WPCNR THE FEINER REPORT. From Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner. March 17, 2010: Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner wants to know why Westchester is last? Many Greenburgh residents (6,386) continue to be out of service. Roads continue to be closed. The Greenburgh library was not open Monday and Tuesday. Businesses are suffering.

Con Ed should explain their priorities --every area should have been treated equally.  Why should surrounding counties have most of their power on--but Westchester has thousands of people without power?

WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. By John F. Bailey. March 16,2010: White Plains Commissioner of Public Works,  Joseph “Bud” Nicoletti gave WPCNR a status report on the state of powering-up White Plains, giving a clearer picture of how the big power-up after the weekend “storm with no name” cut off electricity to over 7,000 White Plains residents and toppled an estimated 1,000 trees to earth in the city. That “power-up” continues at this hour with 2,588 White Plainsian Customers without power as of 10 P.M.

Nicoletti said Tuesday evening in an interview with WPCR,  that parts of the North End, Jefferson Avenue, Coolidge  and Holbrook still need to be cleared of trees and live wires on the streets – 6 streets remain out of a list of 30 streets that were unpassable due to felled trees and live wires, and another 15 to20 streets  blocked by trees did not have live voltage wires blocking them, he said when the race to power-up began Sunday morning as the storm subsided.

WPCNR CITY CIRCUIT. From the Mayor's Office. March 16, 2010: On the city website in an update dated March 14 (Sunday), the city provides a short solution as to why it takes so long to clear city streets of fallen trees. Incidentally, the city also reports the YMCA on Mamaroneck Avenue is offering free showers to the public until 9 P.M. The report on the DPW-Con Ed repair delay notes:

" (White Plains) DPW crews have already cleared the trees that had no power lines attached to them on Holbrook Road, Bayne Place, Barker Avenue, Bryant Avenue, Midland Avenue, Richbell Road, Alan Drive, Patricia Lane, Lake Street and North Broadway, Rosedale Avenue, Whitewood Lane, Soundview Avenue, Vermont Avenue, Chatham Place, Gedney Esplanade, Rolling Ridge Road, Ridgeway, Miles Avenue, Prospect Avenue, South Broadway, Longview Avenue, and Ridgeview.

DPW crews cannot touch trees that have high voltage wires entangled in them. It’s illegal and unsafe. Before they can clear a tree, they must get approval from a Con Edison electrical inspector because the wires may still be energized. (Editor's Note: It is unclear whether a third Con Edison crew then comes in and replaces the severed wires.)

The Prospect Park area was hard hit because all the main roads were cut off because of downed trees and power lines. 

Con Edison brought in a crew at 8am Sunday to clear the area. Two trees fell across the street from the White Plains High School, bringing down 13,000 volt lines. Those lines were disconnected by Con Edison.  There was also a downed tree blocking Old Mamaroneck Road by Hazelton Avenue, and another downed tree on Mamaroneck Avenue near the Harrison border.

Some secondary roads that have downed trees will be cleared.  They include Midland Avenue, Soundview , Gedney Esplanade,  Church Street, Westview, Leith Place, Jefferson Avenue, and Vermont Avenue. (This presumably has taken place by now, late Tuesday afternoon.)

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From Westchester County Department of Communications. March 15, 2010 (EDITED) : In the aftermath of this weekend’s devastating rain and wind storm, County Executive Robert P. Astorino today met with Gov. Paterson, FEMA representatives and Con Edison officials, as the county’s Department of Emergency Services began efforts to qualify the county for federal disaster aid.

At a meeting earlier in the day at the county’s Emergency Operations Center in Hawthorne, Astorino briefed Paterson on the damage. The two executives also heard directly from Con Edison on its ongoing efforts to restore power throughout the county. Others present were representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the state police, the county’s police and department of Emergency Services and the state Department of Transportation.   

If Westchester is declared a disaster area by President Obama, it could bring grants and low-interest loans to businesses and residents. This last happened for Westchester in 2007, when torrential rains flooded parts of the county.

WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. From Town of Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner. March 15, 2010: I received the following update from the police chief. I'm disappointed that progress has been so slow and will be asking Con Ed to assign more resources to Greenburgh. (6,500 are without power). We apologize for the inconveniences.

Please be advised that we are opening up the Theodore Young Community Center tonight as a shelter for those without power. The phone of the center (32 Manhattan Ave) is 989 3600.  

If you know of an elderly resident/disabled resident who you are worried about who you can't contact and who may be out of power - please advise and we'll check up on them. I am very sorry that so many Greenburgh residents are being inconvenienced during this storm and appreciate what you are experiencing.Please feel free to call me on my cell: 438 1343 (I don't have power at home so my home phone isn't working).

