WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES. | WHITE PLAINS WESTCHESTER DAILY NEWS SERVICE VISITS SINCE 2000 A.D. 25TH YEARl REPORTING THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW News Service Since 2000 A.D. 2026 WILL BE OUR 26TH YEAR OF COVERING WHITE PLAINS NEW YORK USA . John F. Bailey, Editor (914) 997-1607 wpcnr@aol.com Cell: 914-673-4054. News Politics Personalities Neighborhoods Schools Finance Real Estate Commentary Reviews Policy Correspondence Poetry Philosophy Photojournalism Arts. The WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER. TELEVISION: "White Plains Week" News Roundup, 7:30 EDT FRI, 7 EDT MON & the incisive "People to Be Heard" Interview Program 8PM EDT THURS, 7 PM EDT SAT on FIOS CH 45 THROUGHOUT WESTCHESTER AND, ALTICE OPTIMUM WHITE PLAINS CH 1300 Fighting for Truth, Justice and the American Way. TOP 10 VISITORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD :1. USA. 2.BRAZIL3.VIET NAM 4. CHINA 5. JAPAN 6.UK. 7.CANADA. 8.INDIA. 9.AUSTRALIA 10.IRELAND 11.GERMANY 12..ARGENTINA 13.BANGLADESH 14.RUSSIA. 15.NEWZEALAND. 16. FRANCE. 17.MEXICO. 18.UKRAINE. 19.SOUTH AFVRICA. 20. IRAQ.

Spitzer Linked to Prostitution in Fed Tape. Apologizes- to Take Time With Family

Posted on March 10, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From Wire Reports. March 10, 2008: The New York Times reported today Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York was heard on a Federal wire tap arranging to meet with a high priced prostitute in Washington D.C. last month The recording was made by federal investigators in the course of their investigation of a high-priced call girl ring, identified as the Emperors Club VIP. The governor is reported to have told his closest aids of his being implicated in the wiretap, and this information was leaked to The New York Times which published the information ontheir website early this afternoon.

According to WCBS Radio correspondent Irene Cornell broadcast on NewsRadio 88, according to the court papers, Mr. Spitzer (identified as Client # 9 on the wiretap tape) spent two hours with a prostitute in Washington D.C., on Valentine’s Day, and paid her $4,800 cash for her services. Cornell reported the Governor had been under investigation since last summer in regards to “a money trail,” involving Emperors Club.

Governor Eliot Spitzer on Day One: His Inaugural Day.January 1, 2007

Today, (Day 435) he apologized to the State and his family.

In a news conference at 2:15 PM today, Governor Spitzer apologized for acting in a way that violated his obligations to the people of New York and his family. He said he would be spending time with his family. The quote:

“In my eight years as attorney general and one as governor, I tried to uphold a vision of progressive politics that would rebuild New York and create opportunity for all.

“We sought to bring real change to New York and that will continue. Today, I want to briefly address a private matter. I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and it violates my, or any sense of right and wrong. I apologize first, and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public whom I promised better. I do not believe that politics in the long run is about individuals. It is about ideas, the public good, and doing what is best for the state of New York. But I’ve dissappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself.

I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family. will not be taking questions. Thank you very much. I will report back to you in short order.”

Not One More Tree.

Posted on March 10, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR GLOBAL GAZETTE. News & Comment by Smokey The Bear as told to John Bailey. March 10, 2008: As the Renaissance of White Plains stalls in its tracks because of developers approved for projects not being willing to proceed because of tight money or fear the projects will not fillup with buyers, only one development is undergoing the approval process – The Venue. The chi-chi mall proposal for Bloomingdale Road.

Smokey Says — Only You Can Prevent Global Warming in White Plains and The Venue Would Be a Good Place to Start.

As The Venue , connected with all the right players in development in White Plains, goes before the council, and receives the usual political once-over, an important event occurred in the last month that dramatically effects it:

The County Executive’s Conference on Global Warming and his lofty goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the county by 20% by 2015 and 80% by 2050.

