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)

French American School of New York Announces Unprecedented Neighborhood Support

Posted on September 19, 2012 by John Bailey

WPCNR CITY LIMITS. From the French American School of New York. (EDITED) September 19, 2012:

Two hours before the start of tonight’s public hearing on the French American School of New York central campus project at city hall, the announced it has gained an unprecedented groundswell of support for the project.

“FASNY has really gotten a lot of support from many quarters that development proposals typically don’t get.,” said the school spokesperson, Geoff Thompson.

According to a news release just in, more than 3,800 individuals have signed petitions supporting the project. Students from the school gathered signatures over the summer at locations throughout the city and their list currently totals 2,226 individuals, while FASNY’s online petition currently has nearly 1,600 signatures at www.greenstogreen.org/petition.

In addition, many residents from within the Gedney neighborhood and from across White Plains have written letters and emails to the city leaders supporting the plan for the campus and conservancy.

The news release (EDITED):

ENVIRONMENTALIST SUPPORT

A major boost for the school came last week when 16 leading environmental groups and leaders from White Plains and across Westchester and the Hudson Valley wrote a letter to Mayor Thomas Roach and the six members of City Council strongly supporting the plan for both the school campus and the Greens to Green Conservancy. The Mayor and Council are conducting the environmental review.

In a rare show of unified environmentalist support for a development plan, the letter was signed by many of the top organizations in the region including Scenic Hudson, the Westchester Land Trust, the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, and the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, as well as environmental educators including the Green Schools Coalition of Westchester and the Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation. The letter (copy available) stated that the FASNY proposal presented “a unique chance for city leaders to leave a legacy of a healthy, livable White Plains for future generations to enjoy.”

BUSINESS SUPPORT

The county’s two leading business membership organizations, the Business Council of Westchester and the Westchester County Association, both of which have a large number of members in White Plains, each gave solid support to the plan. The Business Council in its letter to the Mayor and the Council said the school will “create economic development for both the city and Westchester County” including generating more than $14 million in economic benefits to businesses in White Plains and $22 million more for businesses throughout Westchester County. It will also generate 530 construction jobs and 317 in support businesses. The County Association has cited the importance of the adding to the diverse educational opportunities found in and around White Plains and the value of the school in attracting international companies. In addition to the support of the two organizations, a number of major corporate employers in White Plains have submitted letters of support for the project including Dannon, The Ritz-Carlton Westchester, and Pernod Ricard.

The public hearing will open tonight at City Hall and is scheduled to continue for a second night on October 17. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) prepared by FASNY includes some 1,500 pages and is thought to be the most comprehensive study of its kind ever undertaken on a development proposal in city history.

The FASNY plan proposes a unified campus for its students who now attend classes at former parochial schools in three different Westchester communities. In January 2011 the school purchased the 129-acre defunct Ridgeway Country Club in White Plains. Its plan calls for the school campus to be created on 45 acres of the property fronting on Ridgeway, and for the creation of a publicly accessible nature conservancy to be protected by a permanent conservation easement on the 84-acre balance of the property. The Greens to Green Conservancy would return two thirds of the former golf course to a more natural state that would be used as part of the school’s educational program and be open to the public for passive uses such as walking and nature study.

FASNY PUBLIC HEARING; EASTVIEW Bond Tour BOTH at 7.

Posted on September 19, 2012 by John Bailey

WPCNR CITY LIMITS. September 19, 2012:

The first public hearing before the Common Council on the French American School of New York application for a special permit to build a 7-building school campus on e former Ridgeway Country Club will be held this evening at 7 P.M. at city hall. A notice sent yesterday by the city had said 7:30. That time was corrected to 7 PM by the city this afternoon.

It conflicts with the second major push by the City School Board to explain and convince voters to approve the district $48.3 Million construction bond referendum vote October 23.

That public information session offers a tour of Eastview Middle School at 7 P.M. with district officials to demonstrate the deteriorating conditions of the school that will be corrected and brought up to date with $28 Million of the $48.3 Million. That information session and tour begins at 7 P.M. at Eastview School.

