WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. July 14, 2008 UPDATED July 16, 2008 10:45 A.M. EDT: The White Plains Times weekly newspaper reports on its website that overnite last Thursday, an estimated 3,500 papers were removed from its red distribution boxes in the White Plains downtown. The alleged removal has been reported to the White Plains Police. The issue contained two controversial stories, the affordable housing extensions and the announcement of the Anthony Pilla candidacy for Assemblywoman Amy Paulin's 88th Assembly District Seat.
Pat Casey of The White Plains Times in front of City Hall, 2005, when she expanded to weekly publication. Photo, WPCNR News.
Pat Casey, Editor of The Times, said White Plains Police suggested conducting video surveillance of the red White Plains Times newsstands, and that if it happens again, police said they would start an investigation. Casey told WPCNR she was positive the papers were stolen because similar missing paper incidents occurred last month, which she had not considered thefts at the time. She did not understand what the motive could be for such thefts, but said 3,800 papers were a lot of papers requiring a van and quite a bit of heavy lifting to remove, a concentrated effort.
“It takes a lot of effort to distribute the papers,” she said, and was convinced these were systematic efforts to suppress the paper. She felt neither of the two main stories, “Affordable Housing Stalled,” and Anthony Pilla’s assembly seat announcement were not of a controversial nature. She also speculated that enemies of the paper, even possible competitors took the papers out of the kiosks. She said the paper was holding its own in the market place, though they have cut the number of pages per issue due to rising costs.
Casey said the 3,800 papers out of a 20,000 print run were replaced by extras left over because the schools are closed, and that made up much of the purloined papers.
According to the newspaper, the following events took place overnight from the time the Thursday July 10 edition was deposited in the red White Plains Times distribution boxes, and we quote from the Times website:
Published: July 11, 2008
On Friday morning, July 11, it was discovered by White Plains Times staff members that more than 3,500 newspapers had been removed from the red distribution boxes all over town. The theft occurred sometime between 6:00 p.m. Thursday evening and 8:00 a.m. Friday morning. Not only were all newspapers removed, but the issue placed in each box's front window was taken as well.
If you saw any suspicious activity occur around any of the White Plains Times boxes please notify us at 914-421-1904 or call the local White Plains Police Department, as a police report has already been filed.
WPCNR can verify that we were suprised on Thursday morning that there were no issues of the Times in a distribution box we passed while shooting pictures of the latest certioraris along Mamaroneck Avenue.
