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)

City To Buy Former Gerber Building for $2.2 M, Alter to Move Parking/ Build

Posted on July 2, 2012 by John Bailey

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. July 2, 2012 UPDATED July 3, 2012:

The city announced plans Monday morning to purchase the low-rise office building, 66-72 Church Street, located adjacent the Hamilton-City Hall Garage (just behind and to the west, Northwest of city hall for $2.2 Million.

Monday night, the Common Council made it official passing the resolution unanimously.

FUTURE HOME OF WHITE PLAINS PARKING EMPIRE AND BUILDING DEPARTMENT.

The city plans to renovate the brick one-story premises over the next 7 months for an additional $1.7 Million to house the city Departments of Parking and Building, currently using rented space at 7-11 South Broadway.

At a meeting of the Capital Projects Board at 9:30 this morning, the Board approved recommendation of the purchase-renovation. The resolution to consumate the purchase is expected to be on the Common Council agenda this evening.

The building is currently owned by the 66-72 Church Street LLC, 21 Orchard Drive, Purchase and is assessed at a market value of $2,378.000 by the city accessor. The property was granted a certiorari in 2010 reducing its accessed value from $115,000 to $88,000, according to the Accessor’s Office, and pays $66,000 in city and school taxes. According to the town of Harrison Assessor’s Office the owners of 21 Orchard Drive, Purchase, the contact address for 66-72 Church Street LLC, are Dr. Andre and Paule Khoury-Yacoub. Dr. Khoury-Yacoub is affiliated with White Plains Radiology Associates.

Mayor Thomas Roach told the Board, “This is a purchase today that will benefit the future.”

John Callahan, the Corporation Counsel said the costs of continuing to rent over the next 20 years as opposed to purchasing and renovating the building are a “wash.” Callahan told WPCNR the building had been available for some time, and the city had been talking to the owner for the last six months. He described the building as completely “gutted” inside. He said a floor office arrangement will be constructed for $1.7 Million.

The 7-11 South Broadway building the city will be leaving, currently is offering 20,000 square feet at $17.02 per square foot on a year’s lease according to the realtor, GHP Office Realty. The city if they leased again for 9,000 square feet, (the approximate size of the square footage in the Gerber Building they have agreed to purchase) for a year would pay $153,180 in rent.

The Gerber Building is so-named because it used to house Gerber insurance, which had as its logo, the Gerber baby symbol. Perhaps older White Plains residents will remember it. Susan Habel, Commissioner of Planning, noted that the picture of the Gerber baby was a likness of Humphrey Bogart, whose mother was the artist who painted the Gerber baby.

Deputy Fire Chief, Director of Training and Emergency Operations, Passes Away

Posted on July 1, 2012 by John Bailey

DONALD J. KEINZ

1951-2012

WPCNR MILESTONES. July 2, 2012:

The family of White Plains Deputy Fire Chief, Donald Keinz will receive friends at the Beecher Funeral Home in Plesantville today, 4 P.M. to 7 P.M. Monday evening.

Mr. Keinz, 60, a graduate of White Plains High School in 1969, joined the White Plains Fire Department in 1978 rising to the position of Deputy Fire Chief in 2008, and was Director of Training and emergency operations for the department at the time of his death, after a long battle with cancer last Thursday.

In his obituary, he is described as “devoted to the brotherhood and tradition of the fire service and exemplified its honor and bravery. A true leader, a trusted friend and a witty, fun-loving selfless soul.

In statements to the press, Mayor Thomas Roach said of Mr. Keinz, “He always impressed me with his knowledge and his commitment to training…a great loss to the city.”

Commissioner of Public Safeety, David Chong, said Keinz death was “a huge loss to the department and the city…He was highly regarded. He was also a friend…”

Joseph Carrier remarked to The Journal News, said Keinz “loved his job…He really cared, and made sure our firefighters were well-trained…he’s one of the people you wanted to be with walking down a smoky hallway. The guys really respected him.”

A mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in White Plains, Tuesday at 10 A.M.

TAX BILLS ARRIVE ONE DAY EARLY

Posted on June 30, 2012 by John Bailey

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. JUNE 30, 2012:

Tax Bills for the city and the school district arrived a day early today to add to the aggravation caused by the tropical heat wave frying the metropolitan area.

The tax bills show that the median priced home ($650,000) in the White Plains area busted the $10,000 mark for city and school taxes combined for the first time.

