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)

The Muckraker’s Notebook: A Tip From Sherlock Holmes

Posted on February 11, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR’S MUCKRAKERS NOTEBOOK. February 11, 2008: The lack of guidelines for fledgling young reporters from the journalism schools today – that never teach the sad truth that the most respectable officials and leaders lie to people and reporters on an hourly basis – and those who think what they see on television and read in the mainstream press is how reporting should be done, WPCNR turns to The Muckraker’s Notebook which will bring the public some of the truisms and sayings by famous reporters and investigators of the past, not all of whom ever existed.

Today’s nugget comes from the first fictional detective, whose cases, chronicled by Dr. John Watson, still rivet the reader today. He needs no introduction. Here is the famous detective on the art of detection:

” It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. ”

Sherlock Holmes, from A Scandal in Bohemia

Comptroller: Empire Zones Not Doing theJob

Posted on February 11, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the State Comptroller’s Press Office. February 11, 2008:

Local Empire Zones generally do not measure the success of their programs, and even those that do attempt to measure success don’t know if job creation data used is accurate. As a result, there’s no way to determine the effectiveness of Empire Zone tax breaks, according to a report released by state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

The report follows up on a 2004 Comptroller’s office report which found Empire Zones were poorly administered, kept inadequate records, and did not hold firms accountable for actually producing jobs. That report also found that local zones failed to determine whether the tax breaks given to businesses were cost-effective or if businesses were reporting accurately about the number of jobs created.

“New York should take another look at the Empire Zone program,” DiNapoli said. “We need to know if we’re getting a bang for the taxpayers’ buck. If officials representing local zones can’t demonstrate that the program is working, and if local governments and taxpayers are not benefiting from a program that’s supposed to generate economic development and create jobs, it calls into question the value of the program.”

Auditors revisited eight zones cited in the 2004 report to determine if they complied with Comptroller’s office corrective action recommendations. The zones were located in the cities of Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Yonkers; Broome County; and the towns of Tonawanda, Friendship and Islip.

Auditors found that zone officials made only limited progress in correcting the problems identified in 2004. Specifically:

Each zone collected data needed to determine their program’s costs and benefits but they did not verify the accuracy of the data;
None of the zones moved to initiate decertifications of businesses that had performance shortfalls;
None of the zones completed annual reports that included outcome measures and comparisons to goals;
Only Yonkers and Friendship developed a complete and comprehensive written evaluation plan that established clear and measurable goals, and then compared actual outcomes to those goals;
Only Friendship established a performance measurement system;
Only Tonawanda conducted a zone-wide cost benefit analysis to determine the effectiveness of the program – however they were unable to verify the accuracy of data they received from zone businesses. Syracuse and Yonkers partially achieved this goal, but the remaining municipalities did not;
Most improvements implemented by the zones came about in response to 2005 state Legislative changes. These include:
- All eight zones conducted cost benefit analyses to help ensure that individual businesses wouldn’t be certified if the value of their tax break exceeded the value of the benefit the businesses provided to the community;
- Each zone improved monitoring and evaluation systems to address control deficiencies; and
- Each zone worked with the state Department of Economic Development (DED) and the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) to review applications to determine whether business’s projections are reasonable.
There are 82 Empire Zones in New York State. The DED works in conjunction with the ESDC to administer the program at the state level. Zone boards are responsible for administering the program at the local level. Generally, a zone coordinator administers the program on a day-to-day basis.

Click here for a copy of the audit or visit http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/swr/empirezones.pdf

The Real Deal: A Valentine Special–A Winter Wedding

Posted on February 10, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR’S THE REAL DEAL By The Wedding Genie, Jeannie Uyanik of C&G Weddings. February 9, 2008: February is the month of love and romance so it seemed only fitting that we would feature a few success stories, so to speak, of those who made it through the wedding and now really enjoy the perks of Valentine’s Day stress free! Each week this month, we will bring you a different couple, at a different time of year, in a different setting, further demonstrating that the only limit to an amazing event is your own imagination. This weekend it’s “A Winter Wedding”

Escort Card Table

A Winter White Wonderland on the Water in New York City

The reception for 300 guests was staged at Pier Sixty located directly on the Hudson River. This neutral space provided an opportunity for Atlas Floral Designers to morph the room into a winter wonderland by using a color palette of winter white, contrasting black and sparkling silver. Elaborate arrangements could be found suspended from the ceiling, on pedestals, and on the tables. Abigail Kirsch Caterers prepared the four -course meal as well as the whimsical white cake which was detailed in geometric lines and shapes. As favors, each guest was presented with a small box of silver, white and black M&Ms inscribed with the wedding date and the bride and groom’s names.

The Stats:

Time of year: November

Location: Pier Sixty

Guests: 400`

The bride: a lawyer

The Groom: a flooring designer

The entertainment: Ceremony: specially arranged Beatles tunes from Venues Ensembles, a leading string quartet; Reception: they played for Paul McCartney’s wedding and won over the bride’s heart: Soul Solution from Around Town Entertainment

The Scene: When assigning this bride the task of looking at vendor websites, she approached it like she was at work. No detail was left unread, no picture unseen, and no sound bite unheard. The space that was chosen, Pier Sixty, was a large neutral space that sat on the Hudson River. The bride loved the space but was eager to meet with her florist to see how he could morph it into something amazing. Sticking to white as her main color, the florist hung sheer drapes, erected a large tree in the center of the escort card table, suspended arrangements above the tables as well as had them on top of tables. A white aura similar to a fresh snow was beaming from this site.

The food: Abigail Kirsch Caterers served a four course dinner that started with a veggie risotto stack and ended with a Chocolate Hazelnut Dome. Keeping with the black, white and silver theme, the wedding cake which sat on a beautiful silver plateau was adorned with black detailing that mimicked a playful palate of lines and shapes.

Alternate Table-Setting

The Favor: This bride and groom catered to the sweet tooth of their guests. On the way out of the space, there was a table full of small boxes tied with silver ribbon which held custom made M&M’s in their color palate of white, silver and black. On some candies it read the bride and groom’s names and on the others, it had the date.

Should City Councilpersons Represent Specific Areas of City?

Posted on February 10, 2008 by John Bailey

WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS POLL. February 10, 2008: WPCNR would like to know our readers feelings on whether the Common Council would be more responsive, (and possibly, more effective, harder-working, more responsive), if each councilperson represented a specific section of town. Presently all but one councilperson represent the southend of town. The issue has been raised by Battle Hill Civic Association and the downtown association that the council often is not responsive to their concerns.

What do Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains think about the concept of electing councilpersons by geographic sections of the city — a district system — or continuing with the present “at large” arrangement where six councilpersons can, as five of them do now all live within a few blocks of each other in the southend of town.