County Exec Makes White Plains Hospital Eligible for $108 Million in Tax Exempt Financing

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Photo left to right: Local Development Corporation Chairman Stephen J. Hunt, White Plains Hospital President and Chief Executive officer Jon B. Schandler, Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino, and White Plains Hospital Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Edward F. Leonard stand in front of a rendering that depicts the future White Plains Hospital after the $108 million expansion and renovation project is complete.

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From Ned McCormack,  the Westchester County Department of Communications. (Edited) September 9, 2013:

.County Executive Robert P. Astorino today announced  the county’s Local Development Corporation (LDC) approved a resolution that will give White Plains Hospital access to $108 million in tax-exempt bond financing to construct a six-story patient care building, five new operating rooms and an expanded outpatient radiology center.

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View of Expansion of White Plains Hospital looking East with Maple Avenue on right hand corner of picture and West Post Road on the left.

“The responsiveness and accessibility of Astorino’s team and the dramatic savings we will realize from financing through the LDC is what closed the deal and got this project rolling.” said Jon B. Schandler, White Plains Hospital president and chief executive officer. “We are saving nearly $3 million over the next 30 years by going with the LDC instead of other options. That savings will instead be invested in patient support, life-saving technology and clinical training.”

The expansion and renovation plan is the LDC’s largest transaction since it was established by Astorino in January 2012.

“The investment that White Plains Hospital is making today, thanks to the Local Development Corporation, will deliver state-of-the-art essential healthcare services to Westchester residents for generations to come,” said Astorino. “This project will also produce a variety of high-wage jobs both during and after construction. This will add to the long-term vitality of White Plains, Westchester and the region.”

About 75 full-time, high-wage union construction jobs will be created as a result of a signed project labor agreement between the contractor, Gilbane Building Company, and Edward Doyle, Sr., Teamsters president, representing 34 local trade unions.

With the White Plains Hospital project, the LDC will have issued $246,425,000 in tax-exempt bonds to Westchester non-profits. There is no financial risk to county taxpayers.

Site preparation will begin immediately and construction will commence in November. It will take approximately 24 months to complete the project.

“The responsiveness and accessibility of Astorino’s team and the dramatic savings we will realize from financing through the LDC is what closed the deal and got this project rolling.” said Jon B. Schandler, White Plains Hospital president and chief executive officer. “We are saving nearly $3 million over the next 30 years  ($100,000 a year) by going with the LDC instead of other options. That savings will instead be invested in patient support, life-saving technology and clinical training.”

Before the LDC board voted to approve this landmark project, Schandler and Edward F. Leonard, White Plains Hospital’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, presented their project to the LDC board and shared the details of the plan.

The project will add 51,000 square feet of space and renovate 14,000 square feet. The upgrades will include:

  • A six-story patient care building that will house two medical/surgical floors, family waiting rooms, and 24 new private patient rooms. With a total of 114 private patient rooms, the percentage of private rooms will double. Private rooms address infection and privacy issues and are more convenient for family members.
  • Five new modern operating room suites, along with new pre-op and recovery areas. Featuring state-of-the-art lighting, operating tables, ceiling-mounted equipment, and minimally invasive technology, these new operating rooms will maximize space and minimize turnaround time between procedures.
  • An expanded outpatient radiology center will feature new waiting rooms for patients and family members, ensuring patient comfort and privacy.
  • A new covered front entrance and lobby, with a glass atrium and a new café, will improve traffic flow and provide patients and visitors with greater comfort and convenience during arrivals and departures.
  • Energy conservation strategies and sustainable technology that will reduce costs while being socially responsible.

“I applaud County Executive Astorino’s efforts to create jobs for our tradesman. The White Plains Hospital project is going to create over 75 good paying jobs for our fellow tradesmen for the next two years,” said Doyle. “This wouldn’t have happened without Rob Astorino’s commitment to working families.”

Astorino established the county LDC to fill a void that had existed since January 2008, when the state’s Industrial Development Agencies, including Westchester’s, lost the authority to issue bonds.

 

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Worker in City Challenges Robert Astorino to Fix White Plains. Cites WP Pavilion Security Problem. Trouble Spots in City

WPCNR LETTER TICKER.

