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 WESTCHESTER COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From County Department of Communications. September 23, 2002: Noise levels in the communities of Harrison, Rye Brook and North Castle, surrounding the Westchester County Airport, have gone down significantly, according to a study commissioned by the county that was released today.
The study, by TAMS Consultants Inc., of New York City and Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. of Burlington, Mass., looked at existing sources of noise at the airport and helped identify future sources based on aircraft operations at the 700-acre airport in Harrison, Rye Brook and North Castle. The $78,000 study was commissioned in early 2000. The last such study was done in the mid 1980s.

“It’s good to see that our hard work is paying off,’’ said County Executive Andy Spano. “In 1999, this administration instituted a “Good Neighbor Policy” to reduce noise and other pollution affecting communities surrounding the airport. We have worked with commercial carriers and charter fliers to educate them on the importance of abiding by our voluntary curfew, and we are making progress.’’

Transportation Commissioner Larry Salley said, “This study clearly demonstrates that noise impacts generated by aircraft operations at the County Airport have been significantly reduced since 1988, and will continue to decline through 2005. This is another example of the County Executive’s initiatives to implement his Airport “Good Neighbor Policy.”

The report said quieter aircraft, reduction in the use of certain runways and changes in aircraft approaches have helped to reduce noise levels significantly since 1988, when the last study was done.
According to the study, Day/Night Noise Levels were lower in areas surrounding the airport. The Day/Night Noise level is a formula which takes into consideration that noise is more disturbing at night than during the day.

This is the measurement that is recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration as the most accurate way to quantify how aircraft noise affects surrounding communities.

The study looked at Day Night Sound Levels in 1988, 1999 and gave projections for 2005. What it found was that noise did not travel as far outside the airport in 1999 as it did in 1988.

The Numbers

A breakdown of the Day Night Sound levels showed that:
• In 1988, the area around the airport in which airport sounds reached 60 decibels was about 9.39 square miles. That shrunk to 4.16 sq mi by 1999 and is expected to shrink to 3.62 square miles by 2005. As of 1999, about 477 households with 1,431 people were within the 60-decibel range.

• 65-decibel sounds reached 3.44 sq mi. outside the airport in 1988, but only 1.78 sq mi in 1999 and are expected to reach only 1.50 sq mi by 2005. As of 1999, about 268 households with 804 people were within the 65-decibel range.

• The 70-decibel range shrunk from 1.58 sq mi. in 1988 to 0.74 sq mi in 1999. It is estimated to shrink to 0.66 sq mi. by 2005. About 262 households with 786 individuals were within that range.

• The 75-decibel range shrunk from 0.71 sq mi in 1988 to 0.34 sq mi in 1999 and is expected to shrink again to 0.32 sq mi by 2005. There are no homes within that area.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. By John F. Bailey. September 21, 2002: Mike Lane took the kickoff on his own 15 yard line on the opening kickoff, picked his way gingerly along the far sideline through heavy Gryphon traffic broke out of the scrum at his 45 and rumbled into the endzone for a 75 yard kickoff return to put White Plains up 7-0 before Ramapo could get started. Two sustained drives by White Plains with Spencer Ridenhour scoring both touchdowns on short runs, put the Tigers up 20-7 at the half.

THAT’S “FREIGHT TRAIN” LANE TAKING THE OPENING KICK-OFF! Lane, at far left of picture, just starting his run, neatly deked, ducked, bounced and moved into high gear, cruising 75 yards through the Gryphon Team with a great special teams effort for a 6-0 Tiger lead at Ramapo High School Saturday afternoon.
Photo by WPCNR

But, that was the end of offense for the Tigers for the day. White Plains had the ball 5 times in the second half and went 3-and-out each time, gaining, actuallty losing approximately a minus 25 yards, unofficially in the entire second half.

Led by their talented 440 speedster and roll-out specialist, Ylvans Lewis, Ramapo took the lead with two touchdowns in the third quarter and added a third TD in the final stanza to defeat White Plains, 29-20.

