Senior building at 41 Barker Avenue, again, did not have its snow removed.

41 Barker Avenue is the tall building on the left. It's the only one on that side of the street that did not have its snow removed. The church on the corner of North Broadway, of course, did not remove snow either. If you can't tell from the distant photo, go the heck out there and check in person.

Previous post:

Snow removal: does the city ever enforce sidewalk clearing without complaints? Saturday, December 16, 2017

The sidewalk at 41 Barker Avenue still has its snow. That's a Westchester County apartment building for seniors.
______________________

The message above was sent, as is this one, to Common Council members, all of whom do backflips to display their credentials as humanitarians on all sorts of junk but not on meat and potatoes stuff like this. Why? It doesn't impact them or their natural constituents, who like them, live in houses away from downtown.

Snow removal: does the city ever enforce sidewalk clearing without complaints?

Corner of Barker Avenue and Church Street:

The public sidewalk diagonally across has been closed for weeks for the new construction. Basic common sense should have led city officials to ensure that the sidewalks near there were properly cleared of snow as required by city ordinances. Obviously, the white Cottage Place condo responsible for that snow covered sidewalk has not done so. A worker was just observed spreading salt on the sidewalk. Salt is no substitute for removing the snow.

The sidewalk at 41 Barker Avenue still has its snow. That's a Westchester County apartment building for seniors. Along Church Street just north of the intersection owners of some private homes have not cleared the snow.

Why does this seem like an eternal problem in White Plains? It's a simple municipal responsibility and yet one administration after another has proven incapable of even grasping the concept.

What the heck?

If the property owner does not do it, the city should promptly remove the snow and then bill and fine the property owner. If city ordinances do not provide for all that, create some that do. Most importantly, responsible city officials should be held accountable for fundamental things like this.

Improve at least ONE downtown street. ONE.

Come on. Do something. Even a little something. White Plains is still stuck with the same problems that Mayor Roach described two years ago. Now that the election is over, how about making at least one substantive improvement to offset all the new problems that ridiculously increased bus traffic has exacerbated?

Learn from New York City. White Plains does not have to re-invent the wheel.

No Longer New York City’s ‘Boulevard of Death’

By WINNIE HUDEC. 3, 2017  nytimes.com

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The biggest changes are still to come to Queens Boulevard. In 2019, the city expects to begin a $255-million project that will add wide, tree-lined medians, benches and a continuous bike and walking path. Ms. Doherty said that she envisioned a “linear park” that could be enjoyed by all users of the boulevard.

______________________________

If elected mayor, will you go downtown?

Message sent to Mayor Roach and challenger Lecuona:

In 1969 Norman Mailer ran for mayor ... of New York City. Jimmy Breslin was his running mate. Both were writers.

Mayor John Lindsay had been excoriated for letting snow pile up in Queens. One of Breslin's wisecracks was: if elected, I will go to Queens.

Neither Lecuona nor Roach pays any attention to downtown citizens. Have either of you attended even one condo or co-op annual meeting? One? All either of you do is pander to your natural constituents who live in houses in the suburbs of White Plains.

Parking enforcement not applied to BUSES.

Message to Mayor Roach and insurgent candidate Lecuona.

Location of photo: three streets converge: Barker Avenue, Water Street, MLK Blvd., northwest corner of the soon to be demolished mini mall, which hosts the DMV. Both HUGE Coach USA buses are parked in the wide no parking striped area. The buses were there at least 30 minutes. After the photo was taken, a city person wearing "parking enforcement" on the back, returned to the car and simply drove away, with no contact or evident awareness of the bus drivers or buses.

from: Ken
to: "Thomas M. Roach" <troach@whiteplainsny.gov>
cc: Milagros Lecuona <milagroslecuona@gmail.com>,
letters@lohud.com,
digital@lohud.com,
Patch <tips@patch.com>
date: Tue, Sep 26, 2017 at 11:47 AM
subject: Parking enforcement not applied to BUSES.

The official White Plains car is clearly marked as parking enforcement. Buses parked there illegally NEVER get a ticket. NEVER.

Common Council twice warned about dangerous bus traffic downtown. Maybe if they lived downtown ...

Neither candidate for mayor, incumbent Tom Roach nor insurgent challenger Milagros Lecuona, have addressed the issue of the invasion of downtown White Plains by county, regional and private buses. Much of the increased bus traffic is on residential streets, including North Broadway, Barker Avenue, Park Avenue. Zero planning seems to be involved. ZERO.

from: Ken
to: "Thomas M. Roach" <troach@whiteplainsny.gov>,
Milagros Lecuona <milagroslecuona@gmail.com>,
"Beth N. Smayda" <bsmayda@bethsmayda.com>,
"Dennis E. Krolian" <dkrolian@whiteplainsny.gov>,
"John M. Martin" <jmartin@whiteplainsny.gov>,
Nadine Hunt-Robinson <nhrobinson@whiteplainsny.gov>,
John Kirkpatrick <jkirkpatrick@whiteplainsny.gov>
cc: Tom Soyk <tsoyk@whiteplainsny.gov>,
digital@lohud.com,
letters@lohud.com,
Patch <tips@patch.com>
date: Tue, Sep 19, 2017 at 5:27 AM
subject: NYTimes: 3 Killed and More Than a Dozen Injured in Bus Crash in Queens

3 Killed and More Than a Dozen Injured in Bus Crash in Queens https://nyti.ms/2y9kXy0

The police said there were no passengers on the charter bus.
____________________