A tree breathes carbon dioxide through its leaves and turns it into oxygen through photosynthesis (thank you, eighth grade Biology!). So, for every tree development cuts down, the developer instantly ups the carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere increasing global warming.

In any consideration of developments in the future, if the county and each of its towns and cities is serious about cutting emissions, and the County Executive is not just whistling a public relations tune on global warming (which he, the District Attorney, and others have been known to do so in the past – remember the gang initiative?) .

Every tree cut down by a proposed development has to be replaced perhaps with two new trees, or three or 30 – somewhere, whatever the immature tree to the mature tree ratio of carbon dioxide reduction meets . Otherwise, the global warming initiative of the County Executive cannot hope to succeed.

Arborcide Assault Escalates Global Warming.

In another intriguing development plans were referred to departments for The Venue a 15 store plus restaurant shopping center at 120 Bloomingdale Road, across the way from Bloomingdale’s department store. It is described as a 46,000 square foot retail development to go on the parking lot of the former Nestle building (currently the offices of the New York State Department of Labor). The site is shown above, across from the entrance of Bloomingdale’s, looking West. The shopping center would be built on the parking lot.

So, in addition to its Environmental review, White Plains should apply a new standard – the global warming impact review – to consider approval of The Venue.

Last August, the school district “accidently” cut down about a hundred trees at its high school on a whim. They are now replacing those trees.

The Venue development is going to take away a good 100 trees. That’s a lot of carbon dioxide. On this basis alone The Venue should be denied – if you’re serious about global warming carbon dioxide reduction.

The city should as part of any Special Permit granted charge The Venue developers a fee to replant trees around the city to replace the trees they destroy. However the fee should be proportionate – replacing the number of young trees needed to replace the mature tree carbon dioxide removal capacity.

Is this unreasonable?

I do not think so – if the Democrat Common Council is serious about following through on their idol Andrew Spano’s refreshing global warming initiative.

Let’s do it, Common Council.

Let’s make The Venue developers our poster child for responsible development in the new era of the County Executive’s Global Warming initiative. Development that develops without contributing to the end of our planet.

The Run, Part 2: White Plains Run to their 4th Gold Ball in 4 Years

Posted on March 9, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR COURTSIDE. By “Rims” Sheehan. March 9, 2008 Part 2 of 2 Parts: Mount Vernon (MV) had a 21-1 record, had beaten WP twice in the regular season, was ranked the #2 girls team in the State, had averaged 75 points a game in the playoffs and had three star players – guard Taylor Palmer, forward Kwinyatta Mercer and center Nadia Duncan – all of whom could easily score in double figures. WP had already over achieved by getting to the County Center and getting to the finals. Should they just be happy to take their picture at center court and try not to look bad against the top ranked Lady Knights?

Here’s the story of that game.

Another Photograph for the Wall

Photos by Tim Sheehan

But coming this far emboldened the Tigers, who knew that they had three good defenders (Tharkur, Hayward and Aguirre) to try and stop the MV big three scoring machine, while the other starters (Rexhepi and Fields) could also keep the MV 4^th and 5^th scorers in check as well. Then WP brought out its good luck charm, former WP star and present Penn basketball player, Kim Adams (below), who traveled from Quaker land to the County Center to cheer her team on.

Once A Tiger, always a Tiger: Kim Adams, now playing for Penn, leader of last year’s Champions lent her support.

MV came out hard and gave WP a taste of its own medicine, with a tough man to man defense and a trap press that reminded me of the choking defense that Nottingham used in the first half of the State championship 3 years ago. But WP defense did make MV work for its shots at the other end, and Angelei Aguirre slashed her way to the hole enough to get WP back into the game. Then WP took the lead at half 19 -16 and the County center was abuzz with the smell of upset, particularly because basketball aficionados knew that a low scoring game favored underdog White Plains.

WP’s Aguirre, Tharkur and Heywood did a great job of limiting the MV big 3 to just one quarter of good offense (Duncan had 7 in 2d Q, Mercer had 7 in 3d Q and Palmer had 5 in 2d) each, which prevented an offensive explosion that all in the house knew MV was capable of. Significantly, MV’s Mercer and Palmer hit their 3’s on open looks but those were limited and they did not shoot well with a WP hand in their face the rest of the time, all of which led to the lowest scoring output (40) for the MV season.

