Heavy Rains On Way to White Plains

WPCNR WEATHERSCOOP. From National Weather Service. September 26, 2002:The weather system that was Hurricane Isidore should pass through the metropolitan area today through Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. The prospectus, gale force winds, driving rain at times. The complete forecast follows:

A WARM FRONT SOUTH OF THE AREA TODAY WILL MOVE SLOWLY NORTHWARD AND PASS THROUGH THE REGION DURING FRIDAY AFTERNOON. IN THE MEANTIME…THE REMNANTS OF CURRENT TROPICAL STORM ISIDORE WILL MOVE RAPIDLY NORTHEAST FROM THE GULF COAST STATES TODAY…REACHING WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA BY FRIDAY EVENING THEN MOVING TO NEAR NOVA
SCOTIA SATURDAY MORNING.

…HEAVY RAIN WITH MINOR FLOODING POSSIBLE…

THE WARM FRONT WILL BRING THE FIRST ROUND OF RAIN TO THE REGION TODAY INTO FRIDAY MORNING. THE RAIN WILL BE LIGHT TO MODERATE MUCH OF THE TIME WITH SOME HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE THIS EVENING. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE LOCALLY 1 TO 2 INCHES. THIS MAY RESULT IN PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS AND LOW LYING AREAS.

A SECOND ROUND OF RAIN WILL OCCUR LATE FRIDAY INTO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH SOME LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. THIS AGAIN WILL PRODUCE FLOODING OF ROADS AND LOW LYING AREA. IN ADDITION…SMALL STREAMS COULD EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANT RISES. RESIDENTS OF FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF FLOODING.

…STRONG WINDS…

AS THE REMNANTS OF ISIDORE REACH WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA LATE IN THE DAY FRIDAY…SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE AND BECOME GUSTY. SUSTAINED WINDS WILL BE 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR WITH GUSTS OF 30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR POSSIBLE. THE STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE FRIDAY NIGHT AND GRADUALLY DIMINISH TOWARD SATURDAY MORNING AS THE STORM MOVES TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE AREA. LOOSE OBJECTS MAY BE BLOWN ABOUT AND WEAKENED TREES AND TREE LIMBS COULD BE BROUGHT DOWN.

…MARINE…

ROUGH SEAS OF 5 TO 7 FT ON THE OCEAN WILL CONTINUE TODAY AND TONIGHT…AND A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT. IN ADDITION SOUTHERLY WINDS OF 15 TO 20 KNOTS WILL INCREASE FRIDAY…REACHING MINIMAL GALE FORCE FRIDAY EVENING. THE WINDS WILL THEN SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST AND DIMINISH TO 20 TO 25 KNOTS TOWARD SATURDAY MORNING.

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE ATHTTP://WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/ER/OKX

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Mayor’s Problem Taker-Awayers Show 1-story Housing HQ & Park for Winbrook

WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. September 25, 2002: A new plan for a one-story offices and community room complex for a new White Plains Housing Authority headquarters was introduced last night at the Common Council Work Session.



NEW HEADQUARTERS CONCEPT for the Housing Authority is to be presented to Winbrook residents and the Housing Authority Board for their reactions and input and design suggestions in the next few weeks. The 4,000 square foot one floor structure would be constructed onto unused grounds on the north side of 225 Martin Luther King Boulevard, (shown upper right) preserving 3/4 of the green to the East of Bethel Baptist Church (shown at lower left of site plan) and doing away with the three-story office building previously planned for the Fischer Court green (upper left) site.
Photo by WPCNR


A task force chaired by Albert Moroni, the Executive Director of the Parking Authority, working with the Housing Authority, Windbrook neighbors, and the city’s Building, Planning and Traffic Commissioners gathered suggestions and mulled ideas over the last three months.

The team, in cooperation with Mack Carter, new Executive Director of the Housing Authority, has produced a new design for a scaled down White Plains Housing Authority Headquarters, designed by Bernard Arnold, the Housing Authority architect which will be presented to the residents of Winbrook and the board of the Housing Authority for their input, suggestions and reactions.



BLUEPRINT FOR PROGRESS suggests a one-story building addition, which, according to Susan Habel, will provide a larger community room (in center) of addition, with offices and interview rooms on the perimeter of the “Vestpocket Office Building,” as Habel described it. She says residents will be deeply involved in deciding allocation of space in the interior. The building has not been costed out yet, and will be paid for by HUD (Housing & Urban Development)
Photo by WPCNR


In a news conference afterwards, Ms. Habel said that Mack Carter, newly appointed Executive Director of the White Plains Housing Authority, likes the concept. George Gretsas, the Mayor’s Executive Officer, said that the concept had to be approved by the Housing Autthority Board of Directors, which is headed by Larry Sallee, the Chairman of the Housing Authority. The White Plains Housing Authority has sued the city in an Article 78 action over the Common Council refusal to consider the previously proposed 3-story structure planned to take up the entire Fisher Court Green. The suit is still in play at this time.



