WPCNR PICTURES OF TIME. December 31, 2003: The White Plains CitizeNetReporter continues our newsroom review of the major White Plains stories of 2003. Today we review through the magic of the WPCNR Digital Eye the action packed third quarter of July, August and September, 2003:
LIBERTY PARK AT SILVER LAKE, WHITE PLAINS FIRST WATERFRONT PARK OPENED the first week of July with a make shift floating dock, picnic grounds, kayaks and rowboats for rent, and a wilderness trail cut around the White Plains side of the lake. The park was made possible through a swing deal by Mayor Joseph Delfino who traded 10 acres of the Pettinichi property to Westchester County for use as affordable housing, in exchange for 30 acres of Silver Lake property rented for $1 a year for 30 years.
THE MAYOR HANGS OUT AT FIRST NIGHT DOUBLEHEADER OF THE FASTPITCH PIONEERS, THE WHITE PLAINS EXPLOSION IN LATE JULY. The Explosion capped a 12-4 season as 14-Unders in the WPBA.
CITY INKS STIMAC AND ROSENSTOCK TO 3 YEAR DEAL TO RUN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER. The city, in August, after two months of negotiations followed by contract preparation agreed to pay Tony Stimac, Executive Director of the Helen Hayes theatre in Nyack, and Jeffrey Rosenstock, Executive Director of Queens Theatre In the Park in Flushing $100,000 a year the first two years and a figure to be determined in the third year to manage the White Plains Performing Arts Center. The contract also commits the city to pay an unspecified amount in services and expenses beyond Stimac and Rosenstock’s management fees. The impresarios worked without a contract for two months.
LOUIS CAPPELLI INTRODUCES CAPPELLI HOTEL DESIGNS: At the August Common Council meeting, Louis Cappelli, showed off his designs for his Cappelli Hotel on Main Street at the 221 Main site. It aroused opposition to possible eminent domain acquisition of the back annex of the Bar Building. The Bar Building brick Eastside can be seen at upper left of top picture. View below is looking East down Main Street.
AM EMBITTERED WILLIAM KING, shown at the September Council meeting, who had already announced his intention not to run for a second term on the Common Council, became very annoyed with his Democrat colleagues for refusing to support his bid to allow a trial test of overnight street parking in the Highlands Old Mamaroneck Road area. The Council voted his proposal down.
FORMER DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY DANIEL HICKEY, THIRD FROM LEFT,OUSTED ROSA MUNOZ from the Republican Party Ticket for a Common Council seat and got himself on the ballot for the November Council election, by beating Munoz in the September Republican Primary. Hickey campaigned on the platform that the Common Council does not listen to the people.
FIRE BROKE OUT AT BET AM SHALOM SYNAGOGUE September 21, destroying the mansion. Four companies from White Plains and neighboring towns were able to save the sanctuary to the right. Cause was attributed to electrical short circuit in the walls of the live-in apartment to the left.
DRUG FACTORY RAIDED: White Plains Police raided this Fisher Avenue home in September and arrested two White Plains residents, one the owner, on charges of manufacturing drugs on the premises and supplying them at various restaurant locations in the city. They were also charged with possession of automatic and assault weapons. Police were shocked at the amount of fire power and cash at the location. Ironically, the drug factory was located about one block away from a home that the Jewish Board of Family & Children’s Services had attempted to locate a group home for troubled homeless teens. The Zoning Board of Appeals had early in the year, denied a building permit in response to neighborhood opposition that the location of “troubled” teens would be a threat to the neighborhood.
CANDIDATES’ DEBATES: Robert Greer, Benjamin Boykin, and Arnold Bernstein debated Republicans Tim Sheehan, Jeffrey Binder, Dan Hickey and Conservative/Independent candidate, Rosa Munoz in a series of lackluster debates. Republicans Binder and Sheehan worked the theme that they wanted to “Wake Up the Common Council” and suggested the city enact an ordinance similar to Poughkeepsie where family definitions are used to close down unsafe, overcrowded housing. They also campaigned heavily on Democrat failure to secure parkland from New York Presbyterian Hospital. This would prove critical in subsequent weeks. Incumbents Greer and Boykin took substantial credit for the “White Plains Renaissance” including the City Center and Fortunoff and Bank Street Commons “approvals.” This is the luncheon at The Womens Club Candidates Forum in early October. The debate formats journalists noted allowed for little public participation, wasted gobs of time in biographies, and were repetitive.
