WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER May 10, 2008 

Common Council: Find $30,000 for Foreclosure Counseling for WP -- NOW!

E-Mail comments on issues to editor@whiteplainscnr.com.

NOTICE: To read the latest Letters, CLICK on Toast of the Town! underneath White Plains News in column to left -- and you will be whisked to our letters column, Toast of the Town!

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WPCNR VIEW FROM THE UPPER DECK. By "Bull" Allen. May 12, 2008: Well,  pro football has a lot to explain.  It seems that 8 new video “sideline surveillance tapes” showing both offensive and defensive signals  of  6 games involving 5 opponents from the New England Phonies have been turned over to the pro football league offices by a former Phonies employee. We wonder what the Commissioner is going to do about these?

Old Yankee Stadium, 1956-- BVE  (Before Video Era)

The paragon coaching genius of the league – the defensive “guru” – the man whom of it has been said, give him two weeks of preparation and he can stop any offense, wasn’t that much of a genius without his tapes, was he? Well, now we know why, don’t we?

WPCNR POET IN RESIDENCE. May 13, 2007:

Hey Mom!

Hey Mom, bring me two waters so I’m set?

Where’s my under armor? And my visor?

Are my tights washed? My skates are dull.

Hey Mom, can you call, go, get, call the advisor?

Hey Mom,  I wasn’t yelling at you.

I didn’t mean to! You were yelling at me!

You never let me do anything my friends do

Hey Mom, would you chill, lighten up, just do!

Hey Mom, I don’t like the way this looks for the prom --

I don’t like the color, how could you think this was me?

I just can’t wear this, it’s this, it’s that it’s…Oh, Mom!?!

Hey Mom, I’ve been studying all morning getting knowledge.

Can’t I go out, I’ll be back by ten.

But, I know the material, gone over it again and again.

Oh, Mom – I hate my life! I can hardly wait until college.

Hey Mom – But I did call and let you know

Don’t you understand, I couldn’t call at that time.

No, you can’t not let me go – it’s a great band

Oh, Mom – I hate you! You never understand!

Hey, Mom, please don’t embarrass me at the game

By screaming so loud, it’s just so tacky

But, hey mom, I like that you’re over there in the stand

Watching me play, you know that don’t you Mom, you understand.

Hey Mom, can you get me to the rink

At 5 – I know you have to take off from work early?

Thanks, Mom, I’m so sorry but the team has a special thing

I have to be there, thanks Mom – I love you—dearly.

Hey, Mom, please when you pick me up at the dorm

Don't come inside. Just wait outside, call me on the cell

I'll be right down -- it's the norm.

Don't ring the bell.

Hey, Mom, I've read the classifieds

There are no jobs, I can't make all those calls.

Well, OK, I guess  I can send that resume you made for me (sigh).

OK, I'm lost, where's the post office, down Lexington to what?

Hey Mom, well I'm bringing my friends by,

Don't let Dad embarrass me with his jokes, OK?

I'll just die if he's silly again -- you won't let him do that?

You'll talk to him about that?

All right, Mom I'll take that extra course.

But I've just been going to school for months it never ends!

Can't I have a little vacation, I don't know what's worse

Can't I spend a little time with my friends?

You do like him Mom?

Oh, I hoped you would.

Yes, I really do

I am so glad you do too!

Hey Mom, can you take care of the kids this weekend?

We’re going to Vermont with a friend.

And Mom, the cats get kibble in morning and meat at night,

We love you mom, sorry for the short notice, talk to you tonight.

Hey Mom, I’m sorry I can’t see you Mother’s Day.

Are you all right, what will you be doing today?

Going to the club – great – you know we love you in every way?

Though we may not show it you’re always with us

even when you’re away.

WPCNR'S The Real Deal By The Wedding Jeannie, Jeannie Uyanik of Cap and Gown Weddings. The Mother's Day Column May 10, 2008:

I have an almost two-year old son. He does not sleep, never stops moving, and more often than not, unlike my friends with little girls, needs to be constantly entertained.  I am told though that while the first few years with a boy are harder, I will be laughing through the teenage years and wedding planning while those with girls struggle.  While I am far from knowledgeable about children and teenagers, I can impart wisdom about mothers and daughters during the wedding planning process; from what I see and have learned personally, it might just rival moments with a teenager and for many of the same reasons.

Much like turning 13, planning a wedding is a milestone in a woman’s life.  She needs the support and love of her mother, but has her own ideas about what to do and how.  While the everyday guidance of a mother to a bride is not as essential as it might be for a teenager, the approval and tacit support is, even in just the assurance that disapproval is not soon coming.  Hopefully this column will serve to provide a backbone of a few do’s and don’ts because at the end of the day, a mother/daughter relationship is more important than any venue, florist, caterer or schedule. 

