AFTERWORKS DRAW A HAPPY CROWD BUT SMALLER THAN USUAL.

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CROWD FOR THE WHITE PLAINS “AFTERWORKS” INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION WHICH WENT OFF LAST NIGHT, POSTPONED FROM LAST FRIDAY DUE TO SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBILITY. (A VERY PRUDENT DECISION BY CITY HALL GIVEN THE WEATHER CONDITIONS AT THE TIME)

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CROWD FILLED THE AMUSEMENTS AREA AT NORTH END OF THE STAGING GROUND.

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THE PROGRAM BEGAN WITH A RECORDING OF KATE SMITH SINGING GOD BLESS AMERICA. MAYOR TOM ROACH OPENED THE CEREMONIES, THANKED WAYNE BASS AND THE DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND PARKS FOR PUTTING THE PROGRAM TOGETHER, INTRODUCED COUNCILMAN DENNIS KROLIAN AND ASSEMBLYMAN DAVID BUCHWALD, AND AFTER THE COLOR GUARD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY SALUTED THE FLAG THE FIREWORKS BEGAN.

 

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GOVERNOR SIGNS GREENBURGH REASSESSMENT PHASE-IN RELIEF. SOURCE: IF HOME BEING PHASED IN IS SOLD BEFORE PHASE IN IS COMPLETED. SOURCE:FULL ASSESSMENT APPLIES, RAISING TAX ON THE PROPERTY.

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WPCNR THE FEINER REPORT. From Town of Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner. July 6,2016:

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the legislation that Assemblyman Tom Abinanti, Assemblywoman Sandra Galef and Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins worked so hard on –authorizing the town of Greenburgh to phase in the impacts of reassessment for those whose taxes will go up for two years.

By the third year all taxpayers will pay 100% of the taxes owed.

The Town Board will be holding a public hearing on Tuesday evening, July 12 at 7:30 PM at Greenburgh Town Hall prior to enacting the phase in  as a local law.

The issue: should the phase in apply to everyone  who qualifies or those whose tax hikes are over a certain percentage or dollar amount?

Greenburgh is reassessing properties for the first time in 60 years. Although most residents of the town will experience no tax hikes as a result of the reassessment  – some have received bad news–significant tax hikes. In recent weeks I have met with property owners who have seen their taxes increases by 50%, 100%, 200% –even more.

Neighborhoods most impacted were Irvington, Hastings & Edgemont. The phase in legislation only applies to tax hikes, not tax decreases.

The legislation will help us have a smooth reassessment transition. Neighborhoods impacted negatively by the reassessment will be able to avoid panic selling. And, those residents who are being impacted by the reassessment will have little more time to plan what they want to do with their properties.

The revenue that the school district will raise will not be affected by this legislation.  The tax levy will be the same; it will then be allocated as always based on the entire assessed valuation for the school district and the tax rate.  This bill will be revenue neutral for the school.

The legislation signed into law authorizes a 66% exemption in year one and a 33%  exemption in year two.

The legislation does not require the school district to take any action.    The assessor will finalize the assessment roll for the district, determine the tax rate and send out the tax bills as usual.   There will be no impact in this regard on the schools as well.

In 2009 and 2010, before the town decided to reassess, Assessor Edye McCarthy and I spoke before dozens of groups (village, school, civic groups) and discussed the reassessment process.

I indicated to groups that I met with that I would push for a phase in process if we implemented the reassessment. Earlier this year former Irvington Trustee Ken Bernstein sent me the following e mail reminding me of the promises we made that we would phase in reassessment.  Prior to the Town Board committing to reassess properties we met with numerous groups, village and school boards and made similar pledges to push for phase in.  At that time no one objected to the phase in because, people were worried that their taxes would go up.

This is a big victory for the town and highlights the excellent relations we have with our state government leaders. Earlier this year one civic association that is always critical of the town  sent out an e mail blast stating that “the chances of getting last minute approval form the state legislature for a measure to give some relief to taxpayers in the areas of Greenburgh hardest hit by increases in their property assessments were pretty remote to begin with, but as the legislative session winds down this week, they appear just about dead.”