The more buses you allow to drive on residential streets in White Plains, the more likely people will be killed and/or injured.
___________________
___________________

from: Ken
to: "Thomas M. Roach" ,
Milagros Lecuona ,
"Beth N. Smayda" ,
"John M. Martin" ,
"Dennis E. Krolian" ,Nadine Hunt-Robinson
cc: Patch ,letters@lohud.com,digital@lohud.com
date: Mon, Sep 25, 2017 at 4:57 AM
subject: NYTimes: Budget Bus Lines Flout the Rules With Little Consequence

Budget Bus Lines Flout the Rules With Little Consequence https://nyti.ms/2ymxCOm

You Common Council members are on notice. When some kid is killed by being hit by one of these ridiculous buses with few passengers, you'll all be sued, along with the city. Discovery will find my blog posts and my email messages to each of you. You're probably immune legally but it won't be pretty because it will still be obvious that all of you were negligent.

Meanwhile, you're focused on the stupid French school issue, which impacts a tiny percentage of White Plains citizens ... who live in multi million dollar houses. Put some affordable housing there.
___________________

Reply to Milagros Lecuona, insurgent candidate for mayor.

First, the message, then the reply.

from: Milagros Lecuona via bounce.myngp.com

reply-to: milagrosformayor@gmail.com

to: Ken
date: Sat, Sep 23, 2017 at 8:54 AM
subject: Me Again

Now more than ever, I am committed to the change we need in White Plains

Dear Ken,
...

On the surface, things may look good in White Plains but I have seen some disturbing trends in our current leadership which motivate me to be committed to the change we need. New development plans that bring thousands of so-called luxury rental units (increasing traffic and noise while decreasing open space), Renaissance fountains (malfunctioning and wasting millions of tax payers' money) and bike lanes (that are costly and dangerous) are put forward as “what’s working in White Plains,” but there is no mention of:

- a firefighting staff and the communities it serves that have been short changed in city priorities,
- wasted taxpayer money being used as the current mayor hands out jobs to his friends,
= the French American School’s project with far too many hidden plans or unanswered questions for the community,
- the issue of 20 percent of the city budget coming from money from parking department creating insanely strict parking policies.

Sincerely,
Milagros
_________________________

from: Ken

to: milagrosformayor@gmail.com
cc: digital@lohud.com,
letters@lohud.com

I checked your website again and there are no policy proposals to deal with your list of issues. In your most recent email you mention "insanely strict parking policies". What does that even mean and what would you do about it?

You live in a house neighborhood and want it to be easier to park downtown where you want even more affordable housing, which means affordable apartments nowhere near where you and other Common Council members live. You house people just want easy and inexpensive car access to downtown.

And how about addressing the bus invasion of downtown that I've been documenting for months and which you Common Council members have ignored.

Mayor Roach is off track but you have not presented any real alternative, just slogans and union endorsements, most of whose members probably do not live in White Plains.
_________________________

Issues espoused by candidates for Mayor of White Plains: Roach and Lecuona.

Tuesday Sept. 12 is the Democratic part primary for mayor of White Plains. Incumbent Tom Roach is being challenged by Milagros Lecuona, a Common Council member first elected in 2008.

After reading their positions on issues shown below, I'm for someone not running. Read on and judge for yourself.

Both, but especially Lecuona, deal in platitudes, which lean towards some national issues that have filtered down the political food chain and landed uncomfortably in the Westchester legislature and White Plains race for mayor. Democrats feel compelled to embrace a Sanctuary City policy, which not long ago was relegated to a place like San Francisco but now is openly supported, if not by name, than by policy as a means of showing bona fides opposition to President Donald Trump. It's difficult to know how that impacts urban planning, parking and garbage pickup, the issues that consume a mayor of a city of about 55,000 people.

Below are the links to their websites with excerpts on what passes for policy statements. Even at this late date Lecuona has embarrassing little substance. She does not mention Sanctuary City stuff as Roach does but it's my understanding that she embraced it during the debate Sept. 9 when she told a questioner to not vote for her if the person opposed Sanctuary City policy.

Lecuona:

https://www.milagroslecuona.com/issues-1

ISSUES

Protect taxpayers’ interests
Good Government
Fiscal Responsibility​

Protect residents’ health and safety
Appropriate Emergency Services
Examine Critical Shortage of Fire Fighters
Environment

Protect the Character of Neighborhoods
Quality of Life
Clear Understanding of the Needs of Each Unique Neighborhood

Protect Local Jobs and Businesses
Local Workforce and Unions
Community Benefits Agreements
Create Working Partnerships with Businesses
Parking Policies

___________________________

Roach:

https://www.voteforroach.com/on-the-issues-1/

Balanced, Sustainable Growth
Tom is proving that growth can be balanced and sustainable – and doesn’t require our city to compromise on our core commitments.

https://www.voteforroach.com/balanced-sustainable-growth

White Plains is attracting major new employers, with big investments to revitalize our downtown. We’ve added more than 1000 new jobs downtown this year alone, and have our lowest commercial and retail vacancy rates since the depths of the Great Recession. We've seen major investments in the Westchester, City Center, and will soon in the Galleria. Bringing residents and major commercial tenants downtown both helps out local small businesses by bringing in new customers and making our streets more lively and vibrant.

These investments are clear votes of confidence in the direction of our city and the path it’s taking under Tom’s leadership. At a time when internet shopping is radically reshaping the retail business across the country, these kinds of smart investments are vital.

