Chinese Usher In The Year of the Rat at Aberdeen’s

Hits: 0

WPCNR SNAPSHOTS. FEBRUARY 18, 2008: The Chinese New Year was celebrated at Aberdeen’s Chinese Restaurant Saturday, commemorating The Year of the Rat. The rat is revered because, as Councilman Glen Hockley told WPCNR, “the Rat is relentless in its need to sustain itself.”


Mr. Hockley is a tireless supporter of causes in White Plains promoting respect for all cultures. He has supported efforts to do away with hunger in Westchester. He has worked quietly to keep the memory of The Holocaust and what it represents in the conciences of today.  He has lead the ongoing White Plains effort to supply the homeless flood victims of the Dominican Republic this year and has distinguished himself as an organizer for good in the city. More than any other city official, Glen Hockley can be counted on to help.



The event was hosted as it is every year by Aberdeen’s proprietor and host Ricky Ho. A martial arts school entertained all patrons with the traditional dragon dance. Children of all ages, and White Plains Councilman Glen Hockley fed the dragon for good luck.Dummers below create the music for the Dragon Dance.


Posted in Uncategorized

The Outside Steak Beats The Inside Steak Even When its Cold Outside.

Hits: 0

 


WPCNR SOUTHEND LIFE. By The Grillin Gourmet. February 18, 2008: It was a holiday weekend in White Plains and the temperature was in the 20s, but thanks to the chimney charcoal starter and its glowing orange coals, the backyard American barbeque DNA macho in the amateur chef proved once again the equal of the overpriced steak cooked indoors. Steak was raised outside, it was born to be cooked outside, and the barbequed steak puts the Cartier priced Steakhouse in its place!  In this griller’s opinion, ourdoor grilling proves once again to be the equal and superior to the overpriced artificial-tasting steak that sleek decor and atmosphere cannot duplicate backyard orgins. To do real steak right , you have to do it outside on charcoal.


 



Grillin in the 20s: The instinct of generations of the American backyard barbeque tradition passed up from  the cave, enjoyed at Valley Forge, sunk into around chuck wagons on the prairie and up from the Southland  barbeque inbred and passed on from American father to American son – cutting across nationality and station – gives you real steak – not $100 technology enhanced cuts. Flaming charcoal makes steak a living thing in your mouth!



Why pay $100 for a  steak dinner unless your company is paying for it, when you can tap your inner griller and say I can cook steak better?  The difference is the air, the smoke, the way marinade just drips down into the coals and gets into the meat. It’s chemistry! 


 What is it about the American Grillman that’s so special that his or hers backyard cuts beat the insider  professionals’ inflation-friendly ostentatious steaks?


It’s the unique chemistry of being American and charcoal flame. There’s just something about the searing intensity of glowing charcoal combining mystically with the testosterone and instinctual synergy between red meat and the dedicated outdoor griller —  it beats in taste, juiciness and texture the contrived technology of the most expensive restaurant equipment.


No matter how tasty the megabuck meat is in the swank sticker shock steak palaces, there’s always that articificialness packaged taste that marks the indoor steak. The butteryness. The soft crust of the black topped surface of the indoor steak just does not have the nubile grizzled roughhewn flamed yield of the outdoor one-on-one grilled steak.


Only one whose money is easily parted would pay $50 and up for a buttery indoor steak dinner when you can do it yourself in the backyard even in 20 degree weather – the steaks done to perfection with the juices sealed  in.



The chimney starter – the secret to the hot start. No more charcoal fluid needed. Take a copy of The Journal News and scrunch up the news section or the sports section in the bottom of the Chimney Starter. (Experience shows that copies of the Journal News — any Gannett paper — burn better than the New York Times which is very slow-starting)


Pour in a helping of those ultimate black beauties, Kingsford charcoal briquettes into the chimney top. Fifteen minutes before the wife has the sides ready, take a wooden match to the aperatures in the base of the starter and light up the edges of the newsprint. Within 10-15 minutes you’ve got coals a firey orange red. You’re ready to outcook the pros.


