White Plains Remembers the Towers

WPCNR AFTERNOON TRIB & POST. By John F. Bailey. September 11, 2002: White Plains paused to pay tribute to the lives lost in the World Trade Center attacks of 2001 Wednesday morning with ceremonies at the Michaelian Office Building and at White Plains High School.


STUDENTS OF WHITE PLAINS HIGH SCHOOL CREATE UNIQUE TRIBUTE: Under a somber cloudy sky, freshened by a clearing wind, the mournful bagpipe of Kevin Daugherty accompanied the lowering of The Stars and Stripes to half-mast, moving many of the students who had gathered at the White Plains High School courtyard to tears as the evocative pipes stirred emotions deep inside. A lone bagpiper marched up the path to the high school entrance followed by the White Plains Police Color Guard, who raised the flag while David Nightingale sang The Star Spangled Banner. The Guard raised the flag, lowered it to half-mast and slowly marched out. The simple, moving ceremony was created by the General Organization with several teachers and administration. It was so right. The temporary flag pole was donated by a teacher’s mother and stood up proudly in the stiff wind.
Photo by WPCNR


CEREMONY OF THE FOUR-FIVES was the most moving segment of the Westchester County Community Gathering of Remembrance and Hope at the Michaelian Office Building at 8:30 AM. The bells were struck in remembrance of the perished of 9/11, by representatives of Westchester County Fire, Police and EMS departments in honor of those who have “returned to quarters.” The county reports over 1,200 persons gathered on Martine Avenue for the remembrance.
Photo by WPCNR




“WHEN YOUR EYES ARE FILLED WITH TEARS, YOUR HEART IS FULL,” County Executive Andy Spano remarked in his brief address at the County ceremony. Spano said the county is planning a memorial to those lost on September 11. Spano ended his address by saying the best way to remember the persons who died in the attacks was for us the living to “do the right thing.”

Photo by WPCNR



COUNTY POLICE OFFICERS LOOK ON AT THE COUNTY REMEMBRANCE: A moment of silence was observed at 8:46 AM, to observe the moment the attacks began. As the silence played out, gusts of a strong West wind sweeped across the crowd. Shevon Jacobs performed an original song, “The Call.” Juliet Brisman, widow of Mark A. Brisman read a poem “Days” by Billy Collins, the U.S. Poet Laureate. Rachel Smith, a witness to the events of September 11 spoke of the long anguish she had felt through the last year and the time to move on. The Westchester Chordsmen finished the event with a unique arrangement of God Bless America which brought tears to those around this reporter.

Photo by WPCNR




LONE BAGPIPER, KEVIN DAUGHERTY LEADS POLICE HONOR GUARD up the path to the entrance to White Plains High School to begin the students’ tribute.
Photo by WPCNR



THE NEXT GENERATION of leaders looks on at the WPHS ceremony. Many students and teachers could be seen tearing, remembering in their own way, with a mission on their faces as the music of the pipes evoked the loss and the legacy of the lost uniquely for each observer.

Photo by WPCNR

Posted in Uncategorized

Impounded! Machines to be Recanvassed in the 89th.

WPCNR MILKMAN’S MATINEE NEWS DELIVERY. September 11, 2002 UPDATED NEW PHOTO & BOARD OF ELECTIONS NUMBERS AS OF 1:10 PM EDT: Adam Bradley filed a court order at approximately 11:30 PM to midnight Tuesday evening, impounding the voting machines in the eight towns in the 89th Assembly District, saying the race was “too close to call.”

The Board of Elections website as of 1:10 PM Wednesday afternoon was still reporting only 85% of election districts accounted for in their unofficially posted results which show Ms. Matusow leading Mr. Bradley by 86 votes. This margin has remained the same on the Board of Elections website without being updated since 10:15 PM Tuesday evening.



HERE WE GO AGAIN: The impoundment order filed by Adam Bradley near midnight last night which calls for rounding up the approximately 50 to 60 voting machines in the 78 Election Districts making up the 89th Assembly District, pending a recanvass to determine the winner in Bradley’s primary challenge of Naomi Matusow. Bradley said he spoke with Matusow approximately 12:45 AM and she “agreed it was too close to call,” according to Bradley and that she had 11 districts she did not have numbers for, but did not disclose her numbers to him. Asked if she had commented that he had run a good race, Bradley said, she did not.

