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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS VARIETY. From Westchester Arts Council. (EDITED) January 14, 2003: Westchester Arts Council will present Arts Alive Grants Awards totaling $58,000 to 42 Westchester-based cultural organizations and three artist-initiated projects during an awards breakfast at The Arts Exchange, 31 Mamaroneck Avenue in downtown White Plains.

Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, will officiate. The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 8:30 a.m.

A roll call of the 2003 arts organizations and individuals receiving support follows:

Arts Alive Grants, which are funded by the New York State Council on the Arts, provides financial and technical support for Westchester-based organizations and artists at the grassroots level. Priority is given to emerging cultural groups, ethnically based cultural activities, and services to areas where the need is greatest.

“I am pleased and gratified that the Westchester Arts Council strongly
supports the work of community-based, grassroots cultural organizations,” says Judy Matson, Chair of the Arts Council’s Grant
Committee and Director of Corporate and Community Relations for Fuji
Photo Film USA, Inc. “By promoting partnerships between Westchester
artists and their communities, Arts Alive Grants help make the arts
accessible and meaningful to every sector of our community.”

“Westchester’s legislative delegation in Albany has long recognized the importance of ensuring that the New York State Council on the Arts
(NYSCA) receives the funding it needs to keep the arts thriving at the
local level,” says Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, D-Greenburgh,
Co-Chair, Westchester Legislative Delegation. “We’re proud that this
funding plays such an instrumental role in the development of
Westchester’s extraordinary array of emerging and grass roots cultural
organizations.”

Arts Alive Grants projects scheduled for creation and presentation in 2003 include dance performances, multimedia arts events, exhibitions, jazz concerts, operas, community arts festivals, and the
creation of public sculpture, among others.

2003 Arts Alive Grants Awardees:

WHITE PLAINS

Support for Noonday Getaway Concerts, a series of free lunchtime
concerts featuring jazz, world, and classical music.

Fort Hill Players
Support for Free Summer Theatre in the Parks, providing free theatre
based on a book chosen by the Westchester Library System for its
Westchester Reads program.

La Casa de la Cultura
Support for Sharing Traditions with Spanish Songs, two concerts
featuring Spanish songs and traditional costumes.

Organization of Chinese Americans
Support for an Asian American Heritage Festival, featuring martial arts
demonstrations, acrobats, cultural traditions, songs, and dances.

Top Brass French Horn Choir
Support for a series of concerts entitled We’ll Have the Top Brass
Special with a Side of String Beings (no potatoes please), combining the French Horn and other brass instruments in new ways.
Westchester Chordsman
Support for Annual Spring Concert, a scripted musical of beloved
barbershop selections celebrating the group’s 50th anniversary.
White Plains Coalition for Racial/Cultural Harmony
Support for Harmony 2003: Tenth Year Anniversary Celebration, featuring music and song from a variety of cultures sung by Musaic, the White Plains Coalition for Racial/Cultural Harmony’s chorus.

BRONXVILLE

Corner Store Dance Company
Support for the 2003 Westchester Libraries Project, a series of six free
modern dance performances created for children and their families.

Fine Arts Orchestral Society of Yonkers
Support for annual Concerto Winners’ Concert, a performance with a full symphonic orchestra in June featuring Westchester youth musicians.

CHAPPAQUA

Chappaqua Orchestra
Support for 2003 Concert Series, including the January 11th Name That
Car(tune), which teaches children about the history of the music used in their favorite cartoons; the April 5th Fiesta Italiana, featuring
Italian composers Rossini, Puccini, and Verdi; and the May 17th gala, A
Night in Imperial Russia.

Saw Mill Summer Theatre
Support for a full stage production of the musical “Evita,” based on the
life of Eva Peron.

CROTON-ON-HUDSON

Hudson Stage Company
Support for the premiere of a full stage production of David Wiener’s
play, For the Dead, a family drama and ghost story that chronicles post-WWII Jewish immigrants posing as gentiles in America.

EASTCHESTER

Eastchester Arts Council
Support for Art Around the Town, an October 2003 arts festival to be
held in Bronxville.

ELMSFORD

Greenburgh Arts and Culture Committee
Support for Kids Short Story Connection, during which children, ages
9-15, participate in 12 writing workshops, culminating in a book of
short stories.

HAWTHORNE

Golden Apple Chorus
Support for performances and concerts to teach Westchester residents
about the art of barbershop harmony.

LARCHMONT

Mamaroneck Artists’ Guild
Support for Young Artists on the Rise, a program which invites young
artists, ages 16-19, to submit artwork to a jury for an exhibition at
the Guild’s Gallery.

