THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR | 2,905,611 VISITORS VISIT 8,324,077 TIMES 3 TIMES EVERY DAY IN ONE YEAR. HIGHEST ACTIVITY IN WPCNR HISTORY.White PlainsCitizeNetReporter lifted its worldwide visits from unique visitors to wpcnr.com to 8,324,077,a 1,306,419 increase in visits in one year from 7,017,658 visits to the site last year which covers White Plains and Westchester County. The 8,324,077 visits were made by 2,005,611 unique visitors who visited wpcnr an average of 3 visits a day. ON JULY 20- -2026 visitors have accessed wpcnr and made 3,072 visits an average of 1.6 visits. In the last week 33,495 individual vistors made 54,458 visits, averaging 1.6 visits. In the last month, 152,940 visitors recorded 229,338 visits (1.5 visits)

White Plains Sales Tax $$ End Year Down 2-1/2%. Since 2010 Sales Tax Increase, Tax $$ Have Been Flat.

Posted on July 20, 2015 by John Bailey

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey with data from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. UPDATED WITH CORRECTION. July 20, 2015:

The City Sales Tax Receipts for the month June were 21% less than last year, the Department of Taxation and Finance reported Thursday, leaving the city 2014-15 sales tax receipts $800,652 less than last year when the city collected $51,856,187. This year the city final sales tax receipts were $51,055,529.

Last June White Plains collected $5,385,000 in sales tax dollars, this year the city received $4,254150 in sales tax receipts, a decline of 21%.

The County Sales Tax receipts through the first half of the county budget year of 2015, were down 2.6%. Westchester County has collected $245.2 Million through June compared to last year’s mid-year total of $251.7 M, a differential of 2.6%. The County June 2015 sales tax dollars were down 8% reflecting the White Plains performance.

The White Plains fiscal year does not leave the city with a deficit, but does raise questions as to how the city economic “recovery” is doing. Since the city last raised its sales tax in 2010 with approval of the state legislature, the city sales tax receipts have been flat the last 5 years.

They have risen one year above the 2011 total, while inflation over those 5 years has risen 12%. The city sales activity has not kept pace with inflation.

NOTES ON “FLIPPING” AND SCOPING “THE COLLECTION” PROPOSAL ON WESTCHESTER AVE FROM DOWNTOWN READER

Posted on July 19, 2015 by John Bailey

7/17/15

John,

The DEIS Scoping document for “The Collection” now on the City web site is dated 4/23/15. Various entities and agencies had been requested to submit their comments by 6/22/15. I don’t know if this is now the official document, or if it will be updated.

Anyway:

Is “The Collection” project another one that will be “flipped” (sold after approvals are obtained) like the flip planned for The Pavilion project? There is another twice-flipped project on Amherst Place, between Main and Franklin. The site, for a condominium, extends back to Windsor Terrace, and is called 10 Windsor Terrace. The Cantatore family, I believe, assembled the land, got approvals, then flipped it to Pulte, who flipped it to Rome Partners, 46 Main St., Monsey, NY 10952.

That property may be in receivership. This is a large empty lot with weeds and garbage. I call the City over and over to have it cleaned out periodically. The owner of the property told my husband personally that he could not afford to build there and include the subsidized units required. See link, immediately below, to bankruptcy filing by Rome Partners. (See this link:)

http://www.freecourtdockets.com/dockets/rome-partners-and-associates-llc-10-23507-new-york-southern-bankruptcy-court-docket.html (2010 Bankruptcy filing)

Does the City not do due diligence, to see if builders can sustain the expenses of building? Thinking back, both condominiums on Stewart Place (#10 and #15) initially, when new, went into bankruptcy.

THE COLLECTION

What about the new proposed huge, over-stuffed “Collection” project on Westchester Avenue, extending back to the already dense Franklin Avenue? Will that obtain approvals, then be flipped for profit? Franklin Avenue, a narrow street, now has parking only on one side. It has a dangerous curve at Amherst Place at the bottom of a hill. That dangerous curve is very near Eastview School.

These are a few of the issues the DEIS Scoping document on the City web site does not address and/or does not explain:

 The Collection project would include 14 separate tax lots, only 9 of which are under the control of the Applicant. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Pie in the sky?
 The Project location is noted to be roughly the north side of Westchester Avenue and the south side of Franklin between Paulding and Bloomingdale Road. Roughly? Is this how a project of this size is handled? Roughly?
 Where is the open space/plazas/plantings/benches for the planned large (261 units) residential component?
 Where is the dog park for the residential component? Will it be situated after the fact? Near neighboring building(s)?
 Where exactly will the safe/pleasant pedestrian walkway be for those walking from Westchester Avenue to Franklin Avenue and vice versa? Now, people have to walk on the active Stop&Shop driveway, where there is no sidewalk; and the button on a pole to request a WALK signal has long been removed.
 What about the Franklin-Windsor senior housing on Franklin? Will they have unmitigated construction to face for years?
 Where will snow storage be?
 Will the entire complex look like the Stop&Shop parking garage?
 Why is a large parking structure planned for the border of the Eastview School property? This would be the second parking structure bordering the school property.
 What about Rush Hour Traffic on Westchester Avenue? The entire “Collection” project will have 1,233 parking spaces.
 The DEIS notes that there will be a “fully signalized intersection” at Westchester Avenue opposite Paulding. Signalized for robots? Does that mean Pedestrians will have to have eyes in the back of the head when they cross the street, as they do now at the two Container Store corners?
 Where exactly will moving trucks park for the residential component?
 Where exactly will garbage trucks park for the complex? Where exactly will garbage staging areas be? How will they be cleaned, and the containers secured?
 How will Fire Dept. vehicles access the complex?
 Do we really need more retail space in White Plains?