Photo by WPCNR

The numbers as reported on the Board of Elections website as of 1:10 PM:

Office ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 89

PARTY 67 Districts out of 78 Reporting (85)% Votes Percent

73% of Absentee Ballots Counted

DEM BRADLEY, ADAM T 2,131 49%

DEM MATUSOW, NAOMI C 2,217 51%

Office Totals 4,348 100%

TURN-OUT 15%

Bradley’s campaign manager, Jonathan Appel, was confident that according to the Bradley camp’s unofficial reports from the machines on site around the district that Mr. Bradley was maintaining a winning margin over Naomi Matusow of approximately 200 votes based on the White Plains numbers they had in their possession.



PRIMARY ANALYSTS: Jonathan Appel, left, and B. J. Markus, right, monitored Board of Election Returns, and compared them with their unofficial reports from the 78 Election Districts across the 89th.
Photo by WPCNR


Appel said conservatively he felt Bradley had a 120 to 150-vote margin, even though as of 1:30 AM, two districts from Lewisboro, two districts in Bedford and one from Mount Kisco, and one from White Plains had not reported in to him yet. Appel said he did not expect the Bedford and Lewisboro numbers to impact the Bradley lead because the Andrew Cuomo “pull-out” had held down the Bedford count, in his opinion.



BRADLEY BRIGADES CAMPAIGNED STRONGLY UP UNTIL 9 PM,POLLS DEADLINE:Jane Silverman and Maureen Keating Tsuchiya, volunteers for Adam Bradley’s 89th Assembly campaign, chatted with President Bill Clinton Tuesday evening at the Chappaqua Train Station. President Clinton was waiting for his daughter Chelsea to arrive from Grand Central Station. Silverman and Tsuchiya were making their final appeal to commuters to vote for Bradley, Markus & Schlaff before the polls closed.
Photo From Maureen Keating Tsuchiya


In an eerie replay of the Larry Delgado-Glen Hockley election count scenario of November of last year, The Board of Elections posted no results after 10:15 PM, when they showed with 85% of the districts counted that Matusow lead by a 51% to 49% margin. Both camps only had their own numbers to rely on.

White Plains Puts Bradley in Driver’s Seat

In early returns, Ms. Matusow was doing better leading Bradley at one time by 52% to 48% at 10 PM with 47 Districts In. Five minutes later, the gap had narrowed to 49%-51%, Matusow with half the districts in. Appel was optimistic because the bulk of White Plains returns had not come in yet.



HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Arnold Bernstein, (center), Adam Bradley’s Co-Chair announced the Bradley team’s unofficial White Plains results that as of this writing appear, according the Bradley number-crunchers, to have Mr. Bradley leading the race, pending the recanvass.
Photo by WPCNR


Optimism increased in the lively room when Bradley and Matusow were tied with 50% of the vote each with 63% of the districts reporting. It was the next-to-the-last Board of Elections results for the evening by our count.

Then Arnold Bernstein rode to the rescue at 10:20 PM. Bradley’s Co-Chairman of his campaign had figures from White Plains, with 66 of 78 districts reporting, his personal reports from the White Plains E.D.’s showed Bradley running ahead of Matusow 1,071 to 399, or 3 to 1.



INTO THE NIGHT: Assemblyman-Maybe Adam Bradley leaving the Gedney Grille at 1:30 AM this morning, looking forward to the recanvass of the vote and a new political future.
Photo by WPCNR

Posted in Uncategorized

Adam Bradley Expected to Win Assembly Primary by 2 to 300 votes.

WPCNR EVENING CITY STAR REPORTER. September 10, 2002: At 11:15 PM Tuesday evening, Jonathan Appel, Adam Bradley’s Campaign Manager, based on unofficial returns retrieved by their “Election District Runners” said he expected Adam Bradley to wind up with approximately 2,600 votes to incumbent Assemblywoman Naomi Matusow’s 2,400 votes.

The numbers at the time were awaiting results from four districts, District 4 in White Plains and 3 districts in Lewisboro. Bradley’s numbers people were confident based on their unofficial counts that the challenger was going to win.



