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

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. May 27, 2006 UPDATED 5:45 P.M. EDT: Catcher Sandra Mastrangelo with the North Rockland infield back bunted perfectly with Erin Cook racing in from third on what on a daring suicide squeeze play to give White Plains a 2-1 come-from-behinder win today on O’Donnell’s Bluff in the Tigers opening Sectional tilt.

In the Tiger seventh inning, a one-hop double to the centerfield fence over the head of the North Rockland centerfielder blasted by Dena Frederick set up the tying run after North Rockland had taken the lead with a solo homer in the top of the seventh and the Tigers were facing doom with three outs left in their season.

Frederick moved to third on Carrie Abbot’s sacrifice bunt. Then Kelsey Kulk blooped a 1-2 pitch dying quail Texas Leager into the Bermuda Triangle of shallow center with shortstop and second baser watching it fall  to score the equalizer, plating Frederick from third to tie it 1-1. Kulk went all the way for the win, fanning 10.

The Tigers won it in the bottom of the eighth when Lisa Tompkins pulled one in the hole on an 0-2 pitch to the thirdbaser’s left who picked it, juggled it and could not make the play. Jackie Flooks sacrificed Erin Cook running for Tompkins to second. A wild pitch off the catcher’s glove moved Cook to third with one out. Mastrangelo then won the game when the Rockland pitcher fielded her bunt but threw too late to catch the fleet Cook flying in from third. It was another extra inning humdinger played by these two teams, and North Rockland is no fifteenth seed.  Jackie Flooks, in addition to getting the key bunt down to move the winning run into scoring position,  threw out a North Rockland runner at the plate with a throw from the base of the left centerfield fence that got the runner at the plate in the first inning in the play of the game.

The Tigers face the Carmel High in White Plains Tuesday afternoon in the Tigers’ next sectional game. Carmel defeated John Jay East Fishkill Saturday afternoon, 1-0, on Danielle Basciano’s screaming liner into right in the third with two out. Kaleigh Burke spun a beauty, shutting out John Jay on 3 hits and only two threats. This sets up a rematch between Burke and Kulk who dueled in the second game of the season, where Burke prevailed, 3-0.

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WPCNR THE DAILY DEVELOPER. May 26, 2006: Louis Cappelli, President of Cappelli Enterprises of Valhalla, announced on White Plains Week, the City News Roundup show Friday night, he was eager to develop more residential buildings, restaurants and retail on “gorgeous” parcels in the White Plains downtown. He also announced intentions to move his world headquarters to the North Tower condominium in the 221 Main Ritz-Carlton Westchester.

 

Louis Cappelli, The Super Developer, appearing on White Plains Week, Friday night. Video Capture by WPCNR News.

He said that development in White Plains was “moving ahead” with other developers taking “a piece of it,” noting the Ginsburg Pinnacle project would be starting in August, “It’s good for White Plains and it’s good for me. I’ve always said the more people that come to White Plains would be better for White Plains and better for me and Avalon Bay “jumping on board. I think there’s good things happening and we’re glad to be apart of it.”

 

 

Cappelli’s Vision: Asked by “The Anchor for all Seasons,” Peter Katz (left) if  “after 221, are you going to stay in White Plains, you have your sights on other things here?”  Cappelli replied “If they’ll have me, I love working in White Plains. Why give up now when things are just cooking?” Video Capture of White Plains Week by WPCNR News

 

 The CitizeNetReporter asked him if he would put together other parcels in the downtown. Cappelli said, “There are other parcels in the downtown. Certainly my friend John Halpern has a beautiful site, he sold me this site(221 Main). He has a gorgeous site on  Mamaroneck and Post. I think certainly the Silverman site, a nice site centrally located. There’s a lot of nice sites in the CBD that would keep the story going.”

 

Would he be thinking more residential? Cappelli said, “I don’t think I would be thinking office. I think the city needs retail, restaurants, residential .You just can’t bring enough people.”

