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

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 WPCNR East End Trend. April 13, 2004: More than 40 Westchester non-profit organizations will benefit from an exciting four-day shopping event at Fortunoff’s new White Plains store, the first four-day charitable extravaganza in Westchester  County. The “Fabulous Fundraising at Fortunoff” event will run from Monday, May 3 through Thursday, May 6, .    It  is first-time event for Fortunoff, one of the premier specialty retailers in the Northeast. Shoppers can pick their charity they wish their purchases to be donated, but must contact their charities for tickets. Charities are listed at the conclusion of this article.

 

 

Shoppers will simply visit the store on one of these four days, shop, and then bring their receipts to one of the Redemption Desks located on all three floors, where they’ll designate the charity that will receive 20% of their pre-tax purchases.  As a reward, Fortunoff will present each shopper with a $20 gift card that can be used up to three months after the event in the White Plains store.

Shoppers can also take advantage of 10% savings on a shopping spree when they open a Fortunoff credit card any date after May 6^th.

 

“We’re really looking forward to this event and we believe it will be a big success for all of the charities involved,” said Arlene Putterman, Vice President of Public Relations for Fortunoff. “Almost everyone loves to shop, and this is fun way of fundraising for some of Westchester’s most worthy charities.”

 

This is the first time that a Westchester retailer has created a charitable shopping event that lasts more than one day.  “We selected a wide range of not-for-profit partners that reflect a diversified cross section, from the arts to health, education and social welfare,” added Ms. Putterman.

 Invitations to participate can be obtained through the charities. 

For more information on “Fabulous Fundraising at Fortunoff,” please contact Robin Kern at robin@thompson-bender.com.

 

 

“Fabulous Fundraising at Fortunoff”

Participating Non-Profit Organizations

American Red Cross of Westchester

Caramoor

Community Hospital at Dobbs Ferry

Family Services of Westchester

Food – PATCH

Foundation for Public Education in White Plains

Friends of Karen

Gilda’s Club Westchester

Girl Scouts of Westchester * Putnam, Inc.

Grace Church Community Center

Historic Hudson Valley

Hudson Valley Hospital Center

Jacob Burns Film Center

Junior League of Central Westchester

Junior League on the Hudson

Junior League of Pelham

Junior League on the Sound

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Juvenile Law Education Project

Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center

My Sister’s Place

Northern Westchester Hospital Foundation

Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College

Performing Arts Center at Purchase College

Fabulous Fundraising at Fortunoff – Participating Charities, continued…

PTA Council of White Plains (7 PTA Groups)

SPCA of Westchester

St. John’s Riverside Hospital

The Hudson River Museum

Westchester ARC Foundation

Westchester Arts Council

Westchester Community College Foundation

Westchester Community Foundation Fund for Women and Girls

Westchester Medical Center Foundation

White Plains Hospital Center

White Plains Performing Arts Center

YWCA of White Plains

 

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WPCNR SOUTHEND TIMES. April 13, 2004: The Council of Neighborhood Associations meets this evening to host a “Special Meeting” of the White Plains Common Council at Education House at 8 P.M., 5 Homeside Lane in White Plains.

According to the C.N.A., the council will be prepared to discuss the Cappelli Hotel project on Main Street, scheduled for approval May 3, and the city tax situation presently and how it sets up for the future in relation to development projects. The opportunity to query the Council will be limited to CNA officers and delegates only. Residents are encouraged to contact your individual CNA representative prior to the meeting with questions you would like to ask.
                                      

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WPCNR COUNTY HEALTHWATCH. From Department of Communications. April 12, 2004:  Beginning April 20^th, the Westchester County Department of Health will cut the waiting period for an HIV diagnosis from weeks to minutes by using the new HIV rapid test in its Yonkers District Office.

“While we have made tremendous strides in treating HIV disease and related infections, these advances mean little to someone who does not know that he or she is infected,” stated Westchester County Health Commissioner Joshua Lipsman, MD, MPH. “The new HIV rapid test will be performed on site from a fingerstick sample of blood and will provide a test result in as little as twenty minutes.”

