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 ICE STREET. October 25, 2008: Everybody got back on the ice at  Ebersole Ice Rink, a White Plains tradition for 53 years with skating lessons beginning Saturday, with skating lessons for Tots, Alpha, Betas and Gammas and children of all ages.  The White Plains Figure Skating Club began Tuesday. Ebersole is also home to the White Plains Plainsmen hockey clubs and the White Plains High School hockey team – one of the few high school teams with its own hometown rink.

Welcome Back! Kristen Fuerst, Ebersole Skating School Director for 12 years, reports 350 boys and girls have already signed for skating classes at Good Ol’ Ebersole, and there is still time for parents to sign their kids up at the White Plains Department of Recreation and Parks Headquarters. Private lessons are also given at the rink by the Skating School Instructors. Contact Rec & Parks at 422-1336, for the Skating School Booklet, or the skating school at 948-6696, for information on Advanced Figure Skating and contact Libby Hollahan for information on the White Plains Figure Skating Club.

The rink’s “family” astmosphere is where White Plains kids grow up. It’s safe. It’s run by people who have been there for years. Marty Peck, with Pam Peck above  has run the skate rental concession since the rink opened in 1955.

Mr. Peck told WPCNR he started his Skating Shop right at the rink where the locker rooms are now. He says he now sees little girls he rented skates to coming back to the rink with their daughters and sons. He says it seems like just yesterday. Skates cost just $7 a session.

 Lou, the friendly man who handles admissions has been checking in the ice princesses and princes of the ice in for 48 years.

The Ebersole Snack Bar is renowned for its superbly medium burgers for $3, hot dogs for $2 and Fries for $1.75  (crispy, toasty and addictive!), plus capachino for a $1.75 you can’t beat that.

Run with savvy, welcoming atmosphere by Matt Hansen, the rink never changes.  One of two outdoor rinks in Westchester County the air is fresh wholesome and on cold winter’s nights it’s invigorating!

Ebersole is a place where all the kids meet and the parents, too, get together on the lesson nights, Saturday mornings and at the private sessions. It’s the closest thing  White Plains has to a community center for all.  Friday nights on teen nights, kids from all grades and neighborhoods come together to skate, and under the knowing hand of the rink staff can bring over a hundred teenagers together without having a regiment of police on hand. It is a testimony to the way the rink is run.

Juliana Bailey, aged 9 in 1998 at Ebersole with pal, Amy Reinthaler, 13.  Great friends, despite the difference in age, the two went on to skate for their colleges on syncrhonized skating teams, competing on a national level. Photo, Kristen Fuerst.

Good ole Ebersole, as this reporter has written many times, is where kids learn confidence through working on their skating, admiring older girls who have gone before them do their twizzles, wallys, crossovers, loops, lutzs and the ultimate – landing the first axle. All aspire to the coveted  black White Plains Figure Skating Club jacket. As grow up at The Eb, the young become the older girls whom the skating school employs as teachers and the Ebersole tradition carries on year after year.

Two for the Ice for Life : Juliana Bailey, 18, left with 22 year old Amy Reinthaler, right, 10 years later,   last Spring at the Nashville Synchronized Skating Midwest Championships. Ms. Reinthaler  pioneererd  Synchronized Skating at the University of Notre Dame. Ms. Reinthaler was a mentor whom Ms. Bailey looked up to for leadership and guidance at Ebersole Rink when they both skated there. Once you skate together, you’re friends for life — and you get all those great college skating warmup jackets, too! 

It’s the way Ebersole has  been for 53 years.

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. October 23, 2008: Thomas Suozzi, Nassau County Executive, and  Chair o the Governor’s Commission on Property Tax Reform, told politicians and concerned businesspersons at the Ritz Carlton last night,  a property tax cap  and Circuit Breaker legislation, would only happen if citizens and businesspersons  started a  strong political movement to pressure the legislature.