 

City Center’s a Keeper.

 

Commenting on future plans for the City Center, Mr. Cappelli vowed he would hold on to the property, unless someone made a very attractive offer. He said he was planning on being more selective replacing Office Max in the City Center, possibly bringing an entertainment based business into that space. He also vowed to improve the City Center Garage to make it more attractive. He admitted that in filling the City Center retail space originally, that he had been eager to fill the space and not as selective as he could have been.

 

The 221 Proposal, Cool to Fee.

 

 Asked if he would consider a fee paid to the city in return for approval of his zoning and site plan request for adding 50,000 square feet to the 221 Main project, and a zoning change to permit a restaurant on the mechanical deck level at the top of the residential condominium tower, Mr. Cappeli said he did not think that was fair:

 

“I wouldn’t think it would be the right thing to do because I’m providing a tremendous amount of public amenities here. If the Council says no, and they could, they’re very reasonable people, I think the restaurant in the sky goes away, the bigger ballroom goes away, and the bigger spa goes away, and that hurts Mr. and Mrs. White Plains I don’t think they’re going to hurt Mr. and Mrs. White Plains.”

 

The Super Developer Moving His HQ to The Ritz.

 

Cappelli  said he was going to reduce the officespace in the north condo tower to 25,000 square feet and move his  corporate office of Cappelli Enterprises there. The Hamilton side condominium tower, originally was targeted for 100,000 square feet.

 

He said he had built the Valhalla headquarters in 1984,  his first building project, and it was time to move. “Who wouldn’t want to be in The Ritz-Carlton,” he said. (The north tower foundation began to be poured this week.) The Super Developer revealed he was also going to add 12 more hotel rooms to the north (second tower). The developer also said that the Ritz-Carlton hotel would have valet parking for all arrivals to ease traffic backup for arriving guests.

 

 

Confident of Condo Appeal. Jim Benerofe, right, of Suburbanstreet.com asked Cappelli, considering the softness of the condo market how the Ritz-Carlton condominium project was going to play out. (As of Wednesday, there were 137 condominums for sale in White Plains, 24 in Trump Tower that are resells, and 33 at The Jeffersons, in Westchester County there are 860 condominums on the market, up 81% over a year ago, according to the Westchester County Board of Realtors) Video Capture of White Plains Week by WPCNR News

 

Cappelli was confident:

 

“Corrections are normal and required. Corrections in the residential market you hope for a slow soft landing. Interest rates are racheting up slowly…I view our market as different than the normal residential market.we have a unique product both in the trump tower and the Trump plaza in New Rochelle and the Ritz Carlton.

 

That uniqueness and limited number of units we have, I don’t believe the residential market is going to affect the sales of those homes. I don’t believe the people buying there are affected by a half a point interest rate change. Trump Tower (at City Center) is sold out except for four units. Trump Plaza in New Rochelle has 60 units sold in 2-1/2 months at $600 per square feet. The average price of Trump Plaza  so far is higher than the average price sell out of Trump Tower at City Center in White Plains.

 

There’s a demand for quality product, the Ritz-Carlton is going to be taking it to the next level and this is going to be, in my mind, for all those people who absolutely don’t want to live in their homes in Westchester County, it’s a unique market that’s not going to be affected.”

 

On Benefit to White Plains

 

Asked if he thought new development to bring more revenue to the city beyond the $20 Million in sales taxes and property taxes it brought in 2005-2006, Cappelli  said yes, citing Wal-Mart coming in, and the retailers doing better. He said “The residential taxes for each of these Ritz Carlton projects, (400 condominium units)  there’s going to be an enormous amount of money coming in over the next 14 months.”

 

The Who Knew What When and When Did They Know It Mystery.

 

Cappelli explained the timing on the 221 Main changes currently a subject of high dudgeon in White Plains.  He said he submitted the site plan amendment plans for the extra floor on the podium of the Ritz Carlton Westchester on September 5, 2005, and had no idea what the Ritz-Carlton wanted when he decided to make the structural change, adding one floor.

