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WPCNR THE DEVELOPING NEWS. By John F. Bailey  July 17, 2007:  Under state law, developer Louis Cappelli’s Ritz Carlton project at 221 Main St. in White Plains may qualify for a tax break on top of the $110-million to come Mr. Cappelli’s way, WPCNR has learned.

 

Louis Cappelli, May, 2007

Back in October, 2003, then-Governor George Pataki signed into law the Brownfield Cleanup Program legislation which had been passed by both the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate. The program offers developers who clean up a polluted site and then build a project there up to 22% of the development’s total cost in the form of New York State tax credits.

 

 

However, a developer also may be entitled to a second category of tax credits. These would be annual state tax credits of up to 100% of the real estate taxes they pay to a municipality on the property. While the developer would make real estate tax payments to the taxing municipality (such as White Plains), New York State would reimburse the developer in the form of tax credits. The real estate tax credits are pegged to the number of jobs created at a formerly-polluted site. The maximum credit is $10,000 per employee multiplied by the number of employees.

Rewards

In the case of the Ritz-Carlton project, Cappelli has said in the past that the total cost of the Ritz complex was $550-million, and the state tax credits to which he is entitled have been widely reported as being $110-million. Any real estate property tax credits would be on top of the $110-million.  The real estate property tax credit is $10,000 maximum per new job created, directly applicable to property taxes paid.

Cappelli Enterprises, in a statement issued last week, said that the $110-million tax credit figure is incorrect, and that the correct figure is $75-million. The statement also said that the cost to clean up the pollution at the 221 Main Street site was $50-million.

 If Mr. Cappelli’s cost of cleanup is less than the $110 Million he is entitled too, he will receive a check from the state tax department for the balance, which according to last week’s statement from Cappelli Enterprises is $75 Million.

The Scenario

In connection with the Ritz-Carlton project, Cappelli retained Al Pirro’s firm, The Pirro Group, for assistance with Brownfield Cleanup Program matters. Pirro, as you know, is the husband of former Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro. The Pirro Group has a number of developers as clients in connection with the Brownfield Cleanup Program. Their web site lists the clients and describes how the Brownfield Cleanup Program works at  http://www.pirrogroup.com/bfr.cfm  

Cappelli told WPCNR on Monday that “No monies have been paid on tax credits yet. You only receive credits when you complete the project and get a Certificate of Occupancy. The credits for us will be phased in over a three year period starting in 2008.”

Cappelli also noted that he expects the Ritz-Carlton to open October 10^th.

Cappelli  confirmed that he is receiving a Brownfield Cleanup Program tax credit for cleanup at his project in Ossining: “Ossining is in the program and the credits work the same way.”

Site Remediation

The Department of Environmental Conservation Press Office in Albany confirmed to WPCNR that the 221 Main Street Ritz-Carlton Development site was declared completely remediated of pollution seven months ago in December 2006, when Cappelli Enterprises was given a Certification of Completion, signed by DEC officials.

 Yancey Roy of the state DEC press office said that Mr. Cappelli’s tax credits earned by the cleanup of the gasoline-polluted site would be paid by the state tax department after Mr. Cappelli applies for the credits.

City & Council Silent

City officials and city councilpersons who approved the 221 Main Project June 7, 2004, did not respond to WPCNR queries as to whether the council and the city knew the developer was going to apply for Brownfield Cleanup Program  and its credits at the time the 221 Main Street project featuring the Ritz-Carlton was approved June 7, 2004. Mr. Cappelli, and a series of partner sattelites received approval for 221 Main when a Brownfield Cleanup Agreement was awarded six months later in December, 2004.

At the June 7 approval, three parcels of land were sold for Cappelli to use in building the 221 Main Street project, making it possible. They were a municipal parking lot, the land of the former White Plains police headquarters, and a parcel controlled by the Urban Renewal Agency.

Legislation approving the project put a value of $1,706,410 on the parcels. The $1,706,410 was to be paid by Cappelli as follows: “First, for the environmental clean up of all environmental contamination on the Agency parcels,…” and “Second, for the construction of the Court Street Extension from Main Street to Hamilton Avenue…” and, “Third, the payment of any amount of the Disposal Price not expended on (i) and (ii) (cost of clean up, and construction of Court Street) to the Agency.”