WHO KNOWS WHAT FLOWS BENEATH THE STREETS OF MAIN? MAIN STREET SEWER MYSTERY: When Target store connections were being hooked up to the Main Street sewer August 29, construction crews were concerned that there was “something wrong with the pipe,” and there was a slight delay in making the connections. Hearing of this delay from a photographer observing the discussions over the open sewer pipes on the day this concern surfaced, WPCNR learned of a dispute over Main Street sewer capacity between Department of Public Works Commissioner, Joseph Nicoletti, and Mayor Joseph Delfino. Nicoletti questioned the validity of Cappelli Enterprises data in September 2002, which said the Main Street sewer line (the main conduit for City Center and 221 Main effluent), was running at 13% to 25% capacity. Nicoletti said the Water Department conducted a stick test, the method used by 32 municipalities in Westchester to measure sewage capacity, showing the sewer at 80% capacity. Two City Commissioners who personally observed the dispute in the Mayor’s conference room in September, 2002, said an irate Mayor strongly supported Cappelli experts and rebuked Nicoletti for doubting them. Nicoletti had taken the liberty of ordering the same water flow meter Cappelli’s consultant used to check the results, and over the next six months from January to June, 2003, the flow meter readings actually showed the pipe to be running at lower levels. Consulting engineers contacted by WPCNR endorse the stick method as the more accurate of the two measuring techniques. Since the September sewer discovery that prompted concern, the nature of which has not been revealed, a second study from Divney, Tung, Schwalbe, was submitted on September 18, 2003 confirming the sewer capacity capability. The city has since taken the position that Cappelli Enterprises will line the sewer to make it flow smoother, and Mr. Cappelli has agreed to do that. Cappelli also said he is willing to replace his share of the sewer line if other business owners on Main Street pay their share. The sewer capacity or lack thereof, continues to be a concern of the Common Council as the hearings on the Cappelli hotel continue.
SILVERMAN PROPERTIES PRESENTED A PLAN IN SEPTEMBER TO THE COMMON COUNCIL calling for a recreational, retail, and childrens museum on Mr. Silverman’s property on Martine and Mamaroneck Avenues. Seventeen tenants occupy this square block and the majority were not advised of the plan.
STARBUCKS COFFEE WAS ANNOUNCED AS “THE OFFICIAL COFFEE OF WHITE PLAINS” WINNING THE CONCESSION ON RENAISSANCE PLAZA, THE NEW FOUNTAIN GOING UP. The kiosk is shown below the Macy’s sign on Main. Starbucks will pay rent to the city to operate the kiosk, built by the city at a cost of $525,000, half of which comes from a state grant, the other half of the sum will be bonded. The city will pay for the financing out of Starbucks rent, and expects to make a profit on the deal which will be devoted to acquisition of open space. The city calls Starbucks an “Open Space Incubator.”
THE WHITE PLAINS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER WAS TAKING SHAPE IN LATE SEPTEMBER, WITH 35 DAYS BEFORE OPENING NIGHT. Construction crews were diverted to the theatre to get it ready for a November opening.
A TOUR OF THE CITY CENTER NORTH APARTMENT SPIRE REVEALED FANTASTIC VIEWS.
LOUIS CAPPELLI’S LOFT BUILDING WAS RISING AS OF MID SEPTMBER AT CITY CENTER
LOUIS FORTUNOFF OPENED THE NEW FORTUNOFF’S IN WHITE PLAINS ON SCHEDULE, SEPTEMBER 17.
THERE WAS ONE MORE MAJOR STORY IN AUGUST, AND THAT WAS THE BLACKOUT THAT HIT WHITE PLAINS. WPCNR WAS OUT OF TOWN AND COULD NOT RECORD ANY LIVE “BLACK” PICTURES OF THE BLACKOUT.