 

He said he submitted the construction drawings November 11 to the Building Department. Cappelli said instead of counting stories people should have gone to the Building Department to look at the plans on file. (These plans were not available in the Building Department last week, when asked)

 

Asked if he knew what Ritz-Carlton wanted the time he submitted the structural changes, Cappelli said, “No,the program was absolutely not set at all whatsoever. This was a structural change. Turns out the Ritz-Carlton now sees the drawings then their designers say let’s use this space. It’s up to the council, they can say no if they want.”

 

 Video Capture by WPCNR News

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. May 25, 2006: On Decision Night Thursday evening, the Common Council approved a $147.6 Million budget, (it could not be determined if that included the salary increases of administration personnel),  the $147.6 figure means a 6.1% spending increase, and a 7.8 % tax increase. Salaries of the Mayor’s Commissioners were increased 4% across the board, according to Paul Wood, the Mayor’s Executive Officer.

It was agreed water rates to residents and commercial users would be raised 20% to make up the water fund deficit. The council also was reported by Mr. Wood, as being accepting of the one-floor structural change on the podium of the Cappelli hotel, and supportive of the rooftop restaurant and additon of 54,000 square feet of floor space.

The council, according to Mr. Wood, passed the budget 7-0. He also said the council had no problem with the minor amendment to the 221 Main site plan that would allow an extra floor on the podium, that Building Commissioner Mike Gismondi did not “overstep” his authorityppelli to build a restaurant on the roof of the Main Street condominium tower surrounding  the building mechanicals. Wood also told WPCNR the council listened to Mr. Gismondi’s explanation for the extra floor on the podium, and also had no problem with it.

Wood, speaking to WPCNR after the Work Sesson that WPCNR did not attend, added that in December of 2005, Mr. Cappelli had spoken about a reinforcement change that would add an extra floor to the hotel podium and give him construction flexibility. Wood then said Mr. Cappelli informed the Common Council May 15, he  had built the structure to add the extra floor, and three days later, May 18,  he asked to add 54,000 square feet to the structure to provide amenities for Ritz-Carlton within the podium, in the Main Street tower, and also on the pool deck of the podium, and on the mechancals level of the Main Street tower. Wood said there was a letter from an engineer noting the need for seismic reinforcement as part of new New York State code, that was received about three days prior to May 15 of this month, supporting the developer’s requested change, which WPCNR (at the time), had already been executed.

In Mr. Gismondi’s written analysis, of the “Minor Amendment” approving structural modifications, dated May 22, 2006, the Building Commissioner writes: “it can be concluded that there is no significant alteration of the essential charactersitics of the design, layout or arrangement of “buildings,” parking, circulation, landscaping, or relationships of the project to the “street,” adjacent properties and the area.”

Rita Malmud, addressing an angry Democratic City Committee throng disturbed at what they described was a “bad precident,”  Wednesday evening said that she had been told by the Mayor in a meeting Tuesday of this week that the structural reinforcement had been asked for and approved in December for Ritz-Carlton, but that Monday, May 15, was the first time she had heard of it. However, Mr. Wood said Ms. Malmud was favorably disposed to the structural change (the one floor addition to the podium– which actually makes two floors)  after Mr. Gismondi spoke Thursday night.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. By John F. Bailey. May 23, 2006: Police today charged one person with possession of a weapon, as a result of their investigation of Monday’s shooting-murder of Kevin Chambliss, 30, on Ferris Avenue, and the police are presently conducting ballistic tests on that weapon, White Plains Police Chief James Bradley reported today.