 

Municipalities Cannot Partner in the Tax Credits

WPCNR asked Louis Cappelli Monday if he had paid anything to the city for the 221 Main land, and whether he had advised the city he was applying for the brownfields program and the subsequent tax credits at the time of approval.

Cappelli issued this statement: “Tax credits can only go to a “partner” they cannot go to a municipality. Tax credits are only earned when you spend the development and construction money and get a Certificate of Occupancy for a building.”

 

Saves the Cost of Cleanup to the City

He pointed out the advantage of the cleanup to the city in the same statement:

“We took the entire environmental liability from the city when we got the property. This was a substantial liability that could only be satisfied if someone excavated the entire property 50 feet down to bedrock ON THE ENTIRE SITE. We even had to clean up the adjacent parcels on the Power Authority Building up to 50 feet down.”

Cappelli told WPCNR in a separate statement  he would apply for the tax credits after he receives the Certificate of Occupancy for the Ritz-Carlton in 2008 for the 2007 tax year.

Albany Times-Union

The story that Cappelli and other key New York state developers would be eligible for the Brownfield Cleanup Program tax breaks  appeared on June 10^th in the Hearst newspaper, the Albany Times-Union, written by reporter Brian Nearing. Nearing told WPCNR a source had advised him to look into the state Brownfields Cleanup Program tax credits.

Nearing said he went over the applications for the program on file with New York State and developed the story showing the full extent of how much in tax credits developers were going to earn from cleanups of polluted sites. The story revealed publicly that developers would get back up to 22% of the total construction cost at their Brownfield Cleanup Program sites, not just cost of cleaning them up.  Nearing’s report revealed the tax breaks far outstrip the cleanup costs.

Mr. Nearing’s story may be read at http://www.timesunion.com/ASPStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=596668.

The Brownfield Cleanup Program was hailed in October, 2003 as  a vehicle to develop many of the state’s contaminated sites by offering incentives to developers (i.e., tax credits) to take on the cleanup and resurrection of the sites.

 

Soil, Tanks, Dirty Water Removed.

A DEC Fact Sheet describing the 221 Main Street remediation agreement and the Certificate of Completion was faxed to WPCNR by the DEC press office. According to that document “remedial measures were taken at the site to remove all former sources

of contamination and related contaminated media (soil, groundwater) within the site boundary. This was accomplished by excavating and removing all buried underground storage tanks (USTs) from the site, which were the source of soil and groundwater contamination, and were also a potential source of soil vapor contamination.”

The fact sheet reports the remediation began and the spring of 2005 and was completed in the summer of 2006. It included remediation at the New York Power Authority garage where, according to the document, “some groundwater contamination existed.”

The DEC laundry list of the results:

 9 underground storage tanks were removed.

 Approximately 23,720 tons of contaminated soil were removed from the site.

 Approximately 22,832 gallons of contaminated groundwater were removed from the site and the adjacent New York Power Authority Site.

 Potential soil vapor contamination was remediated by removing these sources.

                                        

WPCNR asked a construction expert what the 23,370 tons of dirt represented in terms of truck loads. He said most truckers use standard 10-wheelers which based on a checking of dump truck specifications would carry 14 yards  per trip. The source mentioned that a Triaxle rig would carry 20 yards per trip.  The 23,370 tons of contaminated soil by rough estimate amount to 1,581 truck loads in a standard 10-Wheeler dump truck, and about  800 truck loads if the larger truck the Triaxle was used, based on a WPCNR examination of truck capacities at truck dealerships.

The 22,832 gallons of  contaminated ground water are equivalent to roughly two thirds the capacity of a 40 x 20 x 6  foot swimming pool which contains 36,000 gallons of water.

All Clear

The Fact Sheet remarks “Previous site investigations verified that abandoned underground storage tanks (USTs) existed at the site, and there was evidence of soil and groundwater contamination as well. A Remedial Investigation completed under the BCP (Brownfield Contamination Program) indicated that soil was the principally impacted medium for this site, but appeared to be limited to the areas where the USTs were located. Contaminated soil was excavated as the USTs were removed during the IRM, and confirmatory end-point samples indicate that recommended soil cleanup objectives have been achieved for the site.