Here are the road closures of of 3:30 P.M. in the Town of Greenburgh:

WPCNR THE POWER NEWS by Peter Katz Special to WPCNR – March 14, 2010 UPDATED 11:15 P.M. E.D.T.- A Con Edison Emergency Planner was making no promises to White Plains officials on Sunday as to when power will be restored to all areas of the city which were knocked out during the weekend storm. He told a meeting at City Hall that took place at 3 P.M. that he's doing his best to get the electric company to double the number of line crews assigned to repairing wires in White Plains -- from one crew to two crews.

The Con Edison press office is checking to see as of 11 P.M. for WPCNR if another crew is to be assigned to White Plains. At 11 P.M., the Con Edison Storm Center reports 7,388 White Plains customers without power. According to Con Edison news released issued at 7 P.M. Con Edison has 210 repair crews working through the metropolitan area as of today; they expect that number to grow to 310 by Monday, and 425 by Wednesday.

The Con Edison spokesperson was asked by WPCNR why, in view that gale force winds were forecast as early as Thursday of last week (the storm with no name arrived Saturday), why hadn't Con Ed called in emergency crews from other states earlier. The spokesperson said he'd try and get an answer.

City Power Conference, Sunday Afternoon. Left of picture, front to back: Commissioner of Public Works, Joseph Nicoletti, Commissioner of Parking, Al Moroni, Communications Director, Antoinette Biordi. Right side of table back to front: Commissioner of Building Damon Amadio, Chief of Staff, John Callahan; White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley (in black cap), and Commissioner of Public Safety, David Chong. Photo, Peter Katz.

Mayor Bradley and Public Works Commissioner Bud Nicoletti both stated that the city's clean-up crews can't remove fallen trees and reopen streets until Con Ed workers have at least cut off power to downed lines, even if they can't immediately repair the broken wires. They noted that getting into and out of some neighborhoods has been like trying to get through a maze. While explaining that the Con Edison official with whom he's been in frequent phone contact has been pleasant to deal with, Bradley said it's not a substitute for getting crews into White Plains to hang wires and make any other necessary repairs.

Nicoletti was one of the commissioners who met in the Mayor's office to assess the state of the storm clean-up and plan additional actions. In addition to uniformed fire and police personnel, commissioners David Chong of Public Safety, Al Moroni of Parking/Recreation, Damon Amadio of the Building Department, Chief of Staff John Callahan, and Public Information spokesperson Antoinette Biordi attended.

Chong reported that at least seven houses were substantially damaged by falling trees, and there were numerous fender benders and cars struck by falling branches. He said there were no significant fires, but fire units had been very busy dealing with sparking wires and pumping out basements which flooded when sump pumps failed due to power outages.

Police units were assigned to intersections where traffic signals were out. Chong pointed out that during the height of the storm, they couldn't even put out portable stop signs because the wind would just blow them away. Mayor Bradley declared that the police and fire response was “fabulous.”

Amadio reported that his building inspectors will be taking a look at houses which were damaged, to help determine the extent of needed repairs. His department also will be trying to learn details about debris which was blown off the roof of the Ritz-Carlton high rise complex on Main Street.

It was believed that at least one retailer's plate glass window at street level was smashed by what looked like rocks, similar to a type of roofing material. Commissioner Nicoletti noted that wind generally increases as altitude increases, which prompted Mayor Bradley to ask Amadio to start developing new ideas to decrease the risk of debris being blown off tall buildings, whether under construction or occupied.

Moroni reported that the storm did not cause significant damage to the city's parking lots and structures. He said that some of his workers could be assigned to help the DPW clean-up crews, an offer which was accepted by Nicoletti.

Mayor Bradley said priorities include helping people who were affected by the storm, restoring full access to neighborhoods, ensuring that major roads can handle Monday's morning rush hour, and surveying school buildings to determine whether they all have electric service.

WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. From The Mayor's Office. March 14, 2010: Communications Director Antoinette Biordi of White Plains, reported today that White Plains Police responded to 1,200 calls for assistance, that 6 trees had crashed into homes, and approximately 50 trees were down across the city.

Ms. Biordi reported that Mayor Adam Bradley toured the hardest hit areas of the city: Soundview, North Street and Smith Avenue, and said, "It's clear, this is one of the worst storms to hit the city since the microburst of four years ago. You have a bad combiantion of saturated ground and wind bursts of 66 miles per hour."

Biordi said police would have a Special Traffic Detail handling rush hour Monday morning. She reports that the Mayor will be meeting with his commissioners at 3 P.M. this afternoon to assess the current situation and plan the city's next move.

Biordi said the Department of Public Works is awaiting Con Edison crews to take care of the live wires down in the city. She said Con Edison may have some outages taken care of by Tuesday, but it may take until the end of the week to restore all power to White Plains.