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi addressing Westchester County Association Government Reception Wednesday evening at The Ritz-Carlton.

Suozzi was the featured speaker behind introductions of key politicians: Congresswoman Nita Lowey who said she welcomed any suggestions from the public on further measures to deal with the national financial crisis, Assemblyman Adam Bradley who promised the legislature was going back into session to address the state budget, , County Executive Andrew Spano, who described the present financial situation in the county and the state has one “I have not seen in my lifetime. Spano, borrowing White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino’s philosophy, said heartfully, “Let’s keep together and let’s work together. We’re all family, we all need to work through this together as a family.” 

Suozzi hammered home to an audience who was unusually impolite, continuing to buzz with conversation while Mr. Suozzi was speaking. At one point, Suozzi said the audience could continue their conversations in a few moments and asked them to “pay attention”  and, describing the problem with mandates and how they get enacted, because new mandates are described to legislators as good ideas. Mr. Suozzi said  “you can’t do every good idea.”

Suozzi suggested it was unrealistic to expect tax reform without a groundswell of public demand for it, saying,  “1. We’ve gotten “incredible pushback” from school districts and teachers union. 2. You have to change laws we have. 3. You will not get mandate reform because there are too many special interests. The only way is to enact a tax cap and circuit breaker.”

WPCNR caught up with County Legislator Bill Ryan after the talk and asked him what could be expected on the County Budget, now under construction. Ryan said he had submitted a budget for the Board of Legislators  1.4% above this year’s budget. He said he was hopeful the county could bring in a budget taking into account inflation of about 1.4% above 2008. (Last year, the county budget rose 3.9%)

Ryan said he had met with Governor David Patterson and representatives of the New York Conference of Mayors Monday in New York, at the request of the Governor, who wanted their input on how Patterson might cut the state budget so as not to stress the counties.

Ryan said he told the governor the best way to cut the budget was not to cut mandate funding, because would force the county to raise taxes to fund the mandates shifting the burden for the mandates. Ryan instead suggested state cuts be made in state aid on discretionary services. “This way,” Ryan told me, “the county can pick and choose where to allocate our money.”

Westchester County Association’s Bill Mooney, far left, and Alfred Del Bello, far right, flank the County Executives, Andrew Spano, second from left, and Thomas Suozzi.

Observations:

Suozzi was going to take questions, but ended his talk, it appeared due to lack of respect from the audience.  This reporter was embarrassed the way Mr. Suozzi’s talk was paid attention to by the audience of persons who should know better. Mr. Suozzi is a guest of Westchester County. At least a third of the persons continued talking and drinking during Suozzi’s talk.

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUND. October 22, 2008: Adult disabled children and they parents who no longer can adequately care for them,  who were hoping the pioneer New York State New York Cares initiative to build new group homes to house the young men and women are the first victims of the New York State finance crisis tied to the credit defaults swaps debacle.

WPCNR has learned that agencies seeking to open new group homes, some of which have already been purchased have been put on hold by the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, pending budget review.

The review which suspends opening of group homes already purchased and renovated comes during National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

The change in policy was disclosed in yesterday’s bulletin from the New York State Association of Community and Residential agencies, in which they report that on October 20 at a provider association meeting the NYSACRA was told “ALL out-of-home residential development” has been “halted, while they (OMRDD) assess their commitments in this grim financial environment.”

The newsletter reports the assessment  by OMRDD “will deterimine which projects may move ahead (some of which have already been purchased by caretaker organizations) and be funded, and which will not.”

The newsletter notes “reconfiguring and downsizing projects  for existing facilities most likely will not go forward;”  that no new projects will go forward and even projects having received approval may not go forward.

It was pointed out by the head of one local provider that budgets may be approved for homes that are not “fiscally viable,” which, in effect, would kill the home.