 



Eat Your Heart Out, Mr. or Ms. Professional Food Designer!  After the Griller’s wife has marinated the meat –  these Stop and Shop trimmed New York Strips sizzling in the caressing deep searing heat of glowing orange briquettes – 3 minutes a side and deft turning and surgical rareness checks – the seasoned grillista simply has a feel for the meat – passed genetically down from generations of American grillers. The combination of cauldron, flavored steel grill rods and pefect flames creates the branded grillmarks that deliver the natural taste of the backyard steak – impossible to achieve for any price in the tehnologically nuanced, high tech steam tables of today.  No one can do a great cut like you can!


As any redblooded American Grillman will tell you when doing a steak – you can’t deliver a steak by manual or instructions. You have to feel the meat. Feel it cook. You just know its time.


 Every cut is not the same. The American Grilman becomes one with the meat. With eye and knowledge of the hue of red – you just  know  by instinct when she’s done. Cooking is slowed down by moving the meats to the side off the heat to keep the American beauties warm 


With the wife’s deft presentation, sweet potato fries, corn pudding, fresh beans and mushrooms without the sog of infrared glare, the Grillman’s natural art relegates the indoor steak out of the taste sweepstakes.


So next time its cold — keep that grill handy and ready to fire up to get that taste of summer you cannot get in any indoor steakhouse no matter how much you pay.

Posted in Uncategorized

Candidates for School Board Sought. Two Seats Up for Election.

Hits: 0

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. February 17, 2008: The Annual White Plains Board of Education Budget Vote and Election will take place on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008, Noon to 9 P.M., at six voting districts.  Two Board seats will be up for  election, each with a three-year term of office, beginning July 1, 2008. The terms of Bill Pollak and Rosemarie Eller are expiring. It is not known at this time whether Mr. Pollak, a Board member since 2002, and Ms. Eller a member since 2005 will be seeking third and second terms respectively.


 



Rosemarie Eller, left, and Bill Pollak, Board Members at their election in 2005 with Superintendent of Schools, Timothy Connors.



 


Candidates must be United States citizens, 18 years of age or more and residents of White


 


Plains for at least one year.  Petitions are available from Michele Schoenfeld, District Clerk, at


 


5 Homeside Lane.  They must be signed by 100 qualified voters and returned by April 30th.


 


Registration, for qualified voters new to the City, or those who are not registered to vote in


 


general elections, will take place on Saturday, May 3rd, Noon to 5 P.M., at Mamaroneck Avenue


 


School, Nosband Avenue.  A resident who has moved within White Plains during the last year may


 


also change his/her voting address at that time.


 


Absentee ballots are available by application to the District Clerk, for any voter who will not be


 


in White Plains during the time of the election.


 


For further information, please call 422-2071.

Posted in Uncategorized

The Real Deal: Real Weddings — An Autumn Bohemian Soiree

Hits: 0

WPCNR’S THE REAL DEAL. By The Wedding Genie, Jeannie Uyanik, of C&GWeddings. Valentines Day February 14, 2008: February being the month of love and romance, we continue on Valentine’s Day with number two in our series of “Real Weddings.”  It is fitting we feature a few success stories, so to speak, of those who made it through the wedding and now really enjoy the perks of Valentine’s Day stress free!  Each week this month, we will bring you a different couple, at a different time of year, in a different setting, further demonstrating that the only limit to an amazing event is your own imagination. This weekend it’s “A Bohemian Soiree” held this past fall. 


 



The Setting for the Ceremony of


A Bohemian Soiree


 


The Stats:


Date:  September 15, 2007


Location:  632 on Hudson (an old sausage factory turned event space)


Guests: 95


The Bride:  a singer/songwriter and music teacher


The Groom:  a rocker to the core


 




 


 


The entertainment:  Ceremony:  acoustic guitar; Reception:  one of Manhattan’s best DJ’s:  Jason Fioto


 



The Vows


 


The Scene: Candle light took the place of heavy floral arrangements in this intimate and unique venue.  From large aubergine pillars to small tea lights placed in Moroccan tea glasses, almost every square inch was covered in a warm glow.  The non traditional space was made up of several different rooms that allowed guests to sneak off and engage in deep conversations in its many nooks.  Looking up from the ground floor, guests could see straight through to the roof because of the room’s hollow center. 


 



 


The roof deck was a Mecca for relaxation (read: smokers) with its many trellises and a huge Buddha.  The interior design of the space alone made for an easy installation of décor.  Magnificently rich colors and lush draperies, rugs and detailing left the guests supremely impressed. 



