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)

Cablevision Claims New White Plains Service Whips Phone Companies on Speed

Posted on April 22, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR MEDIA WATCHDOG. From Shennell Antrobus, Optimum Online. (Edited) April 22, 2006: Cablevision’s Optimum Online announced Friday to WPCNR News that it has completed a major value-added speed increase in the city of White Plains, and introduced a new premium tier service, Optimum Online Boost, offering the fastest broadly-deployed high-speed Internet service for the White Plains home. Verizon, the new player in Westchester in the fight for the internet and cable television market, was unable to be reached for comment.

“Speed matters on the Internet, and we’re happy to give our customers in White Plains more of the speed they want without raising prices,” according to a statement by Patricia Gottesman, Cablevision’s Executive Vice President of Product Management and Marketing.

According to her statement, ” with many more customers using the Internet to send digital photos and download musci, speed is key to a great experience. This recent upgrade has made the top-rated and most popular high-speed Internet service offered anywhere in the nation even faster and more valuable. And, with the addition of our Optimum Online Boost premium tier, we are once again redefining the Internet experience and extending our position as provider of choice in this market (White Plains).”

Claims beats speed whips phone company specs.

The new Optimum Online Boost premium tier delivers downstream speeds of up to 30 megabits-per-second (Mbps) and up to 2 Mbps upstream. This is 39 times faster than the 768K DSL service currently being marketed by phone companies. Maximum speeds of the core Optimum Online service have also been increased, from 10 Mbps to 15 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps to 2 Mbps upstream – a significant speed enhancement at no additional cost.

In addition to faster speeds, Optimum Online Boost includes new features and benefits designed for residential and business customers with higher-bandwidth needs, including:

Up to 15 e-mail addresses with 1 gigabyte of storage per address, for a total of 15 gigabytes of storage, and the ability to send extremely large e-mail attachments in excess of 20 Megabytes.
Web hosting capabilities, with tools that enable customers to build and maintain their own Web sites.
Advanced configurations that include DDNS, Port 25 and Port 80

Verizon, Cablevision’s archrival could not be reached for comment on Optimum’s new service due to its voice-mail system which does not connect inquiring reporters to a live person, let alone a media spokesperson.

Optimum Online serves more than 1.6 million subscribers, which is more than half of all Internet-connected homes in Cablevision’s service area.

Adam in Albany: Anatomy of the Pataki Budget Vetos

Posted on April 21, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR’S ADAM IN ALBANY. By Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley, 89th A.D. April 21, 2006: For the second consecutive year, the Legislature passed an on-time budget that meets the needs of the people of New York. Unfortunately, the governor issued over 200 vetoes to the Legislature’s bipartisan budget agreement, causing the Republican Senate Majority Leader, Joseph Bruno to state in a recent radio interview that “Pataki cared more about Sioux City, Iowa than Syracuse.”

Critical tax relief for Westchester residents – Vetoed

The bipartisan budget agreement would have provided meaningful tax relief to Westchester’s overburdened taxpayers. Sadly, the governor’s veto pen struck most of the Legislature’s tax-relief package, including:

· Empire State Tax Credit – a maximum credit of $330 for each child age 4 to 17

· Property tax rebates that would have averaged $532 for Westchester’s Basic STAR recipients and $822 for senior homeowners under the Enhanced STAR program

· Reducing the marriage penalty tax – saving married couples $41 million when fully phased in

Legislature’s investments in higher education – Vetoed

The governor’s budget vetoes will have disastrous consequences for New York’s higher education institutions. He vetoed the Legislature’s restorations to the Tuition Assistance Program, as well as vital operating aid for SUNY to strengthen programs. He vetoed local investments totaling over $34.1 million for capital improvement projects at area colleges, including:

· $6 million to SUNY Purchase for the Heritage Site

· $8.1 million to SUNY Purchase for HVAC renovations – to rehabilitate the campus’ central plaza

· $20 million to Westchester County Community College for additional Master Plan Projects

Restorations to Westchester’s struggling health care system – Vetoed

The governor’s veto of the Legislature’s bipartisan budget proposal – which protects the health of New York’s most vulnerable populations by funding critical nursing home, hospital and emergency care – is deplorable. Again, the governor turns his back on those who need help the most.

Locally, the governor’s vetoes will cost Westchester hospitals $41.5 million and area nursing homes nearly $500,000, including:

· White Plains Hospital – $737,000

· Northern Westchester Hospital – $205,000

· Burke Rehabilitation Hospital – $179,000

· Westchester Medical Center – $4.9 million

· Cedar Manor Nursing home – $435,000

· Nathan Miller Center for Nursing Care, White Plains Division – $42,000

If his vetoes stand, the progress New York is making to improve our health care services, help struggling property taxpayers and strengthen our world-class universities would be seriously threatened. I cannot stand by as the governor scores political points at the expense of college students, property taxpayers and elderly. I will work with my colleagues in the Assembly and Senate to override vetoes, where constitutionally legal – representing a bipartisan united stand for a budget that New Yorkers deserve.

Calliope Poppy Philippidis. 1932-2006

Posted on April 20, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR PASSAGES. April 20, 2006: Calliope “Poppy” Philippidis died Thursday morning at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. A resident of Kew Gardens, she died after five days in the hospital following injuries from the last of several falls. She is survived by her son, Alex Philippidis, of White Plains, and his brother.

Visitation is Monday 4/24 at Ballard-Durand Funeral Home in White Plains from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.Funeral is Tuesday 4/25 at 10 a.m. at Greek Orthodox Church of Our Saviour in Rye.

New Director of Playland Named, Replacing Montalto.

Posted on April 20, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. By John F. Bailey. April 20, 2006: The Department of Communications confirmed to WPCNR today that Dan McBride has been appointed Director of Playland, the landmark amusement park on Long Island Sound that has entertained children of all ages since 1928. Mr. McBride replaces Joseph Montalto, who is retiring, according the the Department of Communications.

The Dragon Coaster, Playland, Circa 1928. Photo, WPCNR News Archive

McBride moves from Operations Director for the Department of Recreation and Parks to Deputy Commissioner and Director of Playland park, his new post, and one of his first steps is to prepare a Master Plan for the old amusement park, according to attendees of the Westchester County Historical Society where he spoke Monday evening.

The KiddlieLand section of the amusement park (with America’s greatest train ride), is open this Sunday, April 23 and Sunday April 30, 12 to 6. Playland opens officially May 13. Go to www.ryeplayland.org for more on the park.

Rye Beach Boardwalk, Playland Bathhouses. The vista was used in the movie, “Big,” Starring Tom Hanks. Just Part of the 1928 Slice of Americana, the Playland Amusement Park. Photo, WPCNR News Archive.

“With Playland’s Kiddyland opening this weekend, I am delighted to have Dan McBride overseeing the park,” said County Recretion and Parks Commissioner Joe Stout. “Dan is a professional with 30 years of experience in parks and recreation management.”

The fabulous Ice Casino, Playland. Photo, WPCNR News Archive.

McBride joined the parks department in 1996 as a director of programs and services and for the last three years served as chief of operations. He has a master’s degree in public administration from Pace University in White Plains. McBride began his career in recreation at the Village of Scarsdale in 1976 and worked for various local recreation departments before joining the county.

McBride’s duties as deputy commissioner will include overseeing the department’s parks division operations and the planning and capital projects divisions.

The Boathouse and Lake, PlayLand. Photo, WPCNR News Archive.