WP scoring was kept alive by Aguirre’s all world performance during the first three quarters but she was finally outscored by her team in the 4th Quarter, with Rexhepi scoring her only 5 points at crucial times, including a dagger 3 pointer with 1:33 left to give WP some breathing room. MV’s press started to fall apart as Valde Hayward began to dribble up the sideline and Angelei Aguirre could not be stopped, as she scored 33 points.

All in all, a great upset win and an unprecedented 4^th consecutive gold ball for a Cinderella WP team, which leads to a team celebration at midcourt and a television interview for Angelei Aguirre (see below)

The Gold Ball Back in the Tiger Den

Ms Aguirre Interviewing with News12 Sports Anchor Walt Fowler

REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

March 4, 2008 at New Paltz vs. Kingston

Section 9 champion Kingston, who beat WP in the regional finals last year, lost star Lindsey Timbrouk but kept point guards Rachel Coffey and Amanda Horvers, one a lightening quick point guard and the other a deadly 3 point shooter. After shutting down the high powered MV offensive stars, did the WP lady Tigers have enough gas in the tank on one day’s rest to deal with the Kingston backcourt duo?

The game started off sluggishly for WP, who trailed 12-4 after the first quarter (Shelby Fields had the four points for WP) and 27-16 at half, though Angelei Aguirre scored all 12 points for WP and it seemed that they might shake off the cobwebs for the second half.

In the second half, WP’s lackluster play continued at both ends of the court. Coffey was slicing her way through the WP defense and Horvers was left open too often for her trademark 3 pointer. On offense, WP could not respond when Kingston packed the zone against Angelei Aguirre and dared the other WP players to shoot the ball.

Unfortunately, WP’s best outside shooter, Danika Rexhepi was stone cold and didn’t score until the 4^th quarter. With no outside threat to stretch the Kingston defense, the Kingston packed-in zone prevented Angelei from penetrating and forced her to take off balance shots from farther out.

Coach Adams Center Encourages one More Tiger Rally

However, WP dug down and came back, closing the gap to 7 points with just over 4 minutes left. Angelei launched a 3 pointer that just missed and Danika threw up 2 more that went “in and out” – any of which could have cut the gap. The bottom line was that WP players just ran out of gas and could not sustain another grueling man to man defensive effort on such short rest.

One silver lining to playing the game was the fact that Angelei Aguirre scored her 1000^th High School point in the game and had a chance to pose with her family after the game.

Ultimately, the regional loss did nothing to tarnish WP’s improbable playoff run which resulted in an unexpected and unprecedented 4^th Gold Ball. Congratulations to the players and Coaches Adams, Flooks and Owen for a job well done.

Mark Aguirre with his daughter Angelei and Family — Ms. Angelei’s 33 point performance against Mount Vernon — when she was being triple teamed and MV could not stop her — was Jordaneaque! It was one of the great individual performances you will ever see and those who saw it unfold will never forget it.

Next year, coming back, the Tigers will have junior Shelby Fields (who improved greatly despite only playing basketball for a few months — she shut down Ursuline’s Sferra and North Rockland’s Mary Abram with great defense, and junior Bree Bradley (who did not play in the playoffs due to illness), plus sophomore Mishara Aguirre (she’s at far left in photo above ) as a nucleus. They also have some potentially good freshman guards coming in and, just like this year, might do much better than expected.

The win over MV this year was as big an upset as the Jets over the Colts in Super bowl 3!

Condo Heads Oppose 18 Cell Antenna Deal at 30 Lake. Seek Forum to Stop Deal.

Posted on March 8, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS WIRED. By John F. Bailey March 8, 2008: A meeting called by owners of condominiums at 30 Lake Street enlisting the aid of other Condominium building Presidents in the city, has raised indignant opposition to a contract where Verizon would install 18 cell phone antennas on the roof of 30 Lake Street. The residents of 30 Lake Street and the representatives of two other condominium apartments in the area were seeking a public forum to vent the safety issues of cellphone antenna concentration in the downtown and in close proximity to Eastview School, the middle school.