E MAIL FROM FORMER IRVINGTON TRUSTEE KEN BERNSTEIN AND VIDEO OF A 2010 MEETING AT WHICH TIME TOWN OFFICIALS PROMISED TO PHASE IN REASSESSMENT  (we made similar promises to other civic groups in 2009 and 2010)

Ken Bernstein

April 11 at 11:11am

On 10/12/10 there was a “town hall” meeting in Irvington to discuss the possibility of reassessment based on the demands of some Irvington residents. Then-Mayor Jon Siegel and trustee Brian Smith organized the meeting to allow a presentation and Q&A of Paul Feiner and Edye McCarthy. I was also a trustee at the time. Then-county legislator and now State assemblyman Tom Abinanti was also in attendance. I just looked back and found the video on the Irvington Village website at

http://irvington.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=88#.VwuvIHHtoYQ.email. It is a lengthy but informative 2 hour video.

To Paul’s credit, at around 1:30 on the video clock (the clock doesn’t work well), he said that (1) he would only support reassessment if there was a hardship provision and (2) he felt strongly about incorporating a phase-in plan, and was going to investigate those possibilities. Others concurred. I believe he consistently took those positions elsewhere. So I’m interested to know what Paul Feiner learned from those investigations before making the decision to proceed. And what help can Tom Abinanti provide now that he is at the State level?

 

Editor’s Note: WPCNR has learned from a source familiar with the effects of the legislation that should a homeowner sell their property during the 2 to 3 year phase-in, the full amount of the revised upward assessment will be in effect for the new buyer (in addition to any reassessment applicable to the sale.)

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LADY LIBERTY WEEPS FOR THE AMERICA OF HATE.

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WPCNR NEWS AND COMMENT. By John F. Bailey, The White Plains CitizeNetReporter .July 4, 2015 Originally Published July 2, 2014:

Good morning, Americans!

The news this morning is showing me ugly pictures of  the America today.

Pictures of the townspeople of Murrieta, California blocking a convoy of children from coming to their town, apparently urged to roadblock it  by the town’s mayor, made me shake my head in shame and sorrow at the hate that grows like a field of ugly weeds across the once great land.

Since when is America afraid of children? Since when does America hate children? When are we going to stop chasing down border busters and, instead, change the dynamic:  welcome them with buses to facilities and give them what they come to us because we America are their last hope?

I hated when the Coast turned back the boatpeople years ago. I hated it when Haitians were denied coming to the U.S.  I hate even more the inhospitability of creating an American wall around America.

America today as we approach its “Birthday”– July 4, 1776 — when signers of the original Declaration of Indendence signed that document in Philadelphia, knowing full well if British authorities found them they could face death for treason against the crown — too many of us have forgotten the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..”

The men who signed their names to this document had parents who had come to the new world because their parents had come to escape repression in England. That’s why they wrote that sentence.

And, yes, I know they had slaves, exploited the slave trade, and the native Americans. That does not take away from the truth of the words in that sentence I just quoted. The operative word is “all.”

With this sentence they were declaring that in their new country there would not be the oppression of the past. The hate of the past.

Sadly, the beauty of this second sentence is lost on the America of Hate today. Each day you see, scorn for the plight of children running across our borders from persons who should know better; fingerpointing at persons who are in this country illegally because they came from where they had nothing, because they speak a different language and try to understand ours,  and at the same time exploitation of illegals and legal persons too in our restaurants, our businesses, our stores who hire them off the books and make fortunes on their backs, giving no health benefits, a legal worker is entitled to receive.

There is GNN…”The Ghoul News Networks” who cover every  revenge shooting we average two a week in America lately and spend days titillating us with televising the grief of those whose loved ones died–a practice which unfortunately is not good for the mental health of persons who are troubled who I firmly believe are inspired by the media exploitation of mass shootings (because its easy rather than report on solutions).

Coverage of shootings glorify them and is piously defended by the media quest to know why they happen. News reporters, look at your tapes! You’ll see why violence is in vogue! You promote it–inadvertently.

They even reported a knife-wielder threatening the TV show,  Good Morning America today. I’d beef up security on Jimmy Fallon soon after that stupidity of reporting the incident. Their argument is always, “It’s news!” But it’s not–it’s sensationalism to get viewers.

There is the “Never Do Anything” Congress in Washington who listen to their lobbyists and donors and do not do what should be done– pass an immigration law which should not kick persons out in any way — but get them into the workforces legally so they can pay taxes, receive benefits from employers.

Do they do that…..Nooooooooooo–because that would cost big businesses too much money and end the bonanza of an expolited workforce– the modern slavery of today.

Our leaders buy into the “penance period,” of witholding voting, citizenship until illegals do their time leave and come back. That is a stupid fantasy promoted by the white supremacist capitalists in power in this country and forget their parents were immigrants once, too.