White Plains is the fastest growing city in NY State – and we’ve done it while maintaining our local focus and commitment to unique and diverse neighborhoods.  Tom has made sure that downtown development projects benefit our residents.  We now require every new multi-family residential development project downtown to include affordable units – and as a result, we have hundreds of new affordable units under construction and in the pipeline. Under Tom’s leadership, White Plains also requires developers to pay a new impact fee to fund the creation and maintenance of city parks and playgrounds. 

Tom is proving that growth can be balanced and sustainable – and doesn’t require our city to compromise on our core commitments.

________________________________

Defending Progressive Values
Tom has been outspoken in support of the rights of all people, no matter where they’re from, who they choose to love or how they choose to worship.

https://www.voteforroach.com/defending-progressive-values

Now more than ever, we need a leader who’s not afraid to fight for progressive values. Tom has been outspoken in support of the rights of all people, no matter where they’re from, who they choose to love or how they choose to worship. He has implemented strong pro-environmental policies and programs at a time when the current federal Administration is heading in the opposite direction.

Our police have not and will not inquire regarding an individual’s immigration status, and Tom was proud to be consulted by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as he created guidance for  local governments to respond to President Trump’s Executive Order on immigration.

Tom has also helped make White Plains a leader in sustainability through the installation of 20 electric vehicle charging stations, expanded recycling options, banning use of the dirtiest fuel oils, streamlining the solar permitting process, energy efficient upgrades at city buildings, LED streetlight replacement, and complete streets legislation. White Plains has also opened a new fabric recycling center and a new park at Bryant and Mamaroneck Avenue.

_______________________________

A Safe City with a Fiscally Responsible Government

Tom firmly believes that community policing reduces crime and creates a safer environment for all. At the same time, we have one of the highest municipal fire protection ratings in New York State.

https://www.voteforroach.com/a-safe-city-with-a-fiscally-responsible-government

Thanks to a bedrock commitment to community policing, crime rates are at historic lows. Tom firmly believes that these policies reduce crime and create a safer environment for all. We’ve equipped our police with body cameras, and in addition to their many obvious benefits supervisors review footage regularly as a teaching tool to improve police performance on an ongoing basis.

White Plains has the highest municipal fire protection rating possible, according to experts in the fire insurance industry - one of only three municipalities in New York State and less than 100 nationwide to achieve that distinction. 49,000 municipalities nationwide were graded on every major fire safety factor by a respected, independent observer, who determined that there isn't a single municipality anywhere in New York State that does a better job protecting residents and businesses from fires than White Plains.

Under Tom’s leadership White Plains continues to make major investments in public safety infrastructure to provide even better service, including - $3.9 million in new equipment purchases for the Fire Department over the past 3 years; $1 million in renovations to fire facilities over the past two years; and $1.5 million more budgeted. We've also recently hired more police officers and firefighters. 

Our municipal services are top of the line thanks to our dedicated work force – and we've provided that level of service while staying under the state tax cap every year that Tom has been Mayor. White Plains does not rely on capital outlays to pay for pension costs or tax appeals like some of our neighbors or Westchester County.

___________________________

Candidates Debate Thursday: "Every way you look at this you lose".

Mrs. Robinson
Simon & Garfunkel
Written by Paul Simon • Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group

Koo-koo-ka-choo, Mrs. Robinson,
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Wo wo wo
God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey, hey, hey hey, hey, hey

Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates' debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Every way you look at this you lose

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Wu wu wu
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Jolting Joe has left and gone away
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

_____________________

from: WPCNA
reply-to: WPCNA
to: ken
date: Tue, Sep 5, 2017 at 11:23 PM
subject: Candidates Forum for White Plains Democratic Primary

The White Plains Council of Neighborhood Associations (WPCNA) and the League of Women Voters of White Plains (LWVWP) will co-sponsor a Forum for candidates for White Plains Mayor and Common Council in the Democratic primary. It will be held on Thursday, September 7, 2017 from 7:00 pm -- 10:00 pm at the Rochambeau School Auditorium, 228 Fisher Avenue, White Plains...
In order to insure that a wide range of issues is addressed by the candidates, please submit questions in writing either (1) By email to Beth Kava at bethkava@gmail.com in advance of the meeting, or (2) At the Forum.
If you email a question, please provide your name and address and indicate if the question is for the mayoral or common council candidates.
Doors will be open at 6:30 pm and cards will be available for audience members to submit questions. Please include your name and address on submissions. Questions will not be taken from the floor.

_____________________

Reply:

from: Ken
to: WPCNA
cc: bethkava@gmail.com
date: Tue, Sep 5, 2017 at 11:51 PM
subject: Re: Candidates Forum for White Plains Democratic Primary

The location of the event at the Rochambeau school is protected by a no trucks sign. There's also a no trucks sign across from the main post office. The city has been asked for no buses signs on residential streets, including Barker Avenue, but there has been no action. I've concluded that is because both elected and appointed officials do not want the buses added to the many cars already on Hamilton Avenue.

In the last 18 months downtown White Plains has been inundated with an incredible increase in the number of buses, including many huge regional buses. Since this does not impact the neighborhoods of the Common Council members or their natural constituency as represented by the house owners in the CNA and League of Women Voters, none of the candidates in White Plains give a damn about those of us who live in downtown apartments. Safety and quality of life for downtown citizens are ignored.