No “Cell-Out” Just Yet. Residents of 30 Lake Street and two Condominium Presidents of neighboring buildings discuss the 18-cell antennas proposed for the Lake Street building. (Adjacent to Clayton Park, in the immediate vicinity of Eastview School.

At the meeting Saturday morning, two condominium Presidents chided the 30 Lake Street Condominium Board for not presenting both sides of the cellphone radiation health effects to the Lake Street residents. The two Presidents also resented that the Lake Street building had not informed them of the plan to increase (by 18 antennas) the amount of cell transmissions beaming across the city at their buildings. It was made clear at the meeting that federal communications law did not allow towns and cities to deny cell antenna locations for health reasons.

At the meeting, Drago asked the Lake Street board if they would put the matter of whether to go ahead with the installation to a vote of the entire ownership. A member of the board said the board would not comment until they spoke to the Board’s lawyers. At this point the matter of a condominium owner wide referendum on the cell phone arrangement appeared moot.

The President of the Board said they had used a city consultant to evaluate whether the antennas were safe, and they had been assured it was. He said the board had referred residents to websites for further information. This did not go over well with two condominium presidents of other buildings in the city. One termed this information gather “absolutely ludicrous.”

Robert Marshall, a resident of 30 Lake Street, speaking with WPCNR noted that his concern was with risk assessment to future condo value, possible future health risks that might be discovered. He said that the matter was in the process of applying for a permit to build the antennas.

Steve Drago, a 30 Lake Street resident, who has lead the opposition to the plan where the Lake Street building would receive $40,000 a year for 25 years in return for the antenna installation, called the meeting, and invited Councilman Glen Hockley to observe. Drago noted that though the 25 year deal was irrevokable and the contract signed by the Board, he felt that if enough community opposition surfaced, Verizon may back off the deal.

Bill Palmer, President of the 30 Lake Street Condominium Board denied his board had not conducted appropriate due diligence, noting that the deal had been planned for a decade, and only now that the organization had gone ahead with the project, had opposition surfaced.

Coucilman Hockley will lobby for a forum if Mayor does not.`

Councilman Glen Hockley addressing the meeting said that if the Mayor of the city, Joseph Delfino was not inclined to pursue a public forum on the perceived threat to health of the cell antennas, he would attempt to join with another member of the Common Council to place such a hearing on the council agenda. Hockley said he would only intervene if the Mayor was not inclined to pursue the matter. Hockley said there was conflicting information on the safety or non-safety of cell antennas from what he had discovered.

The Run: White Plains Girls Never-to-be-Forgotten Run to the 4th Gold Ball

Posted on March 8, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR COURTSIDE. By “Rims” Sheehan. March 8, 2008: The White Plains Lady Tigers loss to Kingston in the Regional Semifinals Tuesday night in New Paltz did nothing to diminish the Cinderella season turned in by this fine group of student athletes. A recap of this amazing season and the improbable run through the playoffs that resulted in an unprecedented 4th consecutive Gold Ball (Section 1 Championship), won at the County Center, when White Plains knocked off the Number 2 team in the State Rankings, the Mount Vernon Lady Knights. Here is the first of a two–part recap of another season to remember:

How About That? The 2008 Section 1 Basketball Champions.

Photos by Tim Sheehan.

Going into the playoffs, White Plains draws a 10 seed based upon a 10-10 record that mixed some quality wins with some head scratching losses. Nonetheless, the team improved from its opening game loss to Maria Regina and under the tutelage of Coaches Sue Adams, Debbie Flooks and Laura Owen, and late season rematches with Section powerhouses Ursuline and Mt. Vernon – though losses – were much closer games. In fact, WP was leading MV by a point with less than a minute left and was the only team to hold the high scoring Lady Knights under 50 points in the regular season.

