Waste, fraud & abuse reported to federal DOT.

https://www.oig.dot.gov/hotline

from: Ken
to: hotline@oig.dot.gov
date: Dec 27, 2018, 11:47 PM
subject: White Plains, NY: Buses

Friday, December 14, 2018
Transdev North America, the company driving EMPTY Hudson Link buses through downtown White Plains.

Friday, December 14, 2018
Zero passengers on Hudson Link buses wasting federal TIGER grant money.

https://white-plains-ny.blogspot.com/search/label/Buses

Huge buses with few passengers increase pollution, congestion.

Hudson Link buses still have ZERO passengers in White Plains, NY. Other buses have a very low percentage of seats occupied, including:

Westchester County Bee-Line
Coach (allowed by city to park illegally adjacent to mini mall)
Adirondack Trailways
Greyhound
CT Transit (Connecticut)
Leprichaun
TappanZeezpress (Rockland County, NY)
Private

Bus categories violating downtown, in case any city officials care. Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Quality of life is an alien concept here. Decision makers think or pretend to think that the ever increasing number of huge buses rumbling through downtown White Plains are improving things. But the only way that could possibly be is if people were riding on these buses and even then it's doubtful. Passengers would simply be connecting to the Metro North train into Manhattan. Maybe that's good for the region overall but it's zero benefit to White Plains other than to make its Common Council members feel important.

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

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...

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.

_____________________________

Hail a bus. Hey, they have plenty of empty seats. Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Ralph Kramden for County Executive. Friday, July 15, 2016

Bus commissioner? Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Who the heck is in charge? Neither Westchester County nor the City of White Plains seems to have a responsible adult who knows why downtown White Plains is inundated with buses (public and private), many of which have taken to residential streets near the train station - bus depot area.

Many, maybe most, of these buses have either no passengers or hardly any passengers, which makes an inquiring mind wonder what the heck is actually going on. Is there any oversight? For the county Bee-Line bus system, who, if anyone, knows how and why our tax money is being spent?
__________________________________

Link to other posts about the bus mess in White Plains:

https://white-plains-ny.blogspot.com/search/label/Buses

County co-op disclosure law overlooks condos.

Like members of the White Plains Common Council, how many, if any, members of the Westchester County Legislature live in apartments?

Co-op disclosure law signed in Westchester
Akiko Matsuda, Rockland/Westchester Journal News Published 3:34 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2018

WHITE PLAINS - After years of struggle, Westchester County has a law that aims to make a co-op review process more timely and accountable...

The county Board of Legislators, by a 13-4 vote last month, approved what both proponents and opponents see as the "compromise" bill because the final product was not what either side really wanted...

The new law sets deadlines for co-op boards to accept or reject a potential buyer. When rejecting, boards are required to notify the county Human Rights Commission about its rejection, but are not required to give the reason...

The law became effective upon its signing, and it will expire in three years.

Lawmakers have said data collected by the commission will be analyzed, and the need to extend or modify the law will be discussed upon the expiration of the law.
____________________________

email sent:

from: Ken
to: George Latimer <ce@westchestergov.com>,
Alfreda Williams <awilliams@westchesterlegislators.com>,
Benjamin Boykin <Boykin@westchesterlegislators.com>,
letters@lohud.com,
digital@lohud.com
date: Dec 15, 2018, 11:42 PM
subject: Co-op disclosure law signed in Westchester

https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/2018/12/14/co-op-law-westchester/2311645002/

Condominium boards are now imposing the functional equivalent of  traditional co-op requirements, including asking for three personal references and three financial references, even for all cash deals. You're ten years behind.

It doesn't have to be out right traditional discrimination, just stupid. The condo policy falls under the general heading of none of your damn business.

You should also look into CURRENT renting  practices, like the thousands of new rental apartments in White Plains.

Transdev North America, the company driving EMPTY Hudson Link buses through downtown White Plains.

Friday, December 14, 2018

Zero passengers on Hudson Link buses wasting federal TIGER grant money.

See previous post shown above, was sent to all politicians mentioned in it. And also to:

https://www.transdevna.com/news/2018/09/20/transdev-expands-operating-footprint-in-new-york/

Media Contacts

Mitun Seguin
Transdev North America
8601 Georgia Ave., Suite 604
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(240) 485-2117 (office)
(301) 674-3733 (cell)
mitun.seguin@transdev.com

Zero passengers on Hudson Link buses wasting federal TIGER grant money.

And no replies from officials: federal, state, county.