 



 


The food:  Immediately following an intimate ceremony, guests were treated to passed cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres.  The built-in art deco-inspired bar served as the bartender’s post all evening.  After a one hour cocktail, a large buffet displayed on an antique farmer’s table was opened to the guests.  Traditional cuisine was offered which reflected this relaxed bride and groom’s wish for everyone to find something they would enjoy.  The elaborate spread of cheeses, fruits, meats, breads and spreads filled the bellies of this dancing crowd. 


 



Jamie and Tony


 


Around 10pm, the table was magically converted into a dessert buffet fit for a king.  Along the entire edge of the table was a never ending tiramisu which was flanked by cream puffs and chocolate fondue.  For guests that were starting to fade, there was an espresso bar and chocolate covered espresso beans.  When it came time for the cake cutting, it was no surprise that this non-traditional bride chose to have her cake iced in chocolate frosting adorned in gold painted leaves. 


 


The Favor:  As guests left the space, tiny paper pyramids filled with the bride’s favorite loose tea were arranged on a table.  The favor reflected the relaxed mood and feel of both the couple and their wedding.  


 



Jeannie Uyanik, Planner to the World writes The Real Deal for WPCNR


The Wedding Genie may be reached  by e-mail with your questions at


 weddinggenie@candgweddings.com


 


 


 

Posted in Uncategorized

County Office Building Out of Juice, then Back On Again. BRP Closed

Hits: 0

WPCNR WEATHER SCOOP. From a White Plains CitizeNetReporter. February 13, 2008 UPDATED: An all day rain preceeded by a snow and ice storm created extensive flooding around Westchester County today. In White Plains, observers report the Bronx River Parkway is closed due to flooding as of late Wednesday evening.


At the Michaelian Office Building electricity was cut to the building by a short circuit which occurred underground causing a minor fire. This occurred approximately midday. The WPCNR correspondent reports the County Office Building will be open tomorrow. The cause of the short was waters seeping into a Con Edison vault and touching the transformers supplying electricity to the building according to a Westchester County spokeperson. Employees were evacuated and sent home.


Our correspondent also reports Con Edison noted some trees down along Soundview Avenue today causing scattered outages.

Posted in Uncategorized

Big Oil Keeps Gouging. Cars Keep Polluting But the Air Car is in India.

Hits: 0

WPCNR HOT ROD NEWS. By John F. Bailey.  February 13, 2008: Picking up the BBC World


 News telecast last night, I was stunned to see a  BBC report on the MDI Air Car.  The MDI Air Car has


been developed for the Luxembourg-based firm, MDI  by Guy Negre, the former designer of Formula


One race cars. (Talk about a man using his powers for good?)


 



   


While General Motors has been  developing a vehicle based on hydrogen that they


cannot get to market yet for at least four years (it is being tested in White Plains), MDI is


scheduled to  put 6,000 Air Cars into use in India this August, to be manufactured by


India’s leading automobile  manufacturer, Tata Motors. 


 


 


 


Have you filled up this week?


 


If you have a Toyota Corolla gas-efficient vehicle you pay $3.31 a gallon  up to $3.49. If  you’re using


 high test, $3.95.  The cost of filling up an Air Car is $2. Popular Mechanics reports that the


 fiberglass construction of the Air Car would not survive crash tests hereso it will probably


not each the U.S. Market. How convenient!


 


How utterly outrageous that the Air Car has been not developed by American auto


manufacturers.  An American body on the MDI Technology would certainly take care


of the crash problem. If I am the next President, I get Guy Negre on the phone on Day


One of my administration and  move these babies.


 


Ominously,  for an American motorcar manufacturers, their foreign partners and their


“traditional  dirty” vehicles is  that MDI has signed up twelve more countries to  bring


in their Air Car, including Germany, Israel and South Africa. If the Air Car with its


economy of  operation and n evironment-protective fuel source delights the foreign


markets,  the internal  combustion gasoline engine could become a thing of the past.


 


Goodbye Oil. So long, Shieks.