OPENING ROUND

February 15 at John Jay East Fishkill vs. #7 seed Patriots

I had a tear in my eye as I entered the “Skip Ransom” gym where I once played high school ball. It was easy to root against the alma matter when they came down to play WP in the regular season – won by WP – but it would be tougher to do that here. WP’s early season win against JJEF was fueled by the emergence of two defensive stars for WP, as senior Simone Tharkur smothered JJEF scoring ace Caitlynn Moran and sophomore Shelby Fields stifled JJEF’s lefty center Kristin McIntyre. Could WP hold JJEF’s “M & M” girls off in their home gym on the rematch?

Where’s 44?

The answer was yes, as WP mixed man to man coverage with match up zone to take a 3 point lead at halftime. In the second half, the defense concentrated on stopping JJEF’s Moran (#44). Even the traveling Tiger rooters, notably including former NBA superstar Mark Aguirre, were attuned to the whereabouts of #44. Aguirre’s booming voice – “Don’t lose #44, Stay on her – could be heard all over the gym. At one point, it seemed that Moran turned around to find out who was calling out her number from the stands.

By the third quarter, WP had an 8 point lead. WP senior Angelei Aguirre was humming along at both ends of the court, assisted on offense by a high/low post setup with Shelby Fields. This created space for Aguirre in the low blocks and she scored 36 points to lead WP to a first round upset of the lower seeded Patriots. JJEF’s Moran had 21 points but Kristin McIntyre (seen guarding Aguirre, below) was held to just 8 points.

QUARTERFINALS

February 20, at Number 2 seed Ursuline

Though Ursuline beat WP twice in the regular season, the second game was much closer and it is said that it is tough to beat the same team 3 times in one season. This fueled the Tigers as they invaded the cramped Ursuline gym looking for both redemption and revenge.

It was a tight fought game for the first half and though Ursuline star Shelby Sferra was forced to the bench early in the second quarter, Ursuline was still ahead by 5 points when WP star Angelei Aguirre was whistled for her second foul with less than 2 minutes left in the half. With Aguirre forced to grab some bench, Ursuline had to feel pretty good and seemed poised to add to their lead. However, instead of folding without their star scorer, WP scored a couple of quick hoops, the last on a nice drive by Valde Hayward, and took a one point lead going into the locker room that stunned the Ursuline crowd.

In the third quarter, Ursuline focused too much of their defense on stopping Aguirre, who found open teammates as easily as he hits her pull up jumper. She fed teammates Shelby Fields and Valde Hayward for layups and outside shooter Danika Rexhempi hit some key buckets as well as the WP Tiger scoring was spread out rather nicely and WP maintained its slim lead going into the 4^th quarter.

A key sequence occurred with about 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter, with WP trying to extend a 5 point lead and Ursuline trying to get back into the game. Shelby Fields missed a short shot, two Ursuline defenders seemingly had the rebound scooped up and all other players headed up the Court. All except one—WP’s Simone Tharkur—who poked the ball loose, scrambled to snare it and instead of waiting for her teammates to come back for help, went right back up to the hole and got fouled. She converted a foul shot to extend the lead and Ursuline just could not get it together after that.

Ripping the Koalas at the Charity Stripe

Ursuline was forced to foul WP for the last 3 minutes of the game in order to try and get the ball back. WP hit enough of their foul shots (see above) and stopped Ursuline from getting open three point shots and secured the next upset win 62-54. Moreover, Shelby Fields stopped Ursuline star Shelby Fields from dominating inside and Valde Hayward and Simone Tharkur stopped Ursuline guards from driving or spotting up for easy 3 point shots. Aguirre led the Tigers with 23 points while Valde Hayward scored 13.

On to the County Center for a 4^th straight year!

SECTION SEMIFINALS

February 28 at the County Center against #6 seed North Rockland

North Rockland beat WP in the regular season, had Division I player Mary Abrams and two other girls over 6 feet tall and scored 78 points in its quarterfinals upset of #5 seed Ossining.

Raiders Stymied by the Women in Black

The first quarter was low scoring for both sides as they got used to the much larger confines and crowds of the County Center. Using a suffocating man to man defense, with an occasional zone, the Tigers began pressuring the NR guards and made it difficult for them to get the ball inside to their tall low post players.