 

Governor: Tax Credits as Excessive.

 

In a news release June 5, Governor Eliot Spitzer called for reforming the Brownfields Cleanup Program so developers would not receive tax credits over the actual cost of cleanup. The release finds “An analysis of the first 25 projects certified and approved under the program (since 2003) indicates that only a small fraction of the tax credits granted were related to remediation costs.”

The news release quotes Governor Spitzer: “The current law contains no protections to ensure that the funds directed toward economic development are wisely used or bear any relationship to the number of jobs created, leaving the state with an open-ended liability while failing to achieve the law’s intent of cleaning up contaminated sites.”

The release reports that any revision of the Brownfields Cleanup Program would not apply to developers with Brownfield Cleanup Agreements (BCAs) already in place, to wit, “remediation plans approved by the Department of Environmental Conservation and actual remediation underway will be governed by the existing tax credit structure.”

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WPCNR NOTEWORTHY. From White Plains YWCA. July 14, 2007: Jackie Ramos-Calderon will serve as one of 50 delegates to represent the United States at “Ignite the Promise: Global Advocate Summit” in Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 29-30, 2007. Organized by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the leader of the global breast cancer movement, the summit will connect 25 U.S. breast cancer advocates from 21 states with representatives from 30 countries.  The overarching goals for holding this international summit are to elevate the dialogue on breast cancer’s global impact and to share the strategies used to combat breast cancer in delegates’ local communities.

“Each year, more than 1 million women worldwide receive a breast cancer diagnosis,” said Nancy G. Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. “The need to provide these women-regardless of race, nationality, or socioeconomic status-an equal opportunity to beat a breast cancer diagnosis has never been greater. This summit will enable advocates to share outreach tactics that have been implemented in the U.S. and elsewhere to meet our collective goal of saving lives and ending breast cancer forever.”

Jackie Ramos-Calderon, Director of the YWCA’s Encore Plus Program, was selected by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to represent the foundation’s Greater NYC Affiliate.

“The YWCA is extremely proud to be part of this seminal global symposium and delighted that Jackie Ramos-Calderon was chosen as a delegate for Susan G. Komen For The Cure”, stated Lori Stanlick, Associate Executive Director.  Jackie has been a leading advocate and champion for breast cancer education for low-income women of color for over 10 years.  She is one of the extraordinary advocates selected by Susan G. Komen for the Cure for her record of activism and success in the fight against breast cancer. She has contributed to breast cancer detection and treatment advances through community outreach, shaping public policy, offering health education, and providing survivor support.

The YWCA’s Encore Plus Program stresses the life-saving potential of early breast cancer detection and helps un- and under-insured women obtain high-quality breast cancer screenings, free of charge, in Westchester County. This community-based outreach program targets low-income women of color over 40 who, due to a lack of adequate health insurance, are at greater risk of having breast cancer detected in later stages.  Screening services are provided by the Westchester County Department of Health, Healthy Living partnership.

Komen Global Summit Honorary Co-Chair Laura Bush, a longtime Komen volunteer and breast cancer advocate, recognizes that breast cancer affects millions of families around the world and is a priority in America’s healthcare diplomacy efforts. To honor the U.S. delegates in advance of this historic meeting, Mrs. Bush hosted a luncheon on June 1, and extended her appreciation for their tireless efforts to increase awareness and education about breast cancer. “Eradicating breast cancer is a challenge for every country, and too many women around the world are still too embarrassed or too uninformed to seek the treatment they need in time to save their lives,” said Mrs. Bush.

The Global Advocate Summit will be held in conjunction with the Breast Health Global Initiative Consensus Conference, of which Komen for the Cure is a co-founder, taking place Oct. 1-4, also in Budapest, Hungary.

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, nearly $1 billion has been invested to fulfill the promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org or call 1-800 I’M AWARE.