In one case, even newly reduced assessed value did not stop the tax tide. This homeowner succeeded in lowering her assessed value $2,000, but…the increase in taxes from the city (4.75%) and the school district (3%) still made that homeowner’s taxes $200 More than last year. For this median house was newly assessed at $16,475 with a $3,460 STAR EXEMPTION knock off from the asssessed value, the total city and school tax is still $10,800. “That’s still more than last year,” she notes. “Thank God we went for a tax certiorari.”

Every day for the next 365 Days the City and the school district will spend $973,424.

Every week the city and the school district will spend $6.8 Million a week.

Every month the city and the school district will spend $29.6 Million.

The City budget is $166.5 Million. The School Budget is $188.8 Million. Total City and School Budget Cost combined for fiscal 2012-13: $355.3 MILLION

Zip Cars Zip into White Plains

Posted on June 27, 2012 by John Bailey

WPCNR TRAFFIC NEWS. From Zipcar Media Relations. (EDITED) June 27, 2012:

Zipcar, Inc., the world’s leading car sharing network announced the expansion of the Zipcar car sharing service into the City of White Plains Tuesday. The new Zipcar program will provide White Plains residents, businesses and visitors with increased access to affordable, convenient transportation options that are proven to reduce congestion and emissions.

The Zipcar program is ready to go for persons holding a ZipCAR Membership Card, launching with eight vehicles in three locations in downtown White Plains:

White Plains Center Garage at 237 Martine Avenue
Hamilton-Main Garage at 365 Hamilton Avenue
Bronx Street Lot at 3 Hamilton Avenue adjacent to the White Plains Train Station

Persons must have a ZipCar Membership ($60 a year, plus non-refundable Application Fee), and need to reserve a car online, via Smartphone or FaceBook. The cars may be rented for as little as $9 an hour in New York and $83 a day. To rent a ZipCar on the weekend, the fees are $14 an hour, and $125 a day.

Billing is handled via the credit card you register with the company when applying for your membership. Since there are no attendants at the ZipCar locations, access is gained by applying your ZipCar Membership Card on a barcode on the windshield of the vehicle. (The is in the vehicle.) Jessica Margolis-Pineo, a spokesperson for ZipCar noted that though the rates are higher than other rental car services, ZipCar pays for all gas, and provides insurance included in the cost of the rental.

Zipcar worked closely with the City of White Plains to determine the best locations for the Zipcars, which will be in areas with heavy foot traffic, access to public transportation and the offering of convenience for area members.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Zipcar to the City of White Plains, as another step toward providing alternate transportation options to residents. Zipcar is a convenient and environmentally responsible way to travel and offers residents who live in downtown White Plains an affordable alternative to owning a personal vehicle,” said Mayor Thomas Roach.

As an environmentally friendly transportation option, Zipcar will help to reduce White Plains’ carbon footprint. National studies have shown that each car shared takes 15 privately owned vehicles off the road, and that vehicle miles traveled per driver is reduced nearly 40 percent when car owners switch to car sharing.

Zipcar also provides White Plains residents a cost-effective alternative to car ownership. Research firm Frost & Sullivan estimates that car sharing can reduce the total transit costs for its members by 70 percent, and Zipcar members report saving an average of $600 per month compared to owning a car.

“We’re excited to be expanding our presence in Westchester County to provide residents and employees of local businesses in White Plains with access to all the convenient, sustainable and cost-effective benefits of car sharing that our members appreciate,” said Charlie Irons, Zipcar New York’s general manager. “This expansion is an extension of our successful Zipcar program in New York City, where many people depend on Zipcar every day to run errands, attend business meetings, visit friends and take road trips to explore all that the tri-state area has to offer. We hope this new program in White Plains will help residents and those who commute back and forth between New York City to get out and Zip by giving them access to a car without the high costs and hassles of car ownership.”

The Zipcar program in White Plains is available to local residents and visitors, as well as to employees of local businesses through the company’s “Zipcar for Business” program that offers discounted driving Monday through Friday. Zipcar for Business helps businesses save money, meet environmental sustainability goals and reduce parking requirements by providing their employees with access to Zipcars for business meetings and more.

Gas, reserved parking spots, insurance, roadside assistance and up to 180 miles per day are included in the hourly and daily Zipcar rates. Cars can be reserved for as short as an hour or for several days. For more information, including how to become a Zipcar member in White Plains, please visit www.zipcar.com.

About Zipcar
Zipcar is the world’s leading car-sharing service with more than 700,000 members and 9,000 vehicles in urban areas and college campuses throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Spain. Zipcar offers more than 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day to residents and businesses looking for an alternative to the high costs and hassles of owning a car. More information is available at www.zipcar.com. Photos and b-roll footage are available for media purposes at www.zipcar.mediaroom.com.