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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From the Westchester County District Attorney. Jully 6, 2018:
On the morning of July 5, 2018 Westchester County Police detectives arrested a 48-year-old Rockland County resident in connection with a scam, in which he promised “Green Cards” in exchange for cash to undocumented immigrants residing in Mount Kisco.
Marko Nikac was arrested at his home in Congers, NY by detectives from the Westchester County Police General Investigations Unit.
The arrest followed a two-month long investigation into allegations that while impersonating a federal agent, Nikac offered to provide three undocumented immigrants with United States Resident Alien Cards (also known as “Green Cards”) for $3,000 each.
Nikac was charged with two counts of felony Criminal Impersonation in the 1st Degree, one count each of the felonies Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree and Grand Larceny in the 4th Degree, and one count of misdemeanor Scheme to Defraud in the 2nd Degree. Nikac was arraigned later that day in Mount Kisco Village Court, and released on approximately $2,000 bail.
The scam was uncovered when one of the victims described to a retired police officer, with whom he is acquainted, how he and two of his friends had paid a combined $9,000 to Nikac for three United States Resident Alien Cards.
Nikac had identified himself to the men as a federal agent and promised that the cards would be delivered within three months. After three months had passed with no cards being delivered, the victims became suspicious and asked Nikac for their money back.
Nikac initially refused and threatened the men with deportation if they persisted in asking for the return of their money, but eventually returned $2,000 of the money.
The retired police officer passed this information on to Westchester County Police who provide local police service in Mount Kisco. County Police detectives then made contact with the victims who described the scheme in detail and identified Nikac, providing sufficient information to eventually locate and arrest him.
Acting Westchester County Police Commissioner Martin McGlynn stated that this investigation should serve to illustrate to undocumented immigrants residing in Westchester County, that they may report crimes committed against them to police without fear of immigration enforcement action against them.
McGlynn said: “It serves the entire Westchester County community well when criminals are apprehended, regardless of the immigration status of their victims.”
County Police detectives have asked area community groups to let them know if they become aware of any other victims of this or similar schemes. Anyone who is a victim or who knows of such victims are asked to contact Westchester County Police at (914)864-7819 or dps-rtc@westchestergov.com.
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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. 11 A.M. E.D.T. July 5, 2018:
Governor Cuomo today issued an open letter to SUNY Board of Trustees Chair H. Carl McCall and CUNY Board of Trustees Chair William C. Thompson Jr. directing them to maintain their diversity and inclusion plans after the Trump administration rescinded guidelines on using race in college admissions. The letter directs the Chairs to continue existing policies that promote racial diversity and inclusion and to prepare a report by August 15 on how they will further expand and increase diversity on campuses.
The full text of the letter is available below:
Dear Chairman McCall and Chairman Thompson,
The Trump administration’s move to rescind the guidelines on using race in college admissions is a blatant attempt to limit the participation of minorities in higher education. It is part of a troubling trend by the President and his administration to alienate minorities and build walls to diversity and equal participation in society
As you know, this issue has been going through the courts since 1978 (Regents of the University of California V. Bakke), most recently with the 2016 decision in Fisher V. University of Texas. The courts have determined that diversity is a valuable and allowable part of higher education.
New York’s two university systems have long been bastions of diversity and engines of social mobility. SUNY is nearly 45% minority and CUNY is 76% minority. This diversity broadens understanding and breaks down barriers and stereotypes, and it ensures all New Yorkers have the opportunity to succeed.
In this state, we embrace diversity and we encourage it. I am directing you to continue your existing diversity and inclusion plans. The new federal action should have no bearing on admission policies and should not interfere with SUNY’s and CUNY’s commitment to a diverse and inclusive student body.
In addition, I am directing you to reexamine your existing plans to ensure these plans are furthering New York’s goals of diversity and inclusion. To that end, SUNY and CUNY should each prepare a report due by August 15, 2018 outlining how they will expand and increase diversity representation on our campuses.
The Trump administration wants to take this country backwards, but in New York we are moving forward. We will continue to work together to dismantle barriers to social and economic mobility and extend the promise of equal opportunity to all New Yorkers.
Sincerely,
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
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WPCNR PARKING PHOTOTOGRAPHER. July 4, 2018:
If you’re thinking of stepping out tonight, you may want to be aware that in White Plains, parking on Independence Day is Free at on street meters.