The mission of the Greater NYC Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen For The Cure is to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease by offering breast health grants to non-profit organizations that provide screening, treatment and education programs to medically under-served women in NYC, Westchester and Rockland Counties, and Long Island.  Encore Plus continues to be a recipient of Susan G. Komen For The Cure Grants for the seventh year in a row. Grants are made possible through donations, corporate support, and its signature run/walk, The Komen NYC Race for the Cure.

To schedule an Encore Plus educational seminar or to request information about screening services, contact Jackie Ramos-Calderon at the YWCA Residence at 914-428-1130, ext. 306.

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WPCNR THE DEVELOPER NEWS. July 12, 2007 UPDATED JUNE 13, 2007 4:45 P.M. EDT: You may have seen the front page Journal News dispatch from its Albany Bureau Thursday morning reporting that Cappelli Enterprises received $110 Million in tax credits for its cleanup of the Ritz Carlton 221 Main construction site, anticipated to open this October. The story also appeared in the Albany Times Union on Sunday, June 10 of this year where Mr. Cappelli, and a number of firms associated with support of Governor George Pataki was reported as receiving tax credits in the neighborhood of $55 Million.  According to the Gannett paper report,  the tax credits were criticised by Environmental Associates of New York.

WPCNR contacted Thompson & Bender, official spokes organization for Cappelli Enterprises with a question as to whether the $110 Million figure was accurate and how the cleanup cost $50 Million. Mr. Bender said he would release the statement Cappelli Enterprises has issued to the Journal News on the tax credits. Herewith is the text of that statement in its entirety:

 

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WPCNR VIEW FROM THE UPPER DECK. By Bull Allen. July 13, 2007: I watched the All-Star Game on Fox Sports Tuesday night, and it is no wonder baseball ratings are in the dumpster. The producers and sportscasters doing the game are more interested in developing cutaway bits and interviews during the action than covering the action. They are so bored doing a game. A little excitement please? They overlook stories right before their eyes, and in striving to keep fans at home entertained, the “Fox 5” completely blew coverage of the historic Ichiro Suzuki inside-the-park home run. It was reminiscent of the Heidi Game…and never interviewed him afterwards….incredible.

Old Comiskey Park. Site of the first All Star Game in 1933.

With the game tight in the mid-innings, the Ichiro Inside-the-Parker was immediately preceded by Fox Sports version of “Stupid Dog  Tricks.”

In the middle of the inning  mind you, they were showing viewers  a remote on a boat in McCovey Cove beyond the right field fence. So as the world is watching a  a very ugly uncute dog swim around in circles in the cove after a ball, missing it like Bobby Abreu —BOOM! The baseball Gods made Fox Producers directors and sportscasters look like fools.

Cut back to the action, and Ichiro’s ball is misplayed by Griffey in right and Ichiro is flying around the bases faster than Maury Wills. Baseball’s most electrifying play — the Inside the Park Home Run.

Does Fox pick it up. They are behind the play.

The camera in rightfield fails to pick up where the ball caroms too! Or the director failed to switch to it. Soooooo…..we do not see what the first baseman is doing on that play. We do not see the reverse angle!!!  This is a classic moment in All-Star history and Fox blows it technically because they are covering a swimming dog in a cove instead of focusing on the game. Baseball is a game that is fraught with disaster at any moment. It requires consistent vigilance and concentration more than any other sport.

The technical and producing team not only blew that one – the announcers did, too.

Where was the commentary about “back-up?” No way Ichiro comes all the way around if the first baseman is watching that ball, coming up the right field line to get it. Do Joe Buck, Tim McCarver and the other geniuses pick that up….Noooooo! That was so bad.

The game was peppered with interviews during play, which deflect the fan’s attention from the game. We did not learn a lot about the players except some of their indiosyncratic habits. The clutter of interview bit after hitter slide and profile, detracts from the languid surface tension of “the game.”

Now, this is plate umpire Bruce Froeming’s last  year as a Man in Blue. Do we have a clip on Bruce as to how umpiring has changed? (not during the telecast of the game – maybe in the pregame). Do we have clips of Froeming’s famous punch out call. No all they can do is focus in on when Bruce gets hit in the shoulder by a foul tip. That’s brutally missing the story. Froeming has umpired over 5,000 games, right up their with The Old Arbiter, Bill Klem. Could we talk with Mr. Froeming how the strike zone has changed and what Bruce feels it has meant for the game? Of course not. That would be journalism.