By halftime, WP had opened up a 9 point lead 29-15. Angelei Aguirre had 16 for WP while NR star Mary Abrams had only 2 points. In the third quarter, WP scored 9 points but the story of the quarter was the Tiger defense, which completely shut out NR, who scored ZERO POINTS.

North Rockland scored a couple of three pointers in the closing minutes to make it somewhat closer but WP prevailed 41 to 29. Angelei Aguirre had 18, while Danika Rexhepi had 17 points for the victorious Tigers. Amazingly, NR star Abrams never scored again after her first bucket!

(Tommorrow: The Championship Round)

Push In on Coolidge. 3 Charged. Key Officers in Arrests Saluted for Their Work.

Posted on March 6, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. UPDATED 5 PM EST, MARCH 7, 2008: Police are investigating the motives behind a home invasion on Coolidge Avenue off Soundview Avenue Wednesday night. According to Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Daniel Jackson. Thursday afternoon police announced three suspects had been apprehended and charged with burglary in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon.

“On Coolidge, two subjects pushed their way into the home, which was occupied by a woman and her children. Both subjects were armed. The woman was able to call us and we responded. The two subjects were apprehended in the area and two handguns were recovered. There may have been another subject who remained outside that fled the area. MTA, County, and Greenburgh canines assisted, as well as the helicopter. Motive under investigation. Both subjects were from the Bronx.”

White Plains police officers Hart, Ford, Bucci, Kearny, Carenas and Suben pursued the subjects. Officers Hart and Ford arrested Juan Polanco and recovered a Ruger 45 caliber handgun. Shortly thereafter, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Lieutenant Kerwick and his K-9 “Hero”arrested Carlos Mercado and recovered a Smith & Wesson 40 caliber handgun. The third subject, Leo Sosa, surrendered yesterday.

At a news conference Thursday aftertoon, Commissioner of Public Safety Dr. Frank Straub announced that three suspects had been taken into custody. Two suspects were apprehended Wednesday night as described in the vicinity of 20 Coolidge Avenue, a home owned by the Sanchez Family. Straub said the suspects and the Sanchez family members knew each other, and this figured into why the break-in was attempted. A third suspect surrendered voluntary this morning.

Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Daniel Jackson said the Sanchez family owned bodegas in the Port Chester vicinity that offered ATM machines. Straub said the family a business known to deal with a lot of cash and speculated this was why the brother, sister and sister’s son who were in the house at the time of the push-in were targeted. The suspects have been charged with Burglary in the First Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon. The guns recovered from the scene are being processed, Straub said, by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and County labs at this time.

Straub said the sister hid in the bathroom when the suspects first entered the home at gunpoint, and dialed 911 at 10: 11 PM.. Straub said White Plains units arrived within two minutes and secured a perimeter, and the Greenburgh and County Police came in to assist.

At which point two suspects fled the house, one surrendering, and another fled into the night, eventually being apprehended and secured by the MTA (not Greenburgh as first reported) Canine Officer and his dog.

The Police Dog cornered and kept the suspect at bay until the Greenburgh officer secured the suspect, while in communication with a Westchester County Department of Public Safety helicopter hovering overhead “lighting up the scene.” The officer informed the helicopter he was affecting an arrest, and Deputy Commissioner Jackson said, the officer’s assurances he was in control relayed to the helicopter kept the officer from harm thanks to the seamless communication with them.

Commissioner Straub thanked the Town of Greenburgh Police Department, the MTA Police, the County Police Department for working with the WPPD in such harmony and coordination. Mayor Joseph Delfino thanked all the officers involved for their performance.

Action in the Afternoon

Commissioner Jackson also provided these details on the high speed chase along the Cross Westchester Expressway Wednesday afternoon through White Plains in a seperate scenario: “The chase was initiated in Yonkers by Yonkers PD. It ended in the Garetson/Chadwick area. We assisted in the search which resulted in two apprehensions. There were several accidents during the chase. At least 1 on Westchester Ave. Apparently, the incident was drug related. Yonkers has the details on the arrest.”