MOUNT VERNON

Mount Vernon Fine Arts Cultural Center
Support for Literary Happening called Bringing Art to You, which will
include theatre demonstrations culminating in the creation of a master
class.

NEW ROCHELLE

African American Art & Cultural Appreciation Council
Support for Kaleidoscope: Abstract Points of View, at the Lumen Winter
Gallery in New Rochelle from February 1-28, featuring paintings and
poetry that examine the duality of the African American Experience.

Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library
Support for the summer series, Songs, Stories and Dances from Around the World, which highlights a different world culture each week.

New Rochelle Opera, Inc.
Support for a full production of The Merry Widow, the 1905 opera by Franz Lehar.

Songcatchers Inc.
Support for Composer of the Future II, during which eight to ten
children will be taught music composition and then given an opportunity to compose a musical work for performance by a professional orchestra.

OSSINING

Collegium Westchester
Support for two concerts-one featuring music by Nunes-Garcia and another with works by Beethoven-each concert features a new composition from an emerging Westchester composer.

Ossining Arts Council
Support for the OAC 2003 Art Exhibit Series, showcasing the art of
talented children from Ossining.

PEEKSKILL

Peekskill Arts Council
Support for Open Studios 2003, a two-day event during which 40 downtown artists open their studios to the public and another 40 artists exhibit their work at the Westchester Art Workshop of Westchester Community College and The Paramount Center for the Arts.

Sisters in Support
Support for free tours of the Underground Railroad in Peekskill,
including the only documented 19th century Underground Railroad tunnel in the region.

Westchester Jazz Workshop
Support for a series of Friday Night Jazz Concerts at One Station Plaza
in Peekskill, featuring local and metropolitan area musicians.

ZIIP Foundation
Support for a Pre-Kwanzaa Workshop, presenting the seven principles of Kwanzaa through workshops, arts & crafts, games, African art
exhibitions, cultural drum performances, dance and storytelling.

SCARSDALE

Friends of the Westchester Band
Support for a free Summer Concert Series to enrich and educate the
public in Chase Park in Scarsdale and Frey Plaza at the Eastchester Town Hall.

New Choral Society
Support for The Glory, The Majesty, The Music of England, two concerts
featuring 18th, 19th and 20th century English composers.

SOUTH SALEM

Westchester Oratorio Society
Support for a January 11th concert featuring Franz Schubert’s
masterpieces, Mass in A Flat Major and The Unfinished Symphony (No. 8), accompanied by a professional orchestra.

TARRYTOWN

Friends of the Mozartina Musical Arts Conservatory
Support for a full stage production of Black-Out, an original modern fairy tale opera about light and dark.

Tappan Zee Dance Group
Support for Tappan Zee DANCES, a series of events which feature the work of four choreographers, Rebecca Kelly, Suzi Taylor, Milton Myers, and Lisa Hopkins and the composer Philip Stern.

YONKERS

Friends of Philipse Manor Hall
Support for The Peoples of Westchester, an after school program during
which children will be introduced to African, Native American, and
colonial culture through storytelling, crafts and music by talented
artists.

Hamm & Clov Stage Company
Support for the production of Anam II, an original play weaving stories,
songs, and dances from Irish Immigrants about life and personal
struggle.

Piper Theatre Productions
Support for free productions of Richard III and As You Like It in
Untermyer Park in summer 2003.

Tara Circle, Inc.
Support for Bloomsday 2003, a festival featuring dramatic readings of
James Joyce’s Ulysses, musical performances, and traditional
refreshments.

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS

Town of Yorktown Museum
Support for Made in Yorktown: Artists of Quality, a three-month-long
exhibition at the Yorktown Museum and the John C. Hart Memorial Library featuring the work of 20 Yorktown artists.

Yorktown Community Players
Support for the premiere of an original play by Westchester resident,
Jefferey Fuerst, entitled The Substitute Tooth Fairy, to be performed for free at 20 public libraries throughout Westchester.

Mainstage Coffeehouse Foundation Corp.
Support for an eight month Folk Concert Series, October to May.
2003 Arts Alive Grants Will be Awarded to the Following Artist-Initiated Projects:

Janet Grice, Ardsley- Support for a series of four concerts focusing on
Brazilian music at selected libraries in conjunction with the Friends of
Ardsley Public Library. The concerts will feature Ms. Grice together
with various musicians presenting and demonstrating such Brazilian music styles as bossa-nova, samba, baiao and corinho.

