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)

Santa’s Express Rides Again

Posted on December 15, 2010 by John Bailey

WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From The White Plains Department of Public Safety. December 16, 2010:

Today, the White Plains Firefighter’s Santa’s Express did their annual pilgrimage around the City of White Plains. Coordinated by Deputy Fire Chief Richard Houlihan, and supported by the PFFA, They brought joy, laughter, and tears of happiness to the many lives they touched. Santa and his helpers, all White Plains Fire Fighters along with a few close volunteers, brought toys and gifts to the Children of the John Coleman School, they visited veterans and senior citizens and hospitals as they spread happiness throughout the City.

Public Safety Commissioner David Chong (center, above photo, wearing badge) commented “this is the very fabric that makes our Department great, the individuals who take time during this busy holiday season to spread a little joy and happiness, I am so proud of them and this 30 year old tradition, I would also like to give a special thank you to all the corporate sponsors who donated toys and gifts to keep this wonderful tradition going strong, you made many hearts happy.”

She Could Have Sang All Night and We Still Wanted to Hear Her Sing Some More.

Posted on December 15, 2010 by John Bailey

WPCNR ON THE TOWN. By John F. Bailey. December 18, 2010:

“Something’s Coming and it’s going to be big” Sutton Foster sang those lines to open her show Sunday night and Sutton Foster was big! Faster than a spotlight the audience lit up– face to face with the Broadway star of our time.

She’s the Top!

Sutton Foster, Broadway’s “Go-to” Leading lady playing the Irvington Town Hall Theater Sunday evening. She brought down the house! Photo by Peter Katz

Sutton Foster, the Broadway Baby who never says good night, played the Irvington Town Hall Theater Sunday night with her elegant accompanist, Michael Rafter. The duo left the audience of young Broadway babies to be and lovers of musical theatre on their feet standing, roaring, clapping for more as the Tony Award winner drove up from her home in New York City and put on a show. She delivered three encores after her 80-minute, nonstop performance. And you know what, she didn’t seem to want to stop.

What a show! Personable,slickly timed, organized she made the performance still seem adlib and casual (extremely hard to do). Ms. Foster ignites instant rapport with her fans with humor, pace, ease, drama, emotions, genuiness and, of coure, the voice to remember. It must be extremely hard to deliver a performance that seems so casual and natural with a pace that is just right!

The packed theater audience saw the statuesque star of Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek the Musical, and (soon to be Reno Sweeney in the revival of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes! ), Ms. Foster – booked through an absolute programming stroke of genius by Westco Productions Susan Katz— deliver the greatest audience reaction stage hands at Irvington Town Hall can ever remember, topping the Westco 2010 season with a show no one wanted to end.

That’s how good she was.

Even the old theatre seemed to enjoy the unique pefection of performer, voice, repertoire and rapport.

Sutton Foster signing autograph after autograph and having her picture taken with over 150 fans who stayed after the show. The Westco “Meet and Greet the Star” tradition is a unique feature of Westco concerts.

Sunday night Ms. Foster showed range, drama, actressing – the total package with one extra spicy ingredient – “niceness” – to everybody.

She delivered with the articulation and just-right nuances we rarely hear on the stage, up close and personal. This young lady needs no microphones, ladies and gentlemen. She takes you back to the days when singers had to reach the balcony without technology.

Her opening medley of Something’s Coming,(from West Side Story) and NYC (from Annie) had the audience from the first two words. She never let them go.

Her cabaret performance has been described as “bedazzling,” and she herself as a talent of the first order and the “go-to-girl” when Broadway producers are searching for a lead. You could see and hear why into the night. Every song commanded your attention because Sutton Foster sings that way.

From her comic performance of Air Conditioner— (“if you have an air conditioner, you’re the man for me”) showcasing Ms. Foster’s acting muse hilariously — an appropriate song for a cold night – to her fabulous riveting seductive “Gimme Gimme” from Thoroughly Modern Millie – her unique enticing Up on the Roof, and her “bring down the house” number Show-off from The Drowsy Chaperone — everything she did was beyond good.

My personal favorite was her first encore.

The way Ms. Foster and her partner in patter on the piano, Michael Rafter, sketched Once Upon a Time, a ballad she handled so wistfully, so longingly with the piano embodying the feel of the memories was haunting. I have not heard this classic “music to make you misty” done this well since the Tony Bennett, Ralph Sharon Trio rendering in the 1950s. Foster and Rafter play together a duet of voice and piano.

I would strongly urge you to see her in Anything Goes! when it opens. Cole Porter would have loved Ms. Foster for that role, which has not had a talent like Ms. Foster do it since Ethel Merman created the role.

As Cole would say,

“She’s the Top!”

Sutton Foster with Susan Katz, Westco Producer after the show.

Susan and Peter Katz, the producers of Westco Productions who staged the show were ecstatic about Ms. Foster’s appearance and the reaction of the audience. It was, they both agreed one of the greatest and best-received evenings Westco has ever brough to Westchester. Both complimented Ms. Foster’s professionalism, personality, easygoing, easy-to-work-with style, and were impressed with her meticulous preparation for the performance Sunday afternoon.

Jason Summers Making His Cabaret Debut.

