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 COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. November 5, 2002: The Common Council unanimously voted to approve design and construction of a dancing light fountain plaza last night and the construction of a Community Theater.

The council also voted to give Commissioner of Public Works Joseph Nicoletti the go-ahead on site and feasibility studies of building a single deck parking level on Mamaroneck Avenue behind the Rader’s toDunkin Donuts retail strip.

In other action, overnight parking on Old Mamaroneck Road had its public hearing closed with a rejection vote, based on a rare public poll of the council at the conclusion of the hearing. The possible negative vote is likely at the December meeting. Council President Benjamin Boykin told WPCNR the Council was going to ask Albany to approve home rule on the city streets to seek the ability to issue resident permits. Insiders said this was akin to killing the project.

The Calvary Baptist Church sanctuary was unanimously approved.

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WPCNR Milkman’s Matinee News Caravan. By John F. Bailey. November 4, 2002 UPDATED: WPCNR has learned Assemblyperson Amy Paulin and County Legislator James Maisano allegedly reviewed a letter to the editor that former Eastchester Town Report writer, Robert Fois had submitted to ETRPublisher Howard Sturman for presumed publication in last Thursday’s edition.

Today, in an editorial, The New York Post broke the wall of silence regarding the Paulin “whispering campaign,” going on record that Paulin forces have been subtlely talking Mr. Sayegh’s race for some time.

Meanwhile, as a consequence of the alleged Paulin-Maisano censorship, the Fois letter was never published, effectively preventing Fois comments from appearing in the newspaper before Election Day tomorrow.

The involvement of two politicians in discussion with a publisher, apparently evaluating whether or not a letter to the editor was acceptable to the politicians for publication began last Monday October 28, when Robert Fois submitted his letter to ETR publisher Howard Sturman.

Not Happy Campers

After Mr. Sturman shared the letter with Ms. Paulin and Mr. Maisano, one or both of the two politicians (it is not clear who, Sturman advised Fois) had a problem with a paragraph which they asked Sturman to remove from the letter.

Lawsuit Possibility

Sturman is reported by Fois to have said, (by way of explanation for delay in his Sturman’s approving Fois’ first letter), that the paragraph had to be removed because of a threat from Mr. Maisano of a lawsuit.

Fois said that ETR Editor Mike Moritz reported he would remove the questionable paragraph.

Writes Second Letter After Paragraph Removed

Mr. Fois revised his first letter, removing the offending paragraph, and resubmitted it to Mr. Sturman for publication. Fois said he resubmitted Wednesday morning “before work” in plenty of time for the 5 PM deadline for last week’s Eastchester Town Report.

“Not enough time to run it by legal”

Fois said he was told by Sturman Wednesday afternoon, he did not have time to “run it by legal,” consequently the letter never was published, effectively preventing Fois comments from appearing before Election Day. Perhaps the letter will be published this week, after Election Day.

The original letter Paulin and Maisano were reportedly advised the contents of, was Fois’ explanation of why he chose to turn over “the Amy Tape” to the Tony Sayegh campaign, (Mr. Sayegh is Ms. Paulin’s opponent in tomorrow’s election).

The “Amy Tape” revealed remarks Ms. Paulin made to Fois about Arab Nationals contained on a tape Mr. Fois had made during a telephone interview with her in July. A portion of that tape was played on television two weeks ago.

Paulin Statement Out of Blue Precipitates Inquiry.

That Ms. Paulin and Mr. Maisano were made aware of Mr. Fois’ letter was reported to WPCNR by Mr. Fois, when WPCNR contacted him for reaction to a statement sent WPCNR from Amy Paulin Saturday afternoon.

The statement, coming two weeks after WPCNR asked for a statement from Ms. Paulin, referenced a letter that Ms. Paulin expected had already been sent to WPCNR by Howard Sturman, which WPCNR has yet to receive.

Her statement stands by her comments which originally appeared in The Journal News, indicating he was dismissed. She disputes Mr. Fois’ account that he was put on a leave of absence, and takes the opportunity to comment on the ethics of Mr. Fois’ submission of the tape to Mr. Sayegh:

Fois said he submitted (at Mr. Sturman’s invitation) a letter about his side of the story on Monday, October 28 and was notified Tuesday, of the demand to remove one paragraph. Mr. Fois declined to release the text of the paragraph for publication due to the fear of a lawsuit, however he described for WPCNR its contents that aroused the legislators ire:

The Purloined Paragraph Contents

“I was informed by Hometown Media publisher Howard Sturman that his editor would be removing what he characterized as an “inflammatory” paragraph from my letter to the editor. It was explained that this was being done following what Sturman said was a threat of a lawsuit by Westchester County Legislator Jim Maisano over only this particular paragraph. The paragraph contained a reference to Jim Maisano and Frank Pasquale, detailing what numerous sources within the Democratic and Republican parties have described as an active political association between Jim Maisano and Amy Paulin.