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 WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the Office of the New York State Comptroller. (EDITED) October 20, 2008: The state budget number trends show growth is dropping off, according to a report issued Monday by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Business taxes have decreased 13 percent compared to last year and the growth in personal income tax is starting to decline.

DiNapoli released his findings in a special quarterly report examining revenue collections based on revenue and spending information from the Comptroller’s Monthly Cash Report. The report noted after a strong start in April, growth in personal income tax collections is decreasing.

Total personal income tax collections in the General Fund compared to last year grew a total of 15.4 percent through September, compared to 24.6 percent for the first three months of this fiscal year. The state collected $2.4 billion in General Fund business taxes through September, a decline of $356.7 million or 13 percent, compared to last year.

DiNapoli released his findings in a special quarterly report examining revenue collections based on revenue and spending information from the Comptroller’s Monthly Cash Report. The report noted after a strong start in April, growth in personal income tax collections is decreasing. Total personal income tax collections in the General Fund compared to last year grew a total of 15.4 percent through September, compared to 24.6 percent for the first three months of this fiscal year. The state collected $2.4 billion in General Fund business taxes through September, a decline of $356.7 million or 13 percent, compared to last year.

“The state started the fiscal year with surprisingly strong personal income tax collections that fueled growth in state revenues. But that growth is falling off and things are looking very shaky,” DiNapoli said. “Personal income taxes will likely decline significantly when Wall Street bonus payments drop off in December and January. Then we’ll have a more accurate reflection of the financial challenges facing the state this year and next. But even without the bonus numbers, it’s clear that despite the state’s current year spending reductions, the state faces potentially unprecedented deficits.

“The Governor has made the right call to bring the Legislature back to address the state’s finances. Now is the time to carefully evaluate our priorities and take a sensible, balanced approach. We should not look for quick fixes that could create more problems. New York needs long-term solutions that don’t make an already bad situation catastrophic.”

Among the reports findings:

• Overall General Fund Revenues: State revenues totaled $29.4 billion through September, up $2.8 billion or 10.6 percent compared to the same period last year, primarily because of higher than expected personal income tax collections. DiNapoli cautions that this growth is primarily due to the settlement of the 2007 personal income tax liabilities.
  
• Overall General Fund Spending: The state spent $26.5 billion, including transfers, through the first six months of state’s fiscal year. This was 3.9 percent, or $1 billion, higher than the first six months of last year but below projections. The majority of the growth was from local assistance payments ($677.7 million), which were actually less than expected by $221.3 million.
  
• Breakdown of Business Tax Declines: The $2.4 billion the state collected in General Fund business taxes through September was a decline of $356.7 million or 13 percent compared to last year. Corporate franchise taxes were down $248.5 million or 17.6 percent; bank taxes decreased $67.9 million or 12.5 percent; and insurance taxes went down $57 million or 10.8 percent for the first six months. Business tax collections in September were $877.5 million, which is below projections of $1.25 billion. General Fund business tax collections have been below estimates in every month of the current fiscal year, even though projections have been lowered twice.
  
• Other Taxes: Other General Fund tax collections of $756.2 million grew by $242.8 million, or 47.3 percent, primarily because of estate tax collections in July. Consumption tax collections, including sales taxes, of $4.4 billion grew less than 1 percent from the previous year.
  
• Projected Budget Gap: The Division of the Budget is currently projecting a General Fund gap of approximately $1.2 billion. The Governor has said this gap could be as high as $2 billion. DiNapoli noted that his office had previously identified $1.6 billion in risks and $2.8 billion in non-recurring revenues used to balance this year’s budget. He expressed concern that this gap could increase if the economy continues to deteriorate and other anticipated revenue, such as the sale of Wellpoint stock, is lower than expected.

All Governmental fund receipts totaled $58 billion through September. This is approximately $536 million below projections. Year-to-date tax receipts of $32.4 billion were approximately $77 million over projections, while year-to-date miscellaneous receipts of $8.5 billion were approximately $283 million below projections and year-to-date federal receipts of $17.1 billion were $330 million below projections. Tax receipt collections were over estimates primarily because of strong personal income tax collections in April of this year. However, those collections represent estimated tax collections from the 2007 tax year and are not indicative of current economic circumstances.