Here, read about the bus nonsense in downtown White Plains, NY:

https://white-plains-ny.blogspot.com/search/label/Buses

The newest and most outrageous: Hudson Link buses. They don't have very few passengers, like the ridiculous $115 million a year Westchester County Bee-Line bus system. They have no passengers.

On the sides of the Hudson Link buses: TransDev:

Transdev Expands Operating Footprint in New York with Rockland ...

https://www.transdevna.com/.../transdev-expands-operating-footprint-in-new-york/

Sep 20, 2018 - ... Transdev will begin operations of a state-of-the-art commuter bus network—the New York State Department of Transportation's Hudson Link ...

Lower Hudson Transit Link

https://www.dot.ny.gov/LHTL

The Lower Hudson Transit Link is a program of integrated projects that support traffic and transit improvements in Rockland and Westchester Counties.

https://www.dot.ny.gov/lhtl/about/tiger-grant

TIGER GRANT

In October 2015, the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded $10 million to the LHTL program through its highly competitive TIGER Grant program, which funds capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure projects. The offices of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congresswoman Nita Lowey were instrumental in rallying support among stakeholders across the State for the application. The TIGER program is a highly competitive process. The LHTL program was one of the 39 applications selected from 627 eligible applications in 2015!

Although TIGER funding only covers a portion of the project’s total costs, the grant will provide an indispensable resource in the construction and rollout of new amenity-rich bus stations, comprehensive intersection improvements at stations, signal upgrades along Route 59 in Rockland and Route 119 in Westchester, ramp metering/queue jump lanes along I-287, and Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) technology along I-287 and routes 59 and 119.

_____________________________

https://www.dot.ny.gov/recovery/sponsors/tiger

Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER)

_____________________________

Politicians must be licking themselves:

Federal: Schumer, Gillibrand, Lowey

State: Cuomo, Cousins-Stewart, Buckwald

County: Astorino, Latimer, Alfreda Williams, Boykin

Local: Roach, Lecuona, Martin, Krolian, Kirkpatrick, Hunt-Robinson, Brasch

Department of Transportation boondoggle wasting tax payer money?

Sent to:
House of Representatives member Nita Lowey
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer

Department of Transportation is on the side of these Hudson Link buses, which after weeks of operation have no visible passengers. NONE. White Plains, NY also has many private bus companies driving through with very few passengers. Is there some kind of Department of Transportation boondoggle wasting tax payer money?

Hudson Link: more empty huge buses downtown for no good reason. Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Legacy of longest serving mayor: mixed at best.

from: Ken
to: digital@lohud.com, letters@lohud.com
date: Dec 6, 2018, 8:32 AM
subject: Alfred Del Vecchio, White Plains' longest serving mayor, dies at 95

https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/white-plains/2018/12/05/former-white-plains-mayor-alfred-del-vecchio-dies/2213019002/

Projects completed during Del Vecchio's tenure included the Westchester One office building, the Westchester County Courthouse, the White Plains Public Safety building, the Galleria mall, a new Metro North railroad station and several other office buildings and shopping areas.

________________

Credit or blame?

Westchester One is an out of scale monstrosity.

Country courthouse is OK, except for the monster one way streets that surround it and slash through much of White Plains. 

Public Safety building has a police car entrance more secret than that to the Bat Cave. On weekends police are in the basement bunker, unaware of violations on street level.

Galleria mall: biggest mistake. Should have been Central Park. What a mess.

The railroad station is only now catching up on 30 years of neglect and poor original design.

You quoted a former protege and long time commissioner. What were the circumstances of his departure?

No one wants to say a bad word about a recently departed but put a little effort into it.

Open space on roofs of apartment buildings and municipal garages revisited.

Open space on roofs of apartment buildings and municipal garages. Saturday, January 30, 2016 by Kenneth Matinale

With just a little imagination we can substantially expand the amount of open space in urban downtown White Plains...

The City of White Plains should require all new residential apartment buildings to have green and recreational roofs. Any existing regulations that might inhibit such addition of this to existing buildings should be reviewed and reconsidered.

If there are no inhibiting regulations, the City should start a long term program to encourage decision makers for existing residential apartment buildings to make the necessary changes where possible and use all that open space for their own residents...

The Trump residential apartment condominium at the City Center has on its roof space atop the public parking garage: tennis and basketball courts and what appears to be a small golf hole. Use Google Earth to check for yourself...

Renderings of the new residential apartment project at 60 South Broadway, the old Westchester Pavilion, suggest that the roof will contain multiple recreational items, including swimming pools...