The paragraph in my letter also said that Amy Paulin and others closely associated with her campaign had described John Zogby’s (President of the Arab American Institute) website as being run by Arabs who were “dangerous” in terms of Middle East politics. I felt that Amy Paulin was trying to get me to believe that her opponent Tony Sayegh was seeking money from terrorists and her political technique offended me. The letter explained that others had encountered similar experiences with Paulin and people closely associated with her campaign.

I had also said in my letter to the editor that I felt, in my humble opinion, that these statements by Paulin and others closely associated with her campaign were scare tactics and a “hate crime” in itself.”

Statement from Nowhere.

The call to Mr. Fois by WPCNR, Saturday evening, in which we left a message. Mr. Fois did not call back until Sunday evening. At that time, being informed of the Paulin statement, Fois shared his story of the Sturnam-reported “intervention” by Ms. Paulin and Mr. Maisano.

WPCNR made the call in response to a statement electronically transmitted to WPCNR over the weekend by it turned out, Julie Domonkos, Paulin’s Campaign Manager. In the statement, Ms. Paulin reconfirmed what she had told the Journal News when the Tony Sayegh News Conference playing the “Amy Tape” was held, that Fois was fired.

Prescreening Denied.

She added another dimension, emphatically denying prescreening Mr. Fois’ articles as Mr. Fois charged in a previous WPCNR story. Ms. Paulin also appeared on News12, (we believe Friday evening was the date of the telecast), interviewed by News12 reporter Tracy Everson alleging that the tape played on News12 was “edited,” suggesting it was not in context.

Michael Zanetti, Tony Sayegh’s Campaign Manager, said the tape had not been edited
in any way, and said he would produce recording engineers who could attest to that.

Paulin de Fois Gras

Paulin, in her statement to WPCNR, said, that she never prescreened articles. Instead, she said, “What I did do was complain after Mr. Fois’s articles appeared that he seemed biased against me in his reportage.”

Paulin wrote WPCNR that “Far from being an objective, non-partisan journalist, Mr. Fois was and is supporting my opponent. This is why he was put on leave of absence by the Eastchester Town Report, a fact also confirmed by Mr. Sturman.”

Paulin went even further in her written statement: “It is simply untrue that Mr. Fois asked to be put on a leave. In fact, Mr. Sturman disputes Mr. Fois’s entire account of what happened at the Eastchester Town Report.

Paulin: Fois dismissed.

When WPCNR talked to Ms. Paulin to confirm the statement came from her, WPCNR asked her if Mr. Sturman had told her that Fois was fired. She confirmed that Sturman had told her that he had been dismissed. WPCNR asked if there was more taped conversation that Mr. Fois had not released, and she said yes, saying that on that portion of the tape that she had said that she did not want to make race an issue.

Mr. Fois Demurs

Mr. Fois, as confirmation that he wrote not one, but two letters to the editor, the first of which, Paulin and Maisano allegedly reviewed, released the two letters he wrote to WPCNR News.

In those letters, he steadfastly maintains, it was his decision to go on a leave of absence:

“I resigned from Hometown Media in August over what I felt had been interference by Jim Maisano and Amy Paulin in the newsroom, with both often complaining about stories before they were on the newsstand.”

Fois Last Story

The last straw for Fois, was the last story he wrote for Eastchester Town Report. It dealt with the closing of firehouses in Mount Vernon, Eastchester, Tuckahoe and New Rochelle, in which he reported Paulin’s announcement of money for one firehouse in her district.

Fois said, he asked Paulin what about the firehouse in Tuckahoe, and other towns. Fois charges that before the article was published Paulin complained to editors that his asking that question of “what about Eastchester, and Tuckahoe” to which Mr. Fois said she responded, “it’s not a state issue,” was raised to make her look badly and showed his bias against her.

Head of Arab American Institute Takes Paulin to Task in The Scarsdale Inquirer

The Scarsdale Inquirer published a letter from Dr. James Zogby, the President of the Arab American Institute last week, severely criticizing Paulin for her remarks on the “Amy Tape,” and at the Scarsdale League of Women Voters debate. Among the comments, Mr. Zogby, a national figure in the Democratic Party, makes are:

Ms. Paulin further compounds this outrage (the tape comments) by making an issue of the fact that Mr. Sayegh’s candidacy is noted on the Web site of my organization: the Arab American Institute, which she falsely claims contains “a lot of anti-Semitism.” Her tactic in this regard is appalling and unwarranted of an elected official.

Zogby is outraged at the attack on his website, writing “I take this charge very personally. It is both hurtful and wrong. To lightly throw around the charge of anti-Semitism is dangerous and ugly character assassination, Ms. Paulin owes Mr. Sayegh and my institute an apology.”

He makes the point that his website, www.aaiusa.org. notes various candidacies of Arab-Americans, including Congressman John Baldacci, running for Governor of Maine; Congressman John Sununu who is contending for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire and Congressman Chris John up for re-election in Louisiana.

Zogby pulls no punches, closing the letter to The Scarsdale Inquirer, this way: Ms. Paulin and Mr. Sayegh’s campaign is one thing. But allegations made against a third party are a different matter. She should not have “Arab-baited” Mr. Sayegh and she most definitely attempted to smear AAI with anti-Semitism…”

Paulin reportedly accuses the Arab American Institute as being “anti-semitic” again at League of Women Voters Debate after tape airs.