Milton Sherrill, Mount Vernon- Support for the creation of several
Cosmic Totem sculptures in conjunction with the Mount Vernon Public
Library. The project will include creative workshops and lectures for
children, as well an exhibition of the totems to be held at the library.

Clyde Deloris Herring, Mount Vernon- Support for eight, two-hour
workshops, in conjunction with the Mount Vernon Public Library, during which seniors, children, and community members will listen to stories of the Underground Railroad, learn about the important role that freedom quilts played, and then create five quilts. The Freedom Quilt Project will be exhibited in various sites around the county.

For more information, please call Barrie Gelles at (914) 428-4220, ext. 238, or email: bgelles@westarts.com.

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS VARIETY. January 13, 2003: The White Plains news remuda rides again Friday night on TheSpirit of 76, White Plains Public Access Television, as John Bailey, Jim Benerofe of SuburbanStreet.com, and Alex Philippidis, Editor of Westchester County Business Journal are back in the saddle again on White Plains Week on Channel 76 at 7:30 PM. It will be the first show of 2003, wrapping up the New Year’s celebration, the first meeting of the Common Council, the Andy Spano-Albany budget brouhaha, the highly entertaining White Plains plumbing code , the latest on the perils of JPI, and loads of other good stuff. Get together with all those rowdy reporters on Friday night at 7:30 on The Spirit of 76.

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WPCNR’s WHITE PLAINS VARIETY. Presents THE CINEMAFANATIC, Rob Barabee. From The Yonkers Tribune. January 12, 2003: The Pianist is one of the year’s best movies. It is a haunting, horrifying portrayal of a Holocaust survivor, and it pulls no punches.

Adrien Brody stars in the film as Wladyslaw Szpilman, a piano player, a Polish citizen, and a Jew. Szpilman’s journey through Nazi-occupied Warsaw is shocking, appalling, and magnificently brought to life on the big screen by Brody, screenwriter Ronald Harwood, and director Roman Polanski (who is himself a Holocaust survivor).

After all that has already been made about the Holocaust, creating another film about it is a supremely difficult and daring task, but these three men are more than up for the challenge.

Szpilman’s survival is based, above all else, on luck, and the film wants to make this clear. The Holocaust, Polanski and Company dutifully report, was not survival of the fittest. Strong, brilliant, beautiful people were executed along with everybody else.

They were shot in the head for asking a question or beaten to death for helping a pregnant woman. They were stabbed, blown up, gassed, burned, and starved, for no reason at all.

Wladyslaw Szpilman is intelligent, well-liked, and well-known. He is shrewd, resourceful, and possessing of a remarkable will to stay alive. While these traits often aid in his survival, only luck ultimately spares him. The Holocaust was too terrible for superheroes, and Szpilman, although awe-inspiring in so many ways, is no exception to this rule.

People with a cursory knowledge of the Holocaust often ask, “Why didn’t anyone fight back?” This is an important question to the filmmakers (as much so as the notion of luck), and they address it carefully.

Some of the film’s characters angrily ask each other why they are not putting up a fight; why they are sitting back and letting themselves be slaughtered. Others do indeed fight, actually proving the initial question false, but these fighters, in their fighting, also provide reasons why so many remained passive, even up to the moment of their deaths.

Fighting, we see in the film, was basically futile. The only thing it did was turn near-certain death into absolutely certain death.

But hold on, you may say, what about honor, bravery, and all that? Those asking this will not be disappointed, because the movie addresses these points too.

It tells of Jews traitorously volunteering to aid the Gestapo as “Ghetto Police,” but then, once in power, helping to save a few lives. It tells of brave, loving men mounting their escapes while leaving their families behind to die. It tells of these things and many others, and in so doing, it forces viewers to reevaluate their ideas of honor, of bravery, of heroes.

Because of this, and all the rest of it, The Pianist proves to be quite an education not only in our past century’s most unimaginable horror, but also in the basic human value systems around which we base our lives.

Many say that Holocaust-themed art must be created, so that none of us will ever forget. The Pianist, I can tell you, is a film that I’ll remember for as long as I live.

The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski. Written by Ronald Harwood. Based on the book by Wladyslaw Szpilman. Starring Adrien Brody, Emilia Fox, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, and Maureen Lipman. Running time: 148 minutes. Rated R (for violence and brief strong language).

