WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS. From a WPCNR Reader. April 13, 2004: Though the daffodils and crocuses were a little late this year they still sprouted up gamely over the chilly Easter weekend, but for one resident the gay splash of color he looks forward to every year was marred by a selfish act.

Sometimes it is not a brutal crime or an insult or blatant unfairness that hurts the most. Sometimes it is a blow to beauty and the expectations of the seasons that crush the heart.

 Here is his short, but disturbing account:

An odd bit of news: I’ve lived in White Plains, on Quinby Ave., (in Fisher Hill) for eight  years. Sure, like lots of people in this city, I’ve had my share of ugly  incidents: my house was broken into, ransacked and robbed, identity theft,  kids roughed up, etc.

But I have to say this Easter was a new low. Someone  deliberately took a knife, walked through my yard and cut my gorgeous purple  hyacinths, tulips and roses for their Easter bouquet. Guess I’ll have to  give up gardening!

A frightened crime victim who NEVER sees cops patrolling in this  neighborhood.

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. April 13, 2004: The city hall numbers crunchers will convene this evening at 5:30 P.M. in the Mayor’s Conference Room and will present “Highlights of the 2004-2005 Budget.”

The next meeting on the budget will take place Thursday, April 29 when the Capital Projects Board and Budget & Management Advisory Committee will meet at 6 P.M.. That will be followed up by a public hearing on the budget on Monday, May 3 at the regular May Common Council meeting. The final Decision Night will be on Wednesday, May 12 at 5:30 P.M. Adoption Night will take place on Thursday May 27 at 5 P.M. in the Common Council Chambers.

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WPCNR MAMARONECK AVENUE RAMBLER. April 12, 2004: WPCNR News has learned that The Food Emporium supermarket, located across from The Jefferson that is under construction at 300 Mamaroneck Avenue, will close at the end of May, and the CVS store and pharmacy adjacent to Citibank across from White Plains “Gasoline Alley”   will move into the Food Emporium space.

SO LONG, FOOD EMPORIUM: White Plains will once again become a one supermarket town in June, when CVS moves into the Food Emporium space on Mamaroneck Avenue. Though the city has a Chinese supermarket in the White Plains Mall, and a Whole Foods Market destined for Fortunoff, there is no  nane supermarket, other than delis and convenience stores in the central city. There are two Stop N Shops within two miles of each other in the northeast corner of the city.  Photo by WPCNR News

CVS ON THE MOVE: The Manager of the CVS Pharmacy on “Gasoline Alley,” (across from the Exxon, Mobil and Sunoco service stations), confirmed to WPCNR Monday evening the
CVS move “is all set” and CVS would move into The Food Emporium location June 1. The manager said that CVS would convert the present location to a “BHA” store, a susidiary of CVS that features Beauty and Health products, while the pharmacy and general CVS merchandise would relocate to The Food Emporium location. Photo by WPCNR News

The Co-manager of The Food Emporium could not confirm the impending move Monday evening. WPCNR could not learn whether The Food Emporium is moving into The Jefferson, a possibility, or whether JPI, the builder of The Jefferson would consider a supermarket tenant for their first floor of “retail” in their complex.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. By John F. Bailey. April 12, 2004: The White Plains Department of Public Safety has announced that after a year of conducting Operation Safe Streets, the police effort at enforcing speed limits, cell phone and seatbelt violations that began last April, they have issued 20% more summonses over the same period last year for a total of 17, 254 total summonses.

OPERATION SAFE STREETS IN ACTION ON NORTH BROADWAY. Photo from WPCNR News Archive.

According to Inspector Daniel Jackson, who ran the numbers at WPCNR’s request, Operation Safe Streets has had an effect:

“My officers did comment the other day during a safety checkpoint for Seatbelt Safety Week, that seatbelt compliance was high. That’s an encouraging comment since our ultimate goal is voluntary compliance, not enforcement. “

Jackson said that with the warm weather about to arrive this Spring, Operation Safe Streets will continue with electronic speed signs temporarily on display in residential neighborhoods, and what Officer Jackson calls “following them up with enforcement efforts in the same area. This is done with a focus on keeping the neighborhood streets safe for the children.”

Regarding cell phone violations, Inspector Jackson said, “We are hoping that the recent publicity on cell phone enforcement will decrease the number of incidents involving cell phones. (By incidents, I mean both summons and accident incidents.)

The total number of summons for speeding, cellphone and seatbelt violations in one year since Operation Safe Streets began is 17,254.

5,007 were issued for speeding , an average of 415 Speeding Tickets a month, (100 a week), at an minimum cost of a $70 fine, resulting in a minimum WPCNR-estimated revenue of $350,000 in fines.

1,627 cell phone violations were written. At $100 a ticket for a cellphone violation, that is a WPCNR- estimated $162,700 in revenue possibly collected on cell phone vios.

There were 1,634 summonses issued for seatbelts. With a fine of $50 plus points on a seatbelt violation, that is an estimated $81,700 in summons revenues on seatbelts alone.

WHAT A SUMMONS LOOKS LIKE. Photo from WPCNR News Archive.