However, it is reported by Fois, that Ms. Paulin, appearing at the Scarsdale League of Women Voters Debate on Monday, October 28, (one week after the “Amy Tape” had been made public at a Sayegh News Conference October 21), repeated comments about the Arab American Institute being “anti-semitic.”

In the first edition of this article, WPCNR wrote that The Scarsdale Inquirer did not report these debate comments of Paulin, not having a copy of the Scarsdale Inquirer available when the article was being created.

Mr. Zanetti, Campaign Manager for Mr. Sayegh said the Scarsdale Inquirer did report Ms. Paulin as saying an organization that supported Sayegh on their website was “anti-semtic,” and they should be investigated. The Journal News did not, to WPCNR knowledge at this time report her comments on this issue.

It has also been reported to WPCNR that Ms. Paulin has made similar comments at debates in New Rochelle and Eastchester, and WPCNR is working to confirm that.

“As James Zogby’s letter clearly illustrates,” Fois said last night, “respected people in the New York State community are offended by her statements and are demanding an apology. That she continues to characterize a Democrat, James Zogby as anti-semitic as recently as last Monday, (A week after the tape was aired) there’s clearly a deeper problem going on here with Ms. Paulin.”

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WPCNR White Plains Gazette. By John F. Bailey. Expanded Park Coverage & History. November 2, 2002: Tuesday, October 29, the City of White Plains acquired the largest parcel of public land in its history, when Mayor Joseph Delfino and County Executive Andy Spano signed a 30-year, $1 a year lease turning Silver Lake and its western shore over to the city for a passive park.

COUNCIL EXPEDITIONARY FORCE TOURS SILVER LAKE: Under the steady oarsmanship of Department of Recreation & Parks boatswains, White Plains Common Councilpersons Robert Greer, Tom Roach, Rita Malmud, Glen Hockley, and Benjamin Boykin realized the potential of White Plains’s new park for peace, tranquility and quality of life for White Plains Tuesday.
Photo by WPCNR News

Expeditionary Mayor’s Regatta Introduces Lake’s Potential as a Park & Elixir

The Common Councilpersons, Commissioners and assorted media types taking the “Mayor’s Regatta Tour” of Silver Lake Tuesday in a dozen Westchester County rowboats participated in perhaps the most unique staged media event in White Plains history since the Battle of White Plains.

SCOUTING HARRISON: Councilpersons Glen Hockley and Benjamin Boykin with the backdrop of “Harrison Beach” in the background Tuesday. The tranquility and recreational possibilities of Silver Lake were showcased to the council.
Photo by WPCNR News

They were joined by County Legislator Bill Ryan and Paul Gallay of the New York Public Land Trust, and Planning Commissioners Susan Habel and Rod Johnson, and assorted media, including News 12, SuburbanStreet.com, The Journal News and WPCNR.

What the media, council and dignataries discovered was the lake and its western shore now present White Plains a diversity of recreational and spiritual pursuits that the landlocked, hilly highly touted topography of New York Presbyterian Hospital does not.

Eighteen years of aggressive distrust appears to have lost New York Presbyterian Hospital property forever. In less than ten months, the city, the Woodcrest neighborhood and county have reached an accord through reason, compromise and need that brings a new dimension of park experience to White Plains in Silver Lake.

The County Executive, the Mayor, and five White Plains Councilpersons in bobbing aluminum crafts supplied by Westchester County, glided leisurely on the shimmering lacquer surface of the lake, marveling at the red-gold swatch of autumnal arbors, acted like kids on their first boat ride (in a statesmanlike manner, of course).
Photo by WPCNR News

The magic elixir of a body of water to soothe cares, invigorate spirits, and make you feel young and foolish again, cast its spell, a state-of-mind that persons old and young will enjoy come next Spring.

Commissioner’s Hopes

St. Mary’s Lake, one of the region’s first industrial sites in 1726 as a grain-milling operation, has become if not the “Central Park of White Plains,” a park that is real and a “Waterfront Park. ” It offers White Plains a diversity of recreational, social and education advantages, according to White Plans Commissioner of Recreation and Parks.

Arne Abramowitz, is a man who knows about how to design and administrate a park with a body of water. He used to run Flushing Meadow Park. The Commissioner envisioned kayak lessons, rowing boats, fishing, environmental classes for local schools, and picnic groves, as just some of what the Mayor described would be “passive” uses of the park.

Affordable Housing and Recreation and Neighborhood Preservation “Working Together for Westchester Families”

THE GENERALS OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY, County Executive Andy Spano and White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino, sign the 30-year lease for the county’s Silver Lake property Tuesday.
Photo by WPCNR News

In a show of successful negotiation and compromise, Westchester County under the leadership of Andy Spano and the City of White Plains’ Mayor Joseph Delfino, found a way for the county and city to meet two priorities for the price of one. The county will build “affordable housing” on Lake Street, by purchasing the Pettinicchi property on Lake Street for approximately $1 million.