“TOO CLOSE TO CALL:” Adam Bradley addressing his campaign workers at the Gedney Grille Tuesday evening prior to his impounding the voting machines. He said, “I want to thank you for all you have done,” and that the day’s vote showed White Plains and the towns of the district wanted a representative to represent them “ably.” He said the sales tax issue “resonated” with the voters, as did Ms. Matusow’s too little, too late position on Indian Point. He said later upon returning from filing the petition to impound that he was “cautiously optimistic” going into the recanvass, which he said might be begin Friday, depending on the Board of Elections, which would determine when the recount would begin. Johnathan Appel, Campaign Manger is in center, and B.J. Marcus, another Election Night Analyst is in background.
Photo by WPCNR

The strength lay in Bradley’s sweeping White Plains districts by a 3 to 1 margin, unofficially 1,070 votes to Matusow’s 399 in White Plains districts.

Bradley addressing his supporters at the Gedney Grille in White Plains said the race was too close to call. At 11:10 PM he left the gathering to file an impoundment order on the voting machines.

Posted in Uncategorized

McMahon, DePaso, Hilliard, Rosenthal to the Hall of Fame

WPCNR School Days Report Card Dispatch. September 10, 2002: Four distinguished White Plains High School graduates were announced as the 2002 inductees into the White Plains High School Hall of Fame Monday evening at the Board of Education meeting at Education House.

The graduates are Frank McMahon, Class of 1933; Joseph DePaso, Class of 1941; Verdell Hilliard, Class of 1947, and Steven Rosenthal, Class of 1984. The four will be officially inducted on Tuesday, November 19.



THE FOUR HONOREES were announced by new WPHS Principal Dr. Christine Robbins who said , “I am especially pleased that inductees into the White Plains Hall of Fame spend time with students and have an opportunity to share their insights and experiences in the classroom and in group sessions. This year, with the memory and impact of the events of 9/11 still fresh, it is fitting and appropriate that all four of the inductees have devoted their lives, and in some cases, their professional careers, to helping others and to community service.”
Photo by WPCNR


Frank McMahon: A Household Name in the City.

Mr. McMahon graduated from WPHS in 1933 and buildt the largest funeral home business in Westchester County, while serving the city as a White Plains City Councilman, as President of the White Plains Firemen’s Relief Association, and as a Commissioner of the White Plains Parking Authority. He was also a volunteer fireman for nearly 60 years.

Joseph DePaso: Teacher Who Made a Difference.

A graduate of WPHS in 1941, Mr. DePaso served four years with the Marines in the South Pacific and then returned to the high school to teach in 1954. From 1954 to 1984, he eventually became Chairman of the Fine and Practical Arts Department, coached basketball, cross-country and football. He was also Senior Class Advisor and was named Teacher of the Year. In the community he was a volunteer fireman, a scoutmaster and Salvation Army volunteer. He passed away in 1997.

Verdell Hilliard: Fifty Years A Nurse in White Plains.

Ms. Hilliard is a member of the WPHS Class of 1947. During her career as a nurse, she was a school nurse at White Plains Middle School and Archbishop Stepinac High School. She served 14 years on the White Plains Youth Board and is active today in community service organizations. She has won local and regional awards for her service and community leadership.

Steven Rosenthal: Internationalist. Aid in 9/11 Rescue Effort.

Mr. Rosenthal graduated White Plains High in 1984, and founded Cross-Cultural Solutions in 1995 with one volunteer program in India. His organization today is active in seven countries in four continents and it is described by the Board of Education as “a leading catalyst for social development worldwide.”

Rosenthal and his organization, headquartered in New Rochelle, volunteered to help after the 9/11 attacks, eventually taking over the task of providing up to 10,000 meals a day to rescue workers at the Trade Center disaster site, placing some 6,500 volunteers in position during the recovery efforts.

Dr. Robbins invited the community to attend induction ceremonies for the 2002 Four on Tuesday of American Education Week, November 19 at White Plains High School. The four persons announced Monday evening join the 30 White Plains High School graduates previously selected.

Robbins said, in her remarks, that “Other scholls I’ve worked at had Halls of Fame and I have found that they are a terrific way to not only celebrate the achievements of outstanding graudates, but to also recognize the contributions of the high school teachers and staff, both past and present.”

Posted in Uncategorized