The City has many municipal parking garages scattered around town to serve the many multiple lane roads that slash through downtown. Obviously each garage has an open top level, which could be made into a green roof at the very least or more imaginatively into a public open space, some with recreational elements.

Yes, the City would lose parking spaces but it cannot sustain continual increase in cars driven and parked. There can never be enough roads and never enough parking. People need to move around in different ways. And, no, the Bee Line is not the answer. That county bus system is a ridiculous ($115 million a year) option for people moving around White Plains. The City needs to step up its efforts on this.
_________________________________

New Vision For Whole City Block In County Seat

It would add restaurants and retail to a currently people-unfriendly area close to the White Plains train station.

By Lanning Taliaferro, Patch Staff | Nov 27, 2018 10:13 am ET | Updated Nov 27, 2018 3:04 pm ET patch.com

Ginsburg Development Companies presented its idea for City Square Monday to the White Plains Common Council...

But one amazing highlight wouldn't be open to the public: an almost one-acre landscaped roof deck on top of the property's parking garage to be called City Park, accessible to people who work or live in the complex...

The transformation of Westchester Financial Center into City Square would be the first development project under the area's new Transit District Development Zone, designed to make the neighborhood near the train station more pedestrian friendly with new retail and restaurant offerings...

An amenity that the entire complex would be able to enjoy is "City Square Park," an almost one-acre landscaped roof deck that would sit on top of the property's 1,033-space parking garage and will be accessible from all buildings.

This Central Park would feature a dramatic fountain with plentiful seating, a putting green, a BBQ Pavilion and a 2,000-step, 4-level walking path with landscaping and sculpture features.

"City Square Park is a unique feature that will become a favored spot for all of those who live and/or work at this special place," concluded Ginsburg.
_______________________________

Hudson Link: more empty huge buses downtown for no good reason.

Hudson Link monster size buses are the latest. I have yet to see any passengers. Any data on this?

And if/when there are passengers, what percent will do more than get on the train to Manhattan? Maybe get on a private corporate bus that takes short cuts through residential streets to corporate parks along 287?

What are Common Council members thinking: Hey, White Plains must be hot stuff if all these buses come here! Yeah, like letting a stranger use your bathroom. How does that benefit you? That's probably true for most of the cars cutting through downtown during afternoon rush hours starting about 4:00 PM. Are people stopping to spend money in WP? Or just whizzing through, literally, not figuratively.

Then there's this:

Hudson Link: Reality far from the expansive original vision
by Matt Coyne, Rockland/Westchester Journal News Published 6:00 a.m. ET Oct. 22, 2018 | Updated 8:00 a.m. ET Oct. 29, 2018

Read for yourself, if can get past the annoyingly amateurish lohud ad blocker blocker.

Hole in the ground tradition of development.

Once there was a train station building on Bank Street where now stand twin residential towers of about 22 stories.

The train station was demolished in the 1970s and remained an embarrassing hole in the ground for parts of three decades. Small trees began to grow.

Let's combine that with the fact that the Continuum rental building just south took ten years to get built.

There is a mega hole in ground bordered by Post Road, South Broadway and Maple Avenue. In other words, where everyone can see it. Destruction has not been followed by construction. Hold that thought.

The mini mall that contains the DMV is another potential hole in the ground. The Asian market there has closed because of planning for the Hamilton Square mostly residential development. So has Bob Hyland's place and others.

Building in White Plains seems excruciating. City decision makers have got to look themselves in the eye and ask themselves why.

Emergency vehicles change traffic lights but not in White Plains.

Google search on "emergency vehicles change traffic lights":

https://www.google.com/search?q=emergency+vehicles+change+traffic+lights&rlz=1CATAAB_enUS635US635&oq=emergency+vehicles+change+&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l4.12075j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Read for yourself. The White Plains Public Safety building is on the southeast corner of mega one way streets Martine Avenue and South Lexington Avenue, which is a direct route to the hospital.

Emergency vehicles, both ambulances and fire trucks, begin blasting their horns and sirens blocks before reaching there or the preceding one way Main Street because they know that drivers do not stop when they have a green light. So, ...

Why don't emergency vehicles change traffic lights in White Plains?

EV charging stations at the two White Plains train stations: how many cars are charging?

The County Center parking lot has no EV charging stations but it's near the train station and was almost full today, Thursday September 6, 2018. A  couple of EV were parked near the tracks but obviously not charging: a Chevy Bolt and a Tesla.

People are back from summer vacation and it's a good day to check whether EV charging stations are being utilized at the two MetroNorth train stations:

White Plains:

Only two of eight EV spaces were occupied; both were charging cars. That's the least of the three times those EV spaces have been checked. See posts below.

