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)

Credit Crisis Spawns Internet Scams.

Posted on October 9, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR SERGEANT JOE FRIDAY REPORTS. From Don Hughes October 9, 2008: A frequent contributor to WPCNR, Don Hughes advises that communications from banks received by e-mail may be covers to access personal information, and not from your bank at all:

The current financial crisis has provided a fertile new area for scam artists. They are blasting out e-mails claiming that it necessary for you to provide account and other personal details to the firms new owners for verification purposes. Some of the scams are quite well done, even including links to legitimate web pages.

Do NOT respond to these requests. Financial institutions would ask for such information via regular mail, not e-mail.

Here is a link for an example claiming to be from Chase: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10057180-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1009_3-0-20s

42 The Restaurant in the Sky Introduces a New Dining Experience: Small Plates Ab

Posted on October 8, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR LUSH LIFE. From 42 Restaurant. October 7, 2008 (Edited): The restaurant you go up in the sky for, 42, 42 stories above downtown White Plains in the Ritz Carlton Westchester Towers is coming down to earth. 42 invites Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains and Westchester to come on up and enjoy Chef Anthony Gonclaves’ talents, and the spectacular autumn sunset views while dining on what the Chef introduces as Small Plates. The new dining option begins October 14.

Here’s the lowdown from haute cusine on high:

42, the stunning restaurant perched atop The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester’s Tower I, will introduce an exciting new menu featuring casual dining options. The new category, Small Plates, will formally debut at an event on Tuesday, October 14 at 6 p.m. Coupled with the striking décor of the restaurant and extraordinary views of the Manhattan skyline, Long Island Sound, and the lower Hudson Valley, 42’s Small Plates section is destined to become one of the most popular dining options in the New York metro area.

“I am excited about introducing Small Plates at 42,” said Chef Anthony Goncalves. “The restaurant is well-known for the fine dining experience, but at the same time, tasting menus are a great way to experiment with different foods and flavors, which is much of what dining out should be — experimentation. We hope to help people do that with this new option.”

Chef Goncalves’ exciting world cuisine techniques melded together with traditional favorites have already drawn great dining interest since 42 opened in January. The Small Plates concept allows guests to experience the restaurant in a new way, offering lighter fare and a different atmosphere.

Guests interested in having a cocktail and a light bite will find Small Plates at 42 to be the perfect fit. The menu will change often, as does the regular menu at the restaurant, but it lends itself to tasting multiple dishes in a casual setting. Current menu items include Baby Burgers, Crab Croquettes, PB&J made with foie gras, blistered peppers, and Kona with crème fraiche. In addition, from 5:30-6:30 Tuesday-Friday, $1 oysters are available.

Council Postpones $2.6M in Bonds. Will Review Budget With Mayor Oct. 23

Posted on October 7, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER By John F. Bailey. October 7, 2008 UPDATED October 8, 11:25: The Common Council under the leadership of Council President Benjamin Boykin tabled resolutions to spend $90,000 in bonds to construct a Tot Lot at Mitchell Place; $1,555,800 in bonds to purchase garbage trucks, dump/snow plow trucks, and street sweepers; $578,000 for the purchase of 2 fire trucks; and $523,000 to purchase police cars and sedans.

The delay in approving the total of $2,656,800 in bonds Monday night due to the “precarious economic times” Councilman Boykin told WPCNR Tuesday. “We need to look at where we’re at in the city budget.” Boykin said it was the collective feeling of all six councilmembers that they needed the city finance Commissioner to update them financially before the bonds could be considered to go out to the frozen financial markets. He expected that update to happen at the next Council work session October 23.

The Council did approve $225,000 to build a conferenceroom at City Court (funding from the New York State Office of Court Administration), $100,000 for Municipal Parking Lot Rehabiliation from the General Fund, and $300,000 in bonds for rehabilitation of City parking garages.

Boykin said there was no lending being done in the financial markets anyway, and it would take months before the bonds had they been floated would have attracted buyers. He said the projects were not eliminated, just postponed. Boykin noted that the Wall Street Journal Tuesday had an article noting how municipalities across the country were suspending projects due to credit not being available. He said there is no liquidity, credit has dried up.

Asked if the council was giving the Mayor’s Office any direction on negotiating union contracts, Boykin said they were not, that it was the Mayor’s responsibility to negotiate contracts. He did not rule out that other councilpersons were perhaps making suggestions individually to the Mayor.

Senator Clinton: Offer Credit Now to Main Street. Bailout Not Working Quickly E

Posted on October 7, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. From Senator Hillary Clinton’s Press Office. October 7, 2008: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today called on the Treasury Department to aid small businesses, universities, students and municipalities already feeling the damaging effects of the credit crisis. In a letter to President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Senator Clinton said the recently enacted market rescue plan might not work quickly enough to prevent additional job losses, tuition increases, and other economic challenges from hitting Main Street, and should be supplemented by immediate action to inject more short-term liquidity into the credit market.

“This would be an extraordinary undertaking, but we must take every step to ensure that this market crisis, which is now global, does not threaten to seize our entire economy,” Senator Clinton wrote. “It is a matter of necessity and a matter of fairness: we are helping to keep large Wall Street firms afloat with lines of credit and we should do the same for small Main Street businesses.”

Senator Clinton urged the administration to set aside $150 billion of the $700 billion rescue plan for an “Emergency Stabilization Fund” to make emergency loans and establish temporary lines of credit for small businesses, to allow schools and universities to have short term access to funding to reduce the pressure on tuition, to increase direct loans to students as private lending has dried up, and to help stabilize municipal bonds. Senator Clinton has also proposed dedicating $100 billion in new Treasury Security revenues to this effort to take advantage of the historically low Treasury bill yields.

Yesterday, Senator Clinton joined small business leaders and community advocates in New York to highlight the impact of the growing economic crisis on Main Street. Last week, Senator Clinton called for action to help New Yorkers who have lost or are at risk of losing their jobs. Senator Clinton also spoke on the floor of the Senate and laid out goals for further action to address the underlying causes of the current crisis. She proposed specific steps to protect taxpayers, ensure transparency and accountability, aid homeowners facing foreclosure, and pursue broad economic reforms. For more information on Senator Clinton’s work on this issue, see: http://clinton.senate.gov/issues/housing/subprime.

The text of Senator Clinton’s letter to President Bush and Secretary Paulson follows and is available in PDF here: http://www.clinton.senate.gov/documents/news/10_07_08_bush.pdf.