It is not FREE in the municipal parking lots or the garages.
There were no welcoming signs on Mamaroneck Avenue to tell you parking was free on the street July 4. You had to read the fine print in the on-street meters below, though it is hard to read the first line through the scuffed-up glass:
At the municipal parking lots, there were these warning signs below that you have to pay 24/7/ 7 days week including holidays:
Inside the municipal parking lot kiosks (below) there were these warnings with the new parking rates which went into effect July 1:
Here is the notification of the new city parking policies and rates below.
Got it?
The sign reads:
“Please also note that downtown on street meter rates are also being raised to $1.25 per hour on July 1,2018. On street time limits will remain in effect and willl be enforced. Parking meter rates at all other off-street facilities will remain the current $1.00 per hour. Specifically, the rate across the street will remain $1.00 per hour. Long-term parkers should utilize that facility.”
The new rates are part of the city effort to charge more for convenient, close-to-downtown parking than for parking in outlying city lots, introduced several months ago, now being implement
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Warning sign on southbound Mamaroneck Avenue just before the Redlight/video camera at the Bryant Avenue intersection in White Plains, look for these at the intersections below. Photo sent in by a WPCNR CitizeNetReporter Observer.
WPCNR TRAFFIC TALK. July 4, 2018:
On its website the City of White Plains has posted an explanation of how motorists can avoid getting a ticket issued from the new City Redlight camera/video devices at 6 intersections in the city.
The intersections are:
SB Mamaroneck Ave @ Bryant Ave
EB Main St @ Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
NB Bank St @ Hamilton Ave
WB Hamilton Ave @ Bank St
WB Westchester Ave @ South Kensico Ave
SB North Broadway @ Hamilton Ave
The following photos of the press release on the city website posted Monday, explain how motorists avoid getting tickets approaching a red light.
Of note:
1. Motorists can still make a right on red after a full stop before the crosswalk/stopline.
2. Police will review all photographs before violation notices are issued.
3. The city says the system is being instituted as a safety device, but gives no figures showing whether redlight accidents are up substantially.
4. The system apparently will be in effect through 2020, when the legislature will take the redlight authorization legislation passed in 2015 under review for renewal.
5. The cameras are operating as of now, but in a transition period, when violations will be sent to motorists, but no fines due. The transition period will last until August 1 when the violations motorists receive will be subject to fines.
Here is what the city says about how to avoid getting redlight photo tickets.
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WPCNR PLAYLAND GO ROUND. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. July 4, 2018:
Visitors today to Playland Park in Rye will once again enjoy magnificent views of Long Island Sound from the 700-foot long North Boardwalk, now that a capital replacement project has been completed, Westchester County Executive George Latimer announced today during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Latimer (center) was joined by County Parks Commissioner Kathy O’Connor, Commissioner of the Department of Public Works Hugh Greechan and Deputy Parks Commissioner Peter Tartaglia, to officially open the Boardwalk.
“I am pleased to welcome Westchester residents back to this very special section of Playland Park, which had been closed after Superstorm Sandy demolished the existing boardwalk in 2012,” Latimer said. “It’s been a long time coming, but the way this new Boardwalk is built, it will be here for a very, very long time to come.”
Playland’s shoreline sustained grave damage during Superstorm Sandy on October 29, 2012, with winds and tidal surges greatly damage the South Boardwalk, and completely demolishing and washing away the North Boardwalk.
The replaced boardwalk is built with 500-year storm resistant materials. The Boardwalk has been upgraded with steel piles replacing the former wooden ones, and a concrete substructure and platform to further stand up to the elements.
Like the Park’s South Boardwalk, which was repaired and reopened in 2013, the new boardwalk’s decking is made of Brazilian hardwood known as Ipe, which can last more than 30 years without warping and splintering.
New wrought-iron fencing on both the water’s edge and the park side of the walkway has been installed, along with brand-new, historically correct benches and lighting to comport with the Park’s Art Deco architecture.
The completion of the North Boardwalk reconstitutes Playland’s scenic Seaside Walk that runs along Long Island Sound and affords beautiful vistas. It is a 3/4-mile path that starts at the South Boardwalk and ends at the North Boardwalk near Playland Lake.
The cost of the project was $4.6 million for design and construction.