Feiner Questions County Response to the Metro North Shut Down

Posted on March 4, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR’S THE FEINER REPORT. By Paul Feiner. Greenburgh Town Supervisor. February 4, 2008:

WAS THE COUNTY/METRO NORTH PREPARED AFTER METRO NORTH ANNOUNCED THAT
THERE WAS NO SERVICE IN AND OUT OF GRAND CENTRAL STATION ON Tuesday,
March 4th?

SHOULD THE COUNTY HAVE HAD A PLAN TO SEND MORE BUSES?

SHOULD BUSES HAVE HONORED METRO NORTH TICKETS?

SHOULD MORE E MAIL INFORMATION ALERTS HAVE BEEN SENT OUT?
WAS THE EMERGENCY PHONE SYSTEM ADEQUATE?

WHAT DO YOU THINK? IF YOU WERE A COMMUTER ON TUESDAY AND WOULD LIKE TO
SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES…PLEASE POST THEM ON MY BLOG:

WWW.PFEINER.BLOGSPOT.COM OR E MAIL ME AT PFEINER@GREENBURGHNY.COM. I
WILL SHARE YOUR COMMENTS WITH METRO NORTH, THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE AND
OFFICIALS INVOLVED IN EMERGENCY PREPARATION.

Paul Feiner

THE FOLLOWING E MAIL WAS SENT TO ME BY LINDA GARFUNKEL, A COMMUTER FROM
TARRYTOWN:

Paul, it is 8 PM, and I am lucky enough to be home. I have just heard
on WCBS radio that Grand Central Station is chaotic, and that trains
are still running late.

I am on the e-mail list for Westchester County government and for Metro
North. Mid afternoon today, I recieved an e-mail from Metro North
saying that there was no service in and out of GCS. I figured that I
should find another way to get home. Since the BeeLine bus runs near my
office, I decided to look at their website. In doing so, I noticed that
one can only use coins or their commuter card to pay for the trip. I
figured that in an emergency situation like this, there would be
exception to the rule.

So I tried calling the BeeLine bus service. It
took 15 minutes to get through. When I finally got through to a
“customer” service representative, she was quite nasty and told me that
I needed exact change and that I should go to a bank to get the change.

I went though my wallet, our petty cash plus all the people in my office
to try and come up with $5.00 worth of change. She told me that I could
not use my Metro North commuter pass, becasuse there was no cross
acceptance of those cards on the buses.

Seems to me that when something
like this happens on LI, there are emergency buses set up to get people
from one place to another. No such thing exists in Westchester.

I called the County Executive’s office, because I was unsatisfied with the
response by the customer service person at Bee Line. I left a message,
because nobody answered the phone in the County Executive’s office.

I might add that there was no emergency number set up for people to call
to find out what the county was doing to help its residents who were
stuck in the city. At about 4:45 PM, I received a message from Metro
North alerting its riders that they could take NY transit trains for
free from Grand Central Station to various northern stops on three
subway lines that would bring us close to Metro North stops north of
125th Street (in the Bronx).

Knowing how crowded those subway trains would be and finally scraping up $5.00 worth of change, I was going to take the Bee Line bus home. At about 4:50 or so, a friend of mine
called to tell me that the trains were running again. In all this time,
not one word via e-mail from Westchester County to offer assistance or
provide guidance.

So I went to Grand Central Station. On my way, I
passed huge lines for the BeeLine bus at 54th Street and Madison.

Maybe, they did not get the word that the trains were running again!
When I got to the board at the northern entrance, there were only 3
platforms for 3 trains listed on that board. Everybody stood around
praying that there train would be on a platform soon!

There was no Metro North person there to advise people as to what was happening.
Finally, my train platform was posted, and I, like others ran to the
train, not knowing when it would leave.

When we got to the train, we waited a good 5 or 6 minutes for the doors to open.

Then we waited another 10 minutes for the train to leave. Since I had a nice comfy
seat, I was ok. The conductor announced that once we passed 125th
Street, the train would be speeding to Tarrytown.

I knew something was wrong with that, because of all the people who had been directed to take
subways! So at some point, the conductor announced that we had to stop
at Marble Hill to pick up the people who had taken the subway. It did
not take a rocket scientist to understand that.