The city reached accommodation with the county where county, city and citizens “win” in a $1-a-year 30-year lease of county land on the shores of St. Mary’s Lake where White Plains will maintain and upgrade the shores and lake for the pleasure of city and county residents.

Steering Committees to be Assembled.

Two committees will be formed. One will plan “Liberty Park’s” recreational uses and the other will decide on the appropriate memorial to the White Plains residents who died at the World Trade Center.

“LIBERTY PARK” TO REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11 VICTIMS: Mayor Delfino, right, shaking Andy Spano’s hand as they unvieled a sign, proclaiming “Future Site of Liberty Park.” The mission of the new park will be to commemorate the victims of the World Trade Center Attacks. An “approprate memorial” will be built honoring the 5 White Plains citizens who died that day: Marisa DiNardo, Joe Riverso, Gregory Rodriques, Linda Sheehan and Marisa Schorpp.
Photo by WPCNR News

History of the City’s New Shining Jewel: Lake was industrial hub in colonial times.

According to a history of St. Mary’s Lake, distributed by the city and compiled by (Ann McPherson of the City Clerk’s office) at Tuesday’s news conference, John Harrison purchased “Harycons Pattne” (Harrison’s Patent) from the Indians in 1695.

Elaine Massena, Principal Archivest of the Westchester County Records and Archives Center in Elmford reports that Place Names of Westchester County by Richard Lederer recounts, “The 1696 patent to Harrison and 4 others called for yearly rent of 20 shillings on the Feast Day of the Annunciation of our Blessed Virgin Mary.” Hence, the name, St. Mary’s Lake.

The original mill was at the Lake Street end, where the lake turns into a stream.

Traditionally, an industrial site.

The City Clerk’s office reports in its history of the lake, that the right to dam a stream and build a mill to grind grains along the side of Silver Lake was obtained by Benjamin Brundage in 1726, and was transferred from Brundage to John Walton, to Daniel Brundage, to Eleazer Yeoman who constructed and ran the mill, who passed it on to John Horton. “Horton’s Mill” was up and grinding grain before 1744, when the lake became known as “Horton’s Pond.”

Fortified during the Revolutionary War 226 years ago.

The lake was seen as a strategic area during the Battle of White Plains in October, 1776. Breastworks were constructed on the hillsides at different elevations.

Once there was ice and state’s first health center.

Mayor Delfino’s memories of iceskating on Silver Lake in the1930s, testified to how cold winters in the northeast once were. Deutermann founded a different business upon taking over the mill: ice. He cut and stored slabs of ice cut from the Lake in a huge ice house which stood on the lake front. The Red Cross established the first Health Center in New York at St. Mary’s Lake in 1917, during World War I.

The Lake in the 20th Century.

In 1923, the iceman sold the property. The lakefront passed to NY Interurban Water Company, which sold it to Westchester Joint Water Works. Two private citizens, Basil Filardi and Anthony Grillo owned it next, until it was sold to its final industrial tenant, Public Milk Company in 1956.

Public Milk Company Purchased Fought by Park Activists who fought for a park in the 1950s

In echoes of today’s New York Presbyterian Hospital Article 78 action, Public Milk Company, according to the White Plains City Clerk, “petitioned for a zoning change, which, despite public opposition that it should be reserved for park purposes only, was granted in 1956.” Dellwood Dairy operated a distribution facility on the property, and sold it in 1990 to Westchester County.

1.9 acres of land and shore, 21.8 acres of St. Mary’s Lake

The site that will be transformed by the spring into Liberty Park, a memorial to those killed in the World Trade Center attacks, features a rocky tree-lined shore, and a 75 foot square wooded island at the northern end of the lake.

SILVER LAKE PILOT, Lonnie Sanders of the Department of Recreation Parks described the lake as 20 feet deep in its murkier depths.
Photo by WPCNR

Sanders said the lake is deeper on its western White Plains side, with sandbars extending out from the eastern Harrison shore.He observed from his shakedown cruise prior to Tuesday, that the lake has a moderate current at all times flowing North to South. He says the lake can get choppy. In the morning Tuesday, he said there was such a chop on the water they would not have been able to hold the tour had the Northerlies not calmed.

Fishing is good.

Sanders reported that the lake had a thriving fish population, with large bass sighted. Arne Abramowitz, Recreation and Parks Commissioner said about a 5-pound pass had been sighted when the temporary “yacht landing” was being but in place for the exploratory rowboat tour conducted yesterday.

A fisherman interviewed by WPCNR recently testified that the lake was a thriving natural resource, saying that not only bass, but bluegills and trout were there for the taking. A New York State Fishing License is required to try your fisherman’s luck in Silver Lake.

Prior to yesterday’s ceremony, the Department of Public Works and the Department of Recreation & Parks executed a preliminary upgrading of the park entrance, cutting back the wild ramble of field grass and thick trees that blocked unimpeded access to the western shore.