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WPCNR TRAFFIC TALK. From the City of White Plains. July 2, 2018:
As pointed out by WPCNR yesterday, the city has confirmed today with a posting on its website this afternoon that Red light Camera installation and operations have begun in White Plains, with an amnesty period, before the enforcement of fines begins.
Late this afternoon, after WPCNR had pointed out the Red Light Camera installation at the Mamaroneck Avenue and Bryant Avenue intersection Sunday afternoon, the city issued the first details of the program on the city website this afternoon, naming the intersections where the Red Light Cameras are installed.
Here is the text of the city statement on its website:
“This is a public safety program, and the city’s goal is to deter red light runners and prevent collisions resulting from these violations. Cameras will capture still images and video of red-light running violations.
During the first 30 days of activation, warning notices will be issued to the vehicle’s registered owner. There will be no fine associated with this warning notice. At the completion of the warning period, Notices of Liability (“NOL”) will be issued to violators. The NOL carries a fine of $50.00 but does not result in any points being added to your license.
The traffic safety cameras will monitor these intersections:
SB Mamaroneck Ave @ Bryant Ave
EB Main St @ Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
NB Bank St @ Hamilton Ave
WB Hamilton Ave @ Bank St
WB Westchester Ave @ South Kensico Ave
SB North Broadway @ Hamilton Ave
The warning period will give residents an opportunity to become familiar with the system, encourage people to slow down and come to a full stop on red.
Cameras will operate 24-hours/day and capture images of every vehicle running a red light at the designated intersections.
Warning signs alerting drivers to the intersection safety cameras have been installed prior to the warning period.”
Editor’s note: As of late this afternoon, I fresh new warning sign was in place before the Mamaroneck Avenue and Bryant Southbound Red Light Camera, WPCNR showed yesterday afternoon. There was no sign yesterday. There is also a Red light camera installation at South Kensico and Westchester Avenue, and that did not have a sign.
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95 Degrees in the Shade at 4:15 P.M. in White Plains NY USA
WPCNR WEATHER From the Westchester County Department of Health. July 2, 1018 4 P.M.:
With high humidity and temperatures forecasted to exceed 95 degrees through the 4th of July, the Westchester County Departments of Health, Parks, Recreation and Conservation, Public Safety, Emergency Services and Social Services are providing a number of different resources to help County residents cope with the heat.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer said: “Pace yourself – don’t overdo it in the heat. If you spend a lot of time outdoors, take breaks in an air-conditioned place and drink plenty of water. During a heat wave, remember to check on your elderly or ailing neighbors, and don’t leave your pets outside.”
Below is a complete list of recommendations and services Westchester County is providing.
Sherlita Amler, MD, Westchester County Commissioner of Health is warning residents to be aware of the symptoms of heat stroke and dehydration: “People who are most vulnerable to adverse effects from the heat include the very young, seniors, people who are obese and those with high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes or lung conditions.
Heat stroke is a serious and life-threatening condition that claims many lives nationwide each year. Symptoms include hot red, dry skin, shallow breathing, a rapid, weak pulse and confusion. Anyone suffering from heat stroke needs to receive emergency medical treatment immediately.”
The Health Department suggests taking the following precautions to prevent heat-related illness:
The Department of Parks, Recreation & Conservation is keeping all pools and beaches open one hour beyond the scheduled closing time beginning on Friday, and continuing through July 4. Additional police coverage will be brought in to patrol the parks as needed
The Department of Public Safety is reminding everyone that swimming at a Westchester County Park is only permitted at designated pools and beaches staffed by lifeguards. Park rangers will be deployed throughout the County Parks system, and are trained to assist any person feeling the ill effects of the heat.
The County Police Marine Unit will also have increased patrols over the weekend, in anticipation of increased boating traffic on the Hudson River.
People should avoid using or being around illegal fireworks due to the risk of serious injury; the safe alternative is attending firework shows sponsored by the County or local communities.
