WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

Hits: 313

Hits: 6351

Hits: 1518

WPCNR Reporter About Town . By John F. Bailey. September 29, 2021.

White Plains added to its diverse collection  of fine dining experiences last night with the grand opening of Greca Mediterranean Kitchen and Bar.

What an opening!

It was the White Plains debut of Connecticut’s most honored new restauranteur, Constantine “Dino” Kolitsas ,Tuesday night in the most elaborate restaurant opening night this reporter has experienced  in 18 years.

The press and  Who’s Who of  Mr. and Mrs. And Ms. Westchester sampled light tasty hors d’euvres unique to the house tastily light, precisely right;  cocktails ,  mellow cabernet sauvignon  Oenodea Greek wine with courses,  and course after   course featuring Greca specialties of the house.

Your reporter departed at 8 PM after the first serving but the courses kept on coming. Owner Dino Kolitsas  said  40 guests were served 4 courses of 20 dishes. The most popular was roasted cauliflower

After Kylie and Louis Cappelli addressed the 40 invited  guests,   dishes were served in waves by the cordial efficient server staff who created a party atmosphere in a sweeping new décor themed in Greek turquoise and light blue with a splendid tiled bar that is seductive in its lure and fabulous original cocktails like the Socratic Method (bourbon, roots rakomelo and fresh sage).

Greca is every bit its owner’s motto: “Enter as strangers, leave as friends.”

Greca  warms up a truly original dining venue in White Plains, 189 Main Street, overlooking the lights of Renaissance Square.

Connecticut Magazine named Mr. Kolitsas’  restaurant in New Milford, opened in 2019  “Best Overall Excellence,” “Best New Restaurant” and ‘Best Mediterranean/Greek Restaurant.”

The restaurant fills the space left by the departure of Mediterraneo, that had been there for 8 years. Mr. Cappelli said  the former restaurant had closed due to covid.

Mr. Cappelli gave his wife Kylie credit for bringing Mr. Kolitsas into White Plains. (“Why don’t we do a Greek restaurant,” he quoted her) for suggesting a Greek restaurant because of her Greek ancestry.  He said they first met Mr. Kolitsas at the New Milford restaurant and the partnership developed from there.

The result is a mix of dishes that are light and tasty with an upbeat (like the refreshing bright interior of positivity and vibrance),  that makes you look forward to the next mouthful. The opening ribbon cutting added a unique touch with a prayer by Father Alex Karloutsos asking for blessings and success for the staff of the restaurant, praying “may all our guests love this restaurant.”

Greca has  seating on the main floor, and a unique upper deck  giving you  sweeping views of the elegant Opus hotel and the glitter and glamour of Renaissance Square presenting a leisurely unpretentious vibe.  

Mr. Cappelli calls Greca “a world class Greek restaurant.”

If you enter as friends, you’ll be friendlier before the night is over!

Hits: 616

WPCNR NEWS AND COMMENT. By John F. Bailey.

Send off the clowns.

The side show is over.

They are not funny.

It is time to wake up, Washington. The dreams of power have got to stop. Talk about myopia!?

Talk about a self-made destruction of an empire!

The American empire is in its last days.

Who is doing this?

Every Congressman and Senator and yes, the President.

He should send out an Executive Order temporarily raising the debt ceiling as an Emergency Act. Let the Supreme Court make fools of themselves again by declaring it unconstitutional.

This is an emergency.

Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to start working as persons who love America as they claim and save the declining country, rather showing us the incompetent self-serving, cowardly fools in thrall of madness.

Raise the debt ceiling For God’s sake.

 For George Wasington’s sake, Lincoln’s sake, Jefferson’s sake, John Madison’s John Adams, Alexander Hamilton’s, FDR’s and TR’s sake—and the sake of every American who once had a dream.

It’s Monopoly Money, really. Just print it!

If you do not, Republicans and Democrats, you can kiss the recovery goodbye. Bye bye economy. Bye bye any palm card statements. Make America nothing.

You will have destroyed the greatest hope of the world with your egos and fantasies of finance.