There is no plausible benefit to White Plains in general or to downtown citizens by all this additional bus traffic, especially since a very low percentage of seats are occupied by passengers. Low ridership seems to apply to all three types of buses:

Regional
Public county Bee-Line

Private limo shuttle between the train station and corporate parks along Interstate 287.

Your candidates debate Thursday will simply reinforce existing bias against downtown apartment residents. Plus, there's Thursday Night Football.

____________________

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/2017/REG1

CHIEFS AT PATRIOTS: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 07TH, 8:30 PM on NBC

Which will do more to improve quality of life for downtown White Plains citizens?

How did city add more lanes to Hamilton Avenue for rush hour cars? Use parallel streets Barker and Park.

After reading campaign literature by Mayor Tom Roach extolling his part in getting regional buses to run into Westchester, it finally dawned on me why the mayor and other Common Council members seem so oblivious to downtown being inundated with more and more buses.

The city can't decease the number of cars flooding White Plains every day, so it needed more traffic lanes for the useless buses that inflate the egos of city officials about the imagined importance of White Plains as a destination for the buses, rather than White Plains merely being a convenient transfer point. So rather than taking common sense action against the bus companies, the city lets the buses spread out onto parallel residential streets near totally non-residential Hamilton Ave:
Barker Avenue
Park Avenue.

Nice city planning.

Mayor Tom Roach: "bring an east-west bus rapid transit system to Westchester County"

Note: on his website Mayor Tom Roach does not say anything about light rail along Interstate 287 connecting Westchester and Rockland counties over the new Tappan Zee Bridge, renamed for former Gov. Cuomo. So either Mayor Roach did not try to get light rail or he tried and failed.

From the campaign website for the re-election of Mayor Tom Roach:

https://www.voteforroach.com/toms-vision/

Most recently, Tom worked with our State Representatives to bring an east-west bus rapid transit system to Westchester County, that will open up once the new Tappan Zee Bridge is completed. This will help reduce congestion on our roads and highways, and allow our commercial offices to attract new tenants who want to be transit-accessible. Thanks to investments like this one, White Plains is rapidly adding jobs, which creates customers for small businesses in our city.
_______________________

At least this contains a rationale for how inundating downtown White Plains might benefit the citizens of White Plains. However, the part of White Plains that's probably impacted are those supposedly obsolete corporate parks that are barely in White Plains along Interstate 287.

If the regional buses simply crossed the bridge, new or old, and dropped passengers off along 287, there would not be an issue, one which neither Mayor Roach nor his challenger in the primary, Milagros Lecuona, have even bothered to address.

But those HUGE regional buses barge into downtown White Plains and drive along multiple residential streets, including North Broadway, Barker Avenue, Park Avenue and most recently Grant Avenue. Regional buses going to and from the train station are facilitating transportation through White Plains but those passengers are not staying in White Plains, not even long enough to shop in a department store. How does that benefit White Plains?

Plus, the 287 corporate parks have fleets of local private buses taking workers to/from the train station and the 287 offices. White Plains gets some benefit from corporate tax paid to White Plains. See Leros, "33 Westchester Avenue".

As usual quality of life in downtown is not considered: safety, noise, pollution, congestion. Congestion? Don't those buses reduce the number of cars in White Plains. The city website still states that 300,000 cars enter White Plains every day. Now add all these silly buses. And what's the point of having the buses go to the train station? They could have crossed the bridge and dropped off their passengers at some Hudson River train station in Westchester. Except the new bridge is designed to protect the river towns from unwanted traffic. Where was Mayor Roach and many other elected officials when that was planned? Who protected downtown White Plains. Who protects it now?

Pedestrian controlled traffic light is long overdue at Lake Street and Stewart Place.

White Plains is pedestrian hostile in the extreme. A great example is at the Lake Street intersection with Stewart Place, right across from the only downtown city park.

There's that New York State sign at the Stewart Place crosswalk informing drivers that they must yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. Of course, no one is going to enter that dangerous crosswalk until the cars have stopped in both directions. Many of the people crossing are young children with an adult, either walking or in a stroller.

If the Public Safety and Traffic Commissioners had any sense, this problem would have been fixed years ago. More likely is that they don't even know about it. That's how disconnected city officials and Common Council members are.

A good solution is the same as that already implemented years ago on North Broadway, across from Barker Avenue. Take a look. It's just north of Lake Street on the same side of North Broadway at the next traffic light. Apparently, the citizens who live in the apartment building complained enough to get some action. That's standard operating procedure in White Plains and has been for decades. Sit back and act only when provoked.

Unfortunately, the newly formed neighborhood association representing Stewart Place and Ross Street is consumed with waging what will be a losing battle against the development of the land behind the closed Good Counsel school. The only bright spot there is that it will be almost a decade before any new people start living at that new development. That's the pace of things in White Plains. However, when completed, there will be that many more people in danger trying to cross Lake Street to get to any stores. And most of those cars on Lake Street are used by people who do not even live in White Plains.

White Plains ... Motown!

CNA asked to help with bus invasion.

These are desperate times. I've resorted to asking the Council of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) to help with the bus problem. Here is the message sent through it's website:

How can I contact the North Broadway Association? Does it include Barker Avenue, Park Avenue, Grant Street?

They have all been inundated with an ever increasing number of buses. The city officials seem oblivious.

Can CNA help? Thanks.

One way mega streets: mocked by Mayor Roach but not changed.

