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 Funds $1.5M of $5 M HUD Grant-Funded Community Ed Center at Winbrook

Posted on September 26, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR THE DEVELOPER NEWS. From The Mayor’s Office. September 26, 2011 UPDATED SEPTEMBER 27, 2011:

Mayor Tom Roach and White Plains Housing Authority Executive Director Mack Carter announced Friday that the Housing Authority has secured a $3.5 million grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The grant will come through HUD’s Capital Fund Education and Training Community (CFCF) Facilities Program and will be used by the Housing Authority to jump start the transformation of the Winbrook neighborhood in the City. The City of White Plains has also committed to contributing $1.5 million toward the cost of the project.

In a statement from Karen Pasquale, Senior Advisor to the Mayor, Wednesday, the project is explained as the first part of the first tower to be built at Winbrook:

“The Community Education Facility is planned for the area of Winbrook near the intersection of South Lexington and Quarropas. No existing structure will need to be knocked down in order to build it. The new structure, which will house the community education center on the lower floors and have residential units on the upper floors, is the first step in the revitalization of the Winbrook neighborhood. The Slater Center is not a part of this HUD grant.”

Calls have been put in to Mack Carter, Executive Director of the White Plains Housing Authority, for more details on how this decision to build a base floOr community center to start a building will affect design and marketing of the project,H mixed income residential project.

John Callahan, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff told WPCNR Monday evening the city commitment to $1.5 Million was approved at a Common Council Special meeting several months ago when the community center was discussed. Callahan told WPCNR the life of the grant requires design within two years and completion within four years.

Specifically, the grant’s capital funding will be used for the construction of a Community Education Facility that will offer comprehensive, integrated services to help residents of public housing as well as the surrounding community achieve better educational and economic outcomes resulting in long-term economic self-sufficiency. The Winbrook Community Education Facility will provide additional and improved space for the provision of adult education, job/skills training, youth-at-risk and entrepreneurship programs, as well as community-based services through a cadre of strong partners that include City of White Plains Youth Bureau, the Westchester-Putnam Workforce Investment Board, the White Plains School District, the Business Council of Westchester, and Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative Education Services.

The development plan for the Winbrook Community Education Facility entails new construction of a 13,500 square foot facility. The facility has been designed to accommodate social and educational programs ranging from adult education, job training, youth programs, as well as potential dance, music, and theater programs.

There will be flexible meeting rooms that can also be used as classrooms. A computer lab as well as a culinary arts training space, greenhouse, gallery/exhibit space and administrative offices will be housed in the facility. Design development is expected to begin in 2012 and the building will be in operation by 2015.

Mayor Roach said, “Receipt of this grant is the culmination of a long process in which many pulled together to ensure that the City and Housing Authority are able to take the first, crucial steps forward on a comprehensive re-design plan for Winbrook, which is long overdue. It is also an affirmation of the hard work of Executive Director Mack Carter and his staff. In addition, this process required the cooperation of a number of City departments and of my colleagues on the Common Council, who, together with the Housing Authority, have showed how successful we can be when we work together.”

Mack Carter, Executive Director of the White Plains Housing Authority, said, “This funding is going to help the downtown White Plains community support job training and educational programming for both low income families and the White Plains community at-large. We’re going to build a community center and this will help support the building of that community center. The Board of Commissioners has worked hard to secure this grant and this will be simply amazing for us.”

This was a highly competitive grant. HUD received 58 applications from across the nation and of those 58, made awards to only five public housing authorities for grants totaling $14,535,985. The funds enable the development or rehabilitation of facilities that offer education and/or employment training services to help public housing residents to achieve long-term economic self-sufficiency. As one of the five recipients of funding, HUD commended the City and Housing Authority for their “efforts to create community facilities that connect housing with quality education and training resources.”

The project will be the second grant project from HUD in the last eight years involving Winbrook. HUD helped pay for a $2.4 Million Housing Authority headquarters added to 223 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. (Shown below)

White Plains Housing Authority Headquarters, $2.4 Million project completed in 2006 — also from a Nita Lowey-assisted grant.

Playland Committee Doesn’t Make Pick. Astorino: Closing Park an Option in 2012

Posted on September 21, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. By John F. Bailey, September 22, 2011:

Playland might close in 2012, due to unsustainable losses, County Executive Robert Astorino told a news conference today, but he would not sell the property.