Jason Summers, well-known director for Westco Productions (who originally got his start acting in Westco chidrens’ productions) made his own cabaret debut opening for Ms. Foster and delivered a performance that got stronger and stronger, showing an ability to deliver a punchline, showing manic humor in “I’m Catholic,” a satiric song romp that got the audience laughing, and that he set up beautifully. He gathered momentum and confidence, touched memories and hearts with his “I Just Haven’t Met You Yet” and finished with a big Broadway windup of “This is the Moment” that the audience just loved.

Next big Westco Night will be May 1 when Westco presents the legend, Ben Vereen, at Irvington Town Hall Theater at 7:30 P.M. Theatregoers have the opportunuity to meet Mr. Vereen at a dessert reception after the show for the benefit of supporting Westco’s shows and programs for disabled children. Contact Westco at (914) 761-7463, or go to www.westcoproductions.org

Legislators Challenge Astorino to Call for Mandate Relief

Posted on December 14, 2010 by John Bailey

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION LEDGER. From the County Board of Legislators. December 14,2010:

Today, Westchester County Board of Legislators Democratic Majority call on County Executive Robert Astorino to join with them to work with our partners in Albany and Washington to provide mandate relief for Westchester taxpayers. Legislators have long complained that much of the county budget and programs are not determined in Westchester County, but in Washington, in Albany and courtrooms. These expenses restrict local government ability to create its own programs or to cut taxes.

State mandated programs are the largest cost centers for Westchester County government, consuming the entire local county property levy. According to the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC), just 9 state mandates consume 90% of the county property tax levy across the entire state.

Unfunded mandates are impositions on local governments and school districts, not only because they force mandates without helping to pay the cost but because, oftentimes, this forces local governments to raise school or property taxes. “Now, more than ever, New York and our property taxpayers cannot afford to pay for the hundreds of millions of dollars in costs caused by state mandates,” said Board Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers). “Westchester County taxes are the highest in the nation, by far, and more than double the national average. Those taxes make it harder for businesses to create jobs here, and they drive residents to move away in search of opportunity.”

These mandated programs include:

Medicaid
Child Welfare
Temporary Assistance/Safety Net
Indigent Defense
Early Intervention
Preschool Special Education
Probation
Youth Detention
Pensions

Local county officials have little control on how these programs operate. The state dictates how these programs and services operate and can restrict local officials from applying operating efficiencies and other innovations that could help control costs. “Counties need the authority to manage state programs locally to root out waste, fraud and abuse, and run programs more efficiently,” said Majority Leader Peter Harckham (D-Katonah). “They’ve put a lot of the burden on the local property taxpayer. We should be able to control the programs if we’re going to fund them.”

The largest unfunded mandate is Medicaid. This $45 billion program is the most expensive in the nation and close to ten percent of the costs are believed to come from Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse. This amounts to nearly $5 billion in excessive taxation on New Yorkers.

“These mandates cover over 70% of the Westchester County operating budget,” said Legislator Martin Rogowsky (D-Harrison). “Medicaid costs alone – approximately $210 million in the recently approved FY 2011 county budget – make up over 40% of our residents’ property tax bill.”

Medicaid, a federal program to provide health insurance for the poor, is jointly funded by Washington and the states and has become the poster child for unfunded mandates. Unlike many states, New York requires local governments to shoulder a substantial share of the state portion of Medicaid costs. To make the budget situation worse, Washington gives states a great deal of latitude in determining what services to provide under Medicaid. Albany has been very generous, making New York‘s program the most expensive in the country.

Even more frustrating for county officials is the continuing practice by state legislators of reducing funding commitment to counties in order to deal with the state’s own fiscal mismanagement, while still dictating the same level of services to be provided by county governments.

“Such reductions on reimbursements choke county budgets, and leave little resources public safety, youth programs, parks initiatives and highway maintenance,” said Chairman Jenkins.

“A great start would be for the State to reimburse the County for Early Intervention services at the level set by law – 50%. Paying the County what it is due by law would reduce Westchester County‘s cost by at least $35 million dollars. This alone would allow us to provide an 7% reduction on the tax levy for Westchester taxpayers. We call for the County Executive to join with us for the people of Westchester. New York State must reform these programs that directly impact Westchester’s property taxes.”

City Sales Tax $$ up 8% in November. County Up 4.8%

Posted on December 13, 2010 by John Bailey

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. From New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. December13,2010:

Figures just in from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance tell a positive economic start for the city of White Plains in the key holiday shopping season.

November city sales tax revenue rose 7.8% (less than the proportionate increase in city sales tax of 12%), but still the first time since 2008-2009 the city has topped $4 million in sales tax receipts in November ($4,003,728 this year compared to last November receipts of $3,712,175).

The city has generated $20,615,401 sales tax the first five months of fiscal year 2010-11, compared with $18,591,570 the first five months of 2009-10, a year to year increase of 10.9% slightly less than the 12-1/2% proportonate gain the sales tax increased overall when tax was increased 1/4% to 2-1/2% that took affect last June 1.

If the city maintains the 11% pace of gain in sales tax receipts the city should approximate $48 Million in sales tax receipts for 2010-11.

Countywide, Westchester enjoyed a 4.8% increase in sales tax receipts, $33,056,729 compared with $31,525,664 in 2009. The county is on target to top budgeted sales tax receipts for the year. The county continues on pace to generate $437 Million in sales taxes by the end of is current 2010 fiscal year, giving tghe county about $6 million more than for forecast for 2010 when county prognosticators predicted the county would genrate $432 Million in salestax.