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)

9 Applebee’s Restaurents Dedicate Proceeds to AIDS/HIV Research April 29

Posted on April 11, 2004 by John Bailey

WPCNR COUNTY BULLETIN BOARD. April 11, 2004: All nine Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants in Westchester and Rockland Counties will be leading the biggest dining out event in Hudson Valley, on Thursday, April 29^th with their participation in “Dining Out for Life.”

“Dining Out for Life” is a14-year old international fundraising program taking place this year in 37 cities across North America to benefit local AIDS agencies. Here in the Hudson Valley, the event will benefit the AIDS Related Community Services (ARCS). Based in Hawthorne, NY, ARCS is the largest organization solely dedicated to providing HIV/AIDS services, prevention education, and outreach to individuals and families in all seven counties in the Hudson Valley, including Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, and Sullivan.

On Thursday, April 29^th, all local Applebee’s, along with other participating restaurants, will contribute an average of 25 percent of their proceeds to ARCS, which is taking part in the event for the first time. Applebee’s is the lead restaurant sponsor and Zane Tankel, CEO of Apple-Metro, the local franchise owner, will serve as the honorary chair of the event. Apple-Metro owns and operates 25 restaurants throughout the New York metro area.

“Apple-Metro will be providing the most restaurant sponsorships in the entire Hudson Valley area for this event,” said William Primavera, ARCS Director of Public Relations & Development. “We are so grateful that they will be contributing their resources and proceeds on that night to people who are in great need here in the Hudson Valley.”

Local Applebee’s restaurants include: Airmont, Cortlandt, Cross County in Yonkers, Crossroads in Greenburgh, Hawthorne, Mamaroneck, Mount Kisco, New Roc City in New Rochelle, and White Plains City Center.

For more information on “Dining Out for Life,” check the Website at www.diningoutforlife.com. For more information about ARCS, check the Website at www.arcs.org.

Apple-Metro, Inc. is the New York Metro Area Franchisee of Applebee’s International Inc., owning exclusive franchise rights to Westchester and Rockland counties, as well the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Apple-Metro also operates three Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants and has developed a new proprietary restaurant concept, Zanaro’s Italian at New Roc City in New Rochelle and coming to White Plains this Spring.

Feiner Urges Passing of Minimum Wage Increase

Posted on April 11, 2004 by John Bailey

WPCNR THE FEINER REPORT. By Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner. April 11, 2004: As you are aware, the State Assembly passed a bill to raise the minimum wage last month in the State of New York to $7.10 per hour over the next two years. Such a changes improves the livelihoods immediately of three quarters of million New Yorkers.

The State Senate has a bill, Bill 3291C, in committee to do the same. But our challenge is persuading the Senate leadership and Governor to release the bill from committee for action in this legislative session.

Further background on raising the minimum wage is available for the nonprofit alliance “$5.15 is not enough!” located at: www.515isnotenough.org

Many counties and municipalities are passing support resolutions to forward the Senate and Governor. To date local resolutions have been passed in City of Rochester, County of Monroe, Town of Brighton, County of Albany, County of Rensselaer, County of Tompkins, County of Rockland, Village of Haverstraw, City of Syracuse, County of Westchester (unanimous) and City of Rome. And now also so has the Village of Croton-on-Hudson.

I will be introducing the following resolution at the Greenburgh Town Board meeting on Wednesday, April 14^th at 7:15 PM at Greenburgh Town Hall. I’m hopeful that other communities will adopt similar resolutions. ———-

Resolution in support of an raising the Minimum Wage in the State of New York.

WHEREAS, The federal minimum hourly wage, currently $5.15 an hour, is not indexed to preserve its purchasing power and has not been raised since 1997; and

WHEREAS, the State of New York has not altered its minimum wage since 2000 when it matched the $5.15 of the federal minimum wage; and

WHEREAS, The inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage is approaching the lowest point in a half century and is 40% below the peak level reached in 1968; and

WHEREAS, Nationally low-wage workers (those earning the 20th percentile hourly wage) saw their wages increase 5.5 percent in real terms (inflation adjusted) between 1989 and 1999, while, in contrast, the State of New York’s low-wage workers’ wages declined 5.5 percent over the same period; and

WHEREAS, The poverty rate in the State of New York rose from 13 to 14.6 percent during the 1990s resulting in more than 2.6 million New Yorkers were living in poverty in 1999, while, in contrast, the national poverty rate fell from 13.1 percent to 12.4 percent in the same decade; and

WHEREAS, A higher minimum wage would help insure that work represents a path toward self-sufficiency and serve as part of a broader strategy to fight poverty; and

