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State Suspends Proposed Background Check Program on Ammunition Buyers Indefinitely. (Database “Not Ready” Times Reports) Surprise: No Press Release on This One.
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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From a White Plains CitizeNetRepoter. July 13, 2015:
A reader writes that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s highly touted SAFE Act has had a key restriction suspended as a result of the efforts of the State Senate Majority Leader and Governor Cuomo’s Office, which she learned from a New York Times report.
The Governor’s office did not send out its usual press release on this decision which is their usual practice. that went into effect Friday, July 10, suspending the SAFE Act requirement that purchases of ammunition required a background check by the ammunition dealer.
According to the Times article:
The Times reported that Cuomo’s director of state operations, Jim Malatras, and Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan signed a memorandum of understanding suspending that part of the SAFE Act, which went into effect shortly after the Newtown, Conn,. attack occurred in December 2012.
The memorandum stated that there was “a lack of adequate technology” for the planned database of gun owners, the Times noted.
The complete Times Report may be read at
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/nyregion/plan-to-require-background-checks-for-ammunition-sales-is-suspended-in-new-york.html?&_r=0
Town of Greenburgh Offers Self-Defense Classes for Young People
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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. From Paul Feiner, Town of Greenburgh Supervisor.July 13, 2015:
To the Editor:
Sexual assaults on college campuses have become part of the national conversation. An estimated one in five women has been sexually assaulted during her college years –one in five, President Obama noted last September as he launched the “It’s on Us” campaign to prevent campus sexual assault.
What can be done? The New York State Board of Regents and the State Legislature should mandate that schools across New York State provide all Middle School and High School students with education on self defense techniques and situational awareness to help reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim of an attack. If students are taught self defense techniques as part of their athletic (gym) programs – young women will be in a better position to protect themselves if the need occurs.
In the meantime – I’d like to invite students to a free program that the Town of Greenburgh is sponsoring that is open to all: a series of self defense seminars will be held on Saturday July 25 and Saturday August 1 from 1-3pm at the administration building of Anthony F. Veteran Park, Heatherdell Road, Ardsley. Participants will learn basic self-defense techniques from Steve Sohn of Steve Sohn Krav Maga Muay Thai Fitness Training Center and hear a presentation from Officer Dandreano of the Greenburgh Police department. Officer Dandreano will be giving tips on how to stay situationally aware to avoid dangerous situations and instructing participants on the proper ways to react if they do find themselves in danger. This initiative will provide residents of all ages with the skills to stay safe in a variety of environments, from college campuses to local streets to the workplace.
Participants will learn basic strikes and moves that they will be able to use in a variety of settings and situations, both in and outside of Greenburgh. The hope is that we can enhance the safety of our residents both in their local neighborhoods and elsewhere by providing them with the skills to avoid dangerous situations.
Those who wish to participate should wear sneakers and athletic wear and tie long hair back. Participants will be required to sign a waiver (attached) and bring it on the day of the event. (Participants under 18 must have the waiver signed by a parent or guardian). To sign up, please emailgreenburghselfdefenseseminars@gmail.com with your name and age (or the name and age of your child). This program is being organized by Emily Salwen, a student intern.
PAUL FEINER
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AWARDS PREPARATION OF NEW GRADE 3-TO-8 ASSESSMENT TESTS TO QUESTAR–TAKES IT AWAY FROM PEARSON THE INTERNATIONAL TESTING GIANT
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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From the New York State Education Department. July 9, 2015:
The State Education Department Thursday announced that Questar Assessment, Inc. will be awarded the contract to develop the State’s grades 3-8 ELA and mathematics assessments. The contract with Questar, Inc. must still be approved by the Attorney General and State Comptroller. The new contract, valued at approximately $44 million, will run for five years and include a district option to administer the tests on computers.
“Our students deserve the best, most accurate assessments we can give them,” Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch said. “Teachers and parents should have clear, practical information to help them help their students learn. Our goal is to continue to improve the assessments to make sure they provide the instructional support parents and teachers need to prepare our students for college and careers. This new contract also recognizes how vitally important it is to have New York State teachers involved in the test development process.”
“New York State teachers will be involved in every step of the test development process,” State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said. “Teacher input is critical to building a successful state test, and that’s why the new contract emulates the collaborative process used to develop the Regents Exams.”
“Questar, Inc. will also provide computer based testing (CBT) platforms that will help reduce the need for stand-alone field tests, and more importantly, help make our assessments even better instructional tools.”
The new contract has two components.
Component 1 is for the development of grades 3–8 ELA and mathematics assessments and an operational bank of test items.
Component 2 is for the development of CBT (Computer Based Testing) capabilities for administration of grades 3–8 ELA and mathematics assessments.
The vendor must provide test administration and test delivery platforms that can be used by computers at New York State’s public, nonpublic, and charter schools. The vendor will move toward embedding all field test multiple-choice items in approximately 22-28 computer delivered operational test forms per grade level.
Under the terms of the contract, New York State teachers will be instrumental in the development of the assessments at several stages in the process.
