most to lose if he does not oust a Dem in the primary is Mr. Bernstein. If he does not obtain an Independent line in the November election ballot, which is attempting to do, he is out if he loses the primary. Corcoran will have the Conservative Line in November.

Boykin, Power and Lecuona will have the Working Families line in November, even should Boykin, Power or Lecuona be squeezed out in the September 18 Primary.

The Democratic Party did not challenge Bernstein’s petitions, but did attempt to throw out Corcoran’s petitions, only to find out they were forbidden to do so by previous court decisions.

Rounding out the November Challengers presumably will be Robert Stackpole, another Democrat denied and Robert Levine, currently collecting signatures to appear on the Independent line in November.

The Republicans have nominated  Cass Cibelli, Anthony Pilla, Jr., and Augie Zicca to run in November for the three Council seats, but the Republican candidates appear not to have started their campaigns.

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WPCNR CITY HALL TICKER. From Melissa Lopez, The Mayor’s Office. August 11, 2007: Mayor Joseph M. Delfino is pleased to announce that the first class of White Plains “Lets Get Ready” program will graduate sixty students on Tuesday, August 14th, 7:00  p.m. at Pace University in White Plains.   The program is a collaboration between the White Plains Youth Bureau, White Plains High School, PACE University and Let’s Get Ready.  The program was paid through a donation given by Wellesley-in-Westchester, the Westchester County alumni group of Wellesley College. 

The program helps youth who cannot afford the SAT prep classes necessary to keep up with the new standards for college admission.  Participants in the program pay a $25 deposit fee which is refundable if they miss three or fewer classes.



Students meet at Pace University twice each week on the corner of Martine Avenue and Bank Street.  Students are grouped based on students’ diagnostic SAT scores.  On Tuesdays, groups of four to six students review verbal for two hours.  On Thursdays, the students review math with a different math specific coach.

For one hour on both days, students review the College Choice curriculum – a special curriculum created by Let’s Get Ready with activities relating to college admissions.

College coaches help support the program providing tutoring and mentoring.  The coaches are college students from Syracuse University, Columbia University, New York University, Pennsylvania University just to name a few of the universities.  The program has a 1 to 5 ratio of coaches to students.

The program has also offered college tours this summer.  Students have visited Columbia University, New York University and the University of Albany.

Mayor Delfino says that having a Lets Get Ready program in White Plains will go a long way to help students in their preparation for college.  

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WPCNR THE PARKING NEWS. By John F. Bailey. August 9, 2007: The City of White Plains has returned the Marine Corps Recruiting Vehicle it had impounded with the intent to auction it off to pay outstanding Marine parking ticket fines and late fees. Gunnery Sergeant Matthew Butler reported to WPCNR today the city returned the vehicle Tuesday. 

Sergeant Butler said the Corps is continuing to hold talks with the city over the settlement of $94,000 the city is claiming the Marines owe, despite $70,000 of that being fines for space in the Chester-Maple Garage that Marines claim was paid for in full. The city has denied there was a lease on the permit spaces. The Marine car impounded since April has been quietly returned to the Marines.

Butler said Marines the Corps has been able to determine were the drivers of Marine Cars ticketed by the city for parking violations are “voluntarily paying their tickets.”

“We want to be good partners with the city,” Sergeant Butler told WPCNR Thursday. “Individual Marines we’ve been able to identify are voluntarily paying their tickets.” Asked about the $70,000 in tickets the Marines report are related to the city ticketing vehicles where space was already paid for in the Chester-Maple garage, Butler said those issues were still being worked on in good faith. Sergeant Butler said he did not have any figures on how much in fines have been paid so far by the Marines.

The city seized the car with the intention of auctioning it, but apparently returned the car after learning that federal law prohibits seizure of government owned vehicles or selling of government property, which apparently the city Department of Parking was not aware of.

WPCNR has also learned that the ticketing of the Marine vehicles was begun apparently in earnest only in July 2006  (at the beginning of a financially troubled year for the city).

WPCNR learned according to one source this was initiated by the city when neighboring stores complained. According to a person who worked in a business near the Marine Corps Recruiting Office, “I previously worked at a privately owned store on East Post Road and also parked in the Chester Maple garage. I remember a time when enforcement on the Marine cars was “select” depending on the person writing tickets that day. Oftentimes the cars were ignored and the neighboring store owners would complain to not only the officer writing, but the Marines as well.”

The person recalled the ticket blitz began about a year ago, confirming what WPCNR had been told by the Marines last week.  Some tickets have been said to date back to 2001, but that has not been confirmed by any breakdowns from the Department of Parking, which has said to various media that they do not have a breakdown of the ticket details as to place and infraction.

The source said, “Then, it pretty much came out of nowhere that they started getting tickets on the street outside their office.”

The source also indicates “While it may be wrong for the Marines to receive tickets…a primary reason they do is not the enforcers’ desire to do so, but the CITIZENS and STORE OWNERS who call and complain to Parking Department brass, and say that the Marines are taking our spots (or potential customers’ spots) without paying. Ticketing them only began a little over a year ago, as it was not common practice until complaints were made by the public.”

The person said they did not understand why Marine vehicles parked in the garage were ticketed for check clearing problems, pointing out that it was their experience if you’re an individual, “checks do not have to be cleared in order to receive a permit, any regular permit holder can walk into an office on the first of the month and receive their permit by simply writing a check. If the check bounces, the permit of that individual is sought out by use of permit numbers that help identify the owners. So that excuse doesn’t make sense.”

To date the Army Corps of Engineers which the Marines say issued the check on the first of the month for monthly Chester-Maple Permits has not furnished details of the agreement the Engineers have with the city. The city has denied there is a lease on the spaces, but there may be an agreement.

Last week, Tim Curry, New York Times reporter covering the story reported that Paul Wood, the City Executive Officer as saying he did not know whether the $94,000 would ever be paid, or if a city court judge might choose to waive the fines.

This week, Barbara Leek, the City Judge, eliminated the late fees attached to tickets paid by the first Marine to come forward to pay parking tickets his vehicle had received.