You will never be reelected when Middle America sees their savings go poof!

 Welfare payments stop, medical supplies unable to be paid for for vaccines, and hospitals close because they cannot pay their workers because insurance companies and do not reimburse medicaid and mediccare, because the insurance companies go bankrupt when their portfolio holdings drop to nothing when foreign and national investors sell out as fast as they can. The internet will collapse with sell orders.

How will you explain that Mr. Democrat and Mr. Republican and Mr. President or Presidents to Be?

Remember the movie “Changing Places,” Moguls, Zillionaires and celebrities will all be yelling into their cellphones saying “Sell, Wilbur Sell!”

The real estate market will disappear. Foreclosures will escalate.  It will be known as the burning of the money.

Listen to me. If you do not act together to tell yourselves it is ok to raise the debt ceiling, you are dooming the economy.

You will stall the fight against covid.

You will stop social security payments to millions in this country.

You will lower the value of the dollar that will never be thought of as a good investment in the world  again.

You will trigger the biggest crash the stock market has ever seen in one day. Nest eggs of millions of Americans will disappear in smoke as partisanship in Washington destroys the country like it was destroyed in the Civil War.

Obviously, the Republicans and the Democrats are playing “Chicken” like teenagers in souped up Buicks.

Just in case they have not noticed, covid is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeping the country. It’s killing your voters.

The stock market is at an all-time high so when you default that induces a sell-off to end all sell-offs.

Corporations will layoff everybody to preserve their profit margins. Scream for bailouts and you will print money to bail them out.

Consumer spending will drop by a record amount because most will have no money.

Hedge funds will have nothing to hedge within hours. The sell-off on Default Day will be catastrophic.

Service industries will not have service jobs because no consumer will pay for them to be done. You can’t replace your gutters without money to pay the gutter man.

Restaurants, forget it. Theatre forget it. Hollywood forget it. No one will have money to make a motion picture that runs on Netflix if no one can pay for Netflix

Autos. Gas? The gas price will drop to  Depression levels. The oil producing countries economies will be destroyed. My mind reels with the self-inflicted misery this do-nothing congress has decided to create mutually by their political charades focused only on their own selfish desire to be reelected and seize power.

As Hank Snow once sang about an affair, the administration, the Democrats and Republicans are “ like a bad motorcycle going 90 miles an hour down a dead-end street and the brakes are gone.”

Please raise the ceiling.

It is to the Republicans and Democrats’ mutual p.r. advantage to be heroes and raise the debt “to save America”  despite the economic ignorance being espoused by Republican and Democratic Senators who cannot count.

It is time to create money, after all it is our money. We print it. You can print more.

Is it possible for these people to use their brains?

Stop groping and start doing the right thing.

America has been to this brink twice before.

Here’s what happened:

Here is an analysis reprinted from November 2020, about the consequences of default from The Balance.com.  Reprinted under terms of use.

US Debt Default Causes and Consequences

Will the U.S. Ever Default on Its Debt?

•••

Table of Contents

• How the U.S. Could Default on Its Debt
• Threat of a Debt Default
• Impact on the Economy
• Avoiding Default
• Other Countries That Have Defaulted

BY 

KIMBERLY AMADEO

•  

REVIEWED BY 

ERIC ESTEVEZ

on November 29, 2020

America has never defaulted on its debt. The consequences are unthinkably dire. But in October 2013, Congress threatened to stop raising the debt ceiling, forcing the nation into default. It wanted the president to cut spending on Obamacare, Medicare, and Medicaid.

The debt ceiling is how much debt Congress allows the federal government to have. If the ceiling is not raised, the U.S. Treasury Department cannot issue any more Treasury bonds. Its ability to pay bills depends on the revenue that comes in. It’s forced to choose between paying federal employee salaries, Social Security benefits, or the interest on the national debt. If it doesn’t pay interest, the country defaults.

At the last minute, Congress agreed to raise the debt ceiling, but the damage was done. During the three weeks that Congress debated, investors seriously wondered whether the United States would actually default on its debt.