The County Executive said the next step in finding a way to make Playland financially viable will his administrative departments evaluating and finding an organization structure that could run the park at breakeven, that a profit was not necessary. He also said that he wanted to save Playland for future generations.

He made the remarks as the Citizens Committee evaluating proposals for Playland restructuring from 12 organizations presented its “Reinventing Playland Park for the 21st Century” report today to the County Executive this morning.

The Committee did not single out any one organization as being the best choice to take over Playland management. They noted that Central Amusements International (which took over Coney Island operations), Standard Amusements, and Sustainable Playland (a start-up proposed non-profit organization) “fit RFP responsiveness and feasibility criteria and deserve further attention,” with three other firms,American Skating Entertainment Centers, Q Properties and State Fair Group “have some potential role, but may not fit within the feasibility criteria and scope of the RFP” Jim Chisholm, Chair of the Committee said the committee thought combinations of organization proposals made sense.

County Executive Astorino in the news conference that followed, said the next step will be for the county legal, financial and parks teams (with access to financial information of the companies)to evaluate the proposals and possibilities, with Astorino making the decision in early 2012.

In the course of the news conference he said that the county faced a $100 Million deficit next year as the budget development begins. He said Playland would lose the county $5 Million, (of which $3 Million in debt service)in 2012, and “all options were on the table,” including closing of the park for 2012. He said Playland lost the most money of all county parks and golf courses and recreation activities.

He said Playland attendance declined this summer from 500,000 to 420,000 attendees. He said it cannot go on this way,and now was the time to fix it.

Astorino said he would not entertain selling the property.In conversation with a committee member after the news conference, WPCNR learned the property is valued at about $500 Million and might bring considerably more on the open market.

The landmark Playland Tower, Rye, New York on Sunday.

The Dragon Coaster

The Zombie Castle

The Playland Express

Mayor, Councilmen, Police Commissioner Bag to Promote Shoprite Hunger Drive

Posted on September 21, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DAY By the WPCNR ROVING PHOTOGRAPHER. September 21, 2011:

Mayor Thomas Roach of White Plains, Council President Benjamin Boykin and Councilman John Martin helped bag groceries at the City Center Shoprite today to focus attention on National Hunger Month and promote Shoprite’s 6-state Partners In Caring promotion that has collected $27 Million since 1999 to aid hunger relief organizations in the six states the store chain is doing business.

Mayor Thomas Roach bagging groceries for customers today at Shoprite. The Mayor said he had never bagged groceries growing up, but had worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant. He attributed his expertise to his wife’s bagging instructions on personal supermarket trips. Roach said he and the other city officials were participating to draw attention to the Shoprite Hunger promotion which encourages patrons of their stores to make cash contributions at the cash registers.

Asked how it was going, Roach said the plastic bags did not stand up like paper bags,making positioning in the plastic bags of purchases more difficult.

White Plains Commissioner of Public Safety David Chong with Kemar of Stoprite.Chong said he had never personally bagged groceries but had been well-trained by his wife in the craft. Chong said the Shoprite drive was very successful and the nation needed to focus on the hunger problem in America.

Council President Benjamin Boykin also gave his wife credit for his bagging expertise.

Jennifer Kline of Shoprite Corporate Communications told WPCNR’s Jimmy Olsen that in honor of National Hunger Action Month, Governors of New Jersey, New York,Connecticut, Pennyslvania,Delaware and Maryland declared today a “Shoprite Partners in Caring Day.” Monetary contributions were being accepted at cash registers that will be donated to community food banks.

Kline said 50 million Americans, including 17 million children suffer from food insecurity. ShopRite Partners in Caring is a year-round, community hunger-fighting charity to raise awareness and inspire action within their local communities through hunger-fighting initiatives. Since 1999, ShopRite Partners In Caring has raised $27 Million for 1,700 charities throughout the Northeast.

Pocketing the Chips: FBI ACCUSES Full Tilt Poker OF OPERATING PONZI SCHEME.

Posted on September 21, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR FBI WIRE. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. September 21, 2011:

A motion was filed Tuesday amending the forfeiture and civil money laundering complaint in the matter of United States v. PokerStars et. al, announced Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The proposed amended complaint alleges that Full Tilt Poker and its board of directors, including Raymond Bitar, Howard Lederer, Christopher Ferguson, and Rafael Furst, defrauded players by misrepresenting that their funds on deposit in online gambling accounts were safe, secure and available for withdrawal at any time.