WPCNR THE HOUSING NEWS. By John F. Bailey. May 8, 2008: The Horton’s Mill Town Homes, built as “work force housing units” available only to families earning 80% of median income, opened officially Wednesday morning with Deputy County Executive Larry Schwartz and Mayor Joseph Delfino  of White Plains anchoring the ceremonies.

A total of 14 families have already gone to contract on 14 of the 17  Horton's Mill Village homes available on the market for about $200,000 to $225,000.  A number of the families, it was announced, had loaned money for their downpayments to be able to go to contract, arranged through Westchester Residential Opportunities and the Housing Action Council.

The homes, originally approved in spring 2003 opened to much praise, with the Deputy County Executive promising Westchester County would be building more. The developer, John Saraceno said he is anticipating building a similar project for the county in Ossining.

WPCNR VIEW FROM THE  EIGHTH AVENUE MEZZANINE. By “Goal” Gordon. May 7, 2008:

Let me tilt back my fedora, light up a Lucky, and pound this out on my  Royal Corona keys while in the quiet of the old Garden press gondola. The real  Garden. The one with the blue haze of cigar smoke hanging in the upper deck, when the ice was made by hand cart and the players played without helmets, when Gumper was in Goal and Andy Bathgate, Camille Henry and Andy Hebenton were my favorites, and the New York World Telegram and Sun called them the Blueshirts, and they used to run 1-inch ads in the sports sections, reading "Hockey Tonight Toronto 7 PM Fastest Game on Earth."

Madison Square Garden 1950s. Eighth Avenue and 49th Street.

Now that hockey, figure skating, (I remember the Ice Capades), has grown and now faces an ice crisis. I think The Rangers have the oppportunity to give back to the community a favor that will never be forgotten, and make a memory as warm as the 1994 Stanley Cup. A selfless gesture that will be appreciated so much by the community that has loved them so long.

What We Would Give for some Ice -- like Yost Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Just 10 Hours Away

You see they have closed the New Roc rink in New Rochelle.  New Rochelle city government is reported thinking about building a new rink. Meanwhile New Rochelle High School, Rye,  and some other hockey teams, not to mention the Team Image of Yonkers, the Synchronized Skating 4th  Ranked National Team,  have no place to skate or practice. Most of the rink slots in Mount Vernon, E. J. Murray Rink, Westchester Skating Academy, Katonah Harvey School, and in Stamford and Greenwich are filled.

But there is a rink that is only used eight months a year.

And the New York Rangers are not using it now.

WPCNR NEWS & COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. May 7, 2008 UPDATED May 8, 2008:

It’s all going according to plan.

Barack Obama’s faltering in the stretch, the media’s unfailing cooperation with America’s political establishment, combined with Senator Obama’s main character flaw as a politician (his sense of decency), has been exploited by the Clinton campaign to frustrate Mr. Obama’s ability to achieve a first ballot Presidential nomination at the Democratic convention.

As I wrote months ago, the Clinton strategy is to deny Mr. Obama the first ballot nomination, freeing up the pledged delegates and the Super Delegates to hand it to Mrs. Clinton on the second or third ballot, with the rationale that Mrs. Clinton has shown the ability to win the big electoral states more than Senator Obama.

Doesn’t anyone see this except me?

WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. May 5, 2008: The Common Council approved construction of The Venue this evening, an upscale mini-mall to be built on the present parking lot opposite Bloomingdale's. The vote was 6-1, with Milagros Lecuona voting against.

WPCNR Rockola. By KKIX THE BIG 1440'S Big Melvin Mead “The Rock Daddy Show With All the Hits You Need”. May 5, 2008: He shows up minutes before concert time.  Bounces on stage dressed in black, hits the keyboard with the seductive good time individual  signature dum dum plunk diddee plunk plunk plunk, dum dum plunk diddee plunk plunk plunk of Lonely Too Long and you know it’s been  way too long since you’ve heard that Felix Cavaliere's Rascals sound since the 60s.

Fasten your seatbelts, rock and roll turbulence ahead! Felix Cavaliere and His Rascals Blasted the 60-Somethings at Irvington Town Hall -- the latest in the White Plains Westco Gold Star "Tour" Saturday night. Irvington Town Hall Theatre will never be the same!

WPCNR MR. & MRS. & Ms. White Plains Poll. May 4, 2008: The recent poll on taxes has indicated that 93% of 346 respondents feel the present 7% annual increase in city and school taxes combined cannot be sustained. The school tax increase is 8.6%  (not 6% as reported by the district newsletter) thanks to the secret BASIC STAR Cut and Enhanced STAR cuts the legisature passed quietly April 14 (and still after three weeks, no other media other than WPCNR has reported this legislative sleight of hand). In their newsletter the school district describes the tax rate increase as 5.98%, failing to mention that the amount of your taxes for a median home is a fat 8.6%.  The $15,000 Assessed home paid $7012 in school taxes this year, and in 2008-2009 will pay $7,618.