This was the second time in two years that House Republicans resisted raising the debt ceiling. The consequences of a debt default may become all too real in the very near future. The country had, at the end of 2019, about $23.2 trillion debt or $70,492 per U.S. citizen.¹

Key Takeaways

• If investors lose confidence in U.S. Treasurys, it creates uncertainty in the financial markets. 
• U.S. Treasurys affect interest rates and the cost of lending.
• A U.S. debt default would wreak havoc on the global economy. 
• America should lower its debt or face economic hardships

How the United States Could Default on Its Debt

There are two scenarios under which the United States would default on its debt. Any default on Treasurys would have the same impact as one resulting from a debt ceiling crisis.

Not Raising the Debt Ceiling

Default would occur if Congress didn’t raise the debt ceiling. Former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, in a 2011 letter to Congress, outlined what would happen.²

• Interest rates would rise, since “Treasurys represent the benchmark borrowing rate” for all other bonds. This means increased costs for corporations, state and local government, mortgages, and consumer loans.
• The dollar would drop, as foreign investors fled the “safe-haven status” of Treasurys. The dollar would lose its status as a global world currency. This would have the most disastrous long-term effects.
• The U.S. government would not be able to pay salaries or benefits for federal or military personnel and retirees. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefit payments would stop. So would student loan payments, tax refunds, and payments to keep government facilities open. This would be far worse than a government shutdown, which only affects non-essential discretionary programs.

The Government Simply Stopped Paying Interest

The second scenario would occur if the U.S. government simply decided that its debt was too high and it stopped paying interest on Treasury bills, notes, and bonds. In that case, the value of Treasurys on the secondary market would plummet.

Anyone trying to sell a Treasury would have to deeply discount it. The federal government could no longer sell Treasurys in its auctions, so the government would no longer be able to borrow to pay its bills.

Even the Threat of a Debt Default Is Bad

Even if investors only think the United States could default, the consequences could be almost as bad as an actual default.

U.S. debt is seen worldwide as the safest investment anywhere.

Most investors look at Treasurys as if they were 100% guaranteed by the U.S. government. Any threat of default could cause debt rating agencies, such as Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, to lower the U.S. credit rating.

Here’s an idea of just how bad a lower credit rating could be. In April 2011, S&P only lowered its outlook on the U.S. debt from “stable” to “negative.” As a result, the Dow immediately dropped 140 points.³

Impact on the Economy

A U.S. debt default would significantly raise the cost of doing business. It would increase the cost of borrowing for firms. They would have to pay higher interest rates on loans and bonds to compete with the higher interest rates of U.S. Treasurys.

All U.S. interest rates would rise, increasing prices and contributing to inflation.

The stock market would also suffer, as any U.S. investment would be riskier. Stock prices would fall as investors fled to other countries’ safer stocks or gold. For these reasons, it could lead to another recession.

The U.S. Government and Avoiding Default

The surest way to avoid default is to prevent budget deficits that lead to debt. The federal government must raise revenue through taxes or cut spending. But now that the debt is more than 100% of gross domestic product, it will be difficult to cut spending enough to reduce the debt and risk of default⁴ .⁵

The other option is to allow the dollar to depreciate enough to make the debt worth less to foreign debt holders, like China and Japan. The Federal Reserve does this by monetizing the debt. It buys Treasurys with credit it creates itself. A default can be avoided if the Fed doesn’t require the interest to be repaid.

Other Countries That Have Defaulted on Their Debt

In 2009, Iceland defaulted on the debt incurred by banks it had nationalized.⁶ As a result of the banks’ collapse, foreign investors fled Iceland. That prompted the value of its currency, the krona, to drop 50% in one week. It created massive inflation and soaring unemployment.

That same year, Dubai defaulted on the debt created by its business arm, Dubai World.⁷ Its assets were all in real estate, so when values plummeted, it didn’t have the cash to meet its obligations. Eventually, Dubai negotiated lower debt payments, known as debt restructuring.