CITY TASK FORCE: The event was produced by Special Events Coordinator Rick Amaratto (in black jacket, on stairs) of the Mayor’s Office. It was executed flawlessly by the White Plains Department of Recreation and Parks personnel. Park workers manned the touring vessels, built the boarding stairs and cleared the staging area. Here, Amaratto and parks personnel waited to receive dignataries as they disembarked Tuesday, prior to the news conference.
Photo by WPCNR

RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE HEAD, Councilperson Rita Malmud returns from Council’s Expeditionary Cruise.
Photo by WPCNR

The Lake has come a long way, baby.

Silver Lake’s sorry state of overgrowth, litter, and a home for vagrants was first dramatized last spring when Councilman William King, a lone crusader, held two clean-ups to put into perspective how Silver Lake’s open space was being neglected and was inexplicably not available for use by county or city.

COUNCILMAN BILL KING EXPOSED SILVER LAKE FATE: Here, he is seen last March 2, retrieving litter and refuse from the lake’s waters. It was the first of two clean-up expeditions Mr. King led. He and his daughter’s Girl Scout Troop helped fill over 30 bags of litter retrieved from the lake and overgrown grounds. Mr. King could not attend Tuesday’s regatta.
Photo by WPCNR News

Had he been able to be present, Mr. King would have noted and been pleased with the refreshing absence of litter that he personally had drawn attention to earlier this spring as a compelling reason for the county and city to take a greater role in maintaining the park.

Mr. King’s donning of waders along with two other citizens to clean up the garbage strewn on the lake’s shores that symbolized how neglected the lake had become.

Silver Lake, good old St. Mary’s Lake has finally been welcomed into the White Plains family.

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WPCNR White Plains Variety. By John F. Bailey. November 1, 2002: Attention good-looking women and leading men: looking for that big break to get in the movies? Next time he drives you to the airport, Jimmy Hollywood may give you a shot at the big-time.

JIMMY MORRICONE’S FILM CREW ON LOCATION ON LAFAYETTE AVENUE IN WHITE PLAINS on October 13. Carla Fulco emerges with Jeff Koutril of White Plains, as a doctor from an office building The Marquis next to Bob Buchanan’s Photo Studio in the local movie, InterVention, planned for release by summer. A sold-out party for his “Hollywood East Angels” takes place tonight at Juliano’s in New Rochelle, one of the ways he is self-financing the film. Jimmy says he is so touched by the support he has received.
Photo by WPCNR Entertainment

What’s it like directing producing and acting in your own movie? “Jimmy Hollywood,” better known in White Plains as Jimmy Morricone, says “When you’re an actor in Hollywood, you’re sitting in a trailer reading your lines, getting into character, eating a catered spread from Le Cirque, and they call you when they’re ready for you on the set.”

JIMMY HOLLYWOOD IN HIS WHITE PLAINS HOME TALKS PICTURES: “When I’m shooting a scene at Lafayette Avenue in White Plains (last month), I’m behind the camera, working the grip, the lights, and in the next scene, I have to be ready to play Frank. It’s very stressful.”Photo by WPCNR Entertainment

Tonight, Morricone hosts his second sold-out fundraiser for his and Anton Evangelista’s new movie at Juliano’s on Main Street in New Rochelle. A crowd of 250 White Plains/ Westchester and cast friends are paying $75 apiece to support his movie and enjoy old-time rock and roll with The Inkspots.

That’s the life of the independent film producer with a dream, a dream that is 70% completed. With the proceeds from Friday’s glitzy bash, he will have paid for the photography portion of the production. Tonight, his “Hollywood East Angels” will get to see key “rushes,” scenes from in his “movie-in-progress,” InterVention to attract some new investors. Got an extra $50 Grand you want to grow into millions? Give Jimmy a call. He is offering $5,000 pieces of the film, and you cannot get a better deal in Hollywood. His number is 914-972-6709. Have your people call his people. Next stop the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Comprehensive Films is a dream.

Jimmy Morricone, Executive Producer of Comprehensive Films, Armonk, has been chasing this dream since 1994 when his short film, Beyond Reason made and written by Anton Evangelista was showcased at the Independent Feature Film Market and at Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Film Festival and attracted wide attention.

Ever since Jimmie has been working to make his movie based on that short film. This summer he began shooting “The Film Noir for the 21st century, “InterVention”

SO I’M HOLDING THIS CASTING CALL AND CATHERINE DENEUVE WALKS IN: Intervention stars Carla Fulco, the daughter of Mary Fulco, the popular waitress at Magnotta’s Restaurant. She read at the casting call at the White Plains YWCA based on her Mom’s tip. She won the lead based on her “improv.” She’s shown here at Bob Buchanan’s studio at a WPCNR interview.
Photo by WPCNR Entertainment

The good news is that the film is now 75% “in the can,” and Jimmie is looking for just a “few good investors” to finish the work.

Everybody’s heard the story about the man who drives a cab trying to sell a script to a big-time director? Well in White Plains, when Jimmie Marricone is driving you to the airport, he just might give you a part in his next movie, if he likes your charisma. Jimmie runs a limousine service by night, and is a movie producer, actor and director in reality.

Making a Film Like Robert Moses Made Bridges: A Little Bit at a Time

Morricone is financing his film in a unique way, disdaining the usual “negative pickup” procedure, where a film concept is sold to a studio before it is made. Instead, Morricone is acquiring the financing as he goes, offering pieces of the movie at $5,000 a pop to persons wanting a share of future profits, an unorthodox way of promoting a movie.