Thanks for asking for my input.

Best regards,

Renee Marks Cohen

Keane Named Chair of the Board of Trustees of Archbishop Stepinac High School

Posted on July 18, 2015 by John Bailey

White Plains, New York (July 14, 2015) Archbishop Stepinac High School has named Kevin J. Keane of White Plains, Managing Partner of O’Connor Davies, LLP, and a distinguished alumnus (Class of ’74), Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Keane succeeds William F. Plunkett, Jr. (Class of ’58) who served as the Board’s first Chair since its creation five years ago.

Rev. Thomas Collins (Class of ’79), Stepinac President, said: “It is fitting that Kevin Keane, who has long served his alma mater with distinction and played an instrumental role as one of the founding trustees of the Board, will lead the critically important work of this remarkable group of talented and committed individuals. I and other members of the school’s administration look forward to working with Kevin and the Board members to reinforce our school’s position as one of the nation’s 50 top ranked Catholic High Schools and as one of the region’s preeminent private high schools.”

In 2009, Keane was named one of seven officers of the nascent Board of Trustees which had been established following approval by the New York State Board of Regents of Stepinac’s charter as an independent high school with the Archdiocese of New York. Keane also served as Treasurer during the school’s transition into a new era in which the Board would oversee Stepinac’s operations, not the Archdiocese.

Chairman Emeritus Plunkett noted: “There is no question that Kevin’s business acumen and extensive experience in financial and strategic planning were instrumental in helping the Board to establish a strong financial foundation it needed to succeed as a an independent school,” adding: “At a time when other schools faced serious budget cutbacks during the great recession, Kevin’s tireless efforts in mobilizing support for key initiatives made it possible for Stepinac to make significant investments that have made the school a standard bearer in technology and academic excellence and a preeminent leader in Catholic education.”

Keane’s career with O’Connor Davies, LLP has spanned more than 30 years. As Managing Partner and a Member of the Executive Committee, he has led the emergence of O’Connor Davies, LLP as one of the preeminent, full-service Certified Public Accounting and consulting firms with nine offices in New York, New Jersey. Connecticut and Maryland. It is also the largest CPA firm in Westchester.

A CPA, Keane has extensive experience in all areas of accounting and tax planning services and specializes in dealing with closely held businesses and their owners as well as expertise in mergers and acquisitions, financial and strategic planning.

Long active in community affairs, in addition to Stepinac, Keane has served on the boards and financial committees of various not-for-profit organizations including the JohnA.ColemanSchool of the ElizabethSetonPediatricCenter, Lititz Watch Technicum and the IrishArtsCenter. He is also a director and founder of The Westchester Bank.

In 2012, Keane’s commitment to the community through corporate giving and philanthropic work were recognized by Stepinac’s Board of Trustees when it honored him with its Corporate Citizenship Award, presented to exemplary alumni.

He holds a B.S. degree in accounting from SUNY Albany and a MBA in corporate finance from PaceUniversity.

Founded in 1948, ArchbishopStepinacHigh School’s mission is to offer young men a highly competitive academic and extracurricular program that will prepare them for college and leadership roles. The faculty and staff accomplish these objectives by pursuing excellence and creating a supportive, disciplined atmosphere with a strong sense of camaraderie and Christian values that are unique to the Stepinac experience. For more information on StepinacHigh School, please visit www.stepinac.org.

Marlene Sanders–Pioneer TV Correspondent, VP of ABC Documentaries Departs–1st Woman to Report from Vietnam Dies. WPW’S PETER KATZ Remembers Her First Years at ABC.

Posted on July 16, 2015 by John Bailey

Marlene Sanders reporting from the Central Highlands, South Vietnam

WPCNR MILESTONES. July 16, 2015:

Marlene Sanders died in New York City yesterday at 84.

She was one of the first women television journalists in 1964, and the first woman to report in the field during the Vietnam War in 1966. She was also an Emmy award winning writer and producer. She was named Vice President and Director of Documentaries for the ABC Television Network in 1976. She was an lifelong critic of the television news management treatment of women correspondents, and co-author of the book, with Marcia Rock, Waiting for Primetime: The Women of Television News.

White Plains Week’s Peter Katz, former ABC Correspondent and Editor of the ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings, knew Marlene Sanders, and remembers her this way, when she first started at ABC:

“I worked with her for a time. She was mostly doing a daily 5 minute afternoon newscast on the television network. It was sponsored by Purex. The studio it originated at was in the Des Artes Hotel, just across 67th street from the rear of the main ABC studios and I can picture it as if it was yesterday. (The restaurant, Des Artistes, was a favorite hangout for ABC people.The studio had been the hotel’s ballroom.)

At that time, female anchors and reporters were extremely rare on both television and radio. From time to time, Marlene would do field reporting and feed reports to radio as well as covering for t-v. I was producing ABC Reports, editing radio news, and reporting for WABC-TV at that time and would try to put her on radio whenever I could. She was easy to work with, a skilled journalist, and a nice person.”

Ms. Sanders covered the big stories of 1968: the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy for ABC, the Democratic Convention riots in 1968, and as producer of CBS Reports won three Emmy Awards.

Variety and The New York Times reported her death this morning. The Times obituary may be read at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/16/business/media/marlene-sanders-pathbreaking-tv-journalist-dies-at-84.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150715&nlid=1045385&tntemail0=y&_r=0

The Times obituary reports in detail the paths she blazed for the women correspondents of today.