In 2010, Greece said it might default on its debt. It threatened the viability of the eurozone itself. To avoid default, the EU loaned Greece enough to continue making payments.⁸ As of January 2019, it totaled 320 billion euros. ⁹ It was the biggest financial rescue of a bankrupt country in history. Greece has only repaid 41.6 billion euros. It has scheduled debt payments beyond 2060.

The U.S. debt is so much larger than that of either Iceland, Dubai, or Greece. As a result, a U.S. debt default would have a much worse impact on the global economy.

Hits: 462

“GOOD MORNING DENNIS AND TONNY FROM WHITE PLAINS NY USA WHERE IT’S 62 CLOUDY WPCNR DEGREES. LAST NIGHT AT A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COMMMON COUNCIL, WHITE PLAINS WAS PRESENTED WITH A $1.50  75% INCREASE IN PARKING ($3.50 FOR 2 HOURS) FOR THE CITY CENTER GARAGE TO AVOID KITE REALTY THE NEW OWNERS OF THE CITY CENTER DEFAULTING OCTOBER 15 ON WESTCHESTER COUNTY INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY REVENUE BONDS.

“THE DEFAULT PROBLEM DEVELOPED DUE TO COVID—FROM JULY 2020 THROUGH JANUARY 2021 CITY CENTER GARAGE REVENUES DECLINED  33% FROM AMOUNTS COLLECTED PRE –PANDEMIC WHILE  OPERATING COSTS OF THE GARAGE DECLINED 5%, NET INCOME DECLINED 60%.

. THE CITY HAS KNOWN THIS SINCE MARCH 12 AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS ISSUE HAS APPEARED IN PUBLIC.

IT RAISES THE QUESTION FOR WHITE PLAINS ABOUT HOW MUCH PARKING REVENUES IN THE REST OF WHITE PLAINS HAVE DECLINED AND HOW MUCH WHITE PLAINS HAS BEEN MADE WHOLE BY COVID AID.

 ANOTHER ISSUE WHITE PLAINS (AND OTHER TOWNS AND CITIES) FACES AS IT PREPARES THE 2022-23 BUDGET BEGINNING IN JULY IS WHETHER OR NOT THEY WILL HAVE TO  RAISE PARKING FEES AT METERS AND CITY GARAGES IN THE REST OF THE CITY TO PREVENT GARAGE MIGRATION FROM THE CITY CENTER FACILITY TO THE LESS EXPENSIVE MUNICIPAL PARKING LOTS AND GARAGES

REMEMBER FASNY?

THIS 11 YEAR STRUGGLE FOR THE FRENCH AMERICAN SCHOOL OF NEW YORK RIDGEWAY COUNTRY CLUB PROJECT STILL AWAITS REVIEW BY THE APPELLATE COURT IN BROOKLYN.

WELL ACCORDING TO DAN SEIDEL THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLANTIFF, THE GEDNEY FARMS NEIGHBORHOOD, THE CASE IS STILL NOT SCHEDULED. NO COURT DATE YET.

SEIDEL ALSO SAID THE PROJECT IS ESSENTIALLY DEAD BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT FUNDS TO BUILD THE PROJECT,

BECAUSE TIME (10 YEARS GOING ON 11) HAS GONE BY HE BELIEVES A NEW ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW SHOULD BE DONE.

HIS SUGGESTION IS FOR WHITE PLAINS TO BUY THE PROPERTY BACK FROM THE SCHOOL AND WHILE OPENING THE PROPERTY FOR HOUSING AND PUTTING IT BACK ON THE TAX ROLLS.

GRAFMAN MAKES A COMMON COUNCIL RACE

ALLAN GRAFMAN A PUBLIC RELATIONS MEDIA CONSULTANT IS NOW RUNNING FOR COMMON COUNCIL IN THE FALL REPRESENTING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE COMMON SENSE PARTY.