The power elite in the Republican and Democratic Parties that have with their greed wrecked our economy…Supermacists clinging to their power by “buying” the weakest people in America — elected officials. They influence our feckless elected officials with money and sophist arguments to make the illegals have to wait for citizenship.

It reaches right down to the roots…right here. This cowtowing by government to the realty and businesses at the suffering of those who work the hardest, know two languages while most of us only know one.

Locally, we are very good at keeping illegal residents packed into two-family homes, exploited in shabby conditions in Battle Hill in White Plains, in the Fisher Hill Neighborhood and elsewhere. Contributions to political parties are carefully designed to assure the overcrowded conditions in sweltering rooms make the tenements of the lower East Side of the 19th century look spacious.

Where are the sweeps by the City of White Plains to get rid of these people traps? Talk about quality of life?

Why do organizations designed to help newcomers who speak Spanish promote residences that are overcrowded (I have seen copies of the lists). The lists are available for the city to go to every place and inspect them. They don’t.

And just once, I’d like the Common Council to hold a conference on cleaning up illegal housing in White Plains. They never have in the 16 years I’ve run this website. How do they sleep at night?

What do they and Westchester County and New York State do? Lots of tax breaks for businesses to come in and establish businesses in our cities. For which the taxpayer pays.

However, America does care if white persons anywhere in the world are victimized. We definitely champion them. But we do not get upset at the continuing violence in Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan — Ukraine–Bangladesh, Istanbul.

When American businesses shirk taxes by shipping jobs overseas, we have abetted this, contributing to the drain of manufacturing jobs.

When banks screw up and lose $6 Billion, just lose it, without explanation. Nothing is done to them. No banker czar or tycoon went to jail except Bernie Madoff.

When businesses break the law, they do so, and admit no wrongdoing when lightly slapped on the wrists by the attorney general.

I was in a hospital Monday to be there for a person undergoing a procedure. The nurses were of all races. All spoke English. The anesthesiologist was Indian. The surgeon was Indian. They dealt with their patients deftly, with compassion and understanding.

I want to assure the people of America that the children will not hurt you. They will not take your taxes. But you unfortunately have failed to do what Americans used to do: put yourself in someone else’s shoes.

The scene in Murietta California two years ago only lacked one thing: the water hoses and the police dogs and the police with clubs stopping the citizens of Murrieta from hurling stones and rocking the buses.

The government was wrong in letting them turn away the convoy, and diverting to San Diego. The Murrieta Mayor should not have incited his town against the border children. He just took a politically advantageous stance to assure his pathetic reelection.

When elected officials do not stand up for what is right, when they espouse hate against children, as officials in the south did in the early 1960s during the freedom rides, the people have to wonder, how would this person treat me?

The failure of great big American business to rebuild Detroit, New Orleans,  speak volumes for how the government really feels, how patriotic businesses really are…let alone American business leaders.

Not only is this now an America of Hate, it is an America of Insecurity, America Without Confidence, and an America dedicated to its own pleasure.

The stone faces of Presidents of the Past on Mount Rishmore are grim faced for a reason: We have failed their vision.

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THIS WEEK ON PEOPLE TO BE HEARD: MARY ANN KEENAN ON www.whiteplainsweek.com and YOUTUBE

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ON

PEOPLE TO BE HEARD

YOU’VE GOT

MAK

MARY ANN KEENAN

FIRST WOMAN EVER ELECTED TO THE COMMON COUNCIL

THE NO NONSENSE COUNCILPERSON

COUNCILPERSON FOR 26 YEARS.

PEOPLE TO BE HEARD

INTERVIEWS MS. KEENAN 

ON HOW POLITICS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE 1970S.

HOW THE CITIZENS HAVE CHANGED IN THEIR COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

HOW THE COMMON COUNCIL TREATED ISSUES THEN AND HOW THE PRESENT COUNCIL TREATS THEM

WHAT WHITE PLAINS HAS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE

SEE THIS HISTORICAL INTERVIEW on

www.whiteplainsweek.com

or on YOU TUBE at

 
(The previous YOUTUBE link for this program was incorrect, the above is now the correct Mary Ann Keenan program link on YOUTUBE)
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FIRST ANALYSIS OF EGYPTAIR FLIGHT 804 DATA REPORTERS CONFIRM SMOKE JUST PRIOR TO CRASH

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WPCNR AVIATION NEWS. From Peter Katz, Editor, NTSB REPORTER. JUNE 29, 2016:

