Cell phone death rays or mindless panic?

WP Times, Dec. 26, 2008: Citizens Group Topples Big Cell.

The article states "a State Supreme Court judge ruled on Dec. 10 that the Board of Managers of the Biltmore Towers Condominium Association acted outside of their authority when they entered into a lease agreement with MetroPCS to install cell antennas on the roof of the building, at 30 Lake St."

A couple of condo owners there formed a group, "Safe Cell",  to oppose their own board.

It seems to me that the board members acted in good faith to generate revenue for the condo.  That is a good thing.  They did something a little different that required a bit of creativity.  That's another good thing.

This appears to be a Pyrrhic victory, one that will cause good board members to leave the board and result in too much caution and lack of imagination.  Condo/coop organizations have enough trouble getting energetic owners to become members of their boards.  The Biltmore board president "did not return a call seeking comment".  Who could blame that person?  This type of action undermines progressive policy.  Boards should pursue anything that generates revenue or cuts costs for owners.

I am neither a lawyer, nor a scientist.  I do not know whether the decision has merit, nor whether it can survive appeal.  I do not know whether the cell equipment is a safety hazard.

The condo renegades also have a "case in federal court against the city's Planning Board ... to prevent cell antennas from being installed near" a couple of public schools.  Oh,  boy.  They are playing the kid card: the last refuge of the scoundrel to paraphrase Samuel Johnson.  And there are a lot better things on which to attack the Planning Board.

The final words in the article are "RF emissions".  RF.  That means radio frequency.  Don't they have to do with broadcast radio transmission, which has been pretty big since the 1920s?  And television broadcasting, pretty big since at least the 1950s?  How come the insurgents have not been concerned about that all along?  How about taking away broadcast television from people who do not have cable or phone company TV service?  Do you suppose that kind of RF threatens the kiddies?

And what about the AT&T microwave tower atop its building at 400 Hamilton Avenue since 1954?  It has line of sight to AT&T facilities in Manhattan?  Shouln't that concern the "Safe Cell" duo?

Finally, in another article in that same issue of WP Times, right next to the cell article, about the fire at 20 North Broadway:

Many families learned about the blaze through phone calls left with parents warning that school buses could be delayed.

It does not specify whether some of those calls were made to or from cell phones.  Maybe the condo renegades should have considered the value of communication before taking the actions they did.

Uh, oh. Another sidewalk neglected by WP.

The City of White Plains has a large parking lot on Bank St., just south of the train station. Commuters must walk on the adjacent sidewalk to reach the station. The city did not clear the snow form this long stretch of sidewalk.

Another: what the heck!

What a tedious municipality, to have yet another such obvious example of neglect and mismanagement.

City employee litters.

This is one of those matters that you simply wish had not occurred but that cannot be ignored.

After fixing a minor problem at the intersection of South Lexington and Fisher/Quarroppas a white City of White Plains truck (L86626) proceeded to Mamaroneck Ave., turned left, then right onto Mitchell Place.  I know.  I was driving behind it.

12/24/08 at 1:43 PM about half way down Mitchell Place the driver threw a paper cup out of the window onto the street.

Not a big deal but my friend and I both had the same reaction: what the heck is that?  Small stuff matters.  Stuff like this should not happen and when it happens it should not be tolerated.

No, do not fire the worker but certainly speak to the individual and make a policy statement to all city workers that such behavior is unacceptable and could result in a city worker being fired.  City workers should set a good example.  That should be part of the job description.

Snow on Sidewalks: city takes action!

Yesterday's post (Snow on Sidewalks) was also the subject of an e-mail message sent to the City of White Plains at webpo@ci.white-plains.ny.us.  The message contained the URL of this blog but not the post.

Since the person(s) who receive(s) messages sent to webpo@ci.white-plains.ny.us never respond(s) there is no way of knowing whether the city reacted to this blog but today 90% of the problem had been addressed on Bloomingdale Road, Bryant Ave. and Mamaroneck Ave.  That's pretty good for government work.  Most of the remaining problem snow is adjacent to city property near the intersection at Bryant and Mamaroneck Avenues.  There were even a couple of city trucks parked illegaly on Mamaroneck Ave. south of Bryant in which city employees were having lunch around 1:45PM.  The remaining snow/ice is now under substantial amounts of rock salt, which will eventually melt through the snow/ice as well as the sidewalk somewhere below.

Despite the lack of communication, that's a pretty good job by the city.  Keep it up.  Keep doing your job.

WP mail about how great the government is.

I recently received something called Access White Plains.  The non-cover pages contain WINTER 2008.

The lead article is about the City Responding to Economic Climate.  Blah, blah, blah.  If they really knew stuff they'd be running the national economy.  But if the city is trying to save money then why is it spending tax money mailing a glossy document to each city resident?  It contained a separate paper with the recycling schedule for each day of the year.  I guess they forgot that most of us live in apartment buildings and this schedule is not applicable to us as individuals.  Not sending it could have saved money and paper.

This blog is negative by its nature, the same as the city mailed doc is positive by its nature.  Their natures do not negate what is written.  However, a couple of items from the city had already been addressed in this blog.

City: Longview Parking Garage

Blog: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2008 - Cars, the only issue in White Plains

City: Minerva Ground Breaking

Blog: SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2008 - Environment & Energy

Hey, they could have saved paper had they read the blog.

Affordable Housing Tour

See previous post:

TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2008

Affordable Housing: the hypocrisy

_________________________

Recently the WP Times wrote about a tour by officials and interested activists of affordable housing units in apartment buildings including the new Avalon.