I SHOULD BE INTERVIEWING HIM NEXT WEEK. HE IS RUNNING AGAINST INCUMBENTS JOHN MARTIN,JUSTIN BRASCH, AND RICHARD PAYNE, A FIRST TIME CANDIDATE. MR. GRAFMAN WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOWCASE HIS CANDIDACY AND THE INCUMBENTS THEIR VISION AND MR. PAYNE’S WHAT THEY BRING TO THE TABLE AT THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS FORUM FOR COMMON COUNCIL CANDIDATES MONDAY OCTOBER 18, 7 PM VIA ZOOM (VIRTUALLY),

SCHULTI SHUNS FORM WITH LATIMER

IN THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE RACE, GEORGE LATIMER’S OPPONENT, CHRISTINE SCHULTI  DECLINED TO APPEAR AT THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS CANDIDATES FORUM IN OCTOBER, THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS ANNOUNCED. THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS GAVE NO EXPLANATION FOR HER DECLINING TO APPEAR.

SCHOOL OPENING

WHITE PLAINS SCHOOLS OPENED LAST WEEK WITH SOME CONFUSION ON THE SCHOOL BUSES  PARTICULARLY AT THE HIGH SCHOOL AND SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS JOSEPH RICCA SAID THAT IS BEING STRAIGHTENED OUT WITH THE BUS COMPANY. SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS JOSEPH RICCA SAID THAT IS BEING STRAIGHTENED OUT WITH THE BUS COMPANY.

PARENTS ASKED ABOUT A CAFETERIA INCIDENT INVOLVING AN ALTERCATION AT THE HIGH SCHOOL BETWEEN STUDENTS AT LUNCH HOUR. PARENTS ASKED HIM ABOUT IT LAST FRIDAY ON DR. RICCA’S WEEKLY ZOOM REPORT, ASKED ABOUT IT BECAUSE THEIR STUDENTS CAME HOME THURSDAY TALKING ABOUT IT. DR. RICCA SAID THE SCHOOL IS COUNSELING AND DEALING WITH THE PARTICIPANTS AND TALKING WITH THEIR PARENTS. HE SAID THERE WERE NO INJURIES. HE SAID HAD THEIR BEEN INJURIES, PARENTS WOULD HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED. HE SAID LAST WEEK WAS THE FIRST WEEK STUDENTS HAD SEEN EACH OTHER IN AN IN-SCHOOL SITUATION SINCE LAST SPRING AND THIS MAY HAVE BEEN POSSIBLY CONTRIBUTING TO THE THE ALTERCATION.

HE SAID THERE WAS ONE INFECTION OF COVID IN A CLASSROOM IN AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND THAT CLASSROOM WAS NOW ON LEARNING REMOTE.  HE CALLED ON PARENTS NOT TO SEND CHILDREN TO SCHOOL IF THEY APPEARED SICK IN ANY WAY.

WPCNR SUGGESTS SCHOOLS EVERYWHERE SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE  SIMMERING TENSIONS THAT MAY BE LURKING AT THE MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL LEVELS AND BE PREEMPTIVE WITH COUNCILING AND CALMING STUDENT FEELINGS ABOUT THE NEW ENVIRONMENT.

WHITE PLAINS MALL MAKEOVER INTO HAMILTION GREEN PRESENTED

LAST NIGHT RXR REALTY PRESENTED THEIR NEW PLAN FOR BUILDING HAMILTON GREEN THE DEVELOPMENT PLANNED TO REPLACE THE WHITE PLAINS MALL AND WAS READY TO START THE FIRST PHASE OF CONSTRUCTION.

RXR HAS SECURED AN AGREEMENT TO PURCHASE THE BALANCE OF THE PROPERTY FROM THE FORMER OWNER AND PRESENTED A DESIGN THAT EXPANDS THE OPENING SPACE AND ELIMINATES THE ABOVE GROUND PARKING STRUCTURE PREVIOUSLY PLANNED AND PUTS 4 STORIES OF IT UNDERGROUND.

RXR ASKED FOR A SITE PLAN EXTENSION AND THE ATTORNEY SAID IF APPROVED, THE PROJECT COULD START IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2022.

(CORRECTION: IN THE FIRST EDITION OF THIS TRANSCRIPT I REPORTED THE GARAGE INCREASE WAS APPROVED. IT WAS NOT BUT SHOULD BE ON NEXT MONDAY’S AGENDA.)