The Department of Social Services’ (DSS) Homeless Shelters and Drop-in sites will remain open for twenty-four hours a day, to act as Cooling Centers throughout the Heat Wave. The list of Cooling Center locations is as follows:
White Plains Women’s Samaritan House Shelter (Female Only)
33 Church Street, White Plains
(914) 948-3075
White Plains Open Arms Shelter (Male Only)
86 East Post Road, White Plains
(914) 948-5044
The Oasis Shelter (Co-Ed Facility)
19 Washington Avenue, New Rochelle
(914) 633-0101
Sharing Community (Co-Ed Facility)
1 Hudson Street, Yonkers
(914) 963-2626
The Jan Peek Shelter (Co-Ed Facility)
200 North Water Street, Peekskill
(914) 736-2636
If you need shelter, you can contact DSS Emergency Services at (914) 995-2099. You can also check with your local municipality for the latest availability, hours and locations of Cooling Centers.
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WPCNR TRAFFIC TALK. By John F. Bailey. July 2, 2018:
A sharp-eyed motorist spotted this new pole with bulky boxes on it some 100 feet from the Bryant Avenue and Mamaroneck Avenue intersection, one of White Plains busiest, most aggressively contested intersections.
Can you spot or first red light camera in this picture?
Upon inspection WPCNR noticed it was flashing at certain intervals, with bright strob flashes, perhaps at “rights on reds.” or aggressive left turns.
There is no announcement on the City of White Plains website.
No signs on the south bound Mamaroneck Avenue approach to the light warning the intersection is under surveillance by red light cameras. There were no warning sighs on the east-west approaches on Brant Avenue, and no warning signs on the northbound Mamaroneck Avenue approach to Bryant.
Now since we recorded the strobs flashing, apparently taking a picture, it is not known whether this is a single installation being tested or what.
It is well known the city was racing to get the red light surveillance system in place by the start of this fiscal year to help the steady sag in the White Plains sales tax revenues headed for the sixth straight year of decline if the June figures do not match last June. Though the City administration has said they want to install the red light cameras to increase safety at the intersections.The city has also quietly raised parking rates.
White Plains is such a quiet city. At this point, motorists do not know what the fine for running a red light will be; they do not know if they can still make rights on reds, rights on yellows, lefts on yellows. Or if any part of the car tailend or front in the intersection will earn them a “red lightee.”
Motorists need warning signs.
Perhaps the camera posts should be painted a bright red, yellow and green so motorists can know when they are on “Candid Red Light Camera.:” Or perhaps paint it to represent a police officer, Like (“Officer Joe Bolton) with a camera, as we all know when we see a policeman or police car, we slow down.
If you do not advertise the cameras existence, it is my opinion you are just trying to net more tickets, and actually creating a more dangerous situation.
Practice those abrupt stops, Mr. and Mrs. White Plains.
I eagerly await a city produced video “Red Light Cameras and You: How to stop look, watch and brake when the light turns yellow” something like that.
I have never seen a video of that explaining the “ticket trigger.”
There also should be a video on how the tickets are issued; and in light of the scofflaw fines persons running cashless tolls experienced–what the rules are for contesting the remorseless red light camera.
I for one will assiduously avoid going into town using any intersections with these cameras.
It would also be helpful if the city published the intersections picked for these “Public Safety Installations.” the dates they will be ticketing for real. I believe there was supposed to be a three-month amnesty period.
But of course that should have been in the press release, talked about in a press conference with demonstrations of a police car demonstrating how to handle the yellow or the green light from maneuverability standpoint. That would indicate an interest in safety. Perhaps driver education classes and driver schools should be addressed.
I volunteer to emcee the videos, as a public service gesture.
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WPCNR NEWS & COMMENT By John F. Bailey. June 30, 2018:
I am not going to the fireworks in White Plains New York USA.
There should be no fireworks anywhere in America Wednesday, July 4.
Because there is little to celebrate about America anymore.
What Americans used to celebrate on July 4 in the past no longer exists.
It is a memory, a once shining hope the world always looked to for inspiration.
That America is forever gone.
I miss it so.
We may never see that respect and admiration from the world again.
Our reputation for standing up for the good, the decent, and the just has been smeared and shattered by persons who should have known better.
America to the rescue no more. I was always proud of that.
Unselfish acceptance of persons in trouble coming to our shores to start a new life: the Irish, the Germans, the Italians, Latinos, Africans, Asians, Muslims– has been callously, proudly,viciously attacked by our “leaders.”
Both houses of congress and a mean-spirited selfish man have aroused hatred of the different, the oppressed, the persecuted, and the poor, in citizens who should know better.