His plan is to shoot the film and present it directly to distributors. But, unlike the typical movie which acquires all the financing first, Morricone is shooting as he goes, financing “the shoots” the way a politician pays for a campaign: with “Preview Parties” showcasing the “film so far” for potential backers. He expects the film to cost $200,000, and so far his “shoot-by-the-dollar” procedure is working.

He is using actors and actresses who are acting in a movie for the first time, including the daughter of the popular longtime waitress at Magnotta’s Restaurant, in White Plains Mary Fulco. Carla Fulco is cast as Susan the female lead in a drama about two Italian families in The Bronx in the 1960s.

The film mixes in elements of crime, infidelity, depression, broken dreams, and shattered dreams, in a script recalling that of Niagara, The Postman Always Rings Twice, with a little bit of Pulp Fiction thrown in. There are lots of vintage cars, familiar scenes around Queens and The Bronx. Marricone is attempting to recreate the feel of the family pressures, the everyday life in the so-called age of innocence, the early 1960s, the way it was growing up, raising a family in The Bronx. He calls it a “Bronx Love Story” with underworld overtones, or “Highway to Heaven meets the Twilight Zone.”

100 LOCAL PERSONS WORKING FOR LOVE NOW, MONEY LATER: Lorraine Kroutil(right) of White Plains is handling costumes and props. She’s shown at Bob Buchanan’s Photography preparing the costume of BronxTalk Hostess, Jane Folloro of Yonkers, making her acting debut in InterVention, for a scene on Lafayette Avenue. Lorraine’s husband, Jeff is an extra in the film, that’s all about growing up Italian in The Bronx in the 1960s, chopshops, maltshops, T-Birds and Mustangs, just slightly on the other side of the law.
Photo by WPCNR Entertainment

When WPCNR interviewed Jimmie in September, he had 30 scenes done and 109 more to shoot, and now has completed about 40 more scenes, all the major ones. Using persons who have not acted before, Morricone has been training them, rehearsing them and then shooting the scenes. Bob Buchanan’s Studio on Lafayette Avenue in White Plains has been the new “White Plains Actor’s Studio.”

Morricone held auditions for the casting at the White Plains YWCA, and that’s how Carla Fulco, Mary’s daughter heard of the film. Carla’s Mom Mary who worked at the YWCA noticed the open call auditions and told her about it. Carla said she just decided “just to try it.”

Morricone found she was “a natural.”

Stars Are Born?

JIMMY HOLLYWOOD FLANKED BY HIS STARS, JOE DEVITO, RIGHT, AND MS. FULCO talked with WPCNR about how they were cast and acting together.
Photo by WPCNR Entertainment

“They had me go in August (2001) and say my name, where I was from, a little about myself on camera,” Ms. Fulco recalls. “Then they didn’t bring me back. They stopped everything after September 11. They brought me back a couple of months later to read some lines from the script.”

IS BRANDO BACK? Joe DeVito, playing Ms. Fulco’s husband in the film changed his looks and build to get the part.
Photo by WPCNR Entertainment

Joe DeVito, an accountant by day, actually raised in The Bronx, plays Carla’s husband. He said he sent in his picture to Jimmie’s ad in Backstage, not knowing it was Morricone’s film. He had known Morricone previously. “I came up and read. He liked what I did.”

“We knew what we wanted in the girl lead part,” Morricone said, talking about how he decided to pair the two. We had a type cast in our mind. We saw a lot of different people for the (Carla’s) part. It took Anton Evangelista (Director/Writer) and me a long time to make up our minds for Carla’s role and Joe’s role. We took a long time stretching it out. At first Joe I felt wasn’t right for the part, but he convinced me.”

DeVito Transforms Himself.

“I worked on it, I knew what he wanted, I asked Jimmie, because I know I can give him what he wants, tell me what he wants. He told me. Actually I had a real short haircut, was really bulked up. I had to make a transition.”

Morricone recalled, “I said to him when he came to me the second time, I brought him to my house. I said, Joe, you’re a good actor, I think you can do a good job, but you can’t transform yourself into my son, if you remain the scary tough guy I perceive you to be, then I can’t give you the part. So, he came back for another interview, and had totally transformed himself. And, I recognized it immediately. I gave him the part.”

While Joe had done acting in high school, Carla has never acted before:

“It’s strange because I always thought of it But I just never went ahead, never pushed to do it. I’m outgoing, always doing crazy things. It doesn’t bother me in front of people, lights, talent shows, plays. When my mother told me about the open casting I wasn’t even nervous about going. Even the day I read, like I just read it as written, and did improv with James, like he was my dad and I was his daughter.”

Improv by the Ingénue Clinches the Part.

“I wanted to see how easy it would be for her to improv me as her father. She responded and responded very good. I sensed something that she was able to, no hesitation, she just interacted really well, whatever I said, she had something to say back to me. It went better than even the read. That kind of made me say to myself, the girl’s got something.”

Next, Carla read with a few different people.