           

“If a individual learns he or she is infected with HIV,” Dr. Lipsman continued, “our staff can immediately begin counseling the patient on necessary treatment to delay the onset of symptoms of AIDS. In the past, the opportunity for one-on-one counseling often was lost once the patient left the office, coming in weeks later for their results, if at all. If the use of this test in our Yonkers office is well-received and we can identify additional resources, we will expand availability of the HIV rapid test to our other sites.”

The Department of Health will continue to provide free HIV counseling and testing at its clinic sites in White Plains, New Rochelle and Yonkers through conventional testing, requiring a blood sample sent to an outside laboratory with a result provided in two to three weeks. As with all sexually transmitted diseases clinical services, HIV counseling and testing is provided free and on a walk-in basis at the three district office locations. HIV testing is offered both anonymously and confidentially.

For more information about HIV testing locations and times, please call the Westchester County Department of Health at (914) 813-5000 or visit the website at www.westchestergov.com/health.

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WPCNR COUNTY BULLETIN BOARD. April 11, 2004: All nine Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants in Westchester and Rockland Counties will be leading the biggest dining out event in Hudson Valley, on Thursday, April 29^th with their participation in “Dining Out for Life.”

“Dining Out for Life” is a14-year old international fundraising program taking place this year in 37 cities across North America to benefit local AIDS agencies.  Here in the Hudson Valley, the event will benefit the AIDS Related Community Services (ARCS). Based in Hawthorne, NY, ARCS is the largest organization solely dedicated to providing HIV/AIDS services, prevention education, and outreach to individuals and families in all seven counties in the Hudson Valley, including Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, and Sullivan.

 

On Thursday, April 29^th, all local Applebee’s, along with other participating restaurants, will contribute an average of 25 percent of their proceeds to ARCS, which is taking part in the event for the first time.  Applebee’s is the lead restaurant sponsor and Zane Tankel, CEO of Apple-Metro, the local franchise owner, will serve as the honorary chair of the event.  Apple-Metro owns and operates 25 restaurants throughout the New York metro area.

 

“Apple-Metro will be providing the most restaurant sponsorships in the entire Hudson Valley area for this event,” said William Primavera, ARCS Director of Public Relations & Development.  “We are so grateful that they will be contributing their resources and proceeds on that night to people who are in great need here in the Hudson Valley.”

 

Local Applebee’s restaurants include: Airmont, Cortlandt, Cross County in Yonkers, Crossroads in Greenburgh, Hawthorne, Mamaroneck, Mount Kisco, New Roc City in New Rochelle, and White Plains City Center.

 

For more information on “Dining Out for Life,”  check the Website at www.diningoutforlife.com.   For more information about ARCS, check the Website at www.arcs.org.

 

Apple-Metro, Inc. is the New York Metro Area Franchisee of Applebee’s International Inc., owning exclusive franchise rights to Westchester and Rockland counties, as well the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.  Apple-Metro also operates three Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants and has developed a new proprietary restaurant concept, Zanaro’s Italian at New Roc City in New Rochelle and coming to White Plains this Spring.  

 

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WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey April 10, 2004: The efforts of the White Plains Historical Society and the owners of the Bar Building resulting in the Bar Building on Main Street being recognized for listing on the New York State Register of Historic Places, and the current effort to have it recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, do not in the ultimate protect the Bar Building from its own owner.

 

THE BAR BUILDING NOW “HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT” BUT STILL NOT PROTECTED : The owners, whether they continue to be the Longhitano brothers, or ultimately, Louis Cappelli, (should the Super Developer eventually acquire the building), retain the right to raze the building, if they wish to do so. Photo by WPCNR News.

 

Media Spokesperson for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Catherine Jimenez, told WPCNR Wednesday that when Commissioner Bernadette Castro signs the request for the Bar Building to be recommended to  placed on the National Register that will be all that’s needed for the owners of the Bar Building to apply for the National Register, which is administered by historians and is part of the National Parks Service.