North White Plains:

All seven EV spaces in the MTA garage had cars BUT only one was even connected to a charger. All chargers were lit and apparently operational. One space was again occupied by a non EV Rav 4, which again had been booted.

Electric cars, i.e., Electric Vehicles (EV): can they be charged in White Plains? Friday, August 24, 2018

Secret location of eight EV charging spaces in surface lot north of (train station) TransCenter Garage. Monday, August 27, 2018

All EV charging stations occupied in MTA garage at North White Plains train station. Wednesday, August 29, 2018

All EV charging stations occupied in MTA garage at North White Plains train station.

Yesterday's post stated that 5 of 8 EV (electric vehicle) charging stations were occupied in parking spaces provided by the City of White Plains near the White Plains train station in the adjacent Fire Station parking area. Lack of signs and an absurd location were mentioned as possible explanations for the empty spaces. Today at about 10:45 AM only 4 of 8 had EV charging there. Maybe people are still away on summer vacation. Except, ...

Photos below are for the year old Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) five story parking garage on the east side of the train tracks at the North White Plains train station.

Westchester County has surface parking at that train station but apparently does not provide any EV charging stations. Nor does the county have them in the County Center parking lot near the White Plains train station.

I did not notice any EV sign outside the MTA garage but there was one inside the main entrance.

Level 2: Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Those EV charging stations are clearly visible as soon as you exit the elevator on Level 2.

Striped no parking areas on both ends.

All seven EV charging stations were occupied at about 10:00 AM today. The Toyota Rav 4 on the right is not an EV and that's probably why it was booted.

Obviously, the signs are clear. And while only half the City of White Plains EV spaces were charging today, those in the MTA garage, one Metro North train stop away, were all full (one against the charging rules).

So, there seem to be EV owners who want to charge their EV at the train stations. And there are people living in downtown White Plains apartments who need EV charging stations at their apartment buildings. More on that in subsequent posts.

5 of 8 "secret" train station EV charging spaces occupied today.

BACK parking lot of the fire station 10:30 AM Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Secret location of eight EV charging spaces in surface lot north of (train station) TransCenter Garage. Monday, August 27, 2018

Photos in this post were taken about 6PM Sunday August 26, 2018, which may account for there being no cars parked in the EV charging station spaces but not for the absurd location of these spaces. They are not in a public surface parking lot like that south of the "TransCenter Garage". No, the EV spaces are in the BACK parking lot of the fire station. There are no signs directing you to this area.

All this suggests a lack of serious purpose by the City of White Plains...
_________________________

Comment from a Common Council member Aug 27, 2018, 8:46 PM:

Please go back and take a picture of the same area any week day. You will find virtually every space taken so this secret is not such a big one! 6 PM on a Sunday for a picture there? Really?

My reply:

Read my first sentence.

If there's a sign pointing to any of the 20 EV spaces, send a photo.
_________________________

Today, Tuesday, August 28, 2018 I observed train station EV charging spaces occupied:

9:00 AM  two of the eight
10:30 AM  five of the eight

Two may have been going to work. The other three, ...?

Obviously, the location is not a complete secret. Just as obviously, complete secrecy was not the original point.

At about 10:25 walking through the County Center parking lot, which was not full, I observed among cars parked along the side of the train tracks these electric vehicles (EV) that could that could be charged:
- two Teslas
- Chevy Bolt.

There's no way to know if the drivers are aware of the EV charging stations just on the other side of the tracks. Data from the Parking Department would be the best way to judge how well and diversely the spaces are used.

Common sense dictates that the lack of directional signage and the differing instructions for the 20 city wide EV charging stations should be of concern.

Here's the main page for metered parking in White Plains:

http://whiteplainsny.gov/index.aspx?nid=332

The Galleria parking garage is referred to as:
Lexington-Grove East
Lexington-Grove West.

Grove Street was renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd in the previous millennium. Grove Street no longer exists.

Each of those two sections of the Galleria parking garage have EV charging stations as mentioned in:

Electric cars, i.e., Electric Vehicles (EV): can they be charged in White Plains? Friday, August 24, 2018

Secret location of eight EV charging spaces in surface lot north of (train station) TransCenter Garage.

Photos in this post were taken about 6PM Sunday August 26, 2018, which may account for there being no cars parked in the EV charging station spaces but not for the absurd location of these spaces. They are not in a public surface parking lot like that south of the "TransCenter Garage". No, the EV spaces are in the BACK parking lot of the fire station. There are no signs directing you to this area.

All this