Questar, Inc. is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has offices in Brewster, NY. Questar, Inc. was awarded the contract through an RFP process. Four firms bid on the contract. The original RFP can be found at: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/compcontracts/15-008/home.html
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DAY: MAYOR ROACH, LOUIS CAPPELLI DEDICATE NEW PARK BETWEEN THE RITZ AND GRACE CHURCH. CAPPELLI ANNOUNCES MEDITERRANEO RESTAURANT COMING TO WP
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New Park Completes Renaissance Square, Dresses Up Grace Church. The View of the new park from Mamaroneck Avenue
Councilman John Kirkpatrick, Milagros Lecuona, White Plains Mayor Tom Roach, Louis Cappelli of The Cappelli Organization , Rector of Grace Church Richark Kunz at the opening of the new park built for the city by The Cappelli Organization. Workers for LRC Construction completed the last sidewalk pieces early this morning.
The view from the open terrace of BLT Steak, revealing the inspiration of old Grace Church and providing a breath of natural beauty to the White Plains downtown. The told WPCNR the hours of the park have not been set yet but felt it would probably be open to the public until 11 P.M.
The Mayor said in his remarks that the completion of the park showed what a vibrant downtown White Plains has, and the Mayor also said a new restaurant would be opening in the glass building above in downtown. Mr. Cappelli said there would be another opening for that. The restaurant coming in is Mediteranneio, which runs Meditteranio in Greenwhich, Mr. Cappelli told WPCNR. The restaurant will occupy the entire 7 Renaissance Square structure above and is planned for a Nov-December opening.
THE BOYKIN BRIEFING: WHITE PLAINS COUNTY LEGISLATOR URGES PUBLIC TO REJECT COUNTY EXEC SPECTRA PIPELINE
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COUNTY LEGISLATOR BENJAMIN BOYKIN IN HIS MAY 30 APPEARANCE ON PEOPLE TO BE HEARD ON WHITE PLAINS TV
WPCNR THE BOYKIN BRIEFING. From County Legislator Benjamin Boykin, District 5, Westchester County Legislator. July 9, 2015:
I wanted to express my disappointment in another bad deal the County Executive has made for our community. During the July 2nd Board of Acquisition and Contracts meeting, the County Executive signed off on a deal to give the Spectra organization a temporary license agreement that will allow them to rip open approximately 18 acres of parkland inside the Blue Mountain Reservation for their 42 inch pipeline. Not only does the pipeline damage our natural parkland, it will have a significant financial impact on Westchester taxpayers. However, he has agreed to reopen discussions with Spectra to address many concerns posed by my colleagues and I, and by neighbors and advocates in the area.
Please call the County Executive today at 914-995-2900 to ask him that the following items be included in the license agreement with Spectra before he signs away access to county taxpayer-owned parkland:
• Increased safety protection
• Additional resources for monitoring
• More specific details on how the park will be restored once construction is complete
• Increased insurance coverage, including a performance bond
The County Executive’s pipeline agreement secures only $2 million for approximately 18 acres of parkland. Whereas, a recent agreement entered into by Spectra and the Town of Yorktown for the same pipeline was for $2 million in exchange for only 7.5 acres. Clearly this deal does not make much sense for county taxpayers and provides inadequate funds to do the type of monitoring and remediation needed to protect Blue Mountain from permanent damage.
This agreement risks serious damage to one of our prized parks and the larger Hudson River Basin and leaves many unanswered questions about whether it will adequately protect the park and nearby residents from contamination by heavy metals and radioactive materials, polluted storm water runoff and wholesale destruction of landscape, vegetation and wildlife habitat.
Given that the contents of the pipeline has toxic elements that could damage the natural environment, I believe the County owes it to the taxpayers to secure a deal that offsets the environmental risks involved. There are still too many concerns with this pipeline to move forward at this point and I believe the County Executive should take the time and get the answers before irrevocable damage is done to our natural environment.
Please continue to voice your concerns to the County Executive and urge him to address these significant concerns as the Administration still has time to for discussion with Spectra before the deal is executed.
A CONVERSATION WITH ALEX PHILIPPIDIS — VETERAN REPORTER AND OBSERVER, CO FOUNDER OF WHITE PLAINS WEEK– TONIGHT ON PEOPLE TO BE HEARD 8 PM ON WHITE PLAINS TV CHANNEL 45 COUNTYWIDE ON FIOS AND CHANNEL 76 CABLEVISION IN WP. DON’T MISS HIM!
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WHITE PLAINS’ ALEX PHILIPPIDIS, FORMER GANNETT REPORTER, FORMER EDITOR OF WESTCHSTER COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL, CO FOUNDER OF THE WHITE PLAINS WEEK WHITE PLAINS TV NEW ROUNDUP, AND NOW SENIOR NEWS EDITOR OF GENETIC ENGINEERING & BIOTECHNOLOGY NEWS, NEW ROCHELLE RETURNS TO PEOPLE TO BE HEARD TONIGHT AT 8 PM.