WHEREAS, Studies by public-health researchers of minimum wage increases and living wage laws in California suggest that a higher minimum wage results in better health for low-wage workers, and significantly improves the chances that their children will graduate from high school; and

WHEREAS, Twelve states plus the District of Columbia already have minimum wages above the current $5.15 federal level, including Connecticut ($7.10), Massachusetts ($6.75), California, Washington ($7.16), Delaware ($6.15), and Illinois ($5.50); and

WHEREAS, Increasing the minimum wage will not reduce employment opportunities for the working poor, as other states that raised their minimum wage did not suffered job losses related to raising their minimum wages; and

WHEREAS, A minimum wage increase would disproportionately help retail employees, like clerks and waiters/waitresses, because of those who would likely benefit from a minimum wage increase, 36 percent, or 380,000, work in the retail sector and more than 85 percent of those who would benefit from a higher minimum wage are non-union; and

WHEREAS, Over three quarters (79 percent) of the new legislation’s beneficiaries would be adults not teenagers, and more than half work full-time while another 27 percent work between 20 and 34 hours per week and a high percentage of minimum wage earners are the main breadwinners for their families, and 61 percent of the likely beneficiaries are women; and.

WHEREAS, Minimum wage legislation that increases the state minimum from $5.15 to $7.10 would directly benefit approximately 750,000 New Yorkers, and due to likely spillover effects, an additional 530,000 persons, those earning from $7.10 to $8.10, would also gain, and these 1.2 million beneficiaries of a minimum wage increase represent over 15 percent of New York State employment; and

WHEREAS, A 1998 survey of small businesses by the Levy Institute found that fewer than one-third of 1% reported having reduced employment because of the 1996-97 increases in the minimum wage; and

WHEREAS, In its 1999 Economic Report to the President, the Council of Economic Advisors concluded: “the weight of the evidence suggests that modest increases in the minimum wage have had very little or no effect on employment”; and

WHEREAS, A minimum wage increase partially pays for itself through improved worker retention, reduced turnover, savings in recruitment and training costs, and higher worker productivity; and

WHEREAS, A minimum wage this year that yielded the same earning power that it delivered at its peak in 1968 would be over $9.00 per hour; and the minimum wage was established to retain the dignity of work, so that working men and women could care for themselves and their families but it has not succeeded in this goal and the present minimum wage does not reflect the high cost of living.

WHEREAS, On March 1st, 2004 by a vote of 127-19, the New York State Assembly passed A09710, a bill that would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.10 an hour after January 1, 2006; and

WHEREAS, the Town of Greenburgh recognizes the value to its community in promoting a strengthened market for labor, now

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: that the Greenburgh Town Board, meeting in regular session on the 14th day of April 2004, does hereby declare its support for raising the minimum hourly wage in the State of New York; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the Greenburgh Town Board supports State Senate Bill 3291C, which would raise New York State’s minimum wage to $7.10 an hour over the next two years; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That the Greenburgh Town Board urges timely passage of this bill in the 2004 legislative session.

Historical Tapping Does Not Prohibit Owner of Bar Building from Destroying It.

Posted on April 10, 2004 by John Bailey

WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey April 10, 2004: The efforts of the White Plains Historical Society and the owners of the Bar Building resulting in the Bar Building on Main Street being recognized for listing on the New York State Register of Historic Places, and the current effort to have it recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, do not in the ultimate protect the Bar Building from its own owner.

THE BAR BUILDING NOW “HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT” BUT STILL NOT PROTECTED : The owners, whether they continue to be the Longhitano brothers, or ultimately, Louis Cappelli, (should the Super Developer eventually acquire the building), retain the right to raze the building, if they wish to do so. Photo by WPCNR News.

Media Spokesperson for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Catherine Jimenez, told WPCNR Wednesday that when Commissioner Bernadette Castro signs the request for the Bar Building to be recommended to placed on the National Register that will be all that’s needed for the owners of the Bar Building to apply for the National Register, which is administered by historians and is part of the National Parks Service.

Maintenance Not Required.

WPCNR asked Ms. Jimenez if the owners are required to maintain their State Historically Recognized properties, she said they were not, though grants were available from the state for such maintenance should owners request them. WPCNR asked if the owners lost the right to raze such structures, and build something else, and Ms. Jimenez said no, that owners of historically recognized places retained the right to destroy the building.

On the National Parks Service web site, the section “Key Points about the National Register Process for Property Owners,” conveys the impression that recognition as an historical place is prestigious, but that is about all it does for a building, other than creating a public relations black eye if a developer or city attempts to tear it down:

“Listing in the National Register honors the property by recognizing its importance to its community, State or the Nation.”