When the train stopped at Marble Hill, and plenty of people got on the train, I asked one
person what happened on the platform there. He told me that 4 trains
passed Marble Hill w/o even stopping. Apparently, somebody forgot to
tell the conductors that they should stop for those people!! At
Tarrytown, there should have been police directing the overload of
traffic.

I lived through 9/11 and getting out of the city. I commandeered an
empty school bus on 101st Street and Madison Avenue during the power
outage a few years ago to take scores of us to Westchester.

At that time, I complained to the county that they had no plan for a disaster.
You would think that after all these years, that the county would be
prepared to send more buses, honor Metro North commuter tickets, add
police to spots where they should be needed, send out an e-mail
informing people what is being done, set up an emergency phone number
for people to call to dispense information.

Unfortunately, none of this was done, and there should be some accounting and some explanation.

Thanks.

Linda R. Garfunkel
Tarrytown, NY 10591

Tigers Fall to Kingston, Ending Another Run at the States

Posted on March 4, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR COURTSIDE. February 4, 2008: Kingston defeated White Plains High’s Girls Basketball team today in New Paltz, 52-33 ending the Tigers’ fourth straight trip to the State Championships. White Plains ended the season with a record of 15-11, capturing their fourth consecutive Section 1 Class A Championship.

Yonkers Can’t Use Gestapo Tactics Against the Press, Judge Rules

Posted on March 4, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR PRESS ROOM. From Westchester Guardian. March 4, 2008: U.S District Court Judge Charles Brieant ruled that Yonkers and its Administration Practiced Content Based Discrimination when selectively targeting the Guardian Newspaper and confiscating their Newsracks and subjecting Sam Zherka the Publisher and his employees to criminal summonses and threats of arrest for distributing the Guardian in Yonkers NY.

Sam Zherka, says this is a great Victory for the Press and the First Amendment.

County Association Seeks Private Investors to Build a New Tappan Zee Bridge.

Posted on March 4, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR TAPPAN ZEE TIMES. From Westchester County Association. March 4, 2008: Citing the New York State Comptroller’s recent assertion that New York State literally cannot afford to pay for a replacement or even a major rehabilitation of the Tappan Zee Bridge—estimated at more than $14 billion—The Westchester County Association (WCA) today announced that it is aggressively exploring privatization of the bridge as perhaps the only practical way to resolve the bridge crisis. The Comptroller suggested a public/private partnership approach to the problem.

William Mooney, President of the Westchester County Association in January with Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano, at the WCA Breakfast with Andy Spano event, when Mr. Spano called for private investment to take over infrastructure improvements.

William M. Mooney, Jr., President of the area’s preeminent business organization, said that the WCA has reached out to a number of Wall Street firms that have started ”infrastructure funds.” He said: “The burden of maintaining and repairing infrastructure elements such as the Tappan Zee Bridge that was built in the 1950s is becoming financially prohibitive for government entities. This arguably is the single most crucial element in our regional infrastructure, and it would be irresponsible to not explore all alternatives to financing reconstruction.”

”In Europe, a shift toward privatization has been underway for quite some time. Now, there is growing interest in the U.S. as evidenced by both states and cities exploring the sale of leases for the turnpikes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, a toll road in Texas and Chicago’s Midway Airport.”

Mooney added, “We believe that elected officials have the responsibility to explore all avenues to finance our infrastructure, both public and private, to find the best solutions to maintain and upgrade our infrastructure in a way that will not put an additional tax burden on the citizens of Westchester County.”

Last October, the WCA’s Property Tax Reform Commission recommended that privatization be considered to address the county’s infrastructure problems, notably the Tappan Zee Bridge “With state and local leaders scrambling for cash to solve fiscal problems, conditions are now ripe to put privatization on the table for our Commission members to probe further,” Mooney added.

He noted that Comptroller DiNapoli “provided a new sense of urgency. By laying it on the line as bluntly as he did, Comptroller DiNapoli has presented our business community and our elected officials with a challenge to seek a creative solution. The band-aid approach of repairing the Tappan Zee Bridge is only a stop-gap. Everyone agrees that the bridge is in dire need of replacement. The question, then, is how that will be funded.”