 


The statistics on the Air Car if it ever gets to the United States would mean the end


of oil  as we know  it.  The Air Car  “CitiCat” model pictured in this article  – a typical


SUV design can go 68 miles an hour and has a range of 125 miles. An electric


compressor inside the car allows you to  re-air the car. Now, 125 miles is not the


typical 330 miles I get in my Toyota Corolla, but  wait. Mr. Negri is working on a


hybrid version that puts a gasoline-fueled compressor  into the car you plug in an


electrical outlet that re-airs your tanks within 4 hours.


Sort of like recharging your cellphone.


 


Dramatic Reduction in Accidents.


 


Another exciting thing about an Air Car is that it does not exceed 70 miles per hour.


This  would mean substantially increased safety on the roads. As this reporter has


observed in the past, American motorists exceed the speed limit substantially even


when sober, or when the roads are ice-slick (like this morning) is what makes 


driving a car the most dangerous legal thing you can do in America as a cause of


death particularly among young people.


 


But it is not new folks. That’s the Crime.


 


The MDI site presents a history of compressed air vehicles  showing 


(www.theaircar.com) a sorry story of  the bias towards big oil and internal combustion


pollution tradition.


 


Safety, Emissions-Free and Economy — so naturally American ignores it.


This Air Car fascinates me. The BBC report notes it can go 75 miles an hour, run on


compressed air to drive the pistons and apparently could serve as an excellent


commuter car that would dramatically reduce carbon emissions. This is certainly the


major problem America has today if we want to preserve the planet for the future


and protect the ozone layer. One roadtrip across America will showl you how utterly


daunting the task of cutting down on auto emissions is going to be.


 


It is a comment on the selfish aspect of capitalism that the oil companies and the


automobile manufacturers have fought limiting emissions for decades, and now,


when it may be too late for the planet,  they are touting hydrogen cars, hybrids, and


the like.


 


But America’s motor car answers are not ready for market. They are not ready folks.


 


We need them now.


I’d like to see the anchors handling the next debate ask each candidate: Mr. McCain,


Mr. Huckabee,  Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton, precisely what they are going to do to cut down


emissions at least 50% in the next decade. How are they going to slap the auto makers


and oil companies upside the head and save the world?


As the MDI website points out, air combustion powered vehicles are not new.


Air combustion was first introduced in 1687.


 


Pneumatic locomotives were introduced at the end of the 1800s!


 


The first urban transport locomotive run on compressed air debuted in 1898 from


Hoadley and Knight.


 


The H. K. Porter company of Pittsburgh sold hundreds of Charles Hodges’


compressed air car. The mining industry in the eastern United States bought them


and used them extensively.


 


In 1930, the first hybrid diesel and compressed air locomotive was introduced in


Germany. The website notes, “The pressures brought to bear by the oil industry on


the transport sector were ever greater and the truth of the matter is they managed


to block investigation into this field.”


 


To view this page go to http://www.theaircar.com/acf/air-cars/compressed-air-history.html

Posted in Uncategorized

Super Developer Still Loves White Plains; Catskills Beckon. 240 Main at Impasse

Hits: 0

WPCNR THE DEVELOPER NEWS. By John F. Bailey. February 13, 2008: Louis Cappelli, builder of the Ritz-Carlton Westchester has reached an agreement with Empire Resorts  to build a $700 Million  harness racing track, resort hotel/casino golf club  and convention center  on the grounds of the historic Concord hotel in Sullivan County. Cappelli told WPCNR he hopes to bring his friend Donald Trump in as a partner on the project.   Mr. Cappelli sold the Concord property to Empire Resorts in exchange for Empire Resorts stock in November,  2004. Zoning approvals and final site plan have already been approved, according to Empire Resorts.



The Concord Resort and Golf Club from Satellite: Louis Cappelli, “The Super Developer”  (below) announced plans to build with Empire Resorts a racetrack, resort hotel and convention center, and golf club on the historic Concord property Monday.  He still loves White Plains though. Photo (c) by Google, used with permission.



Louis Cappelli,  with Mayor Joseph Delfino of White Plains on the Ritz-Carlton Opening Night, December 16, 2007. The Super Developer plans to build a world-class resort/casino/racetrack on the Concord Country Club Resort in Sullivan County



In addition to the new 5/8 of a mile racetrack to be created beside the new hotel,  the 1,500 slot-machine attraction at the “Racino” currently housed at the Monticello Raceway will he moved into the  new hotel creating the first step towards a real resort casino in the region.  Empire Resorts reported the agreement in a news release Monday that the agreement is contingent on approvals and closing conditions and that construction is expected to begin later this year.  The release remarked that zoning and final site plan approvals have already been obtained, and they expect to open the facility in 2010. For the official  news release, go to  http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=111350&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1106743&highlight=



A Closer Look at present Concord Resort Compound.