Tigers lead by 14-0 after First Quarter

After Lane’s electrifying kickoff return, White Plains defense and Ramapo’s traded stops, until Ramapo fumbed on their own 39, with the Tigers recovering. White Plains then marched 39 yards in 12 plays to score on Spencer Ridenhour’s 6-yard run, to make it 14-0 with 2:28 to go in the first Quarter.

RIDENHOUR OFF TACKLE AND INTO THE ENDZONE: With Evan McGuire (13) and Darrell Mack(17) clearing the middle Spencer capped the time-consuming drive in the first quarter, punching it in for a 13-0, soon-to-be 14-0 lead. Ridenhour’s legs can be seen in the middle of the huge hole cleared out by the Tiger pitmen. Ridenhour carried six times on this drive, making runs of 9, 2, 5, 4, and a 2 yard run. With fourth and 2 on the 33, Ike Nkuka ran 15 yards to the 18, then 6 yards for a 2nd down on the 12, then for 5 more yards for a first and goal on the 7, and Ridenhour took it over in two carries. The Tigers added the point and it was 14-0.
Photo by WPNCR

Ramapo was back on their heels at this point and on the kickoff took over at their 45 yard line. White Plains was looking for their third stop of the day with Ramapo with third down and 10 on the White Plains 39 when the First Quarter ended.

Touchdown on a Scramble

On the first play of the second quarter, 3rd and 10, the Tigers covered the Gryphon receivers perfectly and Ylvans Lewis, the Ramapo quarterback was lined up for a sack in the backfield, actually in Tiger paws. He slipped the Tiger tackler, and lit out around left end towards the far sideline with all of White Plains on the near side of the field. Lewis turned on his 440-speed (a Ramapo fan said Lewis is 4th in the state in the 440), outrunning the last Tiger, squeezing in at the goal line flag. Touch-DOWNNN! 39 yards!

The point kick made it 14-7 with 11:47 to go in the half. The sight of Lewis rolling out was going become all too familiar in the second half.

White Plains Consolidates, Takes 20-7 lead at half.

Ramapo intercepted a Mike Devere pass for a first down on the Tiger 45, but White Plains held them off, and took over in Tiger territory at their own 38.

They proceeded to drive 62 yards in 12 plays to take a 20-7 lead at the half.

Key plays on this drive were a 17-yard Ridenhour rumble around end from the WP 42, setting the Tigers up with a first down on the Gryphon 42. This was followed by an bullet third and 10 pass from QB Devere to end Evan McGuire on a slant pattern over the middle to give the Tigers a first on the Ramapo 31. Ridenhour broke loose off tackle for another first on the 19, 4 yards more to the 15, then 5 more to the 10. On 4th down, Spencer took it to the 7 for a first and goal.

RIDENHOUR AROUND END AND IN WITH A MINUTE LEFT IN THE HALF: The third Tiger touchdown being scored by Spencer Ridenhour after he’d bulled his way 7 yards to the 1 yard line. It was the last gain of the day for White Plains. White Plains had the ball unofficially for 30 plays to Ramapo’s 21 in the First Half. They would run only 20 plays in the second half, four of them in the last minute of the game.
Photo by WPCNR

A Second Half of Big Plays

White Plains appeared to have Ramapo stopped again at the outset of the secondhalf, but that kid again, Ylans Lewis made a big play again.

With Ramapo at second and 4 on their own 42 after beginning on their 34, Lewis rolled out again. Look out! The kid raced around left end to the far sideline for a 55-yard touchdown run. The point was missed, and with 10:49 left in the third quarter, it was instantly 20-13, Tigers.

A Very Different Ramapo Defense

The Gryphon line tightened on Ridenhour’s first two runs, and a pass on third down, forced White Plains to punt from their 33.

Booming Punt by Ridenhour: 54 yards!

Ridenhour punted the ball away a high drifting punt with lots of leg, and the Gryphon return man misjudged the punt. It went over his head coming to rest on the Ramapo 13 yard line, a terrific punt of 54 yards from scrimmage, 64 yards point-to-point.