“Once we decided we were pretty sure we were going to use Carla for the part of Susan we started to let her read with the different actors who came in to play her husband.”

Carla said she had nothing to say about who would play her husband in the film. But, Joe and Carla in the parts had chemistry together in their readings together, she said she just made comments to Jimmie and Anton, the director, but she liked reading with Joe.

A SCENE FROM INTERVENTION with Carla Fulco in an emotional scene with her parents in the film.
Photo Duplicated with Permission

“I know I felt very comfortable with him (Joe DeVito).The first time I read with him, he got me like really emotional. I was very upset. I had a difference when I read with him than all the other guys. It was just something, whatever it was.”
Morricone noticed that spark: “It kind of like popped. We asked her, Anton and I, how did you feel with him? She said she felt the best of everyone. We together, Anton, myself and Carla really made that decision as to who we were going to use. Once she said “him,” then we knew we were right.”

Joe said at the time, he still wasn’t sure he had impressed producer and director enough. He said he knew the two had “chemistry” and Carla and he “were giving them some good stuff.”

Rehearsing and Setting up Scenes

DIRECTOR-WRITER ANTON EVANGELISTA BLOCKS OUT A SCENE ON LAFAYETTE AVENUE with Ms. Fulco. Evangelista is a quiet, patient, meticulous craftsman who believes in preparation.
Photo by WPCNR Entertainment

“Anton (writer/director) had many rehearsals,” Carla recalls, at Bob Buchanan’s Photo Studio on Lafayette Street, White Plains before beginning shooting. “He’d give us acting exercises to do.”

“Four months of intense rehearsal, sometimes twice a week,” was the schedule, Morricone said, “Three hours. We’d come here about 7, and leave about 11 sometimes with the principle cast. We’d then have run-throughs at various locations to emulate the actual arrangement of the kitchen, the living room, so that we could run-through the actual steps that everyone was going to take so we all hit our marks when it was time to shoot the scene.”

Morricone said the average scene took six takes to shoot.

“They also started taping a few of our rehearsals,” Carla added.

“Anton followed what Fellini used to do years ago. He would do a preliminary shoot before the actual shoot. What Anton was doing was running test shots in the actual location. We went to an apartment in Park Chester (The Bronx, naturally), and ran a test shot of an actual scene between Joe and Carla in Park Chester, and that was only for fun, to go back and look at it, study and analyze to see what we could do to make it better. That only comes with having the luxury of the digital format, digital video. You could not do that with film. Today we have the luxury of a camcorder, and come back and do the real McCoy the next time.”

WPCNR asked how actors stayed emotionally on pitch when scenes were shot out of sequence, unlike a play.

Joe said, “I think that goes back to rehearsals. There were multiple rehearsals. Constant. So many scenes stuck in your head. It’s like (snapping his fingers) dredging back on a memory, you know.”

JOE DEVITO AT THE WHEEL WITH A FRIEND in a scene from InterVention. The Car is a vintage Buick Biscayne from 1960 one of many classics in the film.
Photo Duplicated with permission

WPCNR asked Carla if making a movie was more work than she expected.

The ingénue replied, “It’s a lot of work. Long hours. I enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun.”
Asked if she liked playing a dramatic role instead of a comedy part, Carla added, “I’ve always seen myself to be very funny, more of a comedy thing, but I like this (InterVention) a lot. I enjoy it. I think I can do something in comedy if I can do InterVention, it’s a lot harder.”

Do Leads Fall for Each Other?

Joe DeVito quickly said, “That came and went.”

Carla laughed and, “We’re just part of the deal. You do get close to him when you first meet him, but you work with them, and you’re spending all your time with them. But it’s that way with the whole cast. Everyone is a family. I really am so close with them.”

Morricone mused on the question, “It’s something that happens in the process of making a film that the actors develop an affinity, as you said for each other. They look at each other as family. Something happens.”

Joe became more candid, “Carla and I were attracted to each other when we first met. We liked each other and whatever, but I guess that died out. But, that’s cool. But that’s like the way it is.”

Chemistry’s there. Then it’s not.

Morricone, an actor with 18 film credits, 10 television shows, and 4 commercials in his journeys, delved into the mystery of chemistry:

“It happens a lot. But, it’s kind of like not real. At some point in time when this (InterVention) is all over, people are just going to back to what they are doing. It’s going to be sad. You literally go home and cry about it.”

“I don’t think I’d have been able to have a relationship with Joe,” Carla said, in view of the filming process. “Like it would have been different.”

“I told them,” Morricone revealed, “they can both attest to this. I said I know this business. Don’t get confused. Don’t get involved.”

“I wouldn’t want to be involved with somebody in this business,” Joe said.

“You know what, you learn it for yourself as you get to do what you’re doing as a family to create the film. You learn it’s not going to work. That’s why a lot of actresses and actors they come together, marry and divorce five or six times. I don’t know why they don’t learn,” Morricone concluded on the sensitive topic of chemistry.