 Photo (c) by Google, used with permission.


 


The new resort-raceway and golf course will include a 100,000 square foot gaming area located within the hotel,  that will also feature a convention center, a golf course, retail and restaurants. The Super Developer spoke to WPCNR about it Tuesday afternoon: “We’re moving the harness track from the Monticello Raceway 2.5 miles away to the Concord Hotel site, and the gambling terminals with it, eventually it will be a resort hotel.”


Capelli said he was thinking of partnering with Donald Trump on the $700 Million project: “Donald and I have been talking about it. I’d love to bring Donald in and be a partner and get the beautiful Trump name on to it. We’ll have nice amenities, a water park, a nice hotel.”


Cappelli said he would demolish the present hotel building, and was eager to get started: “I got my financing in place for $350 to $400 Million in place from my same bank group. We’re having good conversations about that. I’m not worried about my financing being in place. I don’t know what’s going to hold it up. I’m eager to get started. Interest rates are low. All sorts of commodities have come down like sheetrock and materials used in the jobs because the residential market has shut down. So all of those factories producing sheetrock, carpet and stuff they use in homes,  the prices have declined tremendously. Now is the time to build, Mr. Bailey. Now is the time to build. If you believe there’s light at the end of the tunnel in two years and the economy’s going to be great, you take that leap of faith. Do you have it?”


Cappelli said he was not expecting the Mohawk Indian Tribe that had had a deal previously with Empire Resorts to build a casino at the present Monticello Raceway to create legal problems that could halt the project.  


 



White Plains and The Super Developer: Louis Cappelli at City Hall, May, 2007


WPCNR asked if the Concord deal meant that he was no longer interested in developing in White Plains:


Mr. Cappelli said “I’m signing up another project tomorrow, Louis Cappelli’s company loves being in White Plains, Louis Cappelli’s company is moving its headquarters in about six weeks or so to the City of White Plains, and I now have an apartment that I live in a few days a week with my wife in the City of White Plains, so I think its pretty clear my headquarters being there, my home being there, that my parents live there and my sister lives there, that the Cappelli family loves White Plains.


Regardless of love of white Plains, I think that the White Plains City Council wants a breather. White Plains wants to sit back and relax for awhile.  While everybody’s sitting back and relaxing, the world goes on, and other municipalities are eager to get done what White Plains admirably has gotten done. There’s nothing more or less than that. I’m disappointed. But, life goes on.”


 



The 240 Main Street Impasse — Some Unfinished Business: The proposed 240 Main Street Affordable Housing Building at a standstill.


 


Last week it came to light that the City of White Plains has advised Cappelli that the 240 Main Street affordable housing project Mr. Cappelli was poised to build, now qualified as a high rise because it was 12 stories, according to White Plains Building Code. As a result, Mr. Cappelli, informed of this has suspended plans to build because of the expense of installing high rise fire protections, such as purge systems required by the state making it cost prohibitive for him to build the project.


I asked Mr. Cappelli if White Plains allowed him to build the currently stalled 240 Main Street “affordable housing” building to 50 stories, making it profitable for him to build, Cappelli said,


“I’m glad you brought that up. I saw an editorial today in the newspaper. The editorial was a bit misinformed. It is not that I do not want to build affordable housing at 240 Main Street because of the high rise interpretation. I cannot build anything at 240 Main Street, because the (city) interpretation of high rise has added such costs to a 74-foot building that it is cost-prohibitive to build anything there, market-rate or affordable.”


“The misunderstanding is this is not something that’s holding up the affordable, it’s holding up the building.


“Here’s the point, Louis Cappelli would never ever compromise safety. That’s like motherhood and apple pie, except that the White Plains Building Code has a conflict. The conflict is that they are following the New York State Building Code as it relates to structures under 75 feet. New York State says that’s not a high rise,  there’s a reason, there’s a travel distance that firemen can get up, hooks and ladders from a fire truck can get up and there’s a reason it’s 75 feet.