LETTER TO THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE. Sent to the County Executive by Lisa Andrade, a person who works in White Plains, but resides in Putnam County:

Lisa M. Andrade                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Lincolndale, NY  10540

September 9, 2013

To Whom It May Concern,

Please consider the following letter to Mr. Robert Astorino, Westchester County Executive, a desperate plea for help for the city of White Plains, NY. I am taking it upon myself to beg, plead and cry for a grant for this city in great turmoil.

ANY help is greatly appreciated.

Feel free to forward this to anyone who may be of assistance for this city in need.

Sincerely,

Lisa M. Andrade

Dear Mr. Robert Astorino,

We the People who work and reside in the city of White Plains, NY, request that necessary changes be made to this city in order to preserve what little beauty and dignity is left of it.

In case you haven’t heard, I’ll gladly lend my voice on behalf of myself and many others living, working, or visiting the White Plains area in order to fill you in on what’s going down on the streets of your city… and it’s not pretty.

Every morning and every evening I am greeted with the same old thing, day in and day out… (including, but not limited to)… the putrid stench of what smells like day-old vomit (sometimes actual vomit on the sidewalk just sitting there roasting in the hot summer sun), freshly minced crap, 2 day-old road kill, and dirty, filthy garbage.

Add to that the borage of homeless people hitting me up for anything and everything spanning from a quarter, two dollars, to a three-course meal, despite the fact that I am always being asked for a dollar here and a dollar there for every single organization and fundraising event under the sun. Next thing you’ll know, they’ll be asking for a dinner cruise, a brand new car, and a houseboat.

Not only am I asked for this on the streets of White Plains, but everywhere I go including supermarkets, pharmacies, and grocery stores. Aw heck, even politicians are hitting me up for donations. (Insert smiley face here).

(And let’s not get started on the “Tip Jars” that line the counters of most delis, pizzerias, and self-serve mini-marts and bodegas. Heck, I wish I could have a tip jar sitting on my office desk, too!)

Enough is Enough.

The only thing I donate now is BLOOD, the most rewarding gift ever.

I am not a resident of White Plains but have worked here for 14+ years and have seen the deterioration of your beloved city. My office is located inside the Westchester Pavilion on South Broadway, yes the almost vacant building in which still stands because the city doesn’t know what to do with it. Well, I’ll give you a hint… refurbish it or tear it down!

Lately this empty building (which used to be home to Daffy’s, Toys ‘R’ Us, and Sports Authority) has become a haven for the homeless people of your city. From 8 o’clock in the morning until 5 o’clock at night, you’ll find many of them asking for money at the front entrance or sleeping on the benches inside the Pavilion.

And you’d better be careful walking up or down the dark, isolated stairwell because there are some strange people lurking inside. In fact, they party in there on the weekends, the proof is in seeing the empty (cheap) wine bottles and beer cans scattered throughout the stairwell.  What a disgrace.

I tell my fellow female coworkers over and over again: DO NOT USE THE STAIRS. And I will keep reminding them until I am blue in the face. It is SCARY and it is DANGEROUS. One suggestion I have is to keep the shelters open ALL DAY so that you don’t have people roaming the streets in a fog and a daze, or have them occupy what is supposed to be a “professional” atmosphere.

What upsets me the most is how agitated people get when you kindly decline handing money over. Some are very nice about it, but others get very hostile which leads to a very uncomfortable, intimidating experience. 

But let the lion roar and let it be known:

I am a woman of the 21st century and I absolutely REFUSE to be intimidated … especially by a man… on the corners of Martine Avenue, E. Post Road, South Broadway, and Mamaroneck Avenue… or ANYWHERE for that matter!

No Way. No How.

The sketchiest areas of White Plains are

Points A-Point D: (Point A= South Broadway, Point B= E. Post Road, Point C= Mamaroneck Avenue, Point D= Martine Avenue).

Just walking either to or from South Broadway to Martine Avenue, I get hit up for money at least three times a day by three different individuals. One time I even saw a woman posing with her 7 or 8-year old daughter asking me if I could buy her daughter a donut from Dunkin Donuts. I just stared at her in disbelief and then she laughed, “Oh well, I thought I would try to get a free donut!”

Well look who’s NOT laughing. Gee, wouldn’t it be nice if we could all ask complete and total strangers for money so that our credit cards, student loans, and car/house/mortgage payments could be completely paid off… TAX FREE and IN FULL!

DREAM ON.

