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)

Fannie Mae Awards First Credit Line Ever to City of White Plains

Posted on November 20, 2003 by John Bailey

WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. November 20, 2003: Mike Passarella, director of the city’s Community Development Agency announced Wednesday evening that the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Agency, better known as Fannie Mae has awarded a $1,000,000 credit line to the City of White Plains Community Development fund — the first such credit line the agency has ever awarded to an American city.

FANNIE MAE AWARDS ITS FIRST CREDIT LINE EVER TO A CITY AND THE WINNER IS WHITE PLAINS: Mike Passarella announces the historic Million Dollar Line to the Common Council Wednesday night. Photo by WPCNR News.

Passarella has been working with Fannie Mae for a year and a half to convince them to secure the loan, and was advised of the approval this week. Passarella said the loan now increases the Community Development loan fund available to businesses and home and multi-family home owners to between 1.7 and 1.8 Million dollars. Mayor Delfino, in introducing Mr. Passarella before the November work session of the Common Council, said the loan was historic because Fannie Mae has never leant money to a city before, and said it was a result of the city’s Triple A credit rating.

Passarella told WPCNR the loan was to the city for $1MM at 3%, a very favorable rate which the city could lend out at 3%, and could only be leant to refurbish single and multi-family homes.

In announcing the historic loan, Passarella went through a detailed history of the Community Development fund which was founded in 1975, with $2 Million in funds fron the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Since then, Passarella said Community Development has made loans to 2,700 individuals, leveraging $10 Million in building improvements and has generated $380,000 in interest annualy for the city to replenish the fund. Presently the city has $500,000 in loans out to about 100 property owners in the city, paying the city $40,000 in interest every month.

The agency has never had one borrower default. Passarella said he creditchecks and clears all possible loaners himself, and by lending money to property owners in the city, his agency has helped them qualify for additional credit lines enabling them to rehabilitate and upgrade their properties. He told how one bank asked him how he possibly could make so many loans and not have a default, because the bank itself had a default rate of 3%. Passarella said the city is its own “banker,” because “I can’t wait 6 months to get a loan approval from a bank.”

He said Community Development funds have been used to modernize parks in the city, fund two computer centers, build the Senior Citizens Center on Mitchell Place, refurbished 18 of 21 shelters, and presently is helping to provide funds to turn the former Metro North Substation at the end of Tibbetts Avenue behind Rochambeau School into a commercial warehouse.

Passarella said the city expects to close on the Fannie Mae loan December 15, and would have 3 years in which to repay the $1MM loan. The loan restores the Community Fund reserve, currently at less than $1MM, bringing it up to $1.8MM.

Ambassador Satch Plays WPPAC Downbeat Dec. 6

Posted on November 19, 2003 by John Bailey

WPCNR STAGE DOOR. From Oscar Sales, Jr. WPPAC Publicist. November 19, 2003: The White Plains Performing Arts Center presents Ambassador Satch: The Life and Times of Louis Armstrong, a new musical production celebrating the life and times of an American icon. Ambassador Satch: The Life and Times of Louis Armstrong plays the WPPAC from December 6 through December 21.

Written by James Mirrione and André De Shields, Ambassador Satch tells the exciting story of a jazz pioneer – his triumphs, his heartaches – and how he changed the world of music forever. Starring Broadway’s André De Shields as Louis Armstrong and Stacie Precia as the women in his life, with choreography by Mercedes Ellington and musical direction by Terry Waldo, Ambassador Satch will include many of Armstrong’s signature hits and feature a live five-piece jazz band.

In his six decades of entertainment, Armstrong’s achievements are remarkable as a singer, composer, instrumentalist, actor and author. Born in a poor section of New Orleans known as “the Battlefield” in 1901, Louis Armstrong, the man known around the world as Satchmo, is widely recognized as a founding father of jazz – a uniquely American art form. Through the years, Louis entertained millions, from heads of state and royalty to the kids on his stoop in Corona. With an average of 300 concerts a year and with his frequent tours to all parts of the world, he earned the nickname of Ambassador Satch. Despite his fame, he lived a simple life in a working-class neighborhood, but his influence, as an artist and cultural icon, is universal, unmatched, and very much alive today.

