WPCNR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DAY. Photos ByPaula Piekos. March 14, 2010:

AVONDALE ROAD

SMITH AVENUE

SOUNDVIEW

Davis at Bryant

WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. Special to WPCNR. March 14, 2010: WPCNR has pieced together sketchy reports from callers to WPCNR, and has learned that North Street continues to be closed south of Ridgeway and northbound past White Plains High School with Con Edison crews.

Ridgeway is closed at Mamaroneck Avenue. Police are out in force directing traffic what there is at intersections where traffic signals are not functioning.

Observers report Soundview Avenue, Avondale and Smith Avenues in the Highlands were hard hit with giant trees impacting two large homes, one of which was vacant on Smith Avenue. A tree was observed lying atop the hood of a vehicle on Soundview. During the night trees could be heard crashing in the woods along the Greenway as 30 to 50 Mile per hour winds screamed through the city.

WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. From Con Edison Media Relations. March 14, 2010 8 A.M. EDT: Con Edison crews are working around the clock and against treacherous conditions to address downed wires and road closures as well as to restore power to customers affected by the powerful, slow-moving wind and rain storm that continues to pound the region.

In  the storm's wake: Powersaws were out humming as White Plainsians woke up to downed trees, debris everywhere. The Saturday-Sunday night storm was powerful enough to rip shutters nailed to the sides of homes. Photo by WPCNR>

The company will get mutual aid from utilities in several states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, starting today. The company also expects that it will be in a better position to assess and repair damage once the storm conditions become less severe. To date, the strong winds have made it unsafe in many instances for Con Edison workers to go up in bucket trucks, and felled trees have made many roads impassable.

Even with the efforts by Con Edison and the utilities providing mutual aid, the total restoration effort will continue through the week.

About 167,000 customers have been affected by the storm in the Con Edison service area in New York City and Westchester County.  Currently, 138,000 are without power.  Of that number, 72,000 are in Westchester County, 32,000 on Staten Island, and a total of 34,000 in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. The company has restored power to about 29,000 customers in its service territory.

Fierce winds and heavy rain have driven trees into power lines and knocked out electricity.  Winds remain strong and further tree damage and outages are possible.
Con Edison has additional customer service representatives, electrical and construction crews, along with tree-clearing crews working around the clock to respond to customers and power outages that may occur.

Customers are urged to call Con Edison immediately to report any outages at 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633). Customers can also report power interruptions or service problems as well as view service restoration information online at www.conEd.com and on their cell phones and PDAs.  When reporting an outage, customers should have their Con Edison account number available, if possible, and report whether their neighbors also have lost power.

In the event of severe outages, primary distribution feeders are restored first, with the highest priority given to lines that supply the most customers out of service.  Next, the crews restore secondary facilities, such as transformers and secondary cables, again with highest priority given to lines supplying the most customers out of service.  Individual services, lines serving a single home, will be restored as crews become available.

Con Edison offers the following tips to prepare for a storm:

• If you see downed electrical wires, do not go near them.  Treat all downed wires as if they are live.  Never attempt to move or touch them with any object.  Be mindful that downed wires can be hidden from view by tree limbs, leaves or water.  Report all downed wires to Con Edison and your local police department immediately.  If a power line falls on your car while you’re in it, stay inside the vehicle and wait for emergency personnel.
• If your power goes out, turn off all lights and appliances to prevent overloaded circuits when power is restored.  Leave at least one light switch in the on position to alert you when power has been restored.
• Check to make sure your flashlights and any battery-operated radios or televisions are in working order. Use candles and oil lamps with care.  Also, make sure you have a supply of extra batteries.  Weather updates and news on restorations of electrical service can be heard on most local radio and television stations.
• Avoid opening your freezer to see if food is still frozen.  Every time you open the door, room-temperature air enters and speeds the thawing process.  Most fully loaded freezers will keep food frozen for approximately 36 to 48 hours; half-full freezers will keep food frozen for approximately 24 hours.

The company is maintaining close contact with the New York City Office of Emergency Management and the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services to coordinate storm response as necessary.

WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. March 14, 2010 UPDATED 8:30 A.M. E.D.T.: The storm with no name continues to raise havoc in Westchester County as  the number of Con Edison reported outages affecting 70,525  of the 346,452 Con Ed customer base as of 8 A.M.

In White Plains,  6,158 customers are without power with trees blocking driveways...and debris scattered through the streets.

Yonkers is hardest hit with 10,936 reporting no power. Greenburgh reports 8,585 outages, and New Rochelle, 7,399.

Though the powerful winds of the Saturday storm have subsided, the rain has not.  Light posts are down, branches and debris are on roads, and bear in mind that the 70,525 customers mean many more thousands in people are affected.