Con Edison, according to a news release this morning is calling in out of state crews as is customary in these situations, to detail the massive outages affecting 70,000 customers in Westchester County

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey.  March 12, 2010: White Plains sales tax receipts continue to erode at a disastrous  cumulative pace which keeps compounding the city reservoir of red ink week by week.

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance today reportes Sales Tax Collections for the first 8 months of the White Plains 2009-10 fiscal year are 22% behind the 2008-2009 pace, $7.1 Million off what was collected last year through eight months.

If the present 7 to 8% rate of decline does not turn up dramatically,  City Sales Tax Receipts will lag $10 Million behind last year’s actual collections and possibly $11 Million short of forecast. The $11 Million sales tax gap alone would precipitate drastic budget cuts in 2010-11, or a property tax increase of 33%.

The February Sales Tax Receipts were down 7.3% from February 2009,  according to figures released to The CitizeNetReporter by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

This is the third consecutive month sales tax receipts have declined  in the White Plains city limits. It should be noted that a major snowstorm may have affected the February Presidents’ Day sales in White Plains. By contrast, Westchester County sales tax receipts the first two months of the county fiscal year is down just 3.6%.

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL March 11, 2010: On March 2, the City of White Plains filed a suit  in New York Supreme Court against the White Plains Police Benevolent Association (the police labor union) which asks the court to declare “null and void” the December 29,2008 Memorandum of Agreement between Mayor Joseph Delfino and the police putting in place the 12-hour work shifts for patrol personnel on the grounds that “the December 29, 2008 MOA was never approved by the Common Council.”

The suit filed also asks the court to direct the City and PBA “to restore nune pro tune all the terms and conditions of employment in effect prior to the implementation of the December 29 MOA,” : the previous 8-hour work schedule, vacation leave,personal leave, administrative worki schedule and court time provisions.

Richard Zuckerman of Lamb & Barnosky, the labor attorney for the city, is the city attorney on the matter. Harry Greenberg of  Greenberg Bruzichelli Greenberg is the counsel for the WPPBA.

The new city administration estimates the new work shifts have cost the city over  $100,000 in cash payments to police for compensatory time (a new option which previously paid in compensatory time off only)  earned by the new work rules in the first six months of the program this fiscal year. Previously the former Commissioner of Public Safety, Dr. Frank Straub, had touted the 12-hour shifts as having significantly cut overtime.

The lawsuit contends that Mayor Joseph Delfino and the union implemented the 12-hour shifts without approval of the Common Council making continuation of the 12-hour shifts up to the discretion of the Police Commissioner. Previously, the council did not contest that arrangement after they agreed to a 9-month trial of the program which came up for extension in October of 2009.

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. March 10,2010: Matthew Gallagher of the County Attorney Office advised WPCNR today that the former councilman Glen Hockley, who ran unsuccessfully as a write-in candidate against Adam Bradley for Mayor in the fall, after having been denied a position on the November ballot, filed answer papers to the County motion for dismissal of Mr. Hockley's suit alleging his civil rights were violated by the Board of Elections during the November election, among other matters.

Mr. Gallagher said the county has until April 5 to prepare its rebuttal to Mr. Hockley's papers, and said that after that date,  Judge Kathy Seibel might be expected to rule on the lawsuit.

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From Ned McCormick, Westchester County Director of Communications. March 9, 2010: Faced with a projected county government deficit of at least $166 million next year – and more than double that by 2013 – County Executive Robert P. Astorino today outlined the short-term steps that his administration will implement immediately and the long-term measures, including possible layoffs of hundreds of employees, that must be considered to close the shortfall.

County Executive Rob Astorino at his Inauguration in January

            Since taking office Jan. 1, Astorino has been meeting with his department heads and budget experts to deal with the looming deficits. Today’s announcement is the outcome of that effort and includes $16 million in short-term operational savings that can be implemented this year without immediate layoffs.  He also detailed the options under consideration to reduce spending next year and beyond.  

The Bradley case was first heard in White Plains City Court on Friday morning, then was transferred to County Court. Police barricades had been set up on either side of the walkway leading to the steps of the Public Safety Building, where the White Plains City Court is located. Several uniformed police were on duty outside. Reporters and cameramen from television stations were in a barricaded area off to one side.

Several other cases were heard by City Court Judge Eric Press before the Bradley case was called. Mayor Bradley's attorney, Luis Penichet, waived a reading of the charges, stated his client was not guilty, and stated that, in his opinion, this is not a criminal matter.

Jurisdiction was transferred to the Westchester County Court's domestic violence part. Judge Press refused to hear anything substantive about the case, saying he no longer had jurisdiction.