Mayor Tom Roach is by far the biggest breadth of fresh air in White Plains city government in half a century. Unfortunately, White Plains continues to resist and withstand any real change or improvement.

The extent to which Mayor Roach is at fault is unclear. City bureaucracy, special interests of residents of houses, the emerging impact of the bus industry all contribute to things like leaving intact the pseudo highways that slash through downtown posing as city streets, making White Plains pedestrian hostile in the extreme.

Ultimately, however, the person in charge gets too much blame/credit. Unfortunately, his Democratic party challenger does not offer a substantive alternative in this year's election for mayor.

The real problems with downtown White Plains:
1. Common Council members are elected at large, not in geographic districts.
2. Those of us living in downtown apartments are dumb and lazy.

Comments on Mayor Tom Roach campaign literature.

Today I received the first Mayor Tom Roach campaign literature, either paper or digital. I've been receiving email messages from his challenger for the Democratic party nomination for mayor of White Plains: Milagros Lecuona, a member of the city Common Council. None of her messages suggest any real program but a bunch of platitudes from 20-25 years ago and one with the hysterical title that we are under attack. She's correct on that only if she is referring to buses overwhelming downtown with few passengers and do apparent benefit to downtown residents or White Plains generally.

One of the four elected officials with photos who are endorsing Roach is State Senator ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS, who over the years has NEVER replied to a single email message sent to either of her official IDs:
scousins@senate.st
scousins@nysenate.gov

Same was true of Amy Paulin when she represented me in the State Assembly.

Comments on three major points made by Mayor Roach to promote his own re-election.

Promoting affordable housing ... all built at the developer's expense.

comment: The developer makes a business plan which takes that cost into account and then passes it on to the 90% of his tenants who are paying "market" rates. Those rents are really market rate plus. Further, there is no affordable housing, only affordable apartments, which are no where near Common Council members, virtually all of whom for half a century have lived in houses outside of downtown. This is an issue which let's the politicians congratulate each other about what fine human beings they are, when they have no skin in the game.

Protecting our community. Every person needs to be comfortable talking to the police. We have not and will not ask about individuals' immigration status... (in response to) President Trump's Executive Orders on immigration.

comment: May the police ask about other status? For instance, I just served county jury duty. I received a subpoena, which threatened me with 30 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine if I did not show up. I guess I could have said that I was an illegal alien (oops, undocumented person) and been dismissed from serving without a penalty.

May the police ask if a dead beat dad has outstanding legal items against him?

Blah, blah, blah. Apparently, White Plains has become a sanctuary city, just without those words. How humanitarian.

People at odds with the law should NOT feel comfortable dealing with the police. There is a natural tension between outlaws and the police. You can call an outlaw by some euphemism like undocumented but that does not change the person's status. Whitey Bulger was undocumented because he did not want the FBI to apprehend him for crimes, including murder.

Investing in parks and neighborhoods. Tom created an impact fee on developers ...

comment: This stuff is one reason it takes for freakin' ever for anything to get done in White Plains and the stuff never has any charm or continuity with anything else. There is ONE park in downtown, the one along Canfield Avenue between Lake Street and Main Street. That's it, and it's been there for decades. That really nice center divider on North Broadway between Main and Hamilton Avenue is NOT a park. And the thing at Mamaroneck and Bryant is NOT downtown.

All that this policy does is make White Plains a difficult place to build. Oh, those new buildings going up, like the LCOR project on Bank Street? Didn't it take about a decade? And the one approved for 60 South Broadway: two years before work started.

They are developing here because they cannot afford New York City. It's spillover crumbs that White Plains thinks it has earned on merit. It has not.
_________________________

White Plains is a convenient compromise. It lacks charm and apparently always will. Many of us live here because we cannot afford Bronxville or even Scarsdale. But the practical aspect of downtown is fragile and the city is in danger of fracturing that with the bus problem that's well documented in this blog and new "progressive" policies that insult our common sense without even asking us about it.

It's too bad that there is not any real choice for these Common Council seats. But we people living in downtown apartments are dumb and lazy. That's how the minority living the houses outside of downtown can continue to dominate local government here. That is made much easier by the nonsensical type of government, in which Common Council members are elected at large, rather representing a specific geographic district.

Change White Plains to have Common Council members elected from districts and then a declaration of a sanctuary city would be reviewed by many more White Plains citizens. Citizens, not merely residents. Citizens.

Grant Avenue now has corporate buses driving through.

August 18, 2017 about 5:45 PM while walking on North Broadway I observed "333 Westester Avenue" corporate commuter buses driving west on Grant Avenue, making a left onto North Broadway, probably headed to the train station. That's another residential street plagued by buses.

White Plains city officials, both elected and appointed, allow this bus traffic. There seems to be no policy.

Parking regulations are not enforced on the huge buses. Example: striped no parking area adjacent to the pathetic mini mall near Water Street where Coach USA buses park two at a time. City workers can be observed writing parking tickets for cars parked at expired meters but ignoring the buses parked illegally right next to them.

What the heck?

Gondolas and congestion pricing of vehicles.

There a couple of articles in The New York Times with ideas at least worth considering in White Plains, which continues with it's lack of imagination.

One is about gondolas, not to be confused with a tram, providing public transportation above congested streets. The other is about reducing that congestion by making drivers pay money to use downtown city streets.

