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.

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The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for our area for this evening through Tuesday morning, February 2nd. Heavy snow, with significant accumulation, and strong winds are expected. We urge residents to refrain from all unnecessary travel during the storm. 

Due to the timing and predicted intensity of the storm there will be no garbage pick up tomorrow, Monday, February 1^st. The normal schedule will resume on Tuesday. Monday routes will be picked up on Thursday.

The City’s Department of Public Works crews will be working through the storm to clear roads as quickly and completely as possible. In order to enable them to do their job it is vital that vehicles not be left parked on the street.

As a courtesy, the City of White Plains is offering free parking to White Plains residents for vehicles registered to addresses within the City of White Plains in the Lexington-Grove East & West parking garages (also known as the Galleria), Hamilton-Main Garage, and Lyon Place Garage starting at 8:00 PM today, Sunday, January 31st through Noon on Tuesday, February 2nd. All other garages, lots and on street parking will remain subject to normal enforcement. There will be strict enforcement of the City’s ban on overnight on-street parking as vehicles left on the street impair our ability to clear snow, creating hazardous conditions and lengthening the storm’s impact.

Con Ed customers can report a power outage or service problems and view service restoration information online at www.coned.com or by calling 1-800-75-coned.

Thank you for your cooperation and please stay safe.

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El servicio nacional del clima ha emitido una alerta de tormenta de nieve para nuestra área que se extenderá hasta el martes 2 de febrero. Se esperan fuertes nevadas con bastante acumulación y viento. Les pido que no hagan viajes innecesarios durante la tormenta. 

Debido a la hora en que empieza la tormenta y la intensidad de la nieve, no habrá recolección de basura mañana 1 de febrero. El horario normal comenzara de nuevo el martes. La ruta del lunes se recogerá el jueves.

Las cuadrillas del departamento de trabajos públicos de la ciudad estarán trabajando durante la tormenta limpiando las calles lo más bien y rápido posible. Para que ellos puedan hacer su trabajo sin problemas es importantísimo que no se dejen vehículos estacionados en la calle.

Como cortesía, ofreceremos estacionamiento gratis para los residentes de White Plains con vehículos registrados en direcciones dentro de la ciudad de White Plains. Los garajes de estacionamientos que estarán disponibles son: Lexington-Grove Este, garajes Oeste también llamados Galleria, garaje Hamilton-Main y garaje Lyon Place. Comenzando hoy, domingo 31 de enero, a las 8 de la noche hasta el mediodía del martes 2 de febrero. Todos los otros garajes y estacionamiento en la calle requieren pago como de costumbre. La ciudad prohibirá el estacionamiento nocturno de carros en las calles ya que esto hace difícil que se pueda limpiar la nieve en las calles y crea condiciones peligrosas.

Los clientes de Con Edison pueden informar cortes de energía o problemas con el servicio y verificar estado de restauración de electricidad en www.coned.com en su teléfono celular o llamando al 1-800-752-6633.

Gracias por su cooperación y por favor manténgase seguro. 

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WPCNR GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO CORONAVIRUS REPORT January 30, 2021:

We’re using the limited supply of vaccines as efficiently as possible and continuing to stop the spread of the virus and we’re also focused on safely getting the economy back on track while safeguarding public health.

The restaurant industry is the lifeblood of New York City and we are all too aware of the economic hardship they have endured at the hands of COVID.

Thankfully, if our current trajectory holds, we will be able to reopen New York City dining at 25 percent capacity on February 14th, Valentine’s Day.

Additionally, other larger events that follow strict guidelines will be permitted beginning March 15th.

We cannot become complacent now—we must all continue to do our part to keep beating back COVID. Our collective actions determine how quickly we can return to some of what we’ve missed throughout this pandemic.  

Chart of the Day: Today’s update on the State’s vaccination progress. Here’s what else you need to know tonight: 

1. COVID hospitalizations fell again to 8,357. Hospitalizations are down 916 from a peak of 9,273 on January 19th. Of the 270,518 tests reported yesterday, 12,579, or 4.65 percent were positive. There were 1,543 patients in ICU yesterday, down 41 from the previous day. Of them, 1,012 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 151 New Yorkers to the virus.  

2. As we get more supply of the vaccine, new appointment slots are coming online at New York State vaccination sites. We are currently vaccinating eligible New Yorkers who are part of Phase 1a and 1b. See if you’re eligible and schedule an appointment.  

MARRIAGES FOR PARTIES OF 150 NEGATIVE TESTED PERMITTED AS OF MARCH 15

3. Effective March 15th, marriage receptions can be held under limited state guidelines. Events must be approved by the local health department and there will be mandatory testing of all guests before an event.