However, Mrs. Bradley's attorney, Mr. Comer, and Mayor Bradley's attorney, Mr. Penichet, attempted to have Judge Press lift an order of protection which was issued last Sunday and prohibited Mayor Bradley from having contact with his wife.

Comer said Fumiko Bradley did not need and did not want the order of protection. He also told Judge Press that Mrs. Bradley does not want the case to go forward. He said that Mrs. Bradley does not feel endangered by her husband. Fumiko Bradley, dressed in black and standing with her attorney, was observed to be dabbing her face as if wiping away tears. Mr. Comer expressed the opinion that Judge Press retained jurisdiction until court closed on Friday and could lift the order of protection. Judge Press held his position, and the parties left City Court.  

Across the Street

The scene then shifted to the Westchester County Courthouse, where the case was quickly added to the calendar of Judge Susan M. Capeci. When the case was called in late morning, Mayor Bradley's attorney, Mr. Penichet, told the judge that a deposition from Mrs. Bradley which was submitted in support of the third degree misdemeanor charges was not a “sworn document.”

A copy of document  had been obtained by a reporter and circulated among the news people covering the story at the courthouse.  It was not handwritten by Mrs. Bradley. It had been prepared by a White Plains detective, and was the result of an  interview with Mrs. Bradley.

Excerpts were broadcast and published Friday by some news outlets. Mrs. Bradley's attorney, Mr. Comer, told the judge that English is not Mrs. Bradley's first language, she did not understand the technical meanings of things she was signing and doing, and she was influenced by people giving her advice which was not in her best interest.

When asked outside the courtroom by WPCNR to identify the people to whom he was referring, Comer would not elaborate. Ms. Puerto of the DA's office told Judge Capeci that Mrs. Bradley did not indicate to her during their interview that she had trouble with English. 

Penichet told Judge Capeci that they were ready for trial, and could even begin in a few hours. He emphasized that a speedy trial is important. He also said that they would want a jury trial.

The judge scheduled a pre-trial conference for April 1. Rather than completely lifting the order of protection as requested by the attorneys for both Mayor and Mrs. Bradley, Judge Capeci modified it so the two can again have contact with one another. It was noted that the order of protection did not prohibit Mayor Bradley from seeing their two daughters.

The order of protection had been issued after he was charged and arraigned last Sunday. Mrs. Bradley's attorney, Mr. Comer, later told WPCNR that modifying of the order of protection will permit the Bradley's to work together on resolving the difficulties their marriage has experienced. Comer also told WPCNR that he did not expect any further court proceedings until the April 1^st conference.  

BULLETIN

WPCNR WHITE PLAIN LAW JOURNAL. Special to WPCNR from Peter Katz. March 5, 2010: In proceedings finishing about fifteen minutes ago, Mrs. Adam Bradley, who charged her husband with assault last Sunday, said in City Court today, she wanted the charge of Assault in the 3rd Degree dropped.

She said she also wanted the court order of protection preventing her husband, Mayor of White Plains Adam Bradley, from seeing her, dropped.

Mrs. Bradley's attorney, Neal Comer, said that if the county should proceed in the case, Mrs. Bradley will not testify to support the charges. Mr. Bradley is accused according to the police report  of forcibly slamming a door on Mrs. Bradley's left middle finger Sunday morning. At about 3 P.M. last Sunday Mrs. Bradley filed charges against Mr. Bradley.

Judge Eric Press said he no longer had jurisdiction in the case and the matter is now moving over to the County Court Domestic Violence Part. Mrs. Bradley, appearing in court this morning appeared to be "in tears."

Fumiko Bradley said she wanted the order of protection prohibiting her husband, Adam Bradley from seeing her or staying in their house lifted because it is interfering with her marriage. She indicated she never asked for an order of protection to be put into effect. The order was put in place by the City Judge at Mr. Bradley's arraignment Sunday afternoon.

WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. By John F. Bailey. March 1, 2010: The prediction by financial consultant Eileen Earl Bradley, former City Budget Director that the White Plains Assessment Roll would decline $3.7 Million which she put out in January of this year, has come true PLUS $200,000.

The Assessment Roll for 2010 published today at the Accessor's Office shows the City Assessed property values as $281,318,866 compared to $285,212,346 in 2009, a decline of $3,893,480.

It was the eighth year in the last nine that the assessment roll has declined in White Plains since 2002-2003. In 2002-2003, the roll was at $318.9 Million. In 2010 it has declined to $281.3 Million , a $37.6 Million decline representing roughly $15 Million in property tax revenue lost for the school district.  In the last two years, the assessment roll has declined $9 Million costing the school district alone about $6 million in revenue the last two years.