Twice I’ve been followed into Dunkin Donuts by people asking for money to buy a donut. The first incident was from a well-known elderly homeless man who asked me for a dollar so that he could buy himself a donut. The softie that I am (was) gave him a dollar. Would you believe that the Son-of-a-gun took the dollar, turned around, and walked out of Dunkin Donuts and up the street presumably to buy a hit??

NEVER AGAIN.                                                                                                                                                Never, ever, ever!

That is the last time I will ever give away my hard earned money. Lord knows I do not make the money of a Governor’s salary, no sir, not even the salary of a County Executive… (insert smiley face here). Next time all they’ll get is my free advice to straighten up.

On 2 separate occasions (during a one month time span) I had to drop off packages at the Post Office on Martine Avenue. Both times I arrived 15 minutes prior to the post office opening and both times I was greeted by homeless, newly released jail inmates wanting to wine and dine me and take me out for the time of my life. (Editor’s Note: this area is across the street from the County Office Building, where the County Executive works)

Politely I refused their offers. When pressured as to ‘why’ I wouldn’t accept their offers, I kindly informed them that I was a happily married woman. Period. End of Discussion. Or was it? Repeatedly they kept pressuring me for my phone number over and over. It got to the point where I wanted to deck them.

Hey, in the words of President Obama, there’s a red line that’s drawn, not by me, but by the world, and these two punks had crossed that line. They’re lucky they dealt with me instead of someone else who might have started a war with them.

Thankfully, people had started showing up and waiting in line with me for the post office to open. If it had been dark and isolated, who knows what might have happened. And the post office just so happens to be across the street from 7-Eleven, which is also the infamous local bus stop (including mine) that is notorious for being the “out-of-control” corner.

Yes, everybody knows that corner… the cops… the homeless people… the residents/workers/tourists of White Plains, NY. Here is where you’ll find them all. People talking to themselves, fighting with themselves, screaming at others, and threatening everyone in their paths. It is not a safe environment! They’re either heavily medicated or not medicated enough. There is no in-between. 

Something needs to be done in order to curb this outrage. That is why I am reaching out to you, Mr. Astorino. Your city needs help and I know that you have the power to make the change that it so desperately needs in order for White Plains to flourish gracefully…

Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any assistance to you.

Sincerely,                                                                                                                           

Lisa M. Andrade                                                                                                                                                   

# I-May-Have-Issues-But-Your-City-Has-More-Issues-Than-I

 (Editor’s Note: The Mayor’s Office has been asked for a response to this letter.)

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7,167 Students Return to School in White Plains. Work Cut Out for Them

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. News and Comment by John F. Bailey. September 9, 2013:

An expected student body of 7,169 students returned to the 5 elementary schools, 2 middle schools and White Plains High School this morning as the 2013-14 school year began for public school students. The day will be officially capped by the first meeting of the Board of Education this evening at 5 Homeside Lane.

To date there has been no statement from the Board of Education on how the district will address the  unprecedentedly low number of students who passed the state assessment tests last spring, which saw 37% of Eighth Graders (who are now entering high school) pass the English assessment and 34% of them pass the math assessment.. On the Grade 5 levels, 29% passed English and 28% passed the mathematics assessment. Official explanation for this drops of passing rates by 23% in English   and 40% in Math is that the State Education Department did not get the new Core Curriculum standards to the district in a timely manner, though core standards were posted in on the SED website at the beginning of the school year.

After raising test scores respectably the last two years on previous assessment tests, the district now finds itself at a stage of identifiying exactly where students went wrong: comprehension of basic concepts, reasoning, basic skills, or lack of communication skills. and the sobering realization that  two thirds of students entering high school today are considerably behind where the district thought they were, or the State Education Department has a near-sighted idea of what kind of comprehension skills in English and math a ninth grader should have.

White Plains parents have been remarkably silent on the test score shock at the decline in White Plains assessment scores. The demographic breakout of performance by ethnic groups in the White Plains district has not been addressed publicly. That is traditionally made available in the school district report card issued by the state in April. The predicition here is, that White Plains African-American and Hispanic students will be shown to be behind substantially their progress as recently as four years ago when the gap in performance between Hispanic and African-American students on assessments had been narrowed to approximately 10%. That has got to be significantly more this year.

Nevertheless, even the so-called high performing districts with a predominantly white population of students have experienced sobering drop offs in passing rates on the 2013 assessment tests, the first under the new Core Curriculum standards.

