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.

Hits: 0

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. September 26, 2011:

The inflation rate for the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan area was running at a 3.5% annual rate through August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The escalating inflation looms as extra pressure now as city negotiations with the police, fire and teamsters unions continue.

Though WPCNR awaits a call back from  Robert Riley,  the President of the White Plains Police Benevolent Association, Joe Carrier, President of the White Plains Firefighters union did and said the inflation rate certainly is a consideration. Asked what was happening on the negotiations with the city, Carrier said,

“There’s not too much to report. Negotiations are moving forward. We’re negotiating in good faith. It’s premature to think (binding) arbitration. We’re negotiating now to address certain issues. We now have one rig completely out of service (not staffed). We are down  15 firefighters .”

Asked if the city was committed by the terms of accepting a federal grant last spring to rehire 7 firefighters layed off in 2010, not to layoff any firefighters, Carrier confirmed that. “They are committed for two years.” This apparently means any salary increase could not be funded through layoffs of the firefighters. Carrier said he also hoped to resolve the issue on health insurance for retirees now in federal court with the city.

 Carrier said the inflation rate could justify some kind of increase. He thought an arbitrator might take the inflation momentum very seriously.

In the last police and fire union contract settled through binding arbitration in 2009,  the city chose to go to binding arbitration and was told to award police and fire 3.75% raises which they did. To see that report go to http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/article7781.html

Hits: 0

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. By John F. Bailey, September 22, 2011:

Playland might close in 2012, due to unsustainable losses, County Executive Robert Astorino told a news conference today, but he would not sell the property.

The County Executive said the next step in finding a way to make Playland financially viable will his administrative departments evaluating and finding an organization structure that could run the park at breakeven, that a profit was not necessary. He also said that he wanted to save Playland for future generations.

He made the remarks as the Citizens Committee evaluating  proposals for Playland restructuring from 12 organizations presented its “Reinventing Playland Park for the 21st Century” report today to the County Executive this morning.

The Committee did not single out any one organization as being the best choice to take over Playland management. They noted that Central Amusements International (which took over Coney Island operations), Standard Amusements, and Sustainable Playland (a start-up proposed non-profit organization) “fit RFP responsiveness and feasibility criteria and deserve further attention,” with three other firms,American Skating Entertainment Centers, Q Properties and State Fair Group “have some potential role, but may not fit within the feasibility criteria and scope of the RFP” Jim Chisholm, Chair of the Committee said the committee thought combinations of organization proposals made sense.

County Executive Astorino in the news conference that followed, said the next step will be for the county legal, financial and parks teams (with access to financial information of the companies)to evaluate the proposals and possibilities, with Astorino making the decision in early 2012.

In the course of the news conference he said that the county faced a $100 Million deficit next year as the budget development begins. He said Playland would lose the county $5 Million, (of which $3 Million in debt service)in 2012, and “all options were on the table,” including closing of the park for 2012. He said Playland lost the most money of all county parks and golf courses and recreation activities.

He said Playland attendance declined this summer from 500,000 to 420,000 attendees. He said it cannot go on this way,and now was the time to fix it.

Astorino said he would not entertain selling the property.In conversation with a committee member after the news conference, WPCNR learned the property is valued at about $500 Million and might bring considerably more on the open market.

The landmark Playland Tower, Rye, New York on Sunday.

The Dragon Coaster

The Zombie Castle

The Playland Express

Hits: 0

WPCNR FBI WIRE. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. September 21, 2011:

A motion was filed Tuesday amending the forfeiture and civil money laundering complaint in the matter of United States v. PokerStars et. al, announced Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The proposed amended complaint alleges that Full Tilt Poker and its board of directors, including Raymond Bitar, Howard Lederer, Christopher Ferguson, and Rafael Furst, defrauded players by misrepresenting that their funds on deposit in online gambling accounts were safe, secure and available for withdrawal at any time.

In reality,the motion alleges,  Full Tilt Poker did not maintain funds sufficient to repay all players, and in addition, the company used player funds to pay board members and other owners more than $440 million since April 2007. On April 15, 2011, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed the original complaint against Full Tilt and two other Internet poker companies and unsealed a criminal indictment charging 11 defendants, including Bitar, with bank fraud, illegal gambling, and money laundering offenses.