Through the first six months of the fiscal year, spending in All Governmental funds increased 7.7 percent, or $4.1 billion, with the majority of the growth in local assistance payments. State Operations spending increased $733 million, or 8.3 percent, while General State Charges increased $96.3 million, or 3.1 percent. Spending for debt service increased 17.6 percent, or $294.7 million, and spending for Capital Projects has increased 12.5 percent, or $312.2 million, compared to year-to-date spending through September 2007.

The state’s finances are generally broken down by two main categories: General Fund and All Funds. The General Fund is the major operating fund of the State and accounts for all receipts that are not required by law to be deposited into another fund. All Governmental Funds includes General, Special Revenue, Debt Service and Capital Projects funds, as well as funds from the federal government.

Click here for the report examining first quarter state revenues.

Click here for a copy of the September 2008 Cash Report, which includes a full breakdown of all revenue and spending for the first quarter.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. By Grantland Rice. October 20, 2008:  In honor of the Tampa Bay Rays, Grantland Rice from the Heavenly press box behind homeplate in the great pantheon stadium in the sky, has penned another immortal poem of verse to celebrate a team that will always be remembered for their season of hope: the American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays!

Hail to the Ray Men

By Grantland Rice

The  American Leauge Champions Tampa Bay Rays ascend to Baseball’s Elysian Fields, shown above, Hoboken New Jersey (Weehauken, N.J.)  Engraving, Harper’s Magazine, Library of Congress, Washington D.C

Hail to the Raymen,  brash brave Champions of  Junior Circuit!

Conquerers of the prentenda 2^nd Place Sox.

Restoring honor to horsehide postseason hustings, the team with no quit,

Exploding the clichés of sportswriters’ doubt with timely socks!

Hail to Garza the Goateed Guardian, “Matty the Second,” throwing inside like Gibson of days gone bye

Silencing vaunted scarlet hose cannons, fanning Big Papi  in 6^th when it mattered most.

Defusing  loaded New England batz with daring rise and darting drops to dazzle the eye.

To Young Reliable  Langoria, eclipsing Eva, with trademark 2 strike  opposite field clutch two bagger

Inside the line for equalizer, with Pena’s crafty slide turning Trop crowd to roaring host!

Here’s to the eyes of Willie in the 5th, Aybar sending  Lefty Lester’s crafty curve one hop to corner’s wall.

Roars for  Rocco-October’s 2-strike stroke in the SS hole to bring the Say Ray Kid around.

Plaudits again to noble Baldelli, ,modern Gehrig, his  running, dashing one hand catch at his knees in right  causing Boston to bawl

Kudo’s to the Say Ray Kid hero’s towering blow on 3-2 in the 7^th  to extend

Boston’s misery at the end

World Series passes to maligned Ray Bullpen crew

Defusing Beaneaters’ last threats in faithful 7^th and 8^th.

 To Wheeler the dealer bailing Matty out in 7^th, to Hang in There Howell hanging out Big Papi

To fearless Rookie David Price sacks full of Saux, fanning the redoubtable Drew on 3-2

The Tampa Bay Rays to the all – Improbable but true,

The nimble Iwamura, solving Lester to get things started.

The elegant Upton and threatening Crawford Carrying Rays

Over hard times and getting the Rays through.

To the starters, stoppers all who got the jobs done : Shields, Kazmir  of The Kays,

Jackson and Sonnanstine one after another they threw.

To the Rays of the bedraggled moth-eaten Trop rug of the showing seams,

Take their place with the ball’s hope teams:

The Hitless Wonders, the Miracle Braves, Leo’s Giants,

The Impossible Dream Mets, creating others’ Improbable Dreams