WPCNR has received no word from the county or the City of White Plains on conditions. Only Con Edison is supplying any information through their website. The true extent of the damage the storm continues to inflict will be visible in daylight. Motorists should exercise extreme caution. Tree roots are saturated and subject to uprooting as their moorings are made less firm by the wet earth.

WPCNR SATURDAY NIGHT. March 13, 2010: White Plains ran its St. Patrick’s Day Parade this noon despite the windy, stormy weather that pelted marchers and the high winds swirled through the county seat. Observers  midway through the parade said there sparse crowds of spectators watching the marchers from the sidewalks, but very large crowds in the restaurants and bars lining Mamaroneck Avenue. "They were packed, you couldn't get in." Mayor Adam Bradley attended the parade.

At  the Friendly Gathering at Good Counsel Saturday night, a crowd braved the stormy night,  despite power being out to over 4,000 White Plains residents. The annual gathering honored Lorraine Buonocunto, of the Ecumenical Food Pantry of White Plains.

The Friendly Gathering was highlighted by an appearance by White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley, his wife, and their two children who attended the festivities and were greeted by many well-wishers coming up to their table.

At Ebersole Rink the ice show was scheduled to go on at the roofed facility which is protected from the elements. WPCNR has learned Sunday morning the show was postponed late Saturday afternoon and will be "iced" and rescheduled to go on Sunday evening at 6:30 P.M.

WPCNR WEATHER SCOOP. March 13,2010: Con Edison reports Westchester County, has over 51,000 customers who have lost power due to the high winds and driving rain storm that has been scouring the county for over 15 hours.

The amount of customers exceeds the 35,000 outages experienced by the county in the snowstorm of February 27 by 15,000 and the number is growing. Yonkers, Greenburgh, White Plains, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, and Mount Pleasant are very hard hit.

In White Plains, Peter Katz reports that vast banks of homes down Mamaroneck Avenue south of the downtown appear to have lost power. He also reports that the area of Parkview Court and Church Street are without power at this time. Con Edison reports 4,390 White Plains customers are experiencing power failure as of 9 P.M. and they hope to restore power to those White Plainsians by 11 P.M. tonight.

Katz tells WPCNR that Westchester County Airport is closed because of a power outage, and the airport reports winds of 25 knots, gusting to 45 knots, and it is raining in White Plains.

Katz said Con Edison crews appeared be assembling on Mamaroneck Avenue as of 9 P.M. to deal with the darkout.

Elsewhere around the county, outages have grown since nightfall. Con Edison Storm Center reports Yonkers has 8,069 without power; Rye City, 2,308; Port Chester, 172; Peekskill, 144; North Tarrytown, 312; North Castle, 1,692; New Rochelle, 6,484; Mount Vernon, 2,775; Mt. Pleasant, 2,591; Mamaroneck, 696; Larchmont, 1,048; Irvington, 1,194; Hastings, 280; Greenburgh, 6,830; Elmsford, 527; Eastchester,1,659;Dobbs Ferry, 245; Briarcliff, 504; Bronxville, 1,216; and Ardsley, 578.

To find out Con Edison's estimated time when they will have power restored go to the online Con Edison Storm Center at http://apps.coned.com/weboutageinfo/stormcenter/default.aspx

WPCNR WEATHER SCOOP. March 13, 2010:  As night fell across the city, howling east winds of gale force sounding like a fast freight train, blew limbs off trees, sent power wires singing, opened garbage storage bins and shredded branches, even blew  nailed-down shutters off homes.

The close to the surface winds bent trees over as if they were palmtrees and have devasted Westchester communities with power outages and dangerous road conditions.

The outages are amazing: Con Edison Storm Center reports 1,101 customers powerless in White Plains;  1,803in Yonkers; 1,949 in Scarsdale; a staggering 4,329 without electricity in New Rochelle; 1,171 in North Castle (Chappaqua); 479 in Port Chester; 2,416 in Mount Vernon; 964 in Mt. Pleasant; 593 in Ardsley; 158 in Briarcliff; 959 in Bronxville; 119 in Dobbs Ferry; 1,588 in Harrison;  154 in Hastings; 534 in Irvington; 585 in Mamaroneck (where 10% of Con Ed customers are without power).

WPCNR WEATHER SCOOP. Special to the CitizeNetReporter from Paula Piekos with WPCNR and Con Edison Sources. March 13, 2010:

As of 3:45 P.M. E.D.T. North Street (Route 127) was closed in BOTH DIRECTIONS due to a fallen tree on live wires. Utility vehicles were on the scene. Live wires are on the roadway. Motorists should avoid the area.