JOHN BAILEY INTERVIEWS ALEX ON THE STORY BEHIND THE SOARING AND CONTINUED SOARING CANCER DRUG SITUATION, THEN ALEX GIVES HIS OBSERVATIONS ON THE STATE OF WHITE PLAINS, THE STATE OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY, THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE AND THE EDUCATION SITUATION IN NEW YORK FROM HIS UNIQUE 15 YEAR PERSPECTIVE…
ALEX PHILIPPIDIS — DON’T MISS HIM TONIGHT AT 8 ON WHITE PLAINS TELEVISION FIOS CHANNEL 45 COUNTYWIDE AND CABLEVISION IN WHITE PLAINS CHANNEL 76
PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DAY — PUBLIC PRIVATE PARK TO OPEN TODAY —
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LOUIS CAPPELLI OF CAPPELLI ENTERPRISES THE BUILDER OF WHITE PLAINS CITY CENTER AND THE RITZ-CARLTON COMPLEX WILL DEDICATE A PUBLIC PARK BETWEEN THE RITZ CARLTON AND CONDOMINIUM TOWERS AND GRACE CHURCH TODAY AT 11:45 A.M.. THE PARK WAS RECEIVING ITS FINAL TOUCHES YESTERDAY.
Letters We Get Lots and Lots of Letters — Council Ignores Own Comprehensive Plan if they Approve FASNY, Writer Says
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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. JULY 8, 2015:
Dear Mayor and Common Council,
We were gratified to see your growing skepticism of FASNY’s mitigation efforts, which seem to us to be insufficient (e.g.. under the legal standard set forth in Cornell for a clearly oversized dream project), ill-conceived (e.g., with closure of an important thoroughfare considered mitigation), illusory (e.g., incorporating a two phase approach when it’s first phase already breaches the boundaries of acceptable), and unreliable (e.g., founded on questionable traffic analysis, criticized by many, including our Board of Education).
We accept Mr. Kirkpatrick’s opinion that our neighborhood must embrace change; however, we question his judgment on the change he considers acceptable. We can think of change in at least two dimensions: slow and incremental or radical. There is no question that the FASNY development would bring radical change to our and other neighborhoods. We note with satisfaction that the White Plains Comprehensive Plan as updated embraces change for our City in many respects. However, the type of change contemplated for our and other residential neighborhoods is change that “preserves” the scale and character of these neighborhoods. This, in our view, means change of the moderate and incremental type (as the rezoning to R1-30 illustrates) not the radical variety. Excerpts from the Comprehensive Plan:
“The preference in the 1997 Plan for modest residential growth in the Close-In and Outer Areas remains appropriate. The 2001 Zoning Ordinance amendments which aligned the zoning to the existing densities of these areas, and thereby reduced overall development potential, are consistent with the 1997 Plan objectives of preserving the character of the neighborhoods in these areas. The 1997 Plan strategies for limiting new housing development in the Close-In and Outer Areas to that which is consistent with the character of the existing neighborhoods is affirmed in this 2006 Update.” (p. I-II-37, 2006 Modifications to 1997 Comprehensive Plan Housing Recommendation.)
“This Plan reflects a vision for the City’s neighborhoods based on preserving the scale and character of these diverse residential areas. Although each neighborhood is unique, the need to maintain a high-quality of residential life at the neighborhood level is the common thread that binds all of the City’s neighborhoods.” (p. II-I-45, Neighborhoods Vision Statement.)
“Like the vision for the Close-In neighborhoods, the vision for the Outer Area neighborhoods focuses on preservation – preservation of neighborhood diversity and sense of community; preservation of the high-quality homes on spacious lots; and preservation of tree-lined streets, public open spaces and substantial portions of open space on quasi-public and private institutional and commercial properties. It also focuses on controlling growth through the reduction in permitted densities on large undeveloped and underdeveloped residential parcels and through the strict regulation of development, ensuring that new housing is compatible with the character of the surrounding area and is developed in a manner sensitive to the open space and environmental features of the individual sites and neighborhoods.” (p. II-I-58, Vision Statement for Outer Area Neighborhoods.)
Accordingly, we think that Mr. Kirkpatrick’s vision of the type of acceptable neighborhood change should be shaped not by his own personal opinion but rather by what our City’s governing documents envision.
Sincerely,
Max & Gail Schwartz
North Street Nightmares That Will Not Go Away, Letter Writer Says
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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. JULY 6, 2015:
Dear Major Roach and Common Council Members,
I don’t know if all of you are aware of the situation at the YWCA on North Street. There are hundreds and hundreds of cars going in and out all day. Day care, nursery school, all sorts of programs plus Hazel’s a small restaurant down stairs.
During the day there are hundreds of teens from the high school crossing North Street to eat over there. They literally stand on the median in the middle of the street to get across. They don’t always pay attention to a traffic light. I know this first hand because I take my young grandchildren there for classes. Talk about a dangerous situation for our White Plains children.
With all FASNY busses (if project is approved and built) and cars on North Street you can be guaranteed of an accident.
I hope you all have driven down North Street to see the work being done for the German School. When that opens in the fall we are talking about another possible disaster.
This would be a very small fraction of the FASNY 10-year construction nightmare).
You seriously have to consider these situations.
Thank you,
Sharon Gould