OVERVIEW OF WINBROOK COMPLEX showing location of proposed one-story headquarters and new park proposal. The faint red letter “B” indicates Bethel Baptist Church, the red letter “P” is site of a proposed grassy park to be designed to specifications of the residents by the designer of the city’s new streetcapes, (John Imbiano of Imbiano-Quigley) from Community Development Funds, estimated to be about $50,000. The building site is to the right of the “P,” to the right of the yellow and black lines. Martin Luther King, Junior Boulevard is on the far right of your picture.
Photo by WPCNR




SITE OF NEW MINI-CENTRAL PARK AT WINBROOK WITH GRASS, planned as part of the new headquarters addition, should it be accepted in principle by the Housing Authority. The view is from immediately in back of 225 Martin Luther King Boulevard.

City Photo


Common Council members Benjamin Boykin, Glen Hockley and Tom Roach all expressed admiration of the plan, subject to the opinions of the citizens who reside in Winbrook. Councilwoman Rita Malmud said she liked the concept, but strongly cautioned that it was subject to Winbrook input.

Mr. Boykin congratulated the staff “for putting their thinking caps on.”

Mayor Delfino, who organized the task force after neighborhood opposition surfaced last spring and appointed Moroni the task of being the facilitator, said, “My whip is worn out.”

Boykin added the proviso that “the tenants have to say what they want (in the building and the new park).”

George Gretsas, the Mayor’s Executive Officer, said in an impromtu Q&A session afterwards that the one-story headquarters and park was a concept at this stage that had to be bought into by both the tenants of Winbrook and the Housing Authority.

Windbrook Activist Impressed

Ron Jackson, former resident of Winbrook, and longtime critic of the Housing Authority position on siting a headquarters on the property, kept nodding his head with approval as the project was explained. Afterwards he said, “I’ll do everything I can as an activist to support this project.”

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Fort Hill Players Present Tony comedy, Art in October, Mark 65th Annivers

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS VARIETY. From The Fort Hill Players. September 25, 2002: The Tony Award Best Play, and Oliver Award Winner for Best Comedy, Art will be the premier Fort Hill Players presentation beginning its October run at Rochambeau School Friday night, October 11, with curtain going up at 8 PM.

Art answers the question: How can a painting shatter a friendship? Hysterically.

The Fort Hill Players present Westchester’s premier production of “Art,” Yasmina Reza’s delightfully fresh and witty comedy in which three longtime friends wrestle over their differing impressions of a rather simple canvas and end up deconstructing their relationship.
The results are hilarious.

The show is directed by Robert Kahn, and features D. Scott Faubel, R.J. D’Amato and Larry Reina as the three leads, Marc, Serge, and Yvan.

The New York Post called Art “Widly funny, naughtily provocative.” The London Independent noted, “Anyone who is looking for a play that is funny, sophisticated, stylish, stimulating and moving should so to ART”
Juried Art Show before curtain.

White Plains theatre aficionados may also attend a juried Art Show ½ hour before curtain time. Tickets are available now for presentations on Saturday, October 12 at 2 PM and 8 PM, Friday, October 18 and 25 at 8, and Saturdays October 19 and 26 at 2 and 8. Seats are scaled at $14 for adults, $12 for Students and Seniors, and a Dinner Theatre Package where you can dine at Gedney Grille and see the show for just $44 is being featured again this season.

Winter and Spring Shows Announced

The Winter production will present a third original music revue, More Than Music, an original book with a story line that blends favorite songs of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s into a story with revue format. The Fort Hill Players likes to call these productions “new musical with songs you know.” The Players’ previous two experiments in original revues, (most recently,Harmony on the Seain 2002) with popular songs from different eras were fun to do for the cast, and attracted a wide audience.

In the Spring, Fort Hill will present the Tom Stoppard play, The Real Thing.

For more information on complete season subscriptions, and the productions, go to the Fort Hill Players website at FortHillPlayers.com.

Oldest running Westchester Theatre Group

Since the demise of the Chappaqua Drama Group, Fort Hill Players is now the longest running community theatre group in the county, performing in front of the footlights for 65 years.

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Former Assistant to Commissioner Reported to Sue City.

WPCNR EVENING CITY STAR. By John F. Bailey. September 24, 2002:Dorothy Brennan, previously Assistant to the Commissioner of Public Safety, whose job was eliminated in the recent reorganization of the Department of Public Safety is suing the city, reportedly over the loss of her position.

The city expects, WPCNR has learned, to be served her lawsuit within the next day or so, and until that time, the Mayor’s Office, according to Paul Wood, City Hall Spokesman, is under the impression that she is suing alleging that the elimination of her job is “in retaliation” for a settlement she won from the city in the 1990s when she sued the city for discrimination.

The Mayor’s Office, in reaction to the forthcoming suit, according to Mr. Wood, released this statement to WPCNR:

“These charges are outrageous and totally untrue. Everyone expected that after thirty years there would be some organizational changes in the Department (of Public Safety), and that the new Commissioner (Dr. Frank Straub), would be pursuing new administratitive initiatives.

That is why this restructuring plan was unanimously approved by the Mayor (Joseph Delfino) and the Common Council and the city is very excited with the team the Commissioner (Dr. Straub) has selected.”

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