Could we ask Barry Bonds if he took steroids and see what his answer is? What he thought of Babe Ruth as a hitter?  (Barry was interviewed live, you could have slipped it in.) Where are the Jim Greys with guts today? I guess at the network salary levels no one has any reporter left in him, because the young man who interviewed him probably would have been fired had he asked that question.

Could the pathetic Wally Cox of sportscasters, Joe Buck, stop telling us it is “a good game?”

We know, Joe. We know. Never apologize for baseball. At least we do not have to wait for “plays under reviews” yet.

 Fans know a good game, Joe. Television sportscasters, and Buck is one of the worst at this, make a habit of telling us what a great game, great play is. Well fans know. I wish they’d stop doing that – all of you.

Where are the great understatements of yesteryear when something wonderful happens: Joe Buck’s father’s call:  “I don’t believe what I just saw!”   Mel’s “How about that?”  Bob Prince’s “How Sweet it is.”

Dick Enberg’s “Oh, My!” Red’s “Oh, doctor!” Phil’s “Holy Cow!”

Today’s ESPN school of sportscasters have no personalities. That is one think the New York area has are baseball guys and gals behind the mikes. The Mets team is outstanding, but lack the big personality guy…Cohen is close to big personality — but he’s not there yet. John Sterling in the Yankee booth — well he is terrible on radio from a descriptive point but he is a good personality while Suzyn Waldman is excellent in her knowledge of players and situations. Waldman should be allowed to do a little play-by-play…but I digress.

Oh — and could we think perhaps of interviewing The Great Ichiro about the Inside-the-Parker? The Japanese fans watching on the Pacific Rim would have loved that.

Mr. Suzuki holds the record for most hits in a season of all time. (See the WPCNR archives for the story on Mr. Suzuki breaking that record — held previously by Gorgeous George Sisler.

And, by the way, Ichiro does not use steroids.

That was pretty awful programming not putting Mr. Suzuki on — unless I missed it getting a beer from the fridge. If they interviewed Ichiro I apologize…but they should have had him on at the end of the game, too, if they did. But they did not have him on right after he hit it.

The geniuses also did not make a big think of Puholz not being used at the end of the game. I was not even aware of it. In fact, the Fox 5-team did a terrible job of telling us who had not been used in the game.

Hey Fox, you’re missing a good game – every game. Watch one you televise sometime.

Yankees and Red Sox won Thursday night. The Saux lead is still 10 games and 11 in the AILC — (“The All-Important Loss Column”). Mets won too, picking up a half game on the Bravos (2-1/2 games in the AILC)

 

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. July 11, 2007: City Sales Tax Receipts for the final quarter of the fiscal year 2007-2007 will set a record, according to City Chief Financial Officer, Gina Cuneo-Harwood, speaking to WPCNR this morning. Harwood said she is expecting one final payment report and that city sales tax numbers for the final quarter should set a record. The city was projecting $43 Million in the 2007-2008 budget passed in May.

Gina Cuneo-Harwood, City Chief Financial Officer, center at the City Budget & Management
Committee in February, 2007. Her good news on sales tax she gave then, appears to be holding up into the fourth quarter.

At of the end of the third quarter, the city had collected $34 Million in sales taxes for 2006-2007.  The First Quarter clocked in at $10 Million; second quarter, 11.9 Million, and for the third, $12.1 Million, totalling $34 Million and change. Should the city take in $10 Million the city will attain the $44 Million level in sales tax with a full year of Wal-Mart, providing a surplus over what was budgeted for 2007-2008. 

If the final quarter does at least as well as last year’s April-May-June final quarter handle of $9.4 Million, the budget target of $43 Million will be achieved. If the April-May-June quarter, marked by excellent weather and very warm days, hits $10 to $11 Million or more  a surplus of up to $3 Million may be reached. The best White Plains has ever done in the October-November-December make-or-break quarter was reached last December with $11.9 Million in the till, meaning the city may be turning the corner in their budget struggle.