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 ABOUT TOWN. June 19, 2011.

Westchester Magazine hosted the first annual White Plains Wine and Food Weekend at the Ritz-Carlton Saturday, attracting 800 persons at $85 apiece  ($68,000) to experience wines and tasty fare prepared by celebrity chefs, 50 participating restaurants and tastings of 120 different wines.

Mayor Tom Roach of White Plains (second from right) with Peter Kelly of X20, far right, opens the Wine and Food Weekend Saturday at the Ritz-Carlton, with Ralph Martinelli (with scissors), organizer and sponsor of the extravaganza. At far left is Bill Rattner, consultins sommelier who assembled the roster of winemakers for the event. Seconed from left is Assistant to the County Executive, Christine Sculti. Folks from all over Westchester then moved in on the samples of foods from great restaurants around the county and fabulous vintages.

Saturday evening “The Winemakers Dinner” entertained 350 persons at $250 apiece (Approximately $88,000) who enjoyed a six-course formal dinner prepared by five of Westchester’s celebrated chefs; James Dangler of The Ritz, Peter Kelly of X20; Ethan Kostbar of Moderne Barn, Marc Lippman of Crabtree’s Kittle House and Anthony Concalves of 42, The Restaurant.

As much as $10,000 is expected to be raised by the dinner to benefit the Westchester Arts Exhange and the Food Bank of Westchster a spokesperson for the Weekend event told WPCNR. Wine seminars will be taking place Sunday with a live Top Chef Cook-off at 2:30 P.M when Ash Fulk and Dale Talde from Top Chef go head-to-head to create the winning meal for a panel of judges. 

Ralph Martinelli , publisher of Westchester Magazine said he would be staging the Wine and Food Weekend again next year.

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. J(Edited) June 17, 2011:

“For the Democrats on the board to change Playland’s pricing structure after the amusement park has been open for a month and to eliminate a substantial source of revenue is financially and operationally irresponsible,” County Executive Robert Astorino said Friday in a news release, promising to veto the measure July 2.. “What’s more, their plan is fundamentally unfair because it shifts the cost burden from patrons who use the amusement park to taxpayers who don’t.” 

The Playland Amusement Park typically loses $3 million to $5 million a year. In 2009, former County Executive Andrew J. Spano initiated a spectator fee of $3 for county residents and $5 for non-residents. This fee is charged to patrons who don’t buy an unlimited ride ticket when they come into the amusement park. The rationale was to create a less expensive option for patrons who don’t plan to go on any rides but do use the amusement park’s other facilities, while at the same time giving the county a source of revenue to cover the costs of non-riding patrons.

As part of the 2011 budget, Democrats and Republicans agreed unanimously to raise the spectator fee to $5 for residents and $10 for non-residents as a way of stemming the losses at the amusement park. Over the last month, the Democrats have twice passed bills on their own to change the December budget agreement.

Astorino successfully vetoed the first proposal, which called for eliminating the spectator fee for residents and lowering it to $5 for non-residents. Implementing that plan would have cost the county as much as $1 million in lost revenues.

The latest plan again calls for no charge for residents and $10 charge for non-residents. The lost revenues associated with that plan, which were calculated by the county’s Budget Department as part of its fiscal analysis of the legislation, are projected at $377,000. Overall, the county already projects a budget gap for the government of about $100 million for next year.                                                                  

“The question is: where is the money going to come from?” said Astorino. “Do we take it out of the Bee-Line buses or Social Services or Public Safety? It has to come from somewhere. Fees are the fairest way to pay for non-essential services. If people want to play golf, we charge them. If people want to go to our pools, we charge them, whether they go in the water or not because they are taking advantage of the facilities. Someone has to pay for the services and the fairest way is to charge those who use them. This is not a double tax on taxpayers, as the Democrats contend.”

Astorino emphasized that the spectator fee only applies to the amusement park. Playland’s boardwalk, seaside walk and the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary are still open and free to the public.

            In announcing his plans to veto the latest proposal from the board, Astorino rejected the Democrats’ argument that the lost revenue will be recouped by attracting more people to the park to spend money and that county residents (who pay taxes) should not have to pay to use the park.