André De Shields has garnered tremendous critical acclaim as an actor, director and educator. He received Tony, Drama Desk and Astaire Award nominations and won the Outer Critics’ Circle Award for his performance as Noah “Horse” T. Simmons in Terence Mc Nally’s The Full Monty, the role he originated at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre and recreated both on Broadway and London’s West End, including a command performance for Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. During his seven month residence in London, Mr. De Shields, accompanied by a five piece jazz ensemble, performed Ambassador Satch—his one man tribute to the life and times of Louis Armstrong—at the Criterion Theatre to benefit TheatreCares, the British A.I.D.S. Charity. In 1998, he received both Chicago’s Black Theatre Alliance and Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Jester in the Goodman Theatre production of Play On!. The 1997 Broadway production earned him Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations in the category of Featured Actor.

He won an Emmy Award for his role as The Viper in the NBC TV Special based on the Broadway musical Ain’t Misbehavin’, in which he starred as a member of the original cast. Mr. De Shields is probably best known for having created the title role in the award winning musical The Wiz.

Stacie Precia’s theatre credits include the Broadway productions of The Life and Play On and the national tours of Hit Me With A Hot Note – Duke Ellington Songbook, Jelly’s Last Jam, and Dreamgirls. As a featured singer she has performed with a variety of artists including Abbey Lincoln at Lincoln Center and the Billy Taylor Trio at the Jackie Robinson Foundation Annual Jazz Festival. Stacie is a native New Yorker and graduate of Yale University.

Ambassador Satch: The Life and Times of Louis Armstrong will be presented by the White Plains Performing Arts Center from December 6 – 21. Tickets are $32.50-$47.50 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 888-977-2246. Visit our web site at www.wppac.com.

School Board Holds Meeting on City Demographics: Habel, Mayor to Speak

Posted on November 19, 2003 by John Bailey

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From Michelle Schoenfeld. November 19, 2003: The White Plains Board of Education will host a program meeting at Church Street School on Tuesday, December 2nd, at 7:30 P.M. on the subject of the White Plains Renaissance and its relationship to the schools. Commissioner of Planning Susan Habel will be the guest speaker, and Mayor Joseph Delfino will also attend. Superintendent Timothy Connors will present enrollment statistics for the current year.
The meeting was planned in response to parent questions on the impact of new
housing on the schools and future population growth. The public is invited to attend.

This is one of a series of meetings of the Board of Education being held at
different locations as part of the Board’s efforts to reach out to the community. A
meeting was held at the Centro Hispano earlier in the year and future programs are planned at the
Slater Center and the Public Library.

The next Regular Meeting of the Board will take place on December 8th at
7:30 P.M., in the B-1 Room at White Plains High School. Scholar-Athletes will be recognized
and Mr. Connors will provide a report on the Class of 2003.

WHITE PLAINS BSA TROOP 73 RETURNS FROM HISTORIC GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD

Posted on November 19, 2003 by John Bailey

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS JOURNAL. November 19, 2003: Boy Scout Troop 73 has just returned from a camping trip to the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg, PA where they traced the activities of New York soldiers who fought in that conflict. The Scouts camped on the battlefield and visited sites where many New York regiments saw action. While on the battlefield, they drilled with the 150th New York Volunteer Infantry Re-enactment unit, and laid a wreath at the monument to the 95th New York, which was composed of men from our region.

The Scouts, with special permission from the National Park Service, also placed American flags on more than 860 graves of New York Civil War veterans buried In the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The monies used to purchase these flags were donated to Troop 73 by Chapter 49 of the Vietnam Veterans of America and its members. Chapter 49, VVA is headquartered in Westchester County.

Troop 73 has an active calendar planned for the scouting year. Upcoming events include orienteering, skiing, caving, canoeing, kayaking, public service and a visit to Historic Boston. All boys in the 6th grade or older who are Interested in learning more about scouting are invited to attend Troop 73’s meetings on Tuesday evenings at the Highlands Middle School in White Plains. Questions may be directed to the Troop by visiting their website at: www.troop73bsa.com, or by contacting Scoutmaster Michael S. Bennett at 949-4679.

About Troop 73: Troop 73 was chartered in White Plains NY in 1955. Its mission is to provide opportunities for Scouts to learn and develop leadership skills through a full and varied Scouting program featuring extensive outdoor activities and hands-on instruction in numerous life skills.