“How many stories are inside of that cube that goes up 75 is immaterial to it requiring generators and smoke purge and things. It’s silly because if it’s one story inside the building under 75 feet, if there’s 6 stories inside the building 75 feet, if there’s 7 stories or 8 stories and to exaggerate  if there were 100 stories inside the building  under 75 feet, it’s still 75 feet off the ground. It’s not a function of stories, which is why the state building code has no mention of stories. Stories are irrelevant, are meaningless. Think about 75 feet, every story one foot apart, so there’s 75 stories in it, it doesn’t affect  the firemen going up the building 75 feet; it doesn’t affect a firetruck with a hook and ladder going up 75 feet, and it doesn’t affect water going up 75 feet to put it up. What in God’s name does the number of stories have to do with something being deemed a high rise.


“It’s from the old code. It was missed. What it does is, it makes it seems like there’s a compromise on safety. That is just silly. Because the operative issue is, is the building under 75 feet? It isn’t how many stories it is. It’s just math. The City of White Plains regardless of affordable housing, market rate housing, one story or 75 stories should look at that code and come to the conclusion that why somebody is saying it is a high rise, it doesn’t say high story. It says high rise. We designed the building to be exactly to be 74.87 feet for a reason, so we didn’t have to qualify BY LAW you don’t have to qualify for high rise construction.


“Why would you do that? If you weren’t able to get 50 stories,  if you weren’t able to go 400 feet in the air, why would you want to build a building 76 feet in the air and go for high rise construction because it costs a fortune.”


I asked Mr. Cappelli if anyone from the city pointed this out to him.


Cappelli said, “Well, no. The White Plains Building Department has been fabulous. They’ve been fabulous with the Ritz-Carlton. The improvement in the White Plains Building Department since the Commissioner Amadio took over, has been incredible. The Ritz got built because of the proficiency of the White Plains entire Building Department and the White Plains Fire Department, Public Safety Department. This has nothing to do with that.


This has to do with there’s a code that’s antiquated that’s conflicting. The point is, regardless of me, I’m just a sideshow here because of some things going on.


The issue is  somebody needs to look at the definition of high rise and not mix it up with stories, because one has nothing to do with the other.”


I asked him if the city caught it: “Yes of course, the city’s right on top of these things. We didn’t catch it, the city caught it. Nobody knew. Our people here assumed that high rise meant 74.87 feet. Nobody here assumed it really had to do with the number of stories because it doesn’t make any sense.”


I asked him if the solution would to be build a bigger, taller complex on the 240 Mains Street site. Cappelli said, “No, it’s not about a profit. “


Asked how if he and the city were near to a resolution allowing the building to go ahead, Cappelli  said “I can’t do anything about it. I’m stuck here. I’ve paid my building permit fee. I’ve underpinned the building. When talking to the building department, I told them how can this be, it’s impossible.”


 


 


 


 

Posted in Uncategorized

Cappelli will build a New Ritz Carlton in Stamford.

Hits: 0

 


WPCNR THE DEVELOPER NEWS. By John F. Bailey.  February 12, 2008: In December when Louis Capelli, the White Plains  “Super Developer,”  opened The Ritz-Carlton Westchester in the city with Simon Cooper, President and  CEO of the The Ritz-Carlton hotels, Mr. Cappelli announced he was talking with them about building another hotel in Stamford.


Mr. Cappelli told WPCNR today he is signing an agreement with The Ritz to build a complex in  White Plains’ rival city, Stamford, Connecticut tomorrow.


“We’ve agreed that we’re signing documents tomorrow for a Ritz-Carlton,” the Super Developer told WPCNR,  “The Ritz-Carlton was such a beautiful model in White Plains for us, that we’re building a Ritz-Carlton hotel and towers in Stamford too. Same size, double towers. It was such a successful project, we’re breaking ground in about three weeks.”


The hotel in the works for some time is to be built on the site of the old post office in Stamford on Atlantic Street, adjacent to the Bank of Scotland building, which also houses the UBS trading floor. The hotel was originally planned for 150 suites.


 


 

Posted in Uncategorized

Payment Advisory Committee First 4 Picked.