             “Letting people in for free and making up the cost on volume is just a mirage,” Astorino said. “The Democrats have provided no objective data to suggest revenues will increase.”

According to the analysis by the county’s Parks Department, the county receives an average of only 96 cents in additional revenue in ride fees from patrons who enter the park with spectator passes. That means 370,000 spectator patrons would have to come to the park just to make up for the lost revenue. Last year, total attendance was only 494,000. And that doesn’t include extra expenses associated with larger numbers of patrons.

            In addition, Astorino rejected a proposal from Legislator John Nonna of Pleasantville that fireworks be eliminated at the park to save money. This, he said, would lead to fewer people at the park and even bigger deficits and possible litigation from the county’s fireworks vendor.

            “Fireworks are one of the main reasons why people come to the amusement park,” said Astorino. “Attendance goes up 15 percent on the days we have fireworks and on July 3^rd  and 4^th,   –  traditionally two of our busiest days – it’s probably the main reason people come to Playland. Eliminating fireworks would be like saying the Dragon Coaster is closed. It would be a disaster for attendance.” 

            The spectator fees that are included in the county’s 2011 budget ($5 for residents and $10 for nonresidents) remain in place for now. After Astorino’s veto, it will then be up to the board to either sustain or override that veto. Twelve votes are necessary to override a veto.

            “This is an example of the problems with any party having a super majority,” said Astorino. “There needs to be a check on actions that are not thought through and are not in the best interest of the county at large.”

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WPCNR STAGE DOOR. From Piia Haas, Westchester Broadway Theatre. June 16,2011:

Tony winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (“Ragtime”, “Once on this Island”) have lovingly brought to life all of our favorite Dr Seuss characters in a musical with mass appeal.  The show is light and effervescent and draws on pop influences ranging from the Beach Boys to Gospel and Salsa to, yes, the theme from “Shaft.”  SEUSSICAL proves to be an evening of theatre for everyone, of all ages!  The powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community are challenged and emerge triumphant in a story that makes you laugh and cry.

THEY’RE BACK AND YOU KNOW THEM. Some of the Lovables in WBT’S SEUSSICAL OPENING TONIGHT.: Augie Abatecola (The Cat In The Hat),  Brian Krinsky, Noah Silverman,Kayla Moore

Seussical opens tonight for a run at the Westchester Broadway Theatre through July 31, and features many local theatrical personalities in the show, including…

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WPCNR COUNTY-CLARION LEDGER. From Westchester County Board of Legislators. (Edited) June 14, 2011:

The Westchester Board of Legislators (BOL) with no Republicans present, unanimously voted 12-0 to approve a new schedule of entrance fees to Playland this evening that will again eliminate the spectator entrance fee for county residents.

THE FEES EXPLAINED

The new bill does not lower the non-resident fee of $10. If you live in The Bronx, Connecticut, Rockland County, Dutchess County, New Jersey, New York City, you pay $10 non-resident FEE on the weekend, in addition to $7 for parking, plus $30 per person for all rides, $20 per kid for the KiddyLand Playland section. A Season Pass for all Rides is $95 PER PERSON.

If a non-resident purchases $30 or $20 All-Ride fees for themselve and all in their party they do not pay the non-resident fee. However if you’re a family and you are just bring your kids, and purchase $20 KiddyLand Ride Passes for your kids, and you just stroll about, you as a non-resident still must pay a $10 fee.

The news release stated that to date Westchester residents’ attendance is down 40% at 4,889 Westchester attendees to date since Playland opened Memorial Day weekend. Though weather has also been unappealing two of the three weekends Playland has been open.

The bill was voted out of the Budget & Appropriations and Public Works, Parks, Labor and Transportation Committees Monday with bi-partisan approval. County Executive Robert Astorino, who vetoed lowering the fee for both residents and non-residents, now must sign the bill for the fees to go into law.

“County residents will soon be able to visit Playland and not feel the sting of double taxation because of having to pay a spectator entrance fee at a park their tax dollars are already supporting,” said Jenkins.

Statistic shows that the spectator admission fees are holding down the attendance of county residents. Year-to-date, Playland has seen a decrease of 4,889 resident attendees from a comparable period last year—a 40% drop.

Democratic legislators feel that reducing the resident spectator fee to zero will favorably boost the number of county residents coming to the park, along with their children and grandchildren, while also increasing revenues for the vendors and concessionaires.

The cost to the County with the new entrance fees, based on 2010 attendance figures, would be about $284,660, a figure the legislators feel will be made up with greater spending on food, rides and amusements. This is substantially less than the wildly inflated number that the Astorino Administration first floated and the $377,015 mentioned in the “Minority Report.”

“With the entire summer in front of us, this is the right move to make at the right time,” said Jenkins. “Instead of political posturing and fudging numbers, the Republicans would be smart to stand and deliver for the people of Westchester on Playland and a many, many other issues.”

While Legislator and Minority Leader Jim Maisano (R-New Rochelle) delivered an email to Chairman Jenkins explaining that he was unable to be at the Special meeting because of a family illness, the other Republicans were represented merely by their “Minority Report.”

The vote was 12-0 because the entire Republican caucus was absent from the Special Meeting of the Board. A hastily written “Minority Report” that was handed to BOL Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers) at the meeting suggests the Republicans boycotted the Special Meeting because they did not “support” the new legislation.

“It’s sad and unforgivable that Legislators elected to do the work of Westchester’s residents would decide among themselves to not attend a meeting and discuss the important business of the County.”

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WPCNR FBI WIRE. SPECIAL TO WPCNR From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. June 13, 2011: 

In another case involving prescription drugs distributed without prescriptions, Bharara announced SCOTT BURKO, 47, a pharmacist, of West Harrison, Westchester County, was sentenced today in White Plains federal court to two years in prison for participating in a conspiracy to dispense prescription drugs without valid prescriptions and dispensing prescription drugs unlawfully and with intent to defraud and mislead. United States District Judge KENNETH M. KARAS imposed the sentence.

In the insider trading conviction,

 BHARARA stated: “Zvi Goffer may have had a reputation in the hedge fund world for being ubiquitous, but today he, along with his brother Emanuel and Michael Kimelman, discovered they are not above the law. Since this case was first brought by this office, our prosecutions have been responsible for dismantling elaborate networks of corrupt executives who gamed the system, exploited their access to proprietary information, shirked their ethical responsibilities, and violated the law with impunity.

With today’s guilty verdicts, each and every one of the defendants originally arrested in the Galleon insider trading investigation now stands convicted. And we will continue to work tirelessly with our partners at the FBI to root out corporate corruption on Wall Street and to hold privileged professionals who gallop over the line accountable for their actions.”

According to the Superseding Indictment filed in Manhattan federal court, other court documents, and statements made during related court proceedings:

The defendants, along with their co-conspirators, including JASON GOLDFARB, who was an attorney in New York, New York; ARTHUR CUTILLO and BRIEN SANTARLAS, who were attorneys at the law firm of Ropes & Gray LLP in New York, New York; CRAIG DRIMAL, who worked in the office of the now-defunct Galleon Group (“Galleon”), but was not employed by Galleon; and DAVID PLATE, who worked as a proprietary trader at The Schottenfeld Group, operated an insider trading network through which ZVI GOFFER obtained, revealed, and traded on material, nonpublic information (the “Inside Information”) regarding mergers and acquisitions of public companies.

ZVI GOFFER and others paid sources, including CUTILLO and SANTARLAS, in exchange for Inside Information. In violation of their duties of confidentiality to Ropes & Gray and its clients, CUTILLO and SANTARLAS provided Inside Information about several mergers and acquisitions of public companies for which Ropes & Gray was providing legal services prior to the public announcements of the deals, as well as other information that they learned in the course of their employment at the law firm.

EMANUEL GOFFER and MICHAEL KIMELMAN, among others, received this Inside Information. For example, CUTILLO and SANTARLAS received cash payments for providing Inside Information concerning the acquisition of 3Com Corporation and Axcan Pharma, Inc., to GOLDFARB, who passed the Inside Information to ZVI GOFFER. GOFFER subsequently passed the Inside Information concerning 3Com to others, including EMANUEL GOFFER and MICHAEL KIMELMAN, who also earned profits trading on the information.

These defendants, along with their co-conspirators, DRIMAL and PLATE, traded hundreds of thousands of shares of stock based on the Inside Information and collectively earned millions of dollars in profits for themselves and their firms.

ZVI GOFFER, 34, of New York, New York, was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and 12 counts of securities fraud. EMANUEL GOFFER, 32, of New York, New York and MICHAEL KIMELMAN, 40, of Larchmont, New York, were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud.

Each of the conspiracy counts carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Each of the securities fraud counts carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $5 million or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.

ZVI GOFFER is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge SULLIVAN on September, 21, 2011, at 2:00 p.m.

EMANUEL GOFFER is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge SULLIVAN on October 7, 2011, at 10:00 a.m.

MICHAEL KIMELMAN is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge SULLIVAN on October 7, 2011, at 2:00 p.m.

GOLDFARB, 32 of New York, New York; CUTILLO, 34, of Ridgewood, New Jersey; DRIMAL, 55, of Weston, Connecticut; PLATE, 36, of New York, New York; SANTARLAS, 34, of Hoboken, New Jersey; and SHANKAR, 36, have all previously pled guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud charges.

Mr. BHARARA praised the extraordinary work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He also thanked the SEC for its assistance in the investigation of this case.Assistant U.S. Attorneys ANDREW L. FISH and RICHARD C. TARLOWE are in charge of the prosecution.

In the prescription drugs sentencing today in White Plains,

In imposing the sentence on BURKO, Judge KARAS, citing the defendant’s “brazen and longstanding criminal conduct” and the fact that his conduct required “planning, guile, and attention to detail,” underscored the need to impose a sentence that would deter others from engaging in similar conduct.

On November 30, 2010, BURKO pled guilty to three counts of an Indictment. The first count to which BURKO pled guilty charged that BURKO participated in a conspiracy from at least 2003 through March 31, 2006, to cause the dispensing without valid prescriptions of prescription drugs held for sale after shipment in interstate commerce. According to the Indictment, BURKO worked as a pharmacist for a company that operated pharmacies in Rockland County, Orange County, Dutchess County, and Westchester County.

The second and third counts to which BURKO pled guilty charged that BURKO dispensed Prednisone on April 8, 2005, and March 31, 2006, pursuant to fraudulent prescriptions. As charged in the Indictment, on both occasions, BURKO dispensed Prednisone, a steroid, in 10 milligram tablets, pursuant to fraudulent prescriptions BURKO issued in the names of fictitious patients.

According to statements made by the Government during prior proceedings in this matter and in the Government’s submission filed in advance of the sentencing proceeding:

On 163 occasions, BURKO falsified pharmacy records and filled and dispensed Prednisone prescriptions for fictitious individuals. The dispensing of Prednisone pursuant to the fraudulent prescriptions was part of a larger scheme by which BURKO and at least one co-conspirator stole drugs from the pharmacies at which BURKO worked. Burko falsified pharmacy records to make it appear that he had received oral prescriptions (via telephone calls from doctors) for Prednisone for fictitious patients.·

BURKO then “filled” the false prescriptions and dispensed the medication to a co-conspirator, who came to the pharmacy to pick up the medication. When the co-conspirator left the pharmacy, he left with a bag containing the Prednisone, as well as numerous other medications.

In addition to his sentence of two years in prison, BURKO was also ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution. Judge KARAS also imposed a term of three years’ supervised release.

Mr. BHARARA praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in connection with this matter. Mr. BHARARA thanked the Clarkstown Police Department for its assistance in the investigation.

This case is being handled by the White Plains Division of the United States Attorneys Office. Assistant United States Attorney MARCIA S. COHEN is in charge of the prosecution.