Pushing for a Commute That Would Rise Above the Rest
By LISA W. FODERARO AUG. 13, 2017

Cuomo Calls Manhattan Traffic Plan an Idea ‘Whose Time Has Come’
By MARC SANTORA AUG. 13, 2017

Congestion pricing is an idea whose time has come,” Mr. Cuomo said.
______________

That's Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is a member of the same political party as every member of the White Plains Common Council, which includes the mayor.

http://whiteplainsny.gov/FAQ.aspx?QID=70

How many vehicles travel in and out of White Plains each day?
There are approximately 300,000 vehicles entering and leaving downtown White Plains on a typical weekday. This number can increase as much as 25% during the holiday season when business and shopping peaks overlap.

Fringe developed areas along Westchester Avenue (Platinum Mile), Central Avenue / Tarrytown Road, and southern Mamaroneck Avenue generate approximately an additional 100,000 - 150,000 vehicles per day.

___________________

The city website has had that 300,000 vehicles number for many years. Since the number hasn't changed it means that the continuing increase in buses in downtown has not reduced congestion, only added to pollution, noise and danger. And, of course, the buses have made quality of life downtown even more of a joke.

Downtown is just a convenience for people who live outside downtown, including White Plains residents in houses, which, of course, includes virtually all Common Council members forever.

Do all those new buses at least reduce the number of cars in White Plains? Wednesday, July 12, 2017

NO Trucks sign across street from main post office. So, why not a NO BUSES sign on Barker Avenue?

That's at least two "no trucks" signs in White Plains.

NO TRUCKS sign on Fisher Avenue, so how about a NO BUSES sign on Barker Avenue? Wednesday, June 21, 2017

This suggests that the City of White Plains has the authority, either through the Common Council or administratively by the traffic commissioner, to ban buses on Barker Avenue, where they have become a HUGE assault on quality of life: safety, pollution, congestion, noise.

The Common Council members have had ample opportunity to assess this and take action. Willful ignorance is not acceptable public policy.

Do all those new buses at least reduce the number of cars in White Plains?

That's the only explanation that Common Council members could reasonably offer, although it probably would only occur to individual members if pressed to address the issue, which so far has not happened.

It's also one of those knee jerk reactions that seems plausible but may not be correct. Does anyone know? Maybe the traffic commissioner? Is there any reasonable data on this?

The many new buses can be viewed starting around 4:30 PM on weekdays. Just hang out at the intersection of Church Street and Barker Avenue. One went by a few minutes ago, a double Bee-Line bus making a left turn from Church onto Barker and heading towards the Transmania bus depot at the train station. Why would such a vehicle be taking that route? Does any city official have any idea? Does any care?

Casual observations:
- the number of cars seems at least as many as a couple of years ago before the buses increased dramatically in numbers, size and variety (county, regional, private)
- the buses seem to have a very low percentage of their seats occupied by passengers.

These buses could be replaced by Uber/Lyft without the capital investment, especially for Bee-Line, the county bus system that insists on the website that it has 30 million rides per year. Provide free rides to poor people.

Since the regional planning was not convinced by Westchester County to implement light rail along Interstate 287, White Plains, which did not sufficiently influence the county on this, is now increasingly burdened with absurd bus traffic with little or no benefit to the city, especially those residents who live downtown.

Gas station skimmer theft in White Plains, NY at Exxon Mobile station pump one run by Chestnut Mart.

from: Ken
to: Rob Astorino,Benjamin Boykin
cc: letters@lohud.com,digital@lohud.com,tips@patch.com,Westchester Police
date: Mon, Jul 10, 2017 at 9:07 AM
subject: Tech Thoughts: Gas station skimmer theft in White Plains, NY at Exxon Mobile station pump one run by Chestnut Mart.

http://techthoughtsmatinale.blogspot.com/2017/07/gas-station-skimmer-theft-in-white.html

Surface Transportation Planning: does this explain the absurd bus mess in White Plains?

Even after 7:00 PM empty buses keep rolling down rediential Barker Avenue towards the train station.

https://www.transportation.gov/livability/grants-programs

Cruise down to "Surface Transportation Planning".

The Common Council members could be crooks and/or incompetent. Either way, who benefits? Apparently the private bus companies but how, if there are few passengers? Do these bus companies receive payments from the federal government to simply show up in White Plains?

At this point it's unreasonable to expect an explanation from the Common Council. They either have no idea or do not want to incriminate themselves.

Uber and Lyft suddenly legal in Westchester.

Can you hail a cab in White Plains? Beats me. That was supposed to be coming but the cabs still seem to be trapped at the train station. Has anyone seen a person hail a cab in White Plains?

Now that simple urban concept may be superceded by Uber and Lyft being allowed to operate in New York State and get this, even in Westchester County.

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/transit/2017/06/27/westchester-ride-hailing-uber/432015001/

That might even include the City of White Plains. Wow. White Plains may be dragged kicking and screaming into the current milenium. Now if it could only figure out what to do with all those revolting buses.

Message sent to the Stakeholder Task Force of the WP Transit District Study about the BUSES!

Task force members: http://whiteplainsny.gov/index.aspx?NID=616

from: Ken Matinale
to: transitdistrict@whiteplainsny.gov
date: Mon, Jun 26, 2017 at 6:58 AM
subject: White Plains, NY

http://white-plains-ny.blogspot.com/

The Common Council has not provided any information about all the HUGE buses that are all over downtown. How about you?