The FASNY Hearing should be livened up,considering that a letter signed by sixteen residents of the Gedney Farms neighborhood sent a letter out this week urging support for the FASNY project, writing,

“We have many concerns about the proposed (FASNY) development that include traffic, neighborhood access to the site and its amenities, the quality of the open space, site drainage, and the proximity of ball fields to homes to name a few. We intend to work with FASNY and with the Common Council to see that each of these issues, and any new issues that may arise, is addressed and that FASNY is held to honoring all of the commitments that they make in order to get their plan approved.”

The letter states that tthe resident signees do not think single family homes on the site would have a positive impact on their homes or property values and that the prospect of the old golf course being “minimally maintained and becoming an eyesore,” “if the FASNY plan were not to proceed” was not favorable either.

The FASNY hearing will be televised live at 7:30 P.M. on Channel 75 on Cablevision and channel 44 if you are a FIOS subscriber. The FASNY hearing will also be televised on the internet through the city website live.

Comptroller: 2013 Inflation Predicted to be 2.9%. Pressures city, school budgets

Posted on September 18, 2012 by John Bailey

WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the New York State Comptroller’s Office. September 18, 2012:

The New York State Comptroller’s office released the 2013 property tax cap Monday, informing news outlets the rate that cities and school districts could raise their tax levy in 2013 would remain at 2%, though the comptroller’s office predicts inflation to hit 2.9%.

The property tax cap which affects the amount cities can increase their levy, not the rate of property tax was 2% this year, which resulted in a 4.9% property tax increase in the city of White Plains, and a 3.03% property tax increase in the city school district this year, which supported raising the school tax levy in line with the state tax cap 2.03%.

The nearly 3% inflation rate will put more pressure on the 2013-14 city due to its binding arbitration process (where settlements are traditionally derived considering rates of inflation and parallel contracts in similar sized cities) now engaged with the city police union, and the mediation process begun with the city firefighters last week.

The school district is currently stymied in its attempt to reach a new contract with the White Plains Teachers Association, which narrowly voted (52% to 48%) to reject a mediator’s suggested settlement. The Teacher Association leadership is currently evaluating the reasons why the teachers declined the contract, and remains undecided as to their next course of action.

The inflationary prediction by the Comptroller’s Office will put further pressure on the school district 2013-2014 budget, which will automatically increase the school property tax .72% if the public passes the $48.3 Million facilities construction bond on October 23.

Carhart Residents Rally Against the Sunrise Detox Proposal

Posted on September 17, 2012 by John Bailey

WPCNR NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS. From the Carhart Neighborhood Association. September 17, 2012 UPDATED, September 18, 2012:

Last Wednesday evening, a large group of Carhart neighborhood residents rallied in opposition at the proposed site of the Sunrise drug & alcohol detox center at 37 Dekalb Avenue (see photo).

The rally was followed by a community meeting to discuss strategy in advance of the October 1st Public Hearing on this matter.

Safety remains the neighborhood #1 concern. There are no less than 10 school bus stops in the area and a sizable senior citizen population; two especially vulnerable groups. The proposed detox facility is on a voluntary basis which means patients can leave at any time without restriction.

Police records from both of Sunrise’s operating facilities (Lake Worth, FL & Stirling, NJ) indicate criminal activity and significant police intervention.

Ken Kristal of the Carhart Association says they have met with Sunrise, but have not had a meeting in a year:

“In the late Spring of 2011 Sunrise did meet with several community members of Paladin’s Keep condos & a few neighboring homeowners.

There was a second & final meeting in the late Spring/Summer 2011, but nothing since.

At those early meetings, over a year ago, we did not have much of the information we now do. All these issues will now have to be addressed at the October 1st Public Hearing.

Sunrise claims no court referrals and that their $1,700 a day clients all are on a voluntary basis. Which also means that they can leave anytime they want which is a major safety concern especially since there are 10 school bus stops in the area including one right on their corner!

We want to empahsize that we are not against detox facilities per se, and unfortunately there is a need for them, we only strongly oppose the choice of location.”