Police Department is very busy at this time, persons knowing of any other road closures in the city, please advise the CitizeNetReporter,914-997-1607

CON EDISON REPORTS 786 WHITE PLAINS CUSTOMERS ARE WITHOUT POWER IN THE CITY AS OF 4 P.M. DUE TO THE TROPICAL STORM WITH GALE FORCE WINDS CLOCKED IN THE 40 TO 50 MILE AN HOUR RANGE. GREENBURGH IS REPORTED BY CON EDISON TO HAVE 802 CUSTOMERS WITHOUT POWER.

ACROSS WESTCHESTER COUNTY 5,048 CON EDISON CUSTOMERS ARE REPORTING POWER OUTAGES.

CON EDISON AS OF 4:07 P.M. IS ESTIMATING POWER WILL BE RESTORED BY 10 P.M. SATURDAY EVENING.

TREE FALLS ON NORTH STREET, FELLING LIVE WIRES CLOSING NORTH STREET IN BOTH DIRECTIONS AS OF 4 P.M.

LIVE WIRES SMOULDER ON STONE WALL AT RIDGEWAY AND NORTH STREET

BULLETIN:

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. Special to WPCNR from Peter KATZ. March 5, 2010: After appearances of Mayor Adam Bradley and his wife, in the Westchester County Court Domestic Violence Part this morning, the presiding judge set April 1 as the next date when Mayor Adam Bradley and his wife, Fumiko would appear for a Trial conference.

The Assault in the Third Degree (misdemeanor) charge against Mr. Bradley will be taken up on that date. The matter of whether the domestic violence charge will be dropped is now up to the discretion of the Westchester County District Attorney's Office. It is not known whether the Domestic Violence unit will conduct their own investigation of Mr. and Mrs. Bradley in the interim.

The attorney for Mrs. Bradley, Neal  Comer,  told Peter Katz this morning after the  appearance in the Domestic Violence court that both parties, Mr. and Mrs. Bradley want to repair their marriage. The attorney repeated  that Mrs. Bradley wanted the charge dropped and would not testify in support of the charge,  if the District Attorney proceeded with the case.

Mrs. Bradley's attorney said there would be "no discovery procedure" in the case.

Mr. Bradley's attorneys indicated Mr. Bradley did not plan to move back into his home immediately.

The Order of Protection in effect against Mr. Bradley (since last Sunday) was modified to allow Mr. Bradley to see his wife. He has not seen his wife except in court since Sunday when Mrs. Bradley filed a charge that he intentionally held her arm and slammed her finger in a door, according to the police report. Mr. Bradley has seen his two children in the interim.

WPCNR  FOR THE RECORD. From The Mayor's Office. March 1, 2010: The following is the text of the statement read by Mayor Adam Bradley to the media Sunday evening in the rotunda at City Hall, commenting on his being charged with Third Degree Assault for allegedly injuring his wife in an incident reported by police to have occurred "on or about" 9:30 A.M. Sunday morning:

STATEMENT


EARLIER TODAY I WAS ARRAIGNED IN WHITE PLAINS CITY COURT BASED ON A COMPLAINT MY WIFE FILED AGAINST ME.

I FEEL COMPELLED TO COME OUT HERE TONIGHT TO LET THE CITIZENS OF WHITE PLAINS KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST 12 HOURS.

THIS IS A DEEPLY PERSONAL MATTER, AND SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED WITHIN MY FAMILY.

I AM NOT GOING TO DISCUSS THESE CHARGES IN DETAIL, OTHER THAN TO SAY THAT I AM INNOCENT AND THAT I WILL CONTEST THE CHARGES.

BUT I HAVE TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT, I DID NOT IN ANY WAY MISTREAT MY WIFE

THERE HAVE BEEN PROBLEMS IN MY MARRIAGE FOR SOME TIME AND I HAVE MADE MANY EFFORTS TO DEAL WITH THEM.

AT THIS TIME, MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH MY FAMILY AND OUR TWO BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS.

I WILL NOT TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PUBLICALLY ARGUE WITH MY WIFE IN A MANNER THAT WOULD EXPOSE OUR CHILDREN TO IT.

THIS UNFORTUNATE MATTER WILL IN NO WAY AFFECT MY COMMITMENT AND THE IMPORTANT WORK I AM DOING FOR THIS GREAT CITY

AS AN ATTORNEY WITH MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS A LAW GUARDIAN REPRESENTING CHILDREN I DEEPLY BELIEVE THAT PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN IS MY FIRST AND PARAMOUNT OBLIGATION.

THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING AND I HOPE YOU WILL ALL RESPECT MY FAMILY’S PRIVACY AT THIS TIME

THANK YOU

WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. From The Mayor's Office. March 1,2010: Mayor Adam Bradley issued a written statement to the media Monday morning clarifying stories appearing in the press about his past in relation to his being charged with Assault in the Third Degree Sunday in an incident involving his wife.