“As the proposed amended complaint describes in detail, Full Tilt was not a legitimate poker company, but a global Ponzi scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara.

“As a result of our enforcement actions, this alleged self-dealing scheme came to light. Not only did the firm orchestrate a massive fraud against the U.S. banking system, as previously alleged, Full Tilt also cheated and abused its own players to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. As described, Full Tilt insiders lined their own pockets with funds picked from the pockets of their most loyal customers while blithely lying to both players and the public alike about the safety and security of the money deposited with the company.”

As alleged in the proposed amended complaint, on several occasions in 2008 and 2009 through e-mails to players and postings on online poker message boards, Full Tilt Poker and its representatives assured players that their money was segregated, safe, and secure. For example, in response to inquiries, Full Tilt Poker sent e-mails to players in May 2008 assuring them that their funds were secure. One of those e-mails read, in part:

“To protect both our players and business from financial problems, all player account funds are segregated and held separately from our operating accounts. Unlike some companies in our industry, we completely understand and accept that your account money belongs to you, not Full Tilt Poker.”

As alleged in the proposed amended complaint, despite these repeated assurances to players, the company did not have enough funds to repay players. By March 31, 2011, Full Tilt Poker owed approximately $390 million to players around the world, including approximately $150 million to U.S. players. However, the company had only approximately $60 million in its bank accounts. Furthermore, as alleged in the proposed amended complaint, the company used player funds to pay its board of directors and other owners.

Between April 2007 and April 2011, Full Tilt Poker and its board distributed $443,860,529.89 to board members and owners. Bitar received approximately $41 million, Lederer received approximately $42 million, and Furst received approximately $11.7 million. Ferguson was allocated approximately $87,486,182.87 in distributions, and received at least $25 million, with the remaining balance characterized as “owed” to him. Much of the money that was distributed was transferred by the board members and owners to accounts in Switzerland and other overseas locations.

In addition to its failure to segregate funds and its constant stream of distributions to owners, the proposed amended complaint alleges that the company faced a growing shortfall in 2010 related to its inability to collect funds from U.S. players, a fact which it did not disclose to players.

Beginning in August 2010, Full Tilt Poker’s payment processing network in the United States was so disrupted that the company often could not withdraw money from U.S. players’ bank accounts in order to fund credits to their online gambling accounts. In order to maintain its false image of financial security, Full Tilt continued to credit player accounts without disclosing its inability to fund those credits.

Ultimately, the company credited approximately $130 million to players’ online gambling accounts that it never actually withdrew from their bank accounts. When players gambled with these phantom funds and lost to other players, a massive shortfall developed.

The proposed amended complaint alleges that this scheme continued even after the original complaint was filed and the criminal indictment unsealed in April 2011. Full Tilt Poker continued to accept foreign player funds, despite the fact that it had liabilities to players around the world for more than $300 million and held only a small fraction of that amount in its bank accounts.

As alleged in the proposed amended complaint, in early June 2011, Lederer reported to others at Full Tilt Poker that there was only approximately $6 million left, and therefore no realistic ability to repay its new depositors. Similarly, in an internal e-mail dated June 12, 2011, Bitar worried about a “run on the bank” by Full Tilt Poker customers, and admitted that “at this point we can’t even take a five million run.”

In addition to the forfeiture and civil money laundering penalties sought in the original complaint, the proposed amended complaint seeks the forfeiture of the dividends received by Bitar, Lederer, Ferguson, and Furst, as well as money laundering penalties against these individuals in the same amount.

U.S. Attorney Bharara praised the FBI for its outstanding leadership in the investigation, which he noted is ongoing.

The matters announced Tuesday are being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Asset Forfeiture and Complex Frauds units. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharon Cohen Levin, Michael D. Lockard and Jason H. Cowley are in charge of the civil money laundering and forfeiture action, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arlo Devlin-Brown, Nicole Friedlander and Niketh Velamoor are in charge of the criminal case.

The allegations contained in the proposed amended complaint are merely accusations.

Hits: 0

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From Michele Schoenfeld. September 19, 2011:

Eight White Plains High School seniors were named Semifinalists in the 2012 National Merit  Scholarship Competition.  The students are:  Matthew Africano, Aneesh Bhattacharya, Emmett Caruso, Isabelle Daly, Adam Jaffe, Jens Sannerud, Eric Smiley and Benjamin Van Doren.