Capacity at weddings and receptions will be limited to no more than 150 people or no more than 50 percent of the venue’s capacity, whichever is lower. All patrons must be tested prior to the event. This upcoming change in guidelines follows the success of the Buffalo Bills program, which allowed fans to attend home games with mandatory testing. 

 4. As of 11am Friday morning, 95 percent of first doses allocated to the state have been administered. This represents 1,316,032 first doses administered of the 1,387,840 allocations received from the federal government. So far, 244,644 second doses have been administered out of 618,115 second doses received. See data by region on the State’s Vaccine Tracker.   

5. Due to extreme cold, the drive-thru vaccination site at Jones Beach will be suspended over the weekend. The polar vortex currently impacting the state is producing strong winds and dropping wind-chill levels to near zero, which creates safety concerns given the structure of the open-air tents currently being used at Jones Beach.

Anyone scheduled for vaccination during these two days is being notified of the suspension via email and text message, and appointments will be rescheduled. The rescheduled appointments will take place beginning Sunday, January 31 and continue until Wednesday, February 3.  

6. A reminder that New Yorkers should not be charged for Personal Protective Equipment by in-network health care providers under their state-regulated health and dental insurance coverage. Pursuant to State Department Financial Services guidance, insurers are required to make sure that consumers are not charged PPE-related fees by in-network providers.

New Yorkers who have been wrongfully charged are eligible for a refund from their insurer. To date, the Department has recovered a total of $414,727 of PPE-related charges for more than 14,000 consumers since the start of the pandemic.  

Tonight’s “Deep Breath Moment”: Tonight’s Deep Breath Moment comes to us from across the country, where Oregon businesses are pooling together to give one million blankets to local homeless shelters by 2024. Bob Dalton, CEO of Sackcloth + Ashes, started this initiative to help the homeless in Portland during the winter season and has partnered up with local businesses to help. The partnership is about 20 percent of the way toward their commendable goal.    If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe to New York State’s Coronavirus Updates here. 

Ever Upward, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo 

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WPCNR GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO NIGHTLY COVID REPORT. January 27, 2021:

We’re slowly coming down from our holiday surge and the number of new cases and hospitalizations have decreased across the state. In response, we’re making modifications to our micro-clusters.

All Orange Zone restrictions, and some Yellow Zone restrictions, have been lifted

ted statewide—including all cluster zones in Western New York.

The Yellow Zones that remain are in Newburgh and in New York City (two in the Bronx, one in Queens, and one in Washington Heights).

The improvement in the numbers is a testament to New Yorkers’ hard work and diligence against the virus and we must keep it up.  

Vaccine FAQ of the Day Here’s what else you need to know tonight: 1. Hospitalizations fell to 8,771. Of the 202,661 tests reported yesterday, 11,028, or 5.44 percent were positive. There were 1,558 patients in ICU yesterday, up 14 from the previous day. Of them, 1,027 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 170 New Yorkers to the virus.  2. As of 11am today, 96 percent of first doses allocated to the state have been administered. This represents 1,246,946 first doses administered of the 1,304,050 allocations received from the federal government. Second dose allocations are separately allocated so no one should worry about not being able to get a second dose if they have already received the first. 3. Additional cases of the UK variant have been identified in New York State. The new cases have been found in Long Island, New York City, Westchester, Saratoga, Tompkins, Niagara, Onondaga, Essex and Warren Counties, bringing the statewide total to 42 known cases.  4. The State extended a partnership with HelloFresh to deliver free meal kits to veterans and military families in New York. Since establishing this partnership in July 2020, HelloFresh has provided more than 200,000 nutritious meals to veterans and military families in New York City who are facing food insecurity due to COVID-19. Now, New York and HelloFresh are extending this collaboration through the second quarter of 2021, ensuring that veterans and military families in New York City will continue to receive these nourishing meals throughout the challenging months ahead. We thank HelloFresh for their partnership.  5. All residents of nursing homes participating in the federal Long Term Care Facility vaccination program have been offered the vaccine. To date, 72 percent of nursing home residents have been vaccinated. By February 7th, all staff at nursing homes will have been offered the vaccine. Nursing home residents who declined the vaccine on the first opportunity—perhaps wanting to wait until others had received the vaccine—will get additional chances to get the vaccine. Tonight’s “Deep Breath Moment”: Central Park received an unexpected visitor today—a snowy owl. Spotting this species of owl is an extremely rare event. Snowy owls are common in the Arctic tundra, but not in New York City, and so bird-watchers marveled at the unusual sighting. Snowy owls migrate south in winter. Avid birder David Barrett speculated that this particular snowy owl mistook the park’s baseball field for a sand beach.  If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe to New York State’s Coronavirus Updates here. Ever Upward, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo