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 PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DAY. June 13, 2011: 

Mayor Thomas Roach with Theresa Perry, and her two sons, David and John  unveiling the eternal remembrance of Detective Michael Perry Sunday renaming Court Street in his name.

One year ago Sunday, Officer Michael Perry died in the line of duty after chasing and arresting an alleged shoplifting suspect at the corner of Main Street and Court Street. After escorting the suspect back to police headquarters, officer Perry collapsed and died the first officer to die in the line of duty in White Plains in over twenty years.

Sunday over 100 police and public safety officers gathered to rename Court Street Detective Michael Perry Way in his honor. Here is how it looked as his parents, widow and children looked on, remembering, respecting, contemplative of what public safety officers put on the line for the community every day, and remembering a much-loved member of the department.

Mayor Thomas Roach awarded White Plains first-ever “Medal of Honor” to Theresa Perry, Sunday afternoon, with Commissioner of Public Safety David Chong. Mr. Roach, in his remarks said that Detective Perry “gave everything he had,”  and regretted that reckless acts by individuals often end up costing the lives of officers as was the case in Detective Perry’s heroic efforts.

An emotional Commissioner of Public Safety David Chong, delivered the following remarks  in Detective Perry’s honor:

“…Thank you White Plains Department of Public Safety, and especially thank you to the Perry Family.

One year ago today, we in Public Safety lost a hero, the City lost a valuable member of its staff, and the Perry family suffered the greatest lost as they lost a beloved one.

Today we gather here on the corner where that horrible day began, to pay homage to Detective Michael Perry. The corner of Main Street and Court Street in Downtown White Plains, the heart of this beautiful and vibrant city will always have a street signed, dedicated to our hero, Michael Perry.

Throughout the year, Detective Perry’s memory and sacrifice has been honored throughout the United States of America and the Law Enforcement profession. His name appears on the New York State Fraternal Order of Police Wall in Hicksville, Long Island, as well as the Memorial Wall in Albany, our State Capitol and on the National Police Officers Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

It is only fitting that his name will forever appear in the heart of the City in which he served with Pride, Integrity and Courage.

All these accolades and ceremonies are well befitting a hero, who gave the ultimate sacrifice. We must always remember to be thankful to the Perry family and as a City we always will.

At the end of the day, we must remember that Theresa is going home without a husband, David and John, without a father, and Patricia and Patrick without their son as well as his brother and sisters, friends and extended family without Michael.

I wish to thank the entire City Administration from Mayor Tom Roach, through the council, all city staff, my staff and everyone in the Department of Public Safety, the PBA, especially the Executive Board led by President Robert Riley and President Jim Carrier, for making this past year as bearable as possible.

Theresa, John, David, Patrick and Patricia, and the entire Perry Family and friends, as I promised a year ago, we will never forget our Hero Detective Michael Perry.  May God bless you all and always look over you. Always know that we will be there for you as Michael was there for us.”

The rememberers and Commissioner Chong were touched and brought to tears by NYPD Sergeant Michael Devine’s plaintive tenor voice softly rendering the song “Tell My Father,” from the play Civil War. It was evocative and invoked the never-ending sense of loss that the ceremony recognized.The Sergeant sang…

Tell my father that his son
Didn’t run, or surrender
That I bore his name with pride
As I tried to remember
You are judged by what you do
While passing through
As I rest ‘neath fields of green
Let him lean on your shoulder
Tell him how I spent my youth
So the truth could grow older
Tell my father when you can
I was a man
Tell him we will meet again
Where the angels learn to fly

[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/tell-my-father-lyrics-john-barrowman.html ]

Tell him we will meet as men
For with honor did I die
Tell him how I wore the Blue
Proud and true through the fire
Tell my father so he’ll know

I love him so
Tell him how I wore the blue

Proud and true like he taught Me
Tell my father not to cry
Then say goodbye

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the Governor’s Press Office. June 9, 2011:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Wednesday  he has introduced pension reform legislation that would impose a new Tier VI for future employees and save taxpayers $93 billion over the next 30 years, a figure that does not include New York City. These reforms will reduce costs for local governments and schools and help get control of local property taxes for homeowners and businesses across the state. The bill also includes, at the request of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a separate pension reform proposal for New York City and the uniformed services.

The new pension tier will increase the retirement age for new employees from 62 to 65, increase employee pension contributions and end so-called pension padding where employees accumulate substantial amounts of overtime in their final years of service to increase their pension.

“The numbers speak for themselves – the pension system as we know it is unsustainable,” Governor Cuomo said. “This bill institutes common-sense reforms to bring government benefits more in line with the private sector while still serving our employees and protecting our retirees. Reducing the skyrocketing pension burden faced by local governments and schools will also help get control of local property taxes that are driving New Yorkers from their homes and from the state.”

Assemblyman Robert Castelli of the White Plains/Lewisboro 89th Assembly District applauded the effort with one caveat:

Since 2001, pension contributions by the state, local governments and schools increased from $368 million to $6.6 billion outside New York City.During the same period for New York City, pension costs increased from $1.1 billion to $8.4 billion.This level of growth raises property taxes and impacts government’s ability to provide services.

Provisions in the legislation include:

• Raising the retirement age from 62 to 65
  
• Ending early retirement
  
• Requiring employees to contribute six percent of their salary for the duration of their career
  
• Providing a 1.67 percent annual pension multiplier
  
• Vesting after 12 years instead of 10 years
  
• Excluding overtime from final average salary
  
• Using a five year final average salary calculation with an 8 percent anti-spiking cap
  
• Excluding wages above the Governor’s salary of $179,000 from the final average salary calculation
  
• Eliminating lump sum payouts for unused vacation leave from the final average salary calculation
  
• Prohibiting the use of unused sick leave for additional service credit at retirement

The reform of the state pension system would impact new hires by the state and local governments, including school districts. The City pension reform plan would cover new employees of New York City, including the uniformed services.

The bill is available here. The bill memo is available here.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “We have, for the last six months, been engaging with stakeholders in City and State government and our partners in municipal labor, on a vital question we’ve raised for years: how to protect both city services and the strength of our retirement funds over the long term.The Governor’s bill will do just that — by making sensible pension reforms that won’t impact a single current employee or existing retiree, this legislation will create $30 billion in savings over the next 30 years for the City, which will ensure we can afford the services and workforce that City residents depend on, and provide a secure retirement for municipal employees long into the future.”

Carol Kellermann, President of the Citizens Budget Commission, said, “Rapidly rising pension costs have squeezed the budgets of every government in New York State and contributed to New York’s high tax burden. New York needs an affordable pension plan that reflects current economic times and can be sustained over the long term. Governor Cuomo’s proposal for a new tier is fiscally responsible and would provide significant relief to taxpayers and local governments.”

Stephen J. Acquario, Executive Director of the New York State Association of Counties, said, “Pension costs are projected to rise at unsustainable rates for public employers and their taxpayers. Governor Cuomo’s Tier VI measure will provide much-needed long-term relief while still protecting the financial integrity of the retirement system.NYSAC supports the Governor’s proposal which will modernize the State’s pension system and provide efficiency and stability to ease the local burden of skyrocketing pension costs.”

Peter Baynes, Executive Director of the New York Conference of Mayors, said, “Governor Cuomo’s proposal to add a new Tier to the pension system is good news for local governments and their property taxpayers. The cost of the public pension system has grown out of control, and we need to take proactive steps to rein it in. This plan will ultimately save billions in taxpayer dollars while providing a stable, secure retirement system for public employees. We look forward to seeing the Governor’s bill pass this session.”

G. Jeffrey Haber, Executive Director of the Association of Towns of the State of New York, said, “Towns are always looking for responsible ways to minimize the real property tax burden for their residents.The current economic climate necessitates changes to the existing retirement formula. We applaud Governor’s Cuomo’s efforts to address this situation by the introduction of a Tier VI pension reform plan.”

Timothy G. Kremer, Executive Director of the New York State School Boards Association, said, “School districts have been punished by escalating pension costs for the last several years. The current retirement systems are no longer sustainable.Saving $93 billion over time will provide welcome relief to school districts and taxpayers struggling to make ends meet.”

Robert J. Reidy, Jr., Ph.D., Executive Director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents said, “Governor Cuomo’s measure to rein in pension costs is commendable. In recent years, most school districts have had to freeze or cut all other spending to absorb steep pension cost increases.This plan will save billions in taxpayer dollars and provide much-needed relief to school districts all over New York state.”

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi said, “I applaud Governor Cuomo’s efforts to seek long overdue reform to the Public Employee’s Pension System. His plan will ultimately bring much needed relief to local governments, school districts and the State government itself, whose budgets have all been ravaged by exploding pension costs during recent years. To those who claim that the benefits of the proposed Tier 6 will do nothing to help overburdened taxpayers now, I remind them that had foresight and leadership such as this been demonstrated 10-15 years ago, our punitive tax burden, problems and pain of today would have been significantly more manageable. Proverb teaches us that ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’. This is a significant leap and I look forward to working with the Governor and Legislature to follow this up with even more initiatives to restructure and retool the Governments of the Empire State.”

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. June 7,2011:

The Common Council last night approved floating $363,600 in bond anticipation notes renewable annually at .75 %  to pay an engineering firm and a law firm to study four privately owned golf clubs and a stretch of land along Hutchinson Parkway to ascertain whether the properties need rezoning to “bring these regulations into greater conformity with, and to better implement  the stated visions of the 1997 Comprehensive Plan.

Councilman David Buchwald commenting on the bond, ( an outgrowth of the April 4 moratorium halting for six months any decisions on development of recreational lands so the city could conduct studies and update the city Comprehensive Plan), defended the expenditure as being a far cry from spending  $15 Million (that the Council refused to do, to acquire the Ridgeway Country Club, as proposed by the previous Mayor Adam Bradley last fall.)

Buchwald said the expenditure is to analyze the  golf courses (now in private hands)  to determine if they need to be rezoned in view of environmental conditions. He pointed out that the law firm hired for $49,500, Silverberg & Zalantis, had performed a similar rezoning for the Town of Mamaroneck. That zoning has stood up in the State Court of Appeals when challenged by properties seeking to develop their property.

After the meeting, Buchwald told WPCNR the law firm might or might not formulate different zoning for each individual property,(depending on the findings of the study ) An engineering firm VHB Engineering, Surveying and Landscape Archetecture, principals of whom are John Saccardi and David Schiff (who worked on the original 1997 Comprehensive Plan) will conduct the survey for $305,000, plus up to $5,000 for printing expenses. Buchwald did not seem worried that individual properties affected by any possible rezoning, might challenge any rezoning (if any would be created) on grounds it devalued their property. Buchwald allowed their might be some difference of opinion.

The clubs that will be studied are Westchester Hills Golf Club, former Ridgeway Country Club (now owned by the French American School of New York ) , a portion of Fenway Golf Club located in White Plains, Maplemoor Golf Course (a county property), and a portion of Hutchinson River Parkway in White Plains.

Mayor Tom Roach told WPCNR, the study was being done to see if any rezoning needed to be considered.  Councilperson Milagros Lecuona during the meeting, said previous Open Space Acquisition Committee studies of 13 properties, was not a detailed study such as will now be done, but simply an effort to see whether properties could be linked.

The interest actually works out to a .40% interest, when the net interest cost is deducted from the cost of borrowing over 20 years, is figured into the equation, according to City Finance Commissioner, Michael Genito

Roach said the study would begin as soon as possible.

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WPCNR MILESTONES. June 6, 2011:

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. JUNE 4, 2012:

Hundreds of visitors enjoyed the marvelous day Saturday at Tibbetts Park, home of the annual White Plains Arts Festival held to fund the White Plains High School Art Scholarships. You could see eclectic collections of jewelry, unique soaps, tie-dye clothing, swank and unusual dress designs, sports prints, oils, classic painting styles of Europe, seascapes, photography that is stunning plus all the tasty foods you could want. The festival continues tomorrow Sunday at 10 A.M. in Tibbetts Park. Admission is free.

Common Council President Benjamin Boykin takes his tour of duty welcoming visitors. Mr. Boykin, Mayor Tom Roach (with  his young boys), Mike Graessle, Jim Benerofe, Nick Wolf were just a few of the bold face names to drop by. Boykin said it was the best weather in years. The festival continues Sunday.

Where the Young and Art Meet.

Outdoor Dining of “Artful Tastes”

The Midway right up Tibbetts Park

Brenda Starr considers one of the many selections of jewelry. Basil St. John was not available for comment.

On the Edge avant gard styles caught the eye.