Chappaqua district saw the number of  8th Grade English students (entering high school this year)  passing drop from 85% passing in 2012 down 14% to 71%. In 5th grade results the students fell 17% to to 72% (down from 89%).

Scarsdale dropped in 8th GradeEnglish scores, too, down from 88% of 8th graders passing in  2012 down to 70% passing in 2013. In Scarsdale’s 5th Grade last year, the students were down to 73% passing in 2013 compared to a lofty 89% in 2012. In Math in the Scarsdale district, the performance when down approximately a third. Only 61% of Scarsdale Eighth Graders entering high school this week passed the 2013 Assessment in Math.

The blame is being placed by educators on the content of the tests being too tough.

But what is the real reason? In the weeks ahead, every school district, not only White Plains has to address where their students are at and bring up up sharply, without banking on a watered down test.

The district has let its students down for a decade, especially Black and Hispanic students.

A great line comes to mind that is so true that ran in a public service commercials in the 1950s:for I believe the United Negro College Fund:

“A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”

 

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Sustainable Playland Delivers Playland Improvement Plan to County Executive

WPCNR PLAYLAND NEWS. From Sustainable Playland, Inc. September 6, 2013:

Sustainable Playland Inc., selected as the future manager of Westchester’s best known public park, today submitted its Playland Improvement Plan (PIP) to County Executive Rob Astorino. The plan outlines SPI’s public-private partnership approach to revitalize and restore the iconic 85-year-old park on the Long Island Sound shore in Rye and provide year-round activities and attractions.

The submission of the PIP is an important step in converting the park to a public-private partnership with the County. The County will continue to own the property, SPI will manage it.  SPI is a not-for-profit, community-based organization formed to develop and submit a restoration and revitalization plan for Playland.

SPI’s plan was selected among the dozen respondents to a Request for Proposals (RFP) for revitalizing the park issued by the County Executive. Subsequently, an Asset Management Agreement (AMA) was developed by SPI and signed by Astorino in late July. The next step in the process was submission of the PIP. This 80-page document will now be reviewed by the County Executive and his staff and commissioners.

Once the County Executive completes his review, he will formally submit the PIP to the County Board of Legislators for its review and approval.  The Board must approve any plan for material improvements and modifications to the park. SPI hopes to begin implementing the plan as soon as possible so that its multi-year phase-in of improvements and upgrades can begin in 2014.

(Editor’s Note: If the Board does not approve the plan by January 1, Sustainable Playland has the right to abandon the project.

Earlier this week, members of the Board of Legislators turned Luna Park in Coney Island, to observe how CAI Amusements, Sustainable Playland choice to run the amusement section of the new Playland Sustainable evisions.

In a news release this week, Kenneth Jenkins, Chair of the Board of Legislators has said if CAI were hired to run Playland, there would not be a need for Sustainable Playland. To wit, ” bringing Central Amusements on board raises questiona about the value of Sustainable Playland’s involvement.”)

The PIP is consistent with recommendations included in the 2006 Playland Master Plan that was commissioned by the County, including converting management of the park to a public-private partnership model. SPI’s approach is modeled after the highly successful Central Park Conservancy in Manhattan that oversees the nation’s most prominent urban park.

The PIP adheres closely to the concept plan for restoring the park that was put forth in SPI’s RFP response. The plan seeks a balance of seasonal and year-round uses which will create a more reliable and predictable income flow. Playland is currently heavily dependent on revenues generated by its historic summer-only, weather-dependent amusement park. Under SPI’s plan, the Amusement Zone will continue to be the signature area of the park and its largest single financial element.

However, additional new uses at the park including a field house for indoor sports activities, year-round restaurants, the Westchester Children’s Museum, improved and expanded ice skating opportunities, as well as the restoration and enhancement of the park’s classic architectural and landscape features will broaden the appeal of the park and draw visitors year-round.

The Amusement Zone, as well as the new Aqua/Beach Zone, will be operated by Central
Amusements International, the U.S. subsidiary of the internationally renowned Zamperla company, a manufacturer of amusement park rides and an operator of amusement parks including Coney Island. The PIP includes details of the new rides and improvements to existing rides that Central Amusements will phase in over five years.

The PIP will be posted later on the SPI website:  www.sustainableplayland.org

 

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