A movie about temptation and redemption

Morricone says InterVention has a good ending. It deals with family pressures that can drive couples apart, professional and outside-the-law activities that pressurize a relationship, and temptations of other men and other women. All the things that many persons face in reality. How Carla and Joe, as Susan and Paul deal with those pressures with a strange “Intervener,” draws you into the film.

MS. FULCO AND MR. DEVITO TALK ABOUT THEIR CHEMISTRY.
Photo by WPCNR Entertainment

Some kind of bond is necessary between the leads.

We asked how her co-lead, Joe, helped her bring out those character swings: “That’s why even the beginning when we first met, I wanted to get to know him and get close to him to know what kind of personality he was so when I do have to act with him I know him as a person so it’s more comfortable. They even said try and hang out with the person. Anton even said, try to get to know one another and know how each other is, because in the film we’re the starring roles and supposed to be married, so you should have somewhat of a bond to be able to act together.”

MS. FULCO ON HER FIRST ACTING ROLE: Asked about playing a character that is faced with an immoral choice, Carla said she welcomed the challenge, and had no problem with it: “I like having all the different emotions and having to change your thoughts and the way you act. I get into what I have to do whether I agree with it or not.”
Photo by WPCNR Entertainment

Joe said, he saw some of himself in his character Paul. “ I just want to do good work in this film and see what Hollywood says.”

“For both Carla and Joe, it’s a great opportunity to get out there,” Morricone noted. “It’s a big challenge considering the kind of films being made today. I know why Joe wanted this film. The typecast syndrome. You look like a cop. You look like a gangster, so everytime you walk in the door…Oh, you’re a gangster.”

Joe said, “I was always cast as a gangster, so I definitely wanted something different.”

Carla said she is much like the character she plays in the film: “I’m very much like the character Susan, the way she is emotionally and with family. I mean not the way she is in the film, dysfunctional. I very much take care of my family. That’s me, I’m very emotional very much like her, having to go see my family if someone is ill.”

Mary Fulco, her mom, will be pleased to hear that.

Carla/Joe Bond brings out the best

We asked how her co-lead, Joe, helped her bring out those character swings: “That’s why even in the beginning when we first met, I wanted to get to know him and get close to him to know what kind of personality he was so when I do have to act with him I know him as a person so it’s more comfortable. They even said try and hang out with the person. Anton even said, try to get to know one another and know how each other is, because in the film we’re the starring roles and we’re supposed to be married, so you should somewhat have a bond to be able to act together.”

Morricone observed, “The fact that they learn a lot about each other, and come together at some point in time prior to the actual filming, then maybe the relationship deteriorates and becomes something else, it works, for the film. Anton and I had a lot of discussions about Carla and Joe and letting them get to know one another because when they learned about each other, that’s o.k. And if that liking each other turns to disliking each other, that’s even better.”

“So now you’ve got a really good movie,” Carla quipped, and the laughter started between all three.

“We’ve got a good movie, because two people who liked each other, now hate each other,” Morricone laughed.

“I have a love for Carla and Joe. It’s something that just happens to you in the process of acting out this whole family thing. They’ll stay with me forever. I’m sure that none of us are going to walk away after having done this film and say it never happened. We’re going to miss the people. It’s going to be very strange.”

But they may be back together again in Intervention II.

Photo by WPCNR Entertainment

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WPCNR NEWSREEL. From Maureen Keating-Tuchiya. October 31, 2002:Worth taking note of is the intriguing number of Asian Pacific Americans running for office this coming Tuesday. There are 3 Gubernatorial candidates, 4 Lieutenant Governor candidates, 14 running for the House of Representatives, 30 State Senate candidates and 93 State Representative candidates.

APAICS Chair Clayton Fong stated, “It is exciting that we have identifie
close to 200 APA candidates who are running next week. And there were many more APA candidates who ran in primary elections, but unfortunately did not advance to the general elections. It is vital that the Asian Pacific American community continue to identify, encourage and train qualified APAs to run for public office. This is one of the major roles that APAICS plays on behalf of the community. Post November 5th , we look forward to having more APA elected officials as role models to inspire the next group of candidates.”

“Some of the key races that we are watching are the Hawaii gubernatorial race where a win by Mazie Hirono will enable Hawaii to retain an APA governor; the Guam gubernatorial race where Congressman Robert Underwood is running against Felix Camacho; and the Colorado Fourth Congressional District seat where a win by Colorado State Senate President Stan Matsunaka will make political history by sending the first APA Member of Congress from Colorado,” commented Daphne Kwok, Executive Director of APAICS.

Asian Pacific Americans Register to Vote in Record Numbers

“According to analysis prepared by Karthick Ramakrishnan, a research fellow at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, voter registration increased from 56% to 63% of all eligible APA voters from 1998 to 2000. The voting rates increased from 37% of eligible APA voters in 1998 to 53% in 2000. Even though midterm elections usually have lower voter turnouts, it is important that next week we will be able to dramatically improve the APA voting rate from the 1998 37% turnout,” stated Daphne Kwok.

The Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, educational organization based in Washington, D.C., that seeks to build a politically empowered APA community, to fill the political pipeline for Asian Pacific Americans to enter and advance into elected office, and to be a resource to Congress about the APA community.