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

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WPCNR THE FEINER REPORT. By Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner. October 2, 2011 UPDATED OCTOBER 3, 2011 10:30 A.M.EDT UPDATED 3 P.M. E.D.T. UPDATED 8:30 P.M. E.D.T.:

On Friday, September 30th a 20 year partnership between Westchester County, WESTHELP and Greenburgh came to an end.

Last year the Westchester County Executive announced plans to close down WESTHELP–the transitional facility that served the homeless population. WESTHELP was located on a six acre county property adjacent to Westchester Community College.  The organization, which provides transitional services to the homeless, was started by Andrew Cuomo–when his father was Governor.

The Town of Greenburgh is now negotiating with FerncliffManor, a school for the developmentally disabled to occupy the building at a lease comparable to what WESTHELP was paying.

Westhelp had received significant notice from the county that they would be closing. The facility housed 108 families. I assume that the county is placing the former residents at other county shelters.

Donna Greene Deputy Communications Director of Westchester County said that the county closed the doors on September 16. They weren’t housing 108 families, as that was one of the issues associated with closing the facility (low occupancy).We froze any new placements effective June, 2011, and a number of families secured transitional or permanent housing since June. In the end,  we moved the remaining families into existing shelter capacity in White Plains or Mt. Vernon. As of September 16, there were just 5 families left. This included 2 that had been relocated at the shelter due to the storm issues from Mamaroneck.They (the 5)  were brought to The Coachman in White Plains

Ms. Greene also indicated Westhelp is no longer needed because homeless families have declined in the county:

We have seen significant declines in our DSS shelter population as a result of a multipronged approach, including use of shelter supplements and local rental assistance programs to prevent homelessness, decreased length of stays in shelters, and increased focus on rapid rehousing in either transitional and/or permanent housing.

Ms. Greene referred WPCNR to the County budget which contains this commentary:

The details:

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WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. By John F. Bailey. September 30, 2011:

Chief of Staff for Mayor Tom Roach, John Callahan, asked if Linda Puoplo’s recent promotion to Deputy Commissioner of Planning was in part because she had helped obtain the recent $3.5 Million from HUD to begin the Winbrook Revitalization Project, said Ms. Puoplo did have a role in preparing the application that brought in the money. 

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WPCNR WASHINGTON WIRE. From the Offices of Senators Schumer and Gillibrand. Exclusive photographs by Andy Sealfon for WPCNR September 28, 2011:

U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded Orange County public assistance to help rebuild and repair infrastructure damaged by tropical storm Lee.

Flooding in Warwick from Hurricane Irene (August)  Photos for WPCNR by Andy Sealfon

After this type of assistance was not made available in the President’s initial emergency declaration, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand immediately called for Orange County to be added to the list of eligible counties.

Flooding from Hurricane Irene, August 29. Washingtonville, NY in Orange County.

Hurricane Irene Flooding August 29, 2011, Florida NY (Orange County)

The county is now eligible for assistance for debris removal, emergency protective actions, and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities. Schumer and Gillibrand noted that this was another important step in making sure that Orange County gets the help they needs to recover from Lee, and will continue to push for Orange County to receive Individual Assistance to help home and business owners recover.

Flooding, Town of Tuxedo (Orange County) September 18. Pilot Andy Sealfon who snapped these shots reports rains from followup to Irene, Tropical Storm Lee “wiped out a bunch of houses in Tuxedo and took out the rail lines. It was reported something like 100 million gallons was dumped into the area which caused all this damage.” 

Tracks overrun with debris washed over them by Tropical Storm Lee September 18.

Drained Echo Lake in Tuxedo,shown April 18. The rains from Lee caused the Echo Lake Dam to wash out, flooding the thruway and over the train tracks. Some of the damage from storm Lee.

“We knew all along that Orange County needed help to cope with the devastation left by tropical storm Lee,” said Schumer. “Now that FEMA has heeded our call and stepped up to the plate to make the necessary funding available, we can begin the process of helping repair and rebuild local infrastructure damaged in the storm. I will continue to push for FEMA to grant individual assistance to help home and business owners rebuild as well.”

“This is great news for families and businesses in Orange County in dire need of help to dig out from this devastating storm, and begin to recover,” Senator Gillibrand said. “Now it’s time to put all necessary resources on the ground where we need them to bring relief. I will fight to secure all the federal funding our communities need.”