Approximately 16,000 Semifinalists were named nationally — less than one percent of U. S. high school seniors — who will continue in the competition to advance to Finalist level and compete  for about 8,300 scholarships worth more than $34 million.  The program honors individual students  who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

            National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a not-for-profit organization, was established in 1955  specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Program, to honor the nation’s scholastic  champions and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.  Finalists will be announced in February and scholarship winners will be named in the spring.

Hits: 0

WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2011. By John F. Bailey. September 19,2011:  

Last Tuesday evening at the Council of Neighborhood Associations, the campaign for the District 5 County Legislator Seat began with a debate between the incumbent Bill Ryan of White Plains and Dr. Iris Pagan, also of White Plains.

Bill Ryan and Iris Pagan prior to the bell in the first round of their campaign for the County Legislator District 5 Seat last week.

Mr. Ryan said legislators are working in a new environment, “searching for a new normal,” citing the need to maintain service delivery and maintain the high level of constituent services.

He said he is always ready to help if a member of the district has a problem. He borrowed former County Executive Andrew Spano’s mantra that the way to cut county property taxes is by the state assuming $211 Million in mandates (12% of the County Budget). I asked him wouldn’t the state just tax us in state taxes for the money anyway, and Ryan said it was up to the state to cut mandate spending.

Dr. Pagan stated county taxes are too high.She committed to taking a hands-on approach to determining spending of all county services. She said volunteers could take up the slack of future county cuts. Ryan responded to this aggressive cost-cutting approach by saying the approach should be “nickel and dime” to keep county services fulfilling needs.

Though asked by a resident of Scarsdale how much they thought the County $1.8 Million budget should be cut, each candidate did not answer that question

Dr.Pagan attacked Mr. Ryan for supporting the HUD housing agreement requiring the county to build affordable housing in communities where minorities and zoning restrictions make it difficult for moderate income families to obtain housing. Ryan defended his support of the settlement, saying not doing so could cost the county $500 Million in fines.

Pagan shot back,  would he (Ryan) support the County Executive’s  position that HUD is trying to turn this into a segregation correction settlement?  Ryan said if any party  is attempting to alter the agreement,  he would have to weigh that. Asked by Pagan if he supported Astorino’s position, Ryan said he did not say that.

Pagan also chided Mr. Ryan for not getting the county involved in the French American School of New York purchase of Ridgeway Country Club last year.

Ryan said he had, in a public meeting  in 2010, offered to the city that he could bring the possibility of the county purchasing the Ridgeway Country Club to the Board of Legislators, or help the city purchase the club, which, in this reporter’s opinion,  lead the audience to believe the City of White Plains had officially turned county help down. 

Mr. Ryan, in that 2010 meeting which took place October 12, 2010 at Ridgeway School, told the gathering, according to the WPCNR report,

Ryan reminisced that in 2009, he had urged the county to “model this out to see if it made any sense to add it  to the county’s golf courses.” He said the county should revisit it, but cautioned, “Clearly the county is not in the (financial) position.”

(To read the WPCNR Report of that October 12, 2010 meeting, go to

http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/article8309.html

Asked about this unclear situation, Karen Pasquale Senior Advisor to Mayor Roach in a statement to WPCNR, wrote “The county has never approached the city about this. Whether they approached Ridgeway is something you would need to ask them directly.”

The HUD Settlement, FASNY wishy-washy positions, and Mr. Ryan’s willingness to cut expenses were Dr. Pagan’s key attacks.

On the Playland management situation, Pagan criticised Ryan for approving a lease with a children’s museum before responses to RFPs had been vetted and finalist(s) picked. Ryan said the childrens museum had been in the original Request for Proposal. Ryan, in one of the few commitments either candidate made Tuesday night, said Playland would be preserved and functional under any new finalist the County selections. Ryan is Chair of the Board of Legislators Recreation & Parks Committee.

Ryan at least four times cited his long experience as Chair of the Board of Legislators—and articulated in detail the complexities involved in shoot-from-the-hip budget cutting and policy making. His deft verbal juggling and jousting gave the impression of careful consideration and maturity in dealing with the issues with the audience not really knowing exactly what he would do on the issues.