Even yesterday, Sunday, Greyhound and Adirondack regional buses were roaring along North Broadway and then down residential Barker Avenue. Do you know that? How does that benefit White Plains residents?

How do Coach, Leros, and other private buses benefit White Plains residents?

And aren't the MANY private buses just a way for non-poor people to avoid riding the Westchester County Bee-Line buses, which rarely have even one third of their seats occupied when driving to/from the White Plains bus terminal, the Transmania?

What does your planning do about all that? Or are you simply trying to placate groups like the Battle Hill and Fisher Hill associations?

NO TRUCKS sign on Fisher Avenue, so how about a NO BUSES sign on Barker Avenue?

At the Rochambeau school on Fisher Avenue there are two signs hung vertically:

NO TRUCKS

TRUCK ROUTE
-->

Trucks heading south are directed to make a right and head toward the industrial area but not continue past the school and further into the residential area.

The top sign limits trucks by weight.

So if the city can  do that, why can't it direct buses away from residential Barker Avenue and onto non-residential Hamilton Avenue?

And if that doesn't do it, get creative. Maybe enforce the speed limit with a cop car or two posted with a radar gun clearly visible. Make Barker Avenue one way during hours of most use by buses, except for residents. How about a sign suggesting that they use Hamilton Avenue? Come on, come. How about a little: where's a will there's a way, instead of hey, we have no idea what to do. Our hands are tied. We give the heck up.

How about FINALLY changing the direction of all those convoluted streets in the train station area, so that the buses have a better entry/exit than Barker Avenue and Water Street? How difficult can that be? The mayor has been talking about it for almost two years. Doesn't the Traffic Department have a plan yet?

And please address the entire issue of whether White Plains benefits from all these buses going to/from the train station.

Bus categories violating downtown, in case any city officials care.

Common Council members, spend a few minutes at about 5:30 PM at the intersection of Barker Avenue and Church Street. See for yourselves. Come on. Get around downtown occasionally.

Three general groups of buses:

1. Westchester county Bee-Line: mostly empty except during rush hour; poor people going to work for rich people.

2. Private (Leros, etc.): companies providing transportation to/from the train station for employees who won't ride the Bee-Line with poor people. Because Church Street is still one way between Hamilton Avenue and Barker Avenue, the passengers from the big office building on the corner board private buses on Church Street and the bus then proceeds to Barker, then left to the train station.

3. Regional (Adirondack, Greyhound, etc.): few passengers; why do they bother with White Plains, except for passengers to transfer to the train and continue on to New York City?

Do you really think that people, even millennials, want to live at the functional equivalent of the 8th Avenue Port Authority bus terminal?

Buried on city website: White Plains Transit District Request for Expression of Interest.

http://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/bids.aspx?bidID=7

It does, of course, mentioned the resident groups of concern to Common Council members: "adjacent neighborhoods including Battle Hill, Fisher Hill, and Ferris Avenue".

Hey, how about people living on Barker Avenue, North Broadway, Lake Street, Martine Avenue, ...?

White Plains Common Council ignores downtown residents.

7:30 AM on a sleepy, foggy Sunday morning and monster buses, first Greyhound then county, are already roaring down Barker Avenue heading toward the train station. They never use non-residential Hamilton Avenue. Never.

Traffic commissioner Tom Soyk will assure you that he is powerless to do anything about this. Maybe make a meaningless, ineffectual phone call to someone at a bus company, then continue with 100% unimaginative administrative duties.

Many posts about this mess have appeared on this blog, all ignored by White Plains Common Council members, even when a link to a post has been sent to each. The same will be done with this post, both the sending and the ignoring.

Are White Plains Common Council members really that oblivious, disinterested, incompetent? If they actually wanted to see the bus mess, simply go to the intersection of Barker and Church at 5:30 PM any weekday. After ten minutes, the nature of it will become apparent.

As written previously, White Plains residents living in downtown apartments are a bizarre oddity to White Plains Common Council members, all of whom live in houses nowhere near downtown, an area that exists only for their amusement. Given all that, White Plains Common Council members are as involved and interested as one might expect: not very. How do they get away with this benign neglect?

1. At large voting. White Plains Common Council members are elected city wide, not by geographic area. They pretend to represent all residents but only care about their immediate neighbors and the Council of Neighborhood  Associations (CNA). The CNA seems like a company organized union, one that makes it easier for the company to control the workers. The CNA never holds any meetings in downtown White Plains. Never.

2. Those of us who live in downtown White Plains apartments are dumb and lazy. It's embarrassing to admit this but it's obviously true. We have enough people to easily overcome reason number one but don't do anything. It's pretty sad.

So the buses roll into downtown. Has any city official explained how this benefits White Plains generally and downtown residents, who get the brunt of the traffic, danger, noise, pollution, congestion, specifically? The buses also park wherever they please and never get a ticket for that or for speeding. Never.

Progressive: is that what White Plains needs to be? That's what Milagros Lecuona thinks.

Seven. That's the number of times Common Council member and candidate for mayor in 2017 Milagros Lecuona uses the word progressive in a short email message soliciting funds for her campaign.

It suggests too much of a tactical approach to a campaign in this city of only 50,000 when the most fundamental issue, as always, is that Common Council members are selected at large and not by geographic districts. This odd form of representation exaggerates a natural tendency for people who live in downtown apartments to be less involved in municipal government and the more entrenched residents in houses away from downtown dominate policy and procedure to their quite different interests.