Chief James Bradley speaking to WPCNR moments ago provided the latest police findings in their investigation of the Monday afternoon shooting-murder on Ferris Avenue:

“As of 3:46 PM Monday, shots had been fired in the area of 73 Ferris Avenue. We got up there, we found the victim, Kevin Chambliss, 30. He was provided emergency care on the scene, taken directly to Westchester Medical Center. He unfortunately passed away at about 10 of 6. Based on some information we developed early in the investigation, we identified a car, a person that we wished to speak to. That person was stopped on the Bronx River Parkway (by Westchester County Police and Yonkers Police at Scarsdale Road), and brought back here to headquarters. He has not been charged in connection with the shooting, however he was charged with possession of a weapon. We have since continued the investigation. We are developing other leads. There are other people, witnesses we’ve been interviewing today, and this is ongoing as we speak.”

WPCNR asked based on a televised interview cablecast last night in which a person interviewed gave the opinion the killing was a “Crip-Bloods” thing, if the police felt the killing was gang-related. Chief Bradley said, “We have no information that says that.”

WPCNR asked Bradley if  Mr. Chambliss, the victim,  had gang markings on his body. Chief Bradley said he did not.

Asked if a person taken into custody late this afternoon was related Bradley said, “We have taken another person to headquarters about an hour ago who is a person we want to speak to about this, and no charges have been filed on that one at all yet.”

Bradley confirmed the police brought a search dog in, related to the second person being questioned, but would not reveal why the search dog was brought in. “I can’t do that right now. The investigation is still going on full speed as we speak.”

 

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey May 22, 2006: New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi today accused 17 Schools, described as an auditor-selected “representative sampling” of schools across the state of deliberately repressing violent incidents in their reports to the State Education Department.

Specifically, Hevesi’s news release states White Plains High School reporting on 2003-2004 incidents, repressed 289 incidents the comptroller’s office reports should have been included in the White Plains report to the New York State Education Department, “ncluding 35 assaults with physical injury, 23 incidents of intimidation, harassament, menacing or bullying, one sexual offense and 181 distruptive incidents.”

The release ranks White Plains 3rd highest in repression rates of the 17 schools, allegedly repressing 92.9% of incidents. White Plains reported 22 violent incidents, had 311 documented in school records, and did not report 289 according to what Hevesi’s study says should have been reported according to State Education Department Guidelines. Hevesi’s news release makes a point that the SED needed to make clearer the types and character of incidents that the schools need to report.

The Comptroller’s Press Officer, Dan Weiller, told WPCNR that the Comptroller auditor examining White Plains High School records did not work with the police in analyzing the incident reports the school provided. (White Plains has a Police Officer assigned to White Plains High School, who could have perhaps supplied insight into how violent incidents are handled by the school.) Weiller said the auditors were very experienced at analyzing incident reports, but did not say what that experience was. Asked why the state singled out White Plains High School, Ardsley High School in Westchester, he said they (the 17 schools statewide)  were selected based on auditor criteria upon population, racial mix, and other factors.  Weiller also noted to WPCNR that the auditors did not consult police in analyzing any of the records of any of the seventeen schools

Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors explained the White Plains alleged discrepency. He told WPCNR, the school district reported only those incidents resulting in a Superintendent’s hearing. He said he thought that was what the State Education Department wanted. He said the district reported every serious incident to the police.

WPCNR contacted the New York State Department of Education Press Office to ascertain what the guidelines were. The Press Officer taking the call did not know if only incidents resulting in “hearings” as Connors said, were the criteria for the report. Connors, being told this said, most of the violations not reported were what Connors described as “violations of the code of conduct.”

The State Education Department issued a news release reacting to the Comptroller News Release by detailing the steps the SED was taking to make clear what the SED wanted schools to report to determine which state schools are on the “dangerous schools list.” The list of “dangerous schools” is not available on the State Education Department website.  The press officer said they would call WPCNR back.

In 2002-2003, the State Education Department reports White Plains School District had  223 violent or disruptive incidents, and according to today’s report, the 2003-2004 school year showed 311 violent or disruptive incidents. Superintendent Timothy Connors told WPCNR he would be forwarding the incident figures for the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 school years to date tomorrow.