EgyptAir flight MS 804 that crashed in May saw smoke on board shortly before its crash, the investigation committee looking into the incident confirmed on Wednesday after examining the plane’s recovered data recorders.
“Recorded data is showing consistency with [distress signals sent from the flight indicating there was] smoke from the lavatory and avionics area,” the committee said in a statement.
The committee added that the front section from the wreckage of the plane, whose crash into the Mediterranean Sea killed all 66 people on board, showed “signs of high temperature damage and soot.”
Aviation Herald, a prominent Austria-based website specialising in air accidents, said in May that the airliner sent seven alarm messages indicating smoke on board minutes before disappearing.
The investigation committee said analysis will take place to identify the cause of the smoke.
The committee added that “the entire flight is recorded on the black box from the time it took off at Charles de Gaulle airport,” and that recording “stopped at an altitude of 37,000 feet” at the point of the crash.
Wednesday’s announcement comes after the black boxes arrived on Tuesday for inspection after undergoing repairs in France.
According to the committee, the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) is still undergoing repairs at the French aircraft accident investigation bureau.
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TIMOTHY CONNORS BROUGHT BACK FOR ANOTHER 2 MONTHS AS INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT ON A PER DAY BASIS. DR. FRIED CONTINUES TO RECOVER FROM A HEALTH ISSUE.

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FORMER SUPERINTENDENT OF WHITE PLAINS SCHOOLS, TIMOTHY CONNORS, LEFT, WILL CONTINUE ON A PER DAY BASIS TO SUBSTITUTE FOR DR. PAUL FRIED, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, RIGHT, FOR THE NEXT TWO MONTHS.

 

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. JUNE 29, 2016:

THE WHITE PLAINS BOARD OF EDUCATION HAS EXTENDED THE PER DAY CONTRACT WITH FORMER SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, TIMOTHY CONNORS, THROUGH AUGUST TO CONTINUE AS “INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT.”

DR. PAUL FRIED THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS MR. CONNORS IS SUBSTITUTING, AT THIS TIME IS APPARENTLY EXPECTED TO BE UNAVAILABLE AS HE RECOVERS FROM SURGERY, THE NATURE OF WHICH HAS NOT BEEN DISCLOSED. 

MICHELE SCHOENFELD, CLERK TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION TOLD WPCNR THAT MR. CONNORS IS NOT EXPECTED TO WORK 5 DAYS A WEEK, BUT ONLY COME IN AS NEEDED. THE PER DAY RATE WILL BE AVAILABLE AFTER MR. CONNORS SIGNS THE TWO MONTH CONTRACT.

In other Board of Education action…

It approved a new Memorandum of Agreement with the Administrators and Supervisors Association, through the 2018-19 school year, setting salary scales for different positions at an increase of 2%, according to Interim Superintendent Connors. Details of which are not available yet until the agreement is signed by the union.

Fred Seiler, outgoing Assistant Superintendent for Business, told WPCNR that as part of the agreement, administrators at the top of the new salary scale (about one-third of the administrator work force) would receive an additional 3/4% the first year, 1% the second year and 1-1/4% the third year of the contract, while those within the scale “who have not been here as long,” would receive an average of 2%. Seiler said the contract fit within the new budget beginning July 1. Incidentally, tomorrow June 30, is Mr. Seiler’s last day with the district. He is retiring after 10 years.

The Board approved a Memorandum of Agreement with the White Plains Teachers Association settling a series of “grievances” issues. The details are not available to the public until the agreement is signed.

Jessica O’Donovan, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction had her contract extended for another three years, through the 2018-19 school year.

Deborah Augarten’s salary as Assistant Superintendent for Special Education & Pupil Services for 2016-17 school year was approved.

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ANATOMY OF A PUBLIC OFFERING: ONE WALL STREETER’S WEB OF CORRUPTION–GUILTY PLEA–ONE MAN’S FRAUD–THE BIG FIX

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WPCNR FBI WIRE. Special From the Federal Bureau of Investigaton. June 28, 2016:

Earlier today, Darren Goodrich, a registered broker at a brokerage firm in El Segundo, California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud for manipulating the stock of Cubed, Inc. (Cubed), which traded (ironically) under the ticker symbol CRPT.

Since fiscal year 2009, the Justice Department has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants.  For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.

 

The guilty plea was entered before United States Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York.  When sentenced, Goodrich faces up to five years in prison, as well as restitution, criminal forfeiture, and a fine.