The White Plains defense held Ramapo on downs, forcing an equally clutch punt from Ramapo, whose punter boomed one to Mike Lane at the White Plains 43 and they got him.

LOOSE BALL!

White Plains then was caught holding (face mask) on a Darrell Mack running play, and was pushed back by the penalty to the 32. First and 20.

On third and 20, there was a miscue in the backfield which WPCNR could not pick up, was it a straight fumble, a bad handoff, I could not tell. There was a pile. Ramapo recovered the fumble with approximately 6 minutes to go in the quarter.

33 yards in 6 Plays, for TD and 2 Point Conversion, Gives Ramapo Lead.

Ramapo could smell it now. Lewis threw a pass for a first down on the 21. Rolled out himself to get to the 15, and threw a pass to Edison Avalard for a first down on the 3. Lewis rolled right this time and into the endzone for his third touchdown of the afternoon, and added insult to injury by bootlegging left for the 2-point conversion for the lead, 21-20.

Inches from the Lead

On the next and final series of the third quarter, Mike Devere sent Darrell Mack way deep down the left sideline. The double-team Gryph defense was beaten. Darrell had split the defenders was behind them. The pass just grazed his fingertips. Soooo close to the go-ahead touchdown. On third and 2, the Tigers failed and had to punt it away. It was the last threat for the Tigers.

Ramapo clinches.

Ramapo drove to the Tiger 42, was stopped and forced to punt, but missed the coffin corner kick and White Plains took over at their 20. The Tigers could not move it and short-punted giving Ramapo the ball on the Tiger 45.

Ylvands Lewis did it to the Tigers on this drive, too, sprinting around left end, his favorite overland route, 26 yards to the Tiger 2. Lewis scored his fourth touchdown on the next play, to make it 27-0, and then passed for the 2-pointer to make it 29-20.

The Tigers will be having nightmares of green # 7s this evening.

I have White Plains gaining 130 yards total offense in the firsthalf, and a minus 15 yards in the second half. Ramapo totally shut them down.
Saunders Next Saturday

White Plains falls to 1-2 on the year and will travel to Yonkers next Saturday to play Saunders at 1:30 PM.

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS VARIETY. From Government Access Channel 72. September 20, 2002: Fred Strauss, General Manager of White Plains Cable Access, announced Friday that the September 11 “Walk and Remembrance” Memorial Ceremony, the ecumenical service held in White Plains September 11 to pay tribute to those lost in the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks will be televised for a limited time beginning at 6 PM on Government Access Channel 72 this week. It will be repeated every hour on the hour. The program, lasting 1 hour and 12 minutes, features many of the local clergy, and the White Plains High School Choir.

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WPCNR EVENING CITY STAR REPORTER MIDNIGHT EXTRA. By John F. Bailey. September 20, 2002, 12:30 A.M. E.D.T.: Adam Bradley outlasted, and appears to have ended Ms. Matusow’s tenure as Assemblyperson in the 89th Assembly District, effective December 31.

SHAKING HANDS ALL AROUND WITH A GLASSY LOOK IN HIS EYE: Mr. Bradley strode to the center of the Board of Elections reception area, looking genuinely happy and just, well dazed, his first words were, “I’m pleased to say, the final numbers, Naomi Matusow, 32, Adam Bradley 17, and 3 no votes,” and then he accepted congratulations.
Photo by WPCNR

Ms. Matusow, an Assemblyperson for five terms, has been primaried out of her seat by a grassroots effort by New Castle “Activist” Democrats and the Working Families Party, and the Independence Party which worked very hard for Mr. Bradley’s candidacy. New Castle Democrat Co-Chair, Maureen Keating-Tsuchiya, attributed the Indian Point issue as the big motivator for New Castle Democrats to support Bradley.