 

Maintenance Not Required.

 

WPCNR asked Ms. Jimenez if the owners are required to maintain their State Historically Recognized properties, she said they were not, though grants were available from the state for such maintenance should owners request them. WPCNR asked if the owners lost the right to raze such structures, and build something else, and Ms. Jimenez said no, that owners of historically recognized places retained the right to destroy the building.

 

On the National Parks Service web site, the section “Key Points about the National Register Process for Property Owners,” conveys the impression that recognition as an historical place is prestigious, but that is about all it does for a building, other than creating a public relations black eye if a developer or city attempts to tear it down:

 

“Listing in the National Register honors the property by recognizing its importance to its community, State or the Nation.”

 

There is no requirement to maintain the property, either:

 

“Owners have no obligation to open their properties to the public, to restore them, or even to maintain them, if they choose not to do so.”

 

The popular idea that if a property is designated historical that it is protected, and it is required to be maintained is simply not true.

 

There is also this significant statement on the National Parks Service website:

 

“Under Federal law, private property owners (of historically registered buildings) can do anything they wish with their National Register-listed property, provided that no Federal license, permit or funding is involved.”

 

There are some protections, Ms. Jimenez, said if Federal moneys are involved in the building. However, that is it.

 

Paul Lusignan, an historian with the National Park Service, in Washington, D.C., confirmed this to WPCNR saying that any owner of a historic property could tear down an historically registered place.

 

No Second Opinion on Historical Credentials and Significance

 

WPCNR asked Lusignan, in view of the fact that Commissioner Castro, will be signing The Bar Building into perpetual historical significance shortly (within two weeks, according to Ms. Jimenez) as being on the list of State Historically Recognized Places, if she has not already done so, does the National Register take another look at the building, or send representatives to inspect the building for its historical and architectural value.

 

Lusignan said the National Parks Service, as rule, did not do that.

 

He said they relied on the application for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places to the National Park Service, usually prepared, he said, by the owner of the property. Jack Harrington, of the White Plains Historical Society, is helping The Longhitanos, owners of The Bar Building submit their application, which Harrington lead WPCNR to believe was being submitted.

 

Lusignan said usually there are photographs submitted with the application to be included on the National Register, and that the Parks Service does not make an onsite visual inspection (in this case to evaluate the architectural value of the Bar Building).

 

45 Days to Eternital Significance?

 

 He said the Parks Service usually relies on the State Historical Preservation agencies to recommend, and will usually rule on an application within 45 days. He said most State Historical Preservation Agency recommendations are automatically accepted for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

The knowledge that, though now being officially recognized as historical, the Bar Building still could be torn down by its owner by right, or restored, makes  

Super Developer, Louis Cappelli’s plea for upgrading of the Bar building façade to the Common Council last Wednesday evening significant.

 

The Cappelli Option.

 

Should Mr. Cappelli seek to acquire the Bar Building anew, he could conceivably buy it from the Longhitanos, and upgrade the historical façade  and the interior completely, creating a prestigious office building more aesthetically compatible with his “Triple Towers” project.

 

Or, he could purchase the Bar Building within the next 40 days, and take it down during his upcoming demolition of the remaining Main Street block up to Grace Church, planned to begin in May. He could do that, as owner of the Bar Building, by right, should he acquire the building, irregardless of its historical status, according to what Ms. Jimenez and Mr. Lusignan, and National Parks Service policy.

 

Grants Not a Large Sum of Money

 

Mr. Lusignan, the historian WPCNR spoke to at the National Parks Service, was asked if the Parks Service had grants available for restoration of historic buildings. He said the states handle the distribution of the grants, but said the grant money was not a large sum, and that it was an insignificant amount, and the Parks Service left it up to the states to parcel the meager money out.

 

The Longhitanos may be eligible for  federal investment tax credits for rehabilitation of the building should they wish to do so.