THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR

WPCNR IN THE WEE HOURS. Television Review by John Bailey. September 9, 2015:

I do not watch late night talk show television. I cannot last past the monologues same boring little men doing set pieces but not getting to you. By not getting to you, I mean they do not make me laugh hard at all.

Take the silliness of Pinky Lee, the manic antics of Jerry Lewis, the droll innocence of Johnny “the One and Only,” the zaniness of Steve Allen on his old daytime and Westinghouse syndicated shows, and the technique of The Cookie Monster “I’m getting  laughs everytime I do this so I’m going to keep on doing it”( and keep shoving Oreo cookies in my face 5 or 6 times)  and even turning a guest he did not get into a guest through video tape— cleverly taking Donald Trump news clips and  getting more laughs simply playing them than if he had Mr. T as a guest, and dagnabbit—Steven Colbert kept me laughing until 12:35 P.M.

He had Jeb Bush laughing, too, and made the Jebber open up and appear easily the most human of any candidate running for President. Bush got campaign advice from Colbert who would be a great campaign consultant. Colbert’s advice to the Jebman:  “You see you almost had some claps there. You have to wait… let the claps build don’t cut them off.”  (An epithany seemed to cross Mr. Bush’s face his eyes opened wide and tucked that away.)

Bush looked dumbfounded with a look of sudden realization!

Colbert’s clever adlib,  unexpected style of interviewing which fans of the much-missed Colbert Report know well—is brutally effective at bringing out the humanity  (or lack of it) out of the images that show up on these shows we have been watching for 50 years now.

Why did I keep laughing?

Colbert showed you and anyone who watched last night that you will not know what’s coming next on his show. He has learned that the major flaw in talk shows is they have become monologue centered and fill out the time with polite interviews and lame bits.

Colbert is only going to get better. He was a little slow starting. He was silly, full of himself. But so lovable, not polished, exasperating and over the top with a humor seeking adlib missile ready to fire unexpectedly at any moment. Future guests take note!

Then came his being taken over by haunted objects on the set – a disembodied voice of ancient God forcing him to push hummus—a Monkey’s Paw that came alive to get him to a commercial break.

Enjoying Oreo cookies  excessively piling them into his mouth — while Donald Trump talked about Nabisco closing its Oreo plant in Chicago. The audience despite being VIPs was rolling with laughter. Tomorrow night – look for pie-in-the-face or a pie fight – it always works – seltzer bottles may be next.

Mr. Colbert is deranged and deranged is funny. Unstability is funny.

His interview with George Clooney was highlighted by a spoof movie clip starring Clooney called “Decision Strike” that bore  uncanny resemblance to the new movie commercials that just peppered this show.

From his bouncing Pinky Lee impish prancing on stage – his contrite homage to David Letterman (he didn’t need to do that, it just held things up) and his acknowledging his “nation” chanting “Steven, Steven,” Colbert seemed a bit overwhelmed then he remembered to be himself and the show started to roll.

With the CBS kingpin in the audience,  with a switch off button, a bit that was not very funny, he was understandably nervous. But Colbert just keeps throwing bits at you and when you start laughing at his flat out silliness, well you pack up your troubles and they just go out of your mind.

Can he sustain this five days a week? There’s so much to draw on  that no one does anymore– man on the street, visiting strange places like the Hollywood Ranch Market, he hasn’t even done Johnny Carson skits yet. Also, he announces his own show…

I believe the show will start smoother when it settles into a groove. And tomorrow night he has Scarlet Johanson on —  Jeb Bush and Scarlet Johanson back to back…well I may even watch tomorrow night.

If you are used to laughing politely at written monologues that invite polite laughter, Mr. Colbert is going to take getting used to.  His cameo bits with rival Jimmy Fallon were cute but contrived. Mr. Colbert is at his best when he is working “concept,” usually preposturous and no one  works a concept for laughs better.

He is best alone, He turns every guest into his foil. You see a guest more as they really are.

He and the audience were having so much fun,(bits just kept on going), that he hardly had time for Jeb Bush. Colbert kept adlibbing fiercely, rapid fire and kept the audience waiting with baited breath.

He is a little awkward in celebrity small talk and spoofed it beautifully with George Clooney saying to Clooney it was nice having him (Clooney) on when he did not have a project to plug.