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WPCNR THE FEINER REPORT. By Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner. April 11, 2004: As you are aware, the State Assembly passed a bill to raise the minimum wage last month in the State of New York to $7.10 per hour over the next two years. Such a changes improves the livelihoods immediately of three quarters of million New Yorkers.

The State Senate has a bill, Bill 3291C, in committee to do the same. But our challenge is persuading the Senate leadership and Governor to release the bill from committee for action in this legislative session.

Further background on raising the minimum wage is available for the nonprofit alliance “$5.15 is not enough!” located at: www.515isnotenough.org

Many counties and municipalities are passing support resolutions to forward the Senate and Governor. To date local resolutions have been passed in City of Rochester, County of Monroe, Town of Brighton, County of Albany, County of Rensselaer, County of Tompkins, County of Rockland, Village of Haverstraw, City of Syracuse, County of Westchester (unanimous) and City of Rome. And now also so has the Village of Croton-on-Hudson.

I will be introducing the following resolution at the Greenburgh Town Board meeting on Wednesday, April 14^th at 7:15 PM at Greenburgh Town Hall. I’m hopeful that other communities will adopt similar resolutions. ———-

 
Resolution in support of an raising the Minimum Wage in the State of New York.

WHEREAS, The federal minimum hourly wage, currently $5.15 an hour, is not indexed to preserve its purchasing power and has not been raised since 1997; and

WHEREAS, the State of New York has not altered its minimum wage since 2000 when it matched the $5.15 of the federal minimum wage; and

WHEREAS, The inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage is approaching the lowest point in a half century and is 40% below the peak level reached in 1968; and

WHEREAS, Nationally low-wage workers (those earning the 20th percentile hourly wage) saw their wages increase 5.5 percent in real terms (inflation adjusted) between 1989 and 1999, while, in contrast, the State of New York’s low-wage workers’ wages declined 5.5 percent over the same period; and

WHEREAS, The poverty rate in the State of New York rose from 13 to 14.6 percent during the 1990s resulting in more than 2.6 million New Yorkers were living in poverty in 1999, while, in contrast, the national poverty rate fell from 13.1 percent to 12.4 percent in the same decade; and

WHEREAS, A higher minimum wage would help insure that work represents a path toward self-sufficiency and serve as part of a broader strategy to fight poverty; and

WHEREAS, Studies by public-health researchers of minimum wage increases and living wage laws in California suggest that a higher minimum wage results in better health for low-wage workers, and significantly improves the chances that their children will graduate from high school; and

WHEREAS, Twelve states plus the District of Columbia already have minimum wages above the current $5.15 federal level, including Connecticut ($7.10), Massachusetts ($6.75), California, Washington ($7.16), Delaware ($6.15), and Illinois ($5.50); and

WHEREAS, Increasing the minimum wage will not reduce employment opportunities for the working poor, as other states that raised their minimum wage did not suffered job losses related to raising their minimum wages; and

WHEREAS, A minimum wage increase would disproportionately help retail employees, like clerks and waiters/waitresses, because of those who would likely benefit from a minimum wage increase, 36 percent, or 380,000, work in the retail sector and more than 85 percent of those who would benefit from a higher minimum wage are non-union; and

WHEREAS, Over three quarters (79 percent) of the new legislation’s beneficiaries would be adults not teenagers, and more than half work full-time while another 27 percent work between 20 and 34 hours per week and a high percentage of minimum wage earners are the main breadwinners for their families, and 61 percent of the likely beneficiaries are women; and.

WHEREAS, Minimum wage legislation that increases the state minimum from $5.15 to $7.10 would directly benefit approximately 750,000 New Yorkers, and due to likely spillover effects, an additional 530,000 persons, those earning from $7.10 to $8.10, would also gain, and these 1.2 million beneficiaries of a minimum wage increase represent over 15 percent of New York State employment; and

WHEREAS, A 1998 survey of small businesses by the Levy Institute found that fewer than one-third of 1% reported having reduced employment because of the 1996-97 increases in the minimum wage; and

WHEREAS, In its 1999 Economic Report to the President, the Council of Economic Advisors concluded: “the weight of the evidence suggests that modest increases in the minimum wage have had very little or no effect on employment”; and

WHEREAS, A minimum wage increase partially pays for itself through improved worker retention, reduced turnover, savings in recruitment and training costs, and higher worker productivity; and

WHEREAS, A minimum wage this year that yielded the same earning power that it delivered at its peak in 1968 would be over $9.00 per hour; and the minimum wage was established to retain the dignity of work, so that working men and women could care for themselves and their families but it has not succeeded in this goal and the present minimum wage does not reflect the high cost of living.

WHEREAS, On March 1st, 2004 by a vote of 127-19, the New York State Assembly passed A09710, a bill that would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.10 an hour after January 1, 2006; and

WHEREAS, the  Town of Greenburgh recognizes the value to its community in promoting a strengthened market for labor, now

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:  that the Greenburgh Town Board, meeting in regular session on the 14th day of April 2004, does hereby declare its support for raising the minimum hourly wage in the State of New York; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the Greenburgh Town Board supports State Senate Bill 3291C, which would raise New York State’s minimum wage to $7.10 an hour over the next two years; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That the  Greenburgh Town Board urges timely passage of this bill in the 2004 legislative session.