There is no requirement to maintain the property, either:

“Owners have no obligation to open their properties to the public, to restore them, or even to maintain them, if they choose not to do so.”

The popular idea that if a property is designated historical that it is protected, and it is required to be maintained is simply not true.

There is also this significant statement on the National Parks Service website:

“Under Federal law, private property owners (of historically registered buildings) can do anything they wish with their National Register-listed property, provided that no Federal license, permit or funding is involved.”

There are some protections, Ms. Jimenez, said if Federal moneys are involved in the building. However, that is it.

Paul Lusignan, an historian with the National Park Service, in Washington, D.C., confirmed this to WPCNR saying that any owner of a historic property could tear down an historically registered place.

No Second Opinion on Historical Credentials and Significance

WPCNR asked Lusignan, in view of the fact that Commissioner Castro, will be signing The Bar Building into perpetual historical significance shortly (within two weeks, according to Ms. Jimenez) as being on the list of State Historically Recognized Places, if she has not already done so, does the National Register take another look at the building, or send representatives to inspect the building for its historical and architectural value.

Lusignan said the National Parks Service, as rule, did not do that.

He said they relied on the application for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places to the National Park Service, usually prepared, he said, by the owner of the property. Jack Harrington, of the White Plains Historical Society, is helping The Longhitanos, owners of The Bar Building submit their application, which Harrington lead WPCNR to believe was being submitted.

Lusignan said usually there are photographs submitted with the application to be included on the National Register, and that the Parks Service does not make an onsite visual inspection (in this case to evaluate the architectural value of the Bar Building).

45 Days to Eternital Significance?

He said the Parks Service usually relies on the State Historical Preservation agencies to recommend, and will usually rule on an application within 45 days. He said most State Historical Preservation Agency recommendations are automatically accepted for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

The knowledge that, though now being officially recognized as historical, the Bar Building still could be torn down by its owner by right, or restored, makes

Super Developer, Louis Cappelli’s plea for upgrading of the Bar building façade to the Common Council last Wednesday evening significant.

The Cappelli Option.

Should Mr. Cappelli seek to acquire the Bar Building anew, he could conceivably buy it from the Longhitanos, and upgrade the historical façade and the interior completely, creating a prestigious office building more aesthetically compatible with his “Triple Towers” project.

Or, he could purchase the Bar Building within the next 40 days, and take it down during his upcoming demolition of the remaining Main Street block up to Grace Church, planned to begin in May. He could do that, as owner of the Bar Building, by right, should he acquire the building, irregardless of its historical status, according to what Ms. Jimenez and Mr. Lusignan, and National Parks Service policy.

Grants Not a Large Sum of Money

Mr. Lusignan, the historian WPCNR spoke to at the National Parks Service, was asked if the Parks Service had grants available for restoration of historic buildings. He said the states handle the distribution of the grants, but said the grant money was not a large sum, and that it was an insignificant amount, and the Parks Service left it up to the states to parcel the meager money out.

The Longhitanos may be eligible for federal investment tax credits for rehabilitation of the building should they wish to do so.

ADAM IN ALBANY: Support for Tougher Finds for Intrusive Telemarketers

Posted on April 9, 2004 by John Bailey

WPNCR’S ADAM IN ALBANY. By District 89 Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley. April 9, 2004: There is nothing more annoying than receiving calls from telemarketers, especially after signing up for the “Do Not Call” registry. To combat this problem, I supported new legislation which more than doubles the fines for violating the “Do Not Call” law from $5,000 to $11,000 (A.10145). This bill will help protect consumers from unwanted telemarketing calls.

This legislation would send a message loud and clear that families do not want their homes invaded by calls from telemarketers. When someone has made the effort to place their number on the “Do Not Call” registry, they deserve reasonable assurances that they will not be called.

Since the creation of the state registry in 2001, over 3 million households across the state have signed up, and an estimated half-billion unwanted calls have been blocked from New York homes. Last year, New York became one of 15 states to merge the state’s registry with the federal registry – a move that saved taxpayers over $1 million in operating costs. The “Do Not Call” registry is available to personal numbers including cell phones, but not business numbers. Registration lasts five years.

“Do Not Call” means do not call. Creating stiffer penalties for violating New York’s law will better protect our families. Having a telephone line should not be an invitation for endless annoying calls from telemarketers. New York has been a leader in preventing this kind of harassment, and this bill gives some teeth to the protective measures we’ve put in place.

To report a violation, call the New York State Consumer Protection Board at 1-800-697-1220 or visit www.consumer.state.ny.us.