Since the people have no control over the city budget, but can vote on whether to approve the school budget, we'd like to know how the public feels. Should White Plains send the school district a message to cut by voting down the school budget, effectively cutting the budget about $700,000 according to the School District newsletter, holding the budget to a 3.36% increase? .

The vote comes up May 20. There will be a public hearing on the School Budget May 12, 2008.

WPCNR RINKSIDE By Katharina Devitofranceshi, The German School, White Plains. May 4, 2008: Synchronized Skating: Those are two words you don’t hear very often and most likely tell you nothing (that is unless you’re in the 10^th grade of German School New York in White Plains, then you know all about it.)

The Skyliners of New York, the Tri-State Area's Zagreb Snowflake Trophy Junior Gold Medal Winners, skating in the Frasier, Michigan  Syncrhonized Skating Junior Qualifier in January. The Junior team holds tryouts tonight in Rye, and here a member of the team, attending the German School here in White Plains, Katharina Devitofranceschi reflects on the team's unforgettable journey, representing the USA in Croatia in March.

WPCNR CENTERSTAGE. Theatrical Review by John F. Bailey. May 3, 2008 Updated with Pix: Children of all ages will thrill to Westchester Broadway Theatre production of Beauty and The Beast, which opened this week, bringing the classic Disney movie and Broadway show  to close-up and personal life. All it takes is a liberal sprinkling of Disney Pixie Dust from Tinkerbell  to coax  new pyrotechnics and heights to the dinner theatre that has been giving its own unique stagings of Broadway classics in the round for 34 years.  Thursday evening the Disney magic – if not the  Broadway magic – recreated anew the enchantment of Beauty and The Beast.

A Love for a Once and Future Time: Rena Strober as Belle. Joseph Mahowald as The Beast make everyone's favorite fairy tale new again at Westchester Broadway Theatre. All Photos, Courtesy, Westchester Broadway Theatre, by John Vecchiolla

WPCNR BUNKO BULLETIN. From Westchester County Clerk's Office. (Edited) May 3, 2008: Westchester residents are hereby advised that they need not pay up to $60 for a certified copy of a deed to their home, that certified copies are obtainable from the County Clerk's Office for as little as $6.

Westchester County Clerk Timothy C. Idoni warns county residents to beware of a new series of direct mail solicitation letters sent from companies offering to obtain a certified copy of a homeowner’s deed.  Idoni advises homeowners to stay away from companies such as the New York Record Retrieval, Inc. that are charging excessive fees for a certified copy of a deed.   This company is sending out official looking letters to county homeowners advising that “[t]he U.S. Government Federal Citizen Information Center website recommends that property owners should have an official or certified copy of their deed.” The letter states that homeowners can order a copy of their deed for the fee of $59.50 by mailing in or faxing a return form with payment information.

WPCNR'S THE REAL DEAL By The Wedding Jeannie, Jeannie Uyanik of C&G Weddings, WPCNR Columnista May 3, 2008: Destination events used to conjure up images of having to take a plane all the way out east – from Pennsylvania.  Its quite common now a days to have the majority of guests at an event flying in from all over the world, traveling for 16 hours one way just to join a couple for their big day.  It’s for this reason precisely, that rehearsal dinner rules and etiquette have changed so drastically (next weeks topic in depth); they don’t require the old yard stick of inviting anyone coming in from out of town as that would generally precipitate having two weddings.

Jeannie Uyanik, Planner to the World

The Wedding Jeannie

So for the purpose of this column’s discussion, a Destination Wedding is not one where most of the guests have to travel to attend your wedding, which is being hosted either in the couples’ home town, or the home town of one of the immediate families.  It is one where all the guests, including the bride and groom will have to travel to get to it; this does not mean that it has to be out of the country, a certain size or a certain distance away.  It simply means that neither you nor anyone attending the wedding actually lives where it’s taking place.  And then the fun begins.

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. May 2, 2008: A lawsuit filed against the city by LC Main LLC  this week, accusing the city of “abuse of discretion,” in the city  effort to direct LC Main to remove the Ritz Carlton granite stone on the Renaissance Square traffic island, was continued to May 16 today.

City and The Super Developer Go to Court over The Ritz Rock on the traffic Island in center of picture on Renaissance Square.

 A Temporary Restraining Order issued by Acting Supreme Court Justice Susan Cacace, prevents the city from removing the Ritz Rock until arguments are heard. The city has until May 16 to submit their case for removal of the sign, and LC Main LLC has until May 23 to rebut.  Meanwhile the stone stands.

The Common Council considers the monument to have been erected without permission, dangerous to auto traffic and commercial use of city property.