Through the PA Program, FEMA provides supplemental Federal disaster grant assistance for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and the repair, replacement, or restoration of disaster-damaged, publicly owned facilities and the facilities of certain Private Non-Profit (PNP) organizations. The PA Program also encourages protection of these damaged facilities from future events by providing assistance for hazard mitigation measures during the recovery process.

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WPCNR SOUTH END TIMES. September 28, 2011 UPDATED 2:20 P.M. E.D.T. With Pictures of the Parking Plans available by pressing “READ On”:

The maximum traffic increase expected if the French American School of New York is opened on the former grounds of the former Ridgeway Country Club is 2,504, a figure based totally on expected traffic in the peak morning and afternoon hours, a FASNY spokesperson wrote today in a statement.

Geoff Thompson released this statement from the school to WPCNR:

“Previous estimates of peak hour traffic as shown in the Environmental Assessment Form were 1,170 trips. This would account for all students and staff and includes trips into the school and out of the school (for the parents and buses that would leave the students).

Under this conservative analysis, there would not be additional trips during off-peak hours.

FASNY’s consultants have updated the peak hour estimate to 1,252 trips in the peak hour, but are seeking to refine that number further with additional data from FASNY. Complete details will be provided in the Environmental Impact Statement.

Over the course of the entire day, FASNY would add approximately 2,504 trips total to Ridgeway – a road that currently carries approximately 5,000 vehicles on an average day. The total of 7,500 vehicles on Ridgeway would be only 40% of the design capacity of the road.”

(Editor’s Note: WPCNR estimates the capacity of Ridgeway to be 19,000 vehicles a day. Previously it was unclear from the Monday evening presentation whether the original figure of 1,170 trips was total peak traffic, with 1,334 additional off-peak vehicles making up the 2,504 estimated maximum increased traffic stated in the accompanying chart below. The chart was shown Monday evening in the untelevised, uninterneted, unbroadcast Common Council work session Monday evening.)

THE INCREASED TRAFFIC STORY ACCORDING TO THE FRENCH AMERICAN SCHOOL OF NEW YORK. Photo, the CitizeNetReporter.

The Plan as Presented Monday evening at the Common Council “Work Session.” Arrows indicate the types of buildings. Ridgeway is the road running on the right of the overview.

Exiting Vehicles depart via Hathaway Lane (road between large elementary parking lot) back onto Ridgeway. No exiting traffic will be allowed to turn North on Hathaway towards Bryant Avenue.

Cars, School Buses at Peak Hours AM & PM will be contained within the drive in entrance (“Main Entrance Driveway”) winding deep behind the site to two three main parking areas.

A CLOSER LOOK: cars wend their way in past Gymnasium/Performing arts around the Middle School(upper right of picture) (located in former Ridgeway clubhouse (not shown) across the courtyard at bottom of picture, or the Middle School located upper right.

First Parking and Dropoff area serves High School accessable from the courtyard and the Middle School.(Check overview of the Buildings below:)

Parent cars and buses bound for the Elementary School then cross Hathaway Lane, shown in the left third of the picture below to enter parking area in front of elementary school to drop off children. The parking area below is located roughly where the former golf cart storage was at the former club.

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WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. September 28,2011:

 The general public watching next Monday evening’s Common Council meeting will have the opportunity to see the French American School of New York presentation given last Monday evening at the Common Council worksession.

According to the Senior Advisor to the Mayor, Karen Pasquale, the school will present a “shorter” performance of their 1 hour and 30 minute presentation Monday, prior to the first scopping session to gather questions and concerns of interested parties and citizens that the French American School of New York should address in their preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

The city did not televise the Monday FASNY presentation either on Government Access Channel  or on the internet in simulcast on the city website which they could have done because the work session was held in the Common Council chambers. The Mayor’s Office said it was not televised because it was a work session and work sessions traditionally are not televised.

Carl Albanese, a local videographer did tape record the Monday session and the complete FASNY presentation.

As a public service he has offered his tape of the meeting to the city for telecast in its entirety if they wish to present its extensive content to the public. He offered the tape at no charge, as a citizen public service. As of this morning, the city has not responded to Mr. Albanese’s offer, Mr. Albanese told WPCNR this morning.