Hits: 0

WPCNR MEDIA LOUNGE. Compiled by Jimmy Olsen. February 12, 2008 UPDATED 3 PM EST:


Renee Cohen addressed the Board of Education during the Public Participation segment at the BOE meeting and advised the school board of the Biltmore Condominium plan to accept 18 (not 30 as first reported),  cell phone antennas to be erected on the roof of the Biltmore complex on Main Street directly opposite Eastview School. Cohen drew the BOE attention to the plan — for which a contract has been signed — because of the unknown effect of concentrated cellular phone signals on the large school population.


 


 


******


More Flashes on Legislator Pay; School Construction, Elementary School Performance Ahead…


Pay Board: The Board of Legislators has appointed 4 citizens to its Compensation Advisory Board to evaluate whether to upgrade legislators’ stipends, with 3 more citizens to be appointed, they are William Mooney, President of the Westchester County Association, Brian Wallach of White Plains; Ernest Prince, President of the Urban League of Westchester, and John Mattis, a financial advisor. We await the other three.


*******


Mamaroneck Avenue School Moves Forward: The White Plains Board of Education last night approved contracts for rehabilitation and expansion of the Mamaroneck Avenue School in the second phase of the district’s $69 Million makeover. Four contractors were approved for the project which will cost $3,992,148. This is slightly below the previously estimated cost according to Russell Davidson, the architect. 


*******


Track Laydown at Loucks: Assistant Superintendent for Business Fred Seiler said the Loucks Field track is expected to be laid down in March when the weather is warmer in time for the Loucks games in May.


********


Early Grades Performance: Margaret Dwyer, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction noted in discussion of the Strategic Plan that 81% of Kindergarten students were performing at the end of June 2007 at the academic level expected of them after their first year in Kindergarten. She said that 68% of White Plains First and Second Graders were performing at grade level at the end of June 2007. This came up in discussion of the Strategic Plan Goal that by 2012, 90% of students would be performing at grade level at the end of Second Grade.


********


School Public Relations Mastermind nixed: The Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors advised the Board of Education that the district could not hire a full-time Public Relations person as had been recommended by one of the Strategic Plan Action Committees. He recommended it be handled in-house by committee.

Posted in Uncategorized

How a Real President Handles The Tough Issues. Do We Have One running Today?

Hits: 0

 WPCNR’s The Daily Bailey. By John F. Bailey. February 12, 2008 Reprinted from the WPCNR Archives: Today marks the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, whose Presidential performance during the Civil War (1861-1865) was perhaps the most admirable of any American President. He had to create things as he went, dealing with a complex political issue: slavery, while deciding to fight a war to preserve a divided nation. How did Abraham Lincoln handle pressure and political opportunists? He did not have press agents and spinmasters and talk show hosts and superior punditry critiquing his every move and loading him up with advice. Though he did have the “crusading editors” and “editorial boards” of his day.  Let’s take a look at the Big Guy  from Illinois:



In the days of Lincoln, media coverage was simply print media, however, the amount of reporting on the burning issues of the day was far more detailed than today with dozens of newspapers presenting the chronicles of burning issues. For Lincoln’s presidency was the presidency of the nation’s greatest crisis in its eighty-five year history:

The Civil War.


 It is interesting to note how President Lincoln conducted himself in dealing with America’s interests, its factions, pulling him to free the slaves.

When Lincoln was running for the Presidency in 1860 at the Republican Convention in riproaring Chicago, he was up against James Seward, a powerful New York politician. However, the western states at the time were highly distrustful of the New York political machine. Lincoln won over support by taking a position of what was good for the nation as a whole.

Taking a Position and Working To it

Lincoln first gave notice of his potential for the Presidency when he impressed Horace Greeley, influential editor of the New York Tribune with a fiery speech at the Cooper Union in February, 1860, delivering a sharp criticism of the South, hard on the heels of South Carolina’s secession from the Union. The speech included these words,

You say you will not abide the election of a Republican President. In that supposed event, you say, you will destroy the Union; and then, you say, the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon us! (The northern states) That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, “Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer!”