It is my understanding that one person wishing to live alone may only get an affordable studio apartment.  Did those on tour inspect any studio apartments?  The Avalon has studio apartments as small as 381 square feet.  I am guessing that the Avalon's affordable apartments are in the back on a low floor facing the garage.  Just a guess.  If no affordable persons want them, is the Avalon free to rent them at market rate?

Is an affordable individual to live in an apartment of 381 square feet?  Comparably small apartments are allowed for more inhabitants, I think up to 1,000 square feet for four people. 

Or is all this just a Kabuki dance to make those who advocate this silly policy feel good about themselves?

Why doesn't the City of White Plains publish the following:

1. The number and percentage of affordable apartments actually rented by each of the buildings required to do so.

2. The size of the affordable apartments.

3. The rent paid.

4. Who is renting them.

5. Who is deciding who rents them.

6. Criteria for avoiding what appears to be an unavoidable conflict of interest between city employees judging which city employees get what in affordable housing.

These items illustrate why the entire policy is silly.  It is unfair for most of us to subsidize a few of us in an arbitrary, secret manner that is beyond any reasonable oversight.  Suppose the one person living in an affordable studio wants to have another person move in?  Does the government bureaucracy weigh in?

Governments should end this very old policy and let people live where they want by paying them more money so that they can make their own decisions without favors from co-workers and scrutiny by government  bureaucrats.

Snow on Sidewalks

The City of White Plains never fully comes to grips with the simple task of snow removal on sidewalks.  When it snows the city should see to it that the snow is removed from the sidewalks.  Seems pretty clear to me.

Notice that I did not mention roads.  Clearing the roads is an imperative in WP.  Cars are king.  Move 'em, park 'em.  Park 'em, move 'em.

It is Sunday morning.  More snow is falling.  Friday we had the first significant pre-winter snowfall.  Saturday afternoon I went out, intending to walk along the east side of Bloomingdale Road from Maple Ave. to Bryant Ave., then east on Bryant to North Street.  This route allows me to walk along the woods and not cross any streets, although getting there by crossing Bloomingdale Road at Maple is akin to crossing an interstate highway.

Unfortunately, almost all of the sidewalk on the east side of Bloomingdale Road from Maple to Bryant had not had the snow removed.  The north side of Bryant was cleared up to Bryant Estates where there was no a hint of any effort to remove snow.  Walking west on the south side of Bryant near the Bryant Garden Coop was OK because the coop had cleared the snow.  Then I reached the sidewalk adjacent to property owned by the City of White Plains.  It had not been cleared: all the way to Mamaroneck Ave AND along Mamaroneck Ave south to the beginning of the Burke Rehab property, which had cleared its sidewalks.  Only the city was negligent in this area.

This city property if the fake park on the southeast corner of Bryant and Mamaroneck Ave.  There is a sign at the corner but no real entrance.  I think WP keeps the park land a secret so that the city can attempt to shake down the hospital for more land in exchange for allowing the hospital to develop other parts of its property but that's just a guess.

1. Why does the City of White Plains not at least clear the sidewalk adjacent to its own land?  That's pretty basic stuff.  Does the city issue summonses to itself?

2. Why are private property owners allowed to leave snow and ice on the sidewalks adjacent to their stores, homes, places of worship, etc.?

The mayor lives in a downtown apartment but all the other Common Council members live in houses in the WP suburbs and they only care about driving into downtown to shop, eat and possibly go to a movie.  If they actually walked around downtown where most WP residents live they might develop some minimal appreciation of the dynamics of living in a downtown administered and governed by non-residents who always drive and never walk there.

Hidden Tax

Video (14.5%) and wireless phone (24%) services are taxed.

In White Plains my Verizon FIOS video (TV) service costs $40 per month. In addition to that I pay $5.78 in tax. That's 14.5%! One dollar goes to PEG Grant Fee, whatever that is; I think it's federal. Of the remaining $4.78, $3.16 goes to Video Franchise Fee. Nice work, Common Council. Why the heck are we paying? I thought CC was trying to soak Verizon for granting a franchise.

It gets worse. My $39.99 Verizon Wireless service is taxed $9.62. That's 24%!!! 34.4% of that tax goes to the Feds. The rest is sliced among the local municipal money changers, including $1.30 for White Plains School Distr Tax. That's 13.5% of the total tax and 20.6% of the local tax going to the WP schools. Why?

What the heck is going on? How the heck do they get away with these outrageous tax rates?

The only good news is that Verizon FIOS Internet service is not taxed.

City Bus

The most recent consideration of a city bus system has been languishing for years. Now that the federal government is ready to spend lots of money on such projects, is WP ready to seize the opportunity?

Since CC members do not commute, they need to be reminded that a city bus system must include getting residents to/from the train station during rush hours. The areas where this service must be provided are those with the greatest population density. Ordinarily this would seem obvious but WP is so car oriented that the obvious must be emphasized.

Traffic Laws.

Enforce moving violations, not parking violations.

With the economy in turmoil the decision makers must be wondering where WP city revenue will come from with retail sales and restaurant business noticeably down. Their natural inclination will be to increase property tax and step up enforcement of ... parking violations.

How about enforcing moving violations? WP is Dodge City. When it comes to moving violations there is no law. Red lights are routinely run. Right on red is supposed to be: full stop, turn. In WP it is hairpin turn on red.

Pedestrian hostility is taken to a new level in WP. Get the CC members walking on the downtown streets and maybe they will take action before someone is killed.