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WPCNR’S ADAM BRADLEY REPORT. By 89th District Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley. January 10, 2003: It will be even harder for Westchester’s students to go to college this year if Governor Pataki and his appointees on the SUNY Board of Trustees have their way. The Trustees recently approved increasing tuition at most community colleges, and all signs point to a significant tuition hike proposal for four-year colleges and universities. In fact, The New York Daily News has reported that the tuition hike could increase by up to $1,000 a year.

For the past eight years, the governor has attempted to slash aid to SUNY students, proposing $1.8 billion in cuts to higher education during his tenure. In fact, New York received a failing grade when it comes to college affordability, according to a November 2002 study issued by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Between 1990 and 2000, taxpayer support of higher education decreased by 22 percent, while costs and fees skyrocketed by 97 percent at New York’s four-year public colleges and universities, according to a study by the New York Public Interest Research Group. Average tuition and fees at a four-year state college or university are already $4,062 a year – making SUNY the 14th most expensive public university system in the nation, according to NYPIRG.

Let’s remember that the last time tuition was increased, attendance at SUNY colleges declined by an estimated 30,000 full- and part-time students over several years.

Westchester’s students and families don’t need a tuition hike – especially now in our struggling economy.

These difficult fiscal times will require some tough choices. However, it cannot be at the expense of Westchester students. A quality higher education will prepare students for the jobs of the future and, in turn, will be an engine for economic growth. If we want to prepare our kids for a modern world and strengthen the economy, we must make higher education accessible.

I stand committed to improving our colleges and universities. During the upcoming budget negotiations and my first legislative session, I will work to protect our investment in higher education, and hold the line on SUNY tuition.

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WPCNR MILKMAN’S MATINEE EDITION. By John F. Bailey. January 10, 2003: A spokesman for JPI of Dallas, Texas, designated developers of The Jefferson, the apartment complex approved for 300 Mamaroneck Avenue moved quickly today to assure the city the national developer and manager of some 8,000 units nationwide, has every intention of building The Jefferson and the project is not in jeopardy of becoming another “Hole in the Ground.”

THE JEFFERSON WILL RISE, as soon as financing can be restructured, according to JPI spokesman, Geoffrey Thompson. The design the project to rise on the gentle upslope of 300 Mamaroneck Avenue has been on hold for 10 months, while the project has been reestimated.
Photo by WPCNR News

Geoffrey Thompson, spokesperson for JPI, contacted WPCNR Thursday afternoon and stated strongly that JPI is definitely not “shopping” the property. “They have every intention of building the 280-unit complex with townhouses opposite the Food Emporium,” Thompson said.

Will Come in With Restoration Plan. Will Post Performance Bond with city if requested.

Thompson told WPCNR the company told him late Thursday evening that the company has not told the city they will drop the project if required to put up a performance bond. Thompson reports that JPI is putting together a Landscape Plan or “Restoration Plan” as Thompson described it for presentation to the Common Council Tuesday January 21 when it requests approximately 90 day extention to their site plan approval. “They will also gladly post a performance bond to guarantee they will not leave the project as is, but they say that won’t be necessary, they fully intend to build the project,” Thompson clarified.

Costs being trimed. Financial Adjustments with Backers Being Tinkered.

Thompson explained that costs with the company’s previous contractor for the project, based in Rhode Island, during escavation were determined by the contractor to be way above their estimate of $80 Million, but “not double,” according to Thompson. That previous contractor stopped work to renegotiate the project with JPI. They reached an impasse.

JPI then brought in HRH Corporation, the company building the City Center and Bank Street Commons as a consultant to recost the job, adjust some of the design, and see how to bring the project back into cost range.

Thompson said they have since hired on HRH Corporation as their general contractor, trimmed costs but not quite enough in their opinion. WPCNR has learned that the project is still going to cost approximately 20% more, or $20 Million more than original budget.

Now, Thompson says JPI is renegotiating with the financial backers of the project to repackage the deal.

Thompson strongly delivered JPI’s message to White Plains that the company is not going under. They are not in financial trouble. They fully intend to build the project, and will cooperate with the city to put together a Restoration Plan.

City Has Not Set a Performance Bond Amount.

Paul Wood, city Director of Economic Development, said the city has not set an amount for the performance bond, and said no conclusions should be drawn until JPI has had a chance to meet with the Common Council. The site plan approval expires January 31, according to Mr. Wood.

GRAY HOUSE TO BE DEMOLITIONED: Thompson said JPI will be conducting demolition operations on the gray house on the corner of the property, (photographed in April, 2002), shown to the left, “as soon as the electric and the water are turned off,” as an indication the company is serious about getting the Jefferson going up.
Photo by WPCNR NEWS