WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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Posted on March 13, 2019 by John Bailey

WPCNR SOUTHEND TIMES. By John F. Bailey. March 13, 2019:

Promising his audience at the Council of Neighborhood Associations he would “give you all the answers,” Robert Weisz did just that last night

As he began his presentation on his “The Flats” apartments now in public hearings before the White  Plains Common Council, before he’d even spoken two sentences, murmurs and raised voices from the circle of CNA representatives rose in clamor, before they were admonished by CNA President telling them to hold their questions until after Mr. Weisz had finished, calming the crowd for the duration of the meeting.

MR. WEISS EXPLAINING HOW HE WILL HANDLE ACCESS TO RIDGEWAY CONCERNS. WPCNR VIDEO

By meeting’s end,  Mr. Weisz had won them over.

His patient, clear, unruffled answers and refreshing sincerity of style had  appeared to have given most of the concerned satisfactory answers to their concerns and support of the project from most of the delegates. His passion as an owner was contagious to the crowd. He showed the audience he  cared about being a good neighbor, saying,

“We have micromanaged this project. We don’t want to be a nuisance to anyone. We have tried very hard to do the right thing.”

Concerns of those at the Council raised centered on the heights of the 5-story apartments; whether  paths leading into the Ridgeway neighborhood would be closed off from the 1133 complex to prevent access by pedestrian/trespassers; lighting from the complex and ability of the redesigned parking lot at 1133 would handle all the cars of 303 apartment dwellers and 1133 business tenants. Significantly, no traffic concerns or situations appeared an issue.

 Saying he intended to build 250 additional parking slots for a total of 1,250 and redesigning the parking configuration with narrower parking slots, a traffic circle, landscaping, he eased parking capacity fear. He announced a daily shuttle service to take residents and workers to and from the White Plains Metro North Station and the the 1133 complex at various times during the day. He said he is working on designing an evergreen copse of trees to shield the Ridgeway and North Street areas from the compled during the winter when existing trees were devoid of leaves. 

He assured them the 5-story apartments (to be erected on the Westchester Avenue/Maple Moor Golf Course side of the property) would be built on a 10-foot lower grade slope than the existing 1133 building assuring the tops of the solar-paneled rooftops would not be visible over the top of the 1133 office roof.

Weisz disclosed that his outreach to firms  who were tenants at 1133 and looking for office space, had indicated, that they were interested in renting apartments as corporate suites for use by their companies, and apartments for their workers if they were to take space at the 1133 office complex, which currently is 90% rented, Weisz said.

He said the complex already is a natural gas customer of Con Edision, so it was not affected by the Con Edision moratorium on new natural gas connections after March 15. He also said that his existing building already had interrupted service installed, allowing them to use oil fuel in event of an excessive demand for natural gas.,

The new apartments with the name “The Flats” is to contain 170 one-bedroom apartments, 120 two bedroom apartments, and 10 three-bedroom apartments.

He anticipated getting approval by mid-summer, starting the project before winter (“We’re ready to go,” he said, and opening the project sometime in 2021.

Weiss commented his meeting Monday evening with the Ridgeway Association went well, too. He described a meeting where most of the participants were positive to the project at the close.

Weisz, answering a question of the CNA President about why White Plains appealed to him and the future of city zoning proposal allowing residential apartments in White Plains office parks in the city Here was his answer:

WEISZ ON IMPACT OF RESIDENCES IN WP OFFICE PARKSS

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WPWeek for 3-8 has been posted 

the link to youtube is https://youtu.be/h38OlLGtdPI 

The link to whiteplainsweek.com 

is http://www.whiteplainsweek.com/ 

KAT BREZLER ADDRESSING COMMON COUNCIL ON WHITE PLAINS WEEK

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica. March 3, 2019:

“The Governor has said that the challenge for this budget is dealing with the fiscal realities of revenue shortfalls and an unstable economy.

At our revenue forecasting conference, independent nationally recognized economists, including those invited by the Legislature, warned of a slowing economy.

The Federal SALT tax changes are hurting our economy and limiting our revenue raising options in the result of a recession.

“The revenue forecast is an essential starting point for the State budget, and the Senate, Assembly and Executive do not agree on a revenue estimate, with the Senate insisting on much higher revenues than the Assembly or Executive. By law, we now turn to the Comptroller for a binding revenue estimate.

“While the budget discussion always has differing political priorities and opinions, facts are still facts and numbers are still numbers and the numbers must govern a legitimate budget.

The Governor has said getting the budget done on time is important but it is more important to get the budget right. Because of our record of prudent budgeting, we have never had to do a mid-year budget correction, and we are not about to start now.”

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. From the City of White Plains. (Edited) March 1, 2019:

The proposal being put forward, which was presented to the Common Council at its work session on February 25th, would expand the City’s Affordable Rental Housing Program (ARHP) in several ways.

First, it would make the program applicable citywide in areas where multi-family housing with 10 or more units is permitted by the Zoning Code. Currently, the program applies primarily in the downtown area.

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Second, the proposal expands eligibility for the program to those whose incomes are 50% of AMI.

The City’s current Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice reveals that there are few housing options for those in this income range.

Subsidized housing exists for those whose income is below the 50% AMI threshold, and the ARHP is available to those whose income is above this threshold. This change would close an important identified gap in the current program.

Third, the proposal would increase affordable set aside amounts to 12% of units at 80% AMI and to 8% at 50% and 60% AMI.

Fourth, the proposal would establish a buy-out of the required affordable rental units as an option for developers.

The funds generated from the buy-out option would go into the city’s existing Affordable Housing Assistance Fund (AHAF) and would be used to create a range of housing assistance programs and more affordable units.

For example, the funds could be used for down payment assistance, the rehabilitation of existing properties, to subsidize existing housing stock, to purchase properties for public-private partnerships, and to defray a portion of the city’s administrative costs associated with management of the program.

Finally, the proposal includes increasing the annual income eligibility limits under the Senior Citizen Rental Income Exemption (SCRIE) and Disabled Rental Income Exemption (DRIE) programs. These are state programs in which the city has participated for many years. Several years ago the city increased the income eligibility limit to its current $30,000 level

.In an effort to encourage more participation in these programs, the proposal would increase the income eligibility limits to the current state maximum of $50,000/year.

These programs apply to those who live in Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA) buildings, of which there are many in the city. Tenants in ETPA buildings who are participating in the SCRIE or DRIE programs are protected from rent increases and building owners receive a tax credit for their participation in the program.

The proposal is currently being discussed by the Common Council and will ultimately require the passage of a local ordinance and amendments to the City’s Zoning Ordinance

The City of White Plains has shown a strong commitment to affordable housing. Its program, which has been in place since 2003, requires multi-family developments to provide a 10% set-aside of affordable units reserved for those at 80% of the Westchester County Area Median Income (AMI) range. Alternatively, a developer could seek Common Council approval to provide 6% affordable units at the lower 60% AMI range. AMI is determined annually by HUD.

“While this program has certainly been successful in creating affordable rental housing units in the city, we recognize that maintaining White Plains as an affordable place to live for people of all income levels strengthens our city. It also requires our consistent attention to ensure that our program is meeting the housing needs of our residents,” said Mayor Tom Roach.

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On September 5, the union said, a new cleaning company , Zobber Janitorial and Cleaning, took over the contract of the properties, and refused to rehire most of the building’s workers. None of the eight night cleaners received any written offer of employment. The new cleaning contractor is paying half-time workers almost a third less than previous employees, earned, with none of the union benefits.

Lenore Friedlaendar of the SEIU told WPCNR the SEIU is examining the options available to the union after they learn all the circumstances of the sale of the property.