A LEGAL CHALLENGE by Ms. Matusow is expected Monday (just a block away from the Board of Elections where Thursday’s final counting took place), in Supreme Court in White Plains before Judge Orazio Bellantoni. Here, she and her supporters are shown going over Official Board of Elections Canvass Sheets prior to going in to Thursday’s review and count of the remaining absentee and affidavit ballots.
Photo by WPCNR

The final, “unofficial” WPCNR totals find Bradley receiving 2,728 votes, and Ms. Matusow, 2,706, a difference of 20 votes with 5,434 Democrats voting districtwide. (Totals of

Mr. Bradley, if no court challenge overturns the results, moves onto the November 5 ballot with the Democratic, Independence and Working Family’s party lines, which he wrested from Ms. Matusow in early candidate interviews with the two parties. A legal observer, Chris Riley, gave the opinion that any Matusow challenge would be “fast-tracked” to the Court of Appeals within a week or so, that there was no way Matusow could remain on the ballot while a suit was being decided.

THE FINAL REVIEW BEGINS, as Reginald LaFayette, Democratic Commissioner of the Board of Elections, proceeds with Mr. Bradley, Steve Goldenbrg (back to camera) and Tim James, (in red), to the review room at slightly past 11:00 Thursday.
Photo by WPCNR

The Final “Votedown”

To accomplish this, Bradley survived a deliberate, determined absentee and affidavit ballot count Wednesday and Thursday at the Board of Elections. The last 52 paper ballots from Bedford, Harrison, New Castle, Lewisboro, New Castle, North Castle and Pound Ridge were counted over a period of 9-1/2 hours.

Going into today, Bradley, the Democratic City Committee Leader from White Plains led incumbent Assemblywoman Naomi Matusow by 23 votes in the 89th District Assembly Democratic Primary. Ms. Matusow needed 44 votes out of the 52 votes examined Thursday to defeat Mr. Bradley, counting on her up-district support in Bedford, Lewisboro, North Castle, Pound Ridge and New Castle. She did not get them.

9-1/2 hours to examine 87 paper ballots.

After 5 hours were spent Wednesday challenging the validity of all Board of Elections “throw-outs” and absentee and affidavit ballots from White Plains districts only, with Bradley picking up 20 votes to Matusow’s 12, with 3 contested, the rest of the votes from the seven other towns were reviewed and counted Thursday.

Counting did not begin Thursday until 11:05 A.M, when Naomi Matusow and her legal counsel from Albany, Dan Conviser, said to from the State Assembly staff, and Adam 0Bradley, Steve Goldenbrg (a veteran vote observer from New Castle), Tim James, Bradley statistician and Rafael Vega headed downstairs into the ballot-examination room to review the eligibility of the final 52 ballots. Around noon, Vega and Goldenbrg left and Bob Bogar and another Bradley volunteer took over with Mr. Bradley and Mr. James.

“Organized Albany” Arrives.

There was a lunch break at 1:05 PM, at which point only Harrison and Lewisboro had been examined. Counting resumed at 2:20 PM with Tom Roach joining the Bradley vote-examination team, which consisted of Roach, Bradley, and James. Two Albany Assembly persons arrived via state limousine, approximately 2 PM, one of whom Bradley identified as State Assemblyman Jeffery Dinowitz and a man named Quail from the Democrat Assembly Campaign Committee who descended to the reviewing floor, reportedly to observe some of the action, but had left by the time the final counting had begun.

BOARD OF ELECTIONS DELIVERS WHITE PLAINS ROSTER BOOKS FOR REVIEW BY THE MATUSOW TEAM.
Photo by WPCNR

FOI’s Fly. Poll Roster Books Requested.

From about 10 A.M. on, when WPCNR arrived, Ms. Matusow’s campaign workers, two gentleman from Albany, and two from her home district of North Castle filed Freedom of Information requests for ReCanvass Sheets. They were going over election district yellow Recanvass sheets from the White Plains districts, and other strong-for-Bradley districts, doing a task they did not do last week that the Bradley team did do.