Candidate Lecuona seems to want to replace one mayor who does not live downtown in an apartment with another, perhaps relying on her gender and ability to speak Spanish to suggest more of a difference with Mayor Tom Roach than actually exists.

French school, German school, Railside: who cares? Fix downtown.

March 31 Common Council member Milagros Lecuona sent a message announcing that she is asking for contributions to challenge incumbent Mayor Tom Roach in a September primary. At this point it's not at all clear what would be different by a change from one local member of the Democratic party to another.

ALL CC members live in houses and do not really understand downtown. The real solution is district voting but we in the apartments must force that change and it won't happen until thousands more apartments are created occupied by younger people, which will take forever because the City of White Plains loves to jerk developers around.

So instead, the CC is again consumed with stuff that impacts their base constituents, people living in houses outside downtown. Current example:

http://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/civicalerts.aspx?AID=466

Posted on: March 31, 2017

French American School of New York (FASNY) Public Hearing April 5, 2017
Public hearings in relation to 1) the application submitted by the French American School of New York (FASNY) for a Special Permit for a "private secondary school" at 336 Ridgeway, an environmentally sensitive site as defined by Chapter 3-5 of the White Plains Municipal Code ...

___________________

French school. German school. Railside. What the heck does any of this got to do with 95% of White Plains residents? What?

Ignored by the City of White Plains are the HUGE regional buses that roar down North Broadway, then onto Barker Avenue barreling towards the Transmania bus depot at the train station. Apparently, the residents along those streets are not in an "environmentally sensitive site as defined by Chapter 3-5 of the White Plains Municipal Code". The number of residents living along the bus routes probably far exceeds the number impacted by French school, German school, Railside combined.

Where are the priorities?

White Plains should create a tech startup and education presence.

How about White Plains getting a piece of this?

Roosevelt Island: New York City's Next Startup Hub?
BY ROB MARVIN OCTOBER 20, 2016 PC Magazine

Set to open its first phase in 2017, the state-of-the-art Cornell Tech campus is a fusion of academia and business for a program already churning out Silicon Alley tech startups.
__________________________

Oh, and get control of all those ridiculous buses in downtown.

Washington could have won the Battle of White Plains if more roads had been two way.

George Washington was born February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia.

http://www.whiteplainshistory.org/flyers/2017/Washington's%20B'day%202017_pdf.pdf

White Plains Historical Society invites you to celebrate the birth of George Washington ... Sunday February 26, 2017, 1:00PM - 3:00PM ... 60 Park Avenue, White Plains.
________________________

OK, the date is close enough. Remember, White Plains never celebrates St. Patrick's day on St. Patrick's day: March 11, 2017.

Despite mayoral mocking, the one way mega streets in White Plains remain so. That's because their two wayness precedes modern urban renewal but traces to pre-revolutionary times. Had Washington been able to maneuver around town in his Studebaker, the British in their silly red coats would never have defeated him. But Washington, who never told a lie, observed the traffic laws.

Those attending the birthday festivities at Purdy House (Washington's headquarters) will no doubt travel from their houses, no wimpy apartment dwellers they, without use of their ubiquitous cars, on Bee-Line county buses to the Transmania 8th Avenue like bus depot or, maybe, hail a taxi. Oh, wait. Has ride hailing been legalized?

Once atop the hill, they will observe the construction of the new 550 unit rental building on Water Street to the south. The project should be completed after a mere decade of jerking around over stuff like parking spaces and, of course, the obligatory municipal shakedown of affordable housing (no houses, just apartments), which provides  the shaker downers with moral superiority.

During the construction, 200 surface parking spaces were temporarily displaced. The Common Council members obeyed their Hill Associations and forced the developer to pay for adding 200 visitor parking spaces to the ones provided for the renting millennials, who will not even own cars. So what have the people who demanded those 200 parking spaces been doing with their cars for the last year? And why couldn't they simply continue doing it?

White Plains is a one horse town. Always was, always will be. Just look to George Washington's experience here.

Milagros Lecuona challenges Mayor Tom Roach.

White Plains Democrat to challenge incumbent mayor

Christopher J. Eberhart , ceberhart@lohud.com Published 8:23 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2017 Updated 2:08 p.m. ET Feb. 1, 2017

from: Ken
to: Milagros Lecuona ,

"Thomas M. Roach"
date: Sun, Feb 5, 2017 at 6:19 PMsubject: White Plains Democrat to challenge incumbent mayor

It's good to have two strong candidates. I think you both have worked hard and smart. Unfortunately, there is little to show, especially in downtown where I live. If anything, the quality of life has gotten worse, especially with all that ridiculous BUS traffic.​

I hope that specific goals will be set, which means things that can be measured and attained. That LCOR project (on Bank Street) took 8 years to start. Wasn't approval for 60 South Broadway done in the summer of 2015? The mall's been emptied out with no development in sight.

That's been a trademark of White Plains, going back at least to the silly hole in the ground created by the demolition of the train station (in the 1970s), best known for the police arresting "perverts" in the men's room. Trees started growing there before, finally, the twin towers, now known as 15 Bank Street, went up.

White Plains needs to do better. A lot better. Don't promise what you cannot deliver. Good luck to you both.

Adirondack Trailways buses continue to ROAR down Barker Avenue rather than Hamilton.

To: Common Council members

Why is it good for White Plains to have these huge regional buses go into downtown?

Why let them move on residential streets rather than restrict them to Hamilton Avenue from North Broadway to the train station?