The guilty plea was announced by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office.

According to court filings and facts presented at the plea hearing, between March 2014 and July 2014, Goodrich and his co-conspirators engaged in a scheme to defraud investors and potential investors in Cubed by artificially controlling the price and volume of traded shares in the company through fraudulent concealment of the defendants’ and their co-conspirators’ ownership interests and engineering price movements and trading volume in the stock.

In March 2014, Goodrich’s co-conspirators took Cubed public through an asset purchase agreement.  On April 22, 2014, Cubed’s stock began trading in earnest.  Between April 22, 2014 and April 30, 2014, Goodrich and his co-conspirators concocted trading volume in this stock by purchasing more than 50% of the total number of Cubed shares purchased during this period.

Between May 2, 2014 and June 29, 2014, law enforcement authorities conducted a judicially-authorized wiretap of one of Goodrich’s co-conspirator’s cellular telephone.  The wiretap revealed that Goodrich and his co-conspirators fraudulently manipulated Cubed’s stock by artificially controlling the price and volume of that stock through orchestrated trading.

Rather than generating significant market interest and causing a quick pump and dump that would elicit regulators’ scrutiny, the conspirators gradually increased the price of Cubed’s stock to give it the appearance of a legitimate company with genuine and steady market demand for the security.

For example, on May 5, 2014, while Cubed was in a period of gradual increase from $5.20 on April 22, 2014 to $5.42 on May 22, 2014, a co-conspirator called Goodrich, and stated, “Can you buy a 100 and see if [the other market maker] moves?”  Goodrich complied and then responded, “Yeah, they’re going.”

Goodrich and his co-conspirators used an attorney escrow account to successfully control the price and volume of Cubed’s stock.

On June 23, 2014, Cubed reached its highest closing price of $6.75 per share, resulting in a market capitalization of approximately $200 million.

Previously, Cubed filed with the SEC a Form 10-Q and reported less than $1,500 in cash, zero revenue, negative stockholders’ equity, a net loss of $15,000, and accrued professional fees of $131,824.

*          *          *

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Shannon C. Jones, Christopher L. Nasson, and Patrick Hein are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Assistant United States Attorney Claire S. Kedeshian of the Office’s Civil Division, which is responsible for the forfeiture of assets.

The charges were brought in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.  The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.  With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory, and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud.

Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions, and other organizations.  Since fiscal year 2009, the Justice Department has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants.  For more information on the task force, please visit ww.StopFraud.gov.

The Defendant:

DARREN GOODRICH
Age:  37
Residence: Manhattan Beach, California

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402-UNIT APT COMPLEX, GRADUATE RESIDENCE AND ASSISTED LIVING CENTER PROPOSED FOR GOOD COUNSEL PROPERTY. NORTH BROADWAY GREAT LAWN PRESERVED

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. June 28, 2016:

The new owners  of the former Good Counsel Property at 52 North Broadway, George Comfort & Sons, Inc. and ROC Group, Inc.  unveiled their preliminary development concept Monday evening at the Common Council Special Meeting, calling for a preservation of the 3 acres of North Broadway great lawn while opening the former campus to a mix of residential uses.

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The proposed development includes a 66 person Pace Law School Graduate Student privately managed residential building on the north side of the property; a new 130 person (including 29 units for memory loss residents) Sunrise Assisted Living project on the southern side of the campus, and a 10 story market rate rental complex on the eastern border of the property overlooking the Cross Westchester Expressway.

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The residential building (a portion of which is shown above) proposes a zoning change allowing a 10 story complex with parking underneath the sweeping curve of the building. A total of 402 apartments including 40 affordable housing units, is planned at this time at market rates.

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The Assisted Living building would be two stories with three stories in the rear with 50 parking spaces around the driveway. 131 residents would live in the assisted living complex, with 29 of them reserved for the memory-impaired

ndering_52NorthBroadway_6.28.16_CourtesyofPerkinsEastman

The new proposed PACE UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL PROPOSED GRADUATE STUDENT LIVING COMPLEX would be built on the north side of the campus and consist of 3 stories with a sstudent residential complex housing 66 students. It would be privately managed. (Renderings,Courtesy of Perkins Eastman)

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140 YEARS AGO TODAY, CUSTER SOUGHT GLORY IN 1876

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WPCNR MILESTONES. By John F. Bailey. June 25, 2016 Reprinted from the WPCNR archive:One hundred forty years ago today in the midsummer sweltering heat of the Dakota Badlands, Major General George Armstrong Custer and 600 Cavalrymen of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry were converging to attack  a contingent of 2,000 Sioux and Cheyenne Indians encamped on the Little Big Horn River. Custer’s troops were in the lead.