At 2:45 P.M., Ms. Matusow and her lawyer, Mr. Canviser requested Poll Roster Books to begin the task of checking signatures in the White Plains districts. (Poll Roster Books are the books you, as a voter sign each time you vote). The objective, WPCNR can only presume, was to find voters who did not vote and possible grounds for challenge.

REACHING OUT AND TOUCHING SOMEONE ALL DAY: Mr. Bradley on his various breaks from the review, was kept busy contacting relief observers so often, his cellphone ran out of power.
Photo by WPCNR

Cellphones Squawk as “Votedown” Winds Down.

After an hour and fifteen minutes of resumed vote review, at 3:30 PM, Mr. Bradley emerged to say that Harrison, Bedford, North Castle and part of New Castle had been reviewed. During the entire four hours of the Thursday process, cellphones rang intermittently in the hands of all canvassers in the cramped BOE waiting room, and especially Mr. Bradley’s. Mr. Bradley’s cellphone ran out of juice by 3:30PM and he was forced to borrow Maureen Keating-Tsuchiya’s.

At 4:10 PM, an obviously fatigued Mr. Bradley, emerged again from the Review Room to say that North Castle and half of New Castle votes had been reviewed, with Pound Ridge remaining. Media and supporters wondered how long it would take. All in the waiting/reception area had been told a count might begin at 4 PM.

Commisioner emerges. Count Not Moved Upstairs for Public to See.

At 5:45 PM, Reginald LaFayette, Democrat Commissioner of the Board of Elections, appeared from the downstairs review room to announce that “actual counting of the votes was being held downstairs to speed up the process.” On Wednesday afternoon, the counting of the White Plains ballots was being held in public view in the Board of Elections glassed-in conference room opposite the waiting room. Bradley loyalists and media were deprived of the final moments of the “votedown.” Five supporters awaited “the final count”

At 6:10 P.M. TOM ROACH HAS NEWS: Tom Roach, White Plains City Councilman, emerged from the bowels of the Board of Elections where he had been an observer and a part of the counting just completed. He read the results, saying that of the final 52 votes (38 absentees, 10 affidavit ballots, and 4 emergency ballots just unimpounded at the start of Thursday morning), Ms. Matusow had received 32 votes, Mr. Bradley 17 and there were 3 no votes.
Photo by WPCNR

Ms. Matusow had failed to overcome the Bradley 35-vote margin established Wednesday evening. She needed 44 votes, she got 35 and had unofficially lost the primary by 20 votes.

Tension disappears. The smiles break out. War Whoops!

The diehard Bradley supporters on hand, Maureen Keating-Tsuchiya, Rafael Vega, Kevin Koop, Chris Riley, and Robin Schlaff shook hands, hugged and kissed. Within minutes, Mr. Bradley appeared, with a big wide grin followed by Tim James. He repeated the numbers Mr. Roach had just announced.

BRADLEY SUPPORTERS REACH PROMISED LAND: After the announcement, the core group of Bradley workers, L to R, Robin Schlaff, Tim James, Bob Bogart, Chris Riley, Kevin Koop (back to camera) and Rafael Vega, were interviewed by the media. That’s Susan Elan of The Journal News doing the honors.
Photo by WPCNR

Unofficial counts to be presented to Judge Bellantoni Monday.

The count is over, and now the court proceedings begin. Ms. Matusow and Mr. Bradley will appear in Supreme Court Monday, at which time Judge Bellantoni will expect unofficial counts of the final totals from the Board of Elections.

Ms. Matusow had filed a “cross-answer” to Mr. Bradley’s Order to Show Cause which he filed Wednesday forbidding the Board of Election to announce a winner until all votes were counted. Now Ms. Matusow, according to sources, will most likely attempt to mount a possible legal challenge based on their belated examination of Roster Books and ReCanvass Sheets which her team and herself had begun yesterday.

Board of Elections will not certify for at least a week.

The Republican Commissioner of the Board of Elections Carolee Sunderland, said the Board would not have certified results until as late as Thursday of next week.