Greeley printed the speech in his Tribune the next day, scooping the other New York papers, by simply asking Lincoln for a copy of the speech. The subsequent printing in the popular Trib, sent Mr. Lincoln on his way. As William Harlan Hale’s biography of Mr. Greeley (Horace Greeley: Voice of the People)describes the scene at “The original Trib’s” offices, as remembered by Amos Cummings, a young proofreader:

Amos Cummings, then a young proofreader, remembered the lanky westerner appearing over his shoulder amid the noise of the pressroom late at midnight, drawing up a chair, adjusting his spectacles, and in the glare of the gaslight reading each galley (of the Cooper Union speech) with scrupulous care and then rechecking his corrections, oblivious to his surroundings.

A Comeback President

Lincoln had been a highly successful politician from Illinois in the 1830s and 1840s. He was three times elected to the state legislature, and The Kunhardts’ The American Presidency reports he was “a recognized expert at forming collations…he learned how to keep secrets, how to trade favors, how to use the press to his advantage. And he cultivated his relationship with the party hierarchy.”

Graff’s book writes that Lincoln was described as “ruthless,” that he “handled men remotely like pieces on a chessboard.” Humor and frankness were character traits.

Lincoln was elected a congressman, only to serve just one term.

Lincoln had been practicing corporate law privately and had lost interest in politics by 1854, until the repeal of The Missouri Compromise, which had restricted slavery to the southern states. Lincoln felt stirred to come back. He spoke out against the spread of slavery, running for the senate in 1858 against William Douglas, unsuccessfully.

Saving the Union His Mantra

As the furor over slavery and the South’s threats to secede grew, a crisis of spirit and purpose in this nation which makes today’s concerns about terrorism as a threat to America, pale in comparison, Lincoln realized that the Union was the larger issue. He expressed this in response to Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, an influential figure at the Republican (Whig) Convention in Chicago in 1860. Greeley was the kingmaker at the 1860 Chicago convention who eventually swung the western states for Lincoln, giving the man from Illinois the nomination on the third ballot over William Seward, the candidate of the Thurlow Weed “New York Machine.”

Greeley then tried to influence the President-Elect to free the slaves. (Lincoln was being lobbied by the still-powerful Weed-Seward faction to compromise with the southern states on the issue of slavery).

Standing Tall Against Pressure.

Lincoln refused to free the slaves as one of the first acts of his presidency, standing firm to hold the union together, when he announced his attention not to do so, on his way to Washington after being elected. His words in this time of international tension, are worth remembering as America considers starting a war for the first time. Lincoln said:

I have often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy (the Union, he means), so long together. It was not the mere matter of separation of the colonies from the motherland, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty not alone to the single people of this country, but hope to all the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance.

Seeing the Big Picture.

After Fort Sumter was fired upon, Lincoln was pressured harder to free the slaves. Still, Lincoln held firm. Mr. Greeley published a blistering open letter to the President, he called “The Letter of Twenty Millions,” meaning his readers (slightly exaggerated)in The New York Tribune. Greeley’s letter took the President to task for not freeing the slaves now that the Civil War was on, writing, “all attempts to put down the rebellion and at the same time uphold its inciting cause are preposterous and futile.”

President Lincoln responded with an open letter which Greeley published in The Tribune. President Lincoln’s letter is instructive as to how a President moves in crisis, when a nation is ripped apart to calm and state his position. He begins with a conciliatory tone, calming Greeley’s bombast:

…If there be perceptible in it (Greeley’s letter) an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend whose heart I have always supposed to be right.

As to the policy I “seem to be pursuing,” as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. I would save the Union. I would save it in the shortest way under the Constitution.

The sooner the national authority can be restored the nearer the Union will be – the Union as it was.

If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them.

If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them.

If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it – if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it – and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.

What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save this Union, and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.

I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause.

I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be new views.

I have here stated my purpose according to my views of official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free, Yours

A. Lincoln

Wearied by War

Horace Greeley described the toll the Civil War had taken on Mr. Lincoln, seeing him in person shortly beforeGeneral Lee surrendered. Greeley wrote:

Lincoln’s face had nothing in it of the sunny, gladsome countenance he first brought from Illinois. It is now a face haggard with care and seamed with thought and trouble…tempest-tossed and weatherbeaten, as if he were some tough old mariner who had for years been beating up against the wind and tide, unable to make his port or find safe anchorage…The sunset of life was plainly looking out of his kindly eyes.”



Note: In recognition of Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday Monday, WPCNR reprints this column about perhaps the greatest President of them all.

Posted in Uncategorized