Mr.Bradley's statement:

" I want to address a couple of issues being raised in the media.

First, there have been no prior allegations of spousal abuse made against me.

Second, questions have been raised about an incident that occurred 10 years ago, prior to my marriage. In that instance, Fumiko (his present wife) and I were harassed by a former girlfriend of mine.

It resulted in an order of protection being issued, barring the woman from contacting me."

The surprise Bradley statement was issued after a news conference that reported the city, school and community organizations has raised $32,000 for Haitian Earthquake Relief which was being donated to Doctors Without Borders. Mayor Bradley did not chair the news conference. Antoinette Biordi, City Communications Director, said Mr. Bradley would not be handling the news conference because he "was dealing with personal issues." Councilman Dennis Power represented the City.

WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. By John F. Bailey. February 28, 2010: White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley, 49, was arraigned in City Court Sunday morning and charged with Assault in the Third Degree (a misdemeanor) in connection with a complaint filed by his wife, Fumiko, in connection with alleged injuries she suffered in a domestic dispute with Mr. Bradley sometime Sunday.

According to the complaint distributed to the media, and signed by a White Plains Police Officer identified as B. Robbins,

 "at about 9:30 A.M. on the above date, time (February 28), and place the above defendent (Mr. Bradley) did cause physical injury to his wife by grabbing her left arm and placing her hand against a door frame and with his other hand closed the door on his wife's hand causing pain and bruising to her left middle finger."

Mr. Bradley was released in his own recognizance without bail being set, and is due back in City Court Friday, March 5 before Judge J. Brian Hansbury to answer the charge. Bradley's attorney, speaking to the press said a temporary restraining order of protection was issued  forbidding Mr. Bradley to see his wife.  The lawyer also said Mr. Bradley is living at  the home of his parents, while Mrs. Bradley continues to live in the residence where the alleged assault took place Sunday morning. Mr. Bradley's attorney said the Mayor "turned himself in," after he learned there was a complaint against him.

Mr. Bradley informed News 12, WCBS-TV Reporters, PIX News, WNBC News and other media in a prepared statement he delivered at a news conference at 7 P.M. at City Hall that "he did not mistreat his wife," and that he was "innocent." He admitted in the statement that he and his wife were having "marital problems" and said he would not elaborate. He said the incident would in no way distract him from handling the important matters the city now faces. He took no questions. 

Previously, White Plains police did not answer WPCNR request for the details of the incident, which had been relayed to WPCNR at 2 P.M. The news of the rumored incident spread by word of mouth and phone call around the city. The news conference at 7 P.M. was the first official statement that an incident had taken place, and first notice that a charge had been filed. News 12 reported the existence of the rumors in the late afternoon and was informed of the news conference.

WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. February 27, 2010: Con Edison's army of power restoration teams cut the number of County outages caused by the14 to 25 inch snowfall that ended Friday evening, in half  in the last twelve hours.

As of 10:45 P.M.  15,627 Westchester Customers still remain without electricity, down from  over 29,000 twelve hours ago.

Con Edison swooped down on Greenburgh, the county's hardest hit and restored approximately 5,000 customers to service, as of this hour, 1,030 Greenburghers are without power.

In White Plains, 61 customers are without power as of 10:45 P.M. E.S.T.

WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. February 27, 2010: Con Edison continues repairing power outages across Westchester County Saturday morning. In White Plains 268 customers remain without power this morning. Full restoration to the entire county has now been targeted for Wednesday March 3, according to the Con Edison website.

Across Westchester County, the misery of the 2010 "Snownomi" that delivered 14 inches of heavy wet snow to White Plains and amounts over 20 inches to the western and northern parts of the county, Putnam and Orange Counties, 29,937 are without power as of 11 A.M. Saturday. Families are leaving thousands of unheated homes to stay with relatives. Homes perhaps face damage from freezing pipes should temperatures dip lower though in Westchester County temperatures remain above freezing.

Across Westchester, the power out numbers are staggering as of 11 A.M.: 6,683 are without power in Greenburgh.

Town Supervisor of Greenburgh, Paul Feiner issued this statement to media Saturday morning: 

638 in Elmsford; 402 in Harrison;565 in Irvington; 222 in Mount Kisco; 1,508 in Mount Pleasant;  New Castle, 4,872; North Castle, 2,501; North Pelham, 303; Ossining/Ossining Village,3,841; Peekskill, 371; Pleasantville, 1,780; Scarsdale,555; Tarrytown, 1,800; Yonkers, 2,423.