There but for the grace of God go you and I, Mr. and Mrs. And Ms. America who collectively bear full responsibility for the death of the America Dream, by not paying attention, and buying into a line and a hate.
How quickly America’s heart hardened to stone.
Cruelty rationalized. Hate defended. Discrimination championed. Truth attacked.
That was never the American Way.
Two years is all it has taken.
A year of a media circus campaign followed by the nomination of “An American Strongman,” a man of the people champion who spoke of “Making America Great Again.” Possibly the first American Dictator.
The media carried and publicized dutifully the ranting of this man. Because he was good copy. “Everything is copy,” it has once been said. But no judgment was used. Nothing was censored. The media were putty in this man’s hands. Criticism was labled as fake news.
The man who condoned and popularized hatred of his opponents, who courted the cooperation of an enemy of America to influence his election, and who reveled in his denigration of women and the weak was elevated to an exulted level.
His opponent in the election underestimated him. She failed to grasp the visceral violence he aroused in voters—voters who only saw the promise of their personal getting even with their perceived tormentors and disregarding the premise of this very mastermind.
Half of the voters in the country ate his message up.
That horrendous campaign has been followed up with a march on American values that, like those before him: Mongols, Huns, Cossacks, Barbarians and Nazis rampaged across Europe with sword and violence.
The weapons today are microphones, videos, propaganda, slogans and big lies that play as convenient truths, executive orders laying waste to reason and morality in this nation, forsaking our friends of the past and uplifting the evil leaders of the world. And initiatives ineptly executed, inappropriate, and bungled because of the inability to manage.
I and you have seen eighteen months of dismantling rights taken for granted by Americans. Courts ruled by idealogues. Justices making rights-robbing decisions virtually monthly. Leaders in cabinet positions opposed to the missions of their agencies.
How great are we now?
The promise of America has been forever broken.
How great are we now?
It is embarrassing to be an American for what this neo-Nazi government is doing.
As fireworks explosions are prepared to celebrate a government that now rips children away from families at the border . Adequate records not even being kept. Are photographs being taken of the children already in custody with their parents? Who knows? Reporters have not even documented the process of what happens in the separations. Mayor De Blasio was not even informed of immigrant children being flown into New York City for placement.
Now America, look at you: America has “Children Concentration Camps.”
Look at you America, you now are going to test children’s DNA with the parents who brought them to make sure they are not “Fake children.”
America did not used to be afraid of children.
But hate was always under the surface that the premise of America had to always fight. Hate is always poised to raise its horror, its ugliness, its indifference to the suffering of others.
Slavery, the segregation of the South and the North (remember redlining?). Other than the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War, and the Cavalry revenge massacres at Wounded Knee and the Washita River, and Andrew Jackson’s Trail of Tears (the Cherokee Indian death march), and the burning of Atlanta, and Bloody Kansas, we have forgotten our humanity conveniently in favor of the easy emotion: hate.
Look at you, America: Religious freedom for all. No more. Muslims are being ostracized by travel bans.
In fact the clergy, the Christians in America, I call you out: What would Jesus say about your failure to take in strangers or your condoning (as a matter of faith for crying out loud!) Trump administration policies?
Look at you, America, how what you have built in 242 years has been ripped away.
Look at those fireworks, and this year they will represent an America flaming apart with hate.
Look at what it takes to be an American of the past now.
You are a drifter still believing in freedom and truth, justice and the American Way in your heart, mourning what America once was and is no more.
I remember not the country whose leadership has betrayed its country’s promise.
America has died in these last 18 months.
Its leadership has betrayed its war dead and veterans who fought for truth, justice and the American Way and the Pursuit of Happiness.
America, Look at you and remember what you once meant to millions.
The Stars and Stripes are no longer forever.
Old Glory is tattered, the white and red stripes wrinkled, ripped, furling asunder in the cruel winds of hate, in total disunity, no longer a whole flag. A hydra of hate, no longer proud.
The white stars falling out of the blue background lose their unity. Scatter to the four winds.
Lay a wreath on the flag.
Cancel the fireworks celebrations everywhere.
There is nothing to celebrate July 4.
But for those of us old Americans, who remember what America used to stand for, our work is just beginning.
We have a lot of work to do to make America the Greatest again, all over again.
Give us time, old friends.
You and I have to knit that Grand Old Flag back together again.
Stitch by stitch.
Vote by Vote.