In reality,the motion alleges, Full Tilt Poker did not maintain funds sufficient to repay all players, and in addition, the company used player funds to pay board members and other owners more than $440 million since April 2007. On April 15, 2011, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed the original complaint against Full Tilt and two other Internet poker companies and unsealed a criminal indictment charging 11 defendants, including Bitar, with bank fraud, illegal gambling, and money laundering offenses.

“As the proposed amended complaint describes in detail, Full Tilt was not a legitimate poker company, but a global Ponzi scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara.

“As a result of our enforcement actions, this alleged self-dealing scheme came to light. Not only did the firm orchestrate a massive fraud against the U.S. banking system, as previously alleged, Full Tilt also cheated and abused its own players to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. As described, Full Tilt insiders lined their own pockets with funds picked from the pockets of their most loyal customers while blithely lying to both players and the public alike about the safety and security of the money deposited with the company.”

As alleged in the proposed amended complaint, on several occasions in 2008 and 2009 through e-mails to players and postings on online poker message boards, Full Tilt Poker and its representatives assured players that their money was segregated, safe, and secure. For example, in response to inquiries, Full Tilt Poker sent e-mails to players in May 2008 assuring them that their funds were secure. One of those e-mails read, in part:

“To protect both our players and business from financial problems, all player account funds are segregated and held separately from our operating accounts. Unlike some companies in our industry, we completely understand and accept that your account money belongs to you, not Full Tilt Poker.”

As alleged in the proposed amended complaint, despite these repeated assurances to players, the company did not have enough funds to repay players. By March 31, 2011, Full Tilt Poker owed approximately $390 million to players around the world, including approximately $150 million to U.S. players. However, the company had only approximately $60 million in its bank accounts. Furthermore, as alleged in the proposed amended complaint, the company used player funds to pay its board of directors and other owners.

Between April 2007 and April 2011, Full Tilt Poker and its board distributed $443,860,529.89 to board members and owners. Bitar received approximately $41 million, Lederer received approximately $42 million, and Furst received approximately $11.7 million. Ferguson was allocated approximately $87,486,182.87 in distributions, and received at least $25 million, with the remaining balance characterized as “owed” to him. Much of the money that was distributed was transferred by the board members and owners to accounts in Switzerland and other overseas locations.

In addition to its failure to segregate funds and its constant stream of distributions to owners, the proposed amended complaint alleges that the company faced a growing shortfall in 2010 related to its inability to collect funds from U.S. players, a fact which it did not disclose to players.

Beginning in August 2010, Full Tilt Poker’s payment processing network in the United States was so disrupted that the company often could not withdraw money from U.S. players’ bank accounts in order to fund credits to their online gambling accounts. In order to maintain its false image of financial security, Full Tilt continued to credit player accounts without disclosing its inability to fund those credits.

Ultimately, the company credited approximately $130 million to players’ online gambling accounts that it never actually withdrew from their bank accounts. When players gambled with these phantom funds and lost to other players, a massive shortfall developed.

The proposed amended complaint alleges that this scheme continued even after the original complaint was filed and the criminal indictment unsealed in April 2011. Full Tilt Poker continued to accept foreign player funds, despite the fact that it had liabilities to players around the world for more than $300 million and held only a small fraction of that amount in its bank accounts.

As alleged in the proposed amended complaint, in early June 2011, Lederer reported to others at Full Tilt Poker that there was only approximately $6 million left, and therefore no realistic ability to repay its new depositors. Similarly, in an internal e-mail dated June 12, 2011, Bitar worried about a “run on the bank” by Full Tilt Poker customers, and admitted that “at this point we can’t even take a five million run.”

In addition to the forfeiture and civil money laundering penalties sought in the original complaint, the proposed amended complaint seeks the forfeiture of the dividends received by Bitar, Lederer, Ferguson, and Furst, as well as money laundering penalties against these individuals in the same amount.

U.S. Attorney Bharara praised the FBI for its outstanding leadership in the investigation, which he noted is ongoing.

The matters announced Tuesday are being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Asset Forfeiture and Complex Frauds units. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharon Cohen Levin, Michael D. Lockard and Jason H. Cowley are in charge of the civil money laundering and forfeiture action, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arlo Devlin-Brown, Nicole Friedlander and Niketh Velamoor are in charge of the criminal case.

The allegations contained in the proposed amended complaint are merely accusations.