Statue of Major General George Armstrong Custer in his hometown, Monroe, Michigan

 

Sighting the Enemy

Custer, whose strength as a commander was willingness to engage the enemy by surprise has long been criticised by historians and military experts for disobeying the command of his superior General Alfred H. Terry, (commander of the Little Big Horn campaign), who warned Custer to wait until Terry’s forces arrived to join him before Custer launched any attack.

At about 5 PM this afternoon  today  it was the waning afternoon, 139 years ago, 1876.  225 troopers, Custer, and Mark Kellogg, the Associated Press correspondent (one of the first “embedded correspondents”) lay dead across the ridges of the Little Big Horn Valley.

The Indians had so much respect for Kellogg’s talent, they left his body alone. To the Sioux, Mr. Kellogg was known as “The Man who could make paper talk.”

Mr. Kellogg’s foolscap (copy paper) littered the horror of the battlefield.

Kellog was given a mule to ride by General Terry, and rode into battle with Custer.

That afternoon, 139 years ago today,the superior Indian force had dealt the American military its most infamous defeat to date, which would be chronicled again and again.

Custer’s accomplishments as a military commander though have suffered as a result of this alleged rash and ill-advised attack.

However, the battle is instructive for all who command, (no matter what position of command they hold), to pay attention to their scouting reports,and above all conduct scouting forays, and to ignore whatever personal gains might be achieved by a personally attractive course of action (if you are successful).

Allegedly, Custer had seen a possible victory lead by himself over the Sioux as a stepping stone to national office.

Instead, he died in action — one of the few U.S. Army Generals to do so.

Few know today, as the statue of General Custer in his hometown of Monroe, Michigan, says how Custer was instrumental in forcing General Robert E. Lee to surrender by blocking Lee’s retreat at Appomattox in 1865.

Custer’s defeat may have been inevitable but the actions of Major Reno’s premature breaking off  his initial attack on the Indian encampment, a disasterous premature cut-and-run retreat, did not help Custer’s chances.

Reno’s premature retreat allowed the counterattacking indians to turn all their force on Custer’s force, getting behind him,  surrounding Custer and his command and killing them all within an hour.

Custer’s glory achieved through his death is a sobering reminder every year for those who ignore facts confronting them, and underestimate adversaries, and discount adverse conditions.

We should not forget though that Custer was attempting to achieve his mission.

No one can say what really motivated him 135 years ago today in the early afternoon when he launched his attack. Second-guessing is the sport of the armchair historians and military strategists who have the evidence of the result.

Blame is easily distributed.

That is the loneliness of command.

Combat. Decisions. Risks. Surprise. They are the stuff that leaders have to deal with.

On this day, we should look back and remember the courage it took to engage. Remember the bravery the Seventh Calvary displayed in defeat (despite Indian reports of many committing suicide).

Soldiers today demonstrate this courage every day. We need to admire that courage.

I cannot fathom what it takes to be able to be courageous like that.

Leading is not for everyone.

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WHITE PLAINS WEEK TONIGHT ON SALES TAX MELTDOWN IN WHITE PLAINS–THE UK WITHDRAWAL–THE SUPREME COURT WASHES ITS HANDS ON IMMIGRATION–ALLOWS DEPORTATION BY DOING NOTHING–THE LOWDOWN ON INTERNET INSTANTLY

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THE BIG THREE

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JOHN BAILEY

PETER KATZ

JIM BENEROFE

ON A WILD WHITE PLAINS WEEK

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BRITAIN VOTES TO LEAVE EUROPEAN UNION 

U.S. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, 4-3

CONGRESS DOES SOMETHING ON GUN CONTROL– IT SITS DOWN

NEW QUESTION FOR THE WHITE PLAINS TRANSIT DISTRICT

SCHOOL DISTRICT MULLS WHAT TO DO ABOUT SUPERINTENDENT’S RECOVERY FROM ILLNESS

WHITE PLAINS SALES TAX RECEIPTS DROP 10.4% IN MAY LARGEST DROP IN A MONTH IN YEARS. OTHER CITIES IN COUNTY UP.

SEE IT NOW ON

www.whiteplainsweek.com

OR YOU TUBE INSTANTLY AT

Or
www.wpcommunitymedia.org

 

 

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