But Jeb got across an image that he is the only nice guy running for President.  The magic of the Colbert interview. Through humor he reveals truths.

The result: an hour between 11:30 and 12:35 that actually produces hilarity. You don’t need “applause” or “laugh” signs.

We have not had that since Steve Allen and Johnny Carson. Mr. Colbert is taking talk back to the future.

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. From the French-American School of New York. September 3, 2015:

The French-American School of New York (FASNY) today filed an almost 90-page petition in State Supreme Court asking the Court to annul the August 5, 2015 vote of the White Plains Common Council that blocked FASNY’s ability to build its new school on a portion of the former Ridgeway Country Club.

Filed by Michael Zarin of the White Plains law firm Zarin & Steinmetz, who has represented the school throughout its more than four years of review before the City, the suit describes the Council’s action as “illegal, irrational, baseless and arbitrary.”

FASNY’s case is unusual because, unlike most parties who challenge governmental actions, FASNY is embracing the administrative record in its suit.  FASNY’s petition notes that, in December 2013, the Common Council, by a 6-1 vote, adopted Findings pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).

The Findings determined that the school’s impacts could be mitigated or “cushioned” as the law requires based upon conditions, including, in particular, the partial discontinuance of a limited portion of a local street, Hathaway Lane.

On August 5, 2015, the Council voted 4-3 to authorize the discontinuance, but the Common Council has taken the position that a “supermajority” is needed for this action, such that the 3 votes in opposition resulted in its denial.

As the petition states, “the Court cannot allow the Common Council to subject an educational use, like FASNY’s School, to a Catch-22 situation, wherein, on one hand, the Council requires by a 6-1 vote a mitigation measure (i.e., the partial discontinuance of Hathaway Lane), yet, on the other, rejects the proposal based on compliance with this mitigation measure.”

The lawsuit notes that the principle basis cited by the three Council members who voted against the school’s proposal was that the partial discontinuance of Hathaway Lane “mandated by the Council would lead to a five-second increase in emergency response times.”

FASNY’s petition explains, however, that the City’s own Commissioner of Public Safety, David Chong, confirmed that this five-second increase was not significant because emergency response times would still be more than two minutes below the thresholds established by the National Fire Protection Association.

The petition characterizes the Council’s action as “a classic example” of why the State Court of Appeals has held that courts are “thrust into the role of protecting educational institutions from community hostility.”

The petition asks the Court to order the Council to approve the Special Permit and Site Plan applications.

The Common Council’s vote on FASNY’s petition to discontinue a portion of Hathaway Lane was inextricably linked to its review of FASNY’s Special Permit/Site Plan Application, so that the Council’s action on the petition resulted in the constructive denial of the School’s Application in its entirety.

The Common Council’s failure to vote on FASNY’s Special Permit/Site Plan Application also resulted in the denial of the Application by operation of law. The White Plains Zoning Ordinance establishes that if the approving agency does not act within 90 days of its receipt of a completed application, its failure to act constitutes disapproval.

Commenting on the case, Zarin said:  “We are optimistic that the Court will recognize the Council’s extensive administrative record which was compiled over four years of review, establishing the merit of FASNY’s application, and affirm the majority vote by the Council in favor of the school.”

Andrea Colombel, Chairperson of the FASNY Board of Trustees, said: “We regret that we are faced with this unfortunate situation, but we have a strong case with solid legal arguments. The school has met every condition imposed by the Common Council, as was recognized by the majority of the Council members, and we are confident that after careful review of all of the proceedings by the Court, our plan will be approved.”

The review of the French-American School’s plan lasted more than four years. The school bought the moribund 130-acre country club in January 2011 and that spring proposed a plan to build a school that would ultimately accommodate its Nursery through 12^th grade students. FASNY, founded in Larchmont in 1980, currently operates in rented facilities at four Westchester locations.

FASNY’s plan includes the site for the school at the eastern end of the property where the clubhouse and club facilities were located while the balance of the site would become the 78-acre, publically accessible Greens-to-Green Conservancy.  The Conservancy would restore the former golf course to a natural state and be owned and operated by FASNY. It would feature a network of walking and bicycle paths open to the public year-round.