THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. June 17, 2020:

This year’s School Budget for 2020-21 was put before all 33,000 White Plains registered voters.

Governor Andrew Cuomo to protect against a Covid-19 spread, sent absentee ballots so the voters did not have to vote in person at the polls as scheduled May 10.

Voting was moved to June 10 by absentee ballot with Tuesday June 16 the last day for absentee ballots to arrive.

Last night the absentee ballots were counted.

All 33,000 White Plains voters had to do was mark a ballot and drop it in the mail to vote, or return it to Education House.

17% did that.

An unofficial total of 5,647 voters (17%) did that out of the voter universe of 33,000.

The budget was approved by 84% of the voters, 4,721 to 926.

White Plains Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Ricca issued this statement last night on the vote:

On behalf of the White Plains CSD Board of Education, we would like to take a moment to thank you for all of your help and support throughout the budget planning and presentation processes. The White Plains CSD 2020-2021 Budget was passed with a total vote count of 4,721 Yes and 926 No (unofficial count). The question regarding the use of Capital Reserve passed with a vote count of 4,863 Yes and 748 No. Thank you!

Mrs. Rosemarie Eller and Dr. Randy Stein were reelected to the Board of Education. Congratulations to all!

This election process was the first of its kind in our history and it was a challenging scenario. Special thanks to Mrs. Schoenfeld, Mrs. Geiger and the Election Inspectors.  

We are very thankful to all that took the time to attend meetings; share information; participate in focus group meetings; and organize virtual community gatherings. It is because of you, and the support of our community, that we are able to move forward with support for our outstanding student programming! We are thrilled and we are grateful.

Thank you for your support and congratulations! #WPProud

The results of the June 16 Budget Vote and Election is as follows (as reported unofficially by the White Plains City School District Tuesday evening:

Budget:                Yes         4,721

                                No             926

Proposition:       Yes         4,863

                                No             748

Candidates: (2 seats, incumbents running unopposed)

                                Rosemarie Eller      4,948

                                Randy Stein             4,772

These are  unofficial totals, to be confirmed tomorrow, 6/17.

The vote is an overwhelming vote of confidence in the school district by those who paid attention to the absentee ballots and put them in the mail,

It eliminates forever what this reporter has long thought that the school budget and Board of Education election should be held in November with regular elections where there is greater turnout.

WPCNR COMMUTERING. BY John F. Bailey. June 15, 2020:

Extra express trains to Grand Central Terminal added by Metro North to handle expected surge in riders expected today, met commuters varying from 30 to 50 persons (at the most)to as low as 20 on the 6 expresses WPCNR observed this morning.  Everybody got seats, it was easy for them to self-distance on board the trains.

This return of the commuter workforce may improve throughout the week. There appeared to be considerably more persons disembarking the northbound trains terminating in White Plains. Southbound locals were even less filled, only one lone commuter took the southbound 8:30 AM local.

The 7:50 and 7:55 AM expresses (usually jammed before coronovirus) to get into Grand Central Terminal before 9AM, were unusually light.

The last two weeks Metro North had been running two trains on the hour, and perhaps commuters were unaware of the new times, since Metro North only puts the information on the website. However that would mean larger  crowds at 20 past the hour, but the crowds were not larger.

Some other observations: commuters should be aware they can only pay for tickets by debit card or credit cart. No cash is accepted.  There are no rest rooms available at all, so “go before you go.”

The station construction is in mid process. The parking garage and parking lot adjacent the taxi stand are wide open for parking.  The first floor of the parking garage and half of the second floor  still had parking places in them. The MTA Preseident said last week that they had gained 5% in traffic and were still 90% below normal ridership.

Commuters were observing social distancing and 99% were wearing masks. But if commuter confidence is restored, there is not a lot of room on these platforms to accommodate the human traffic of the past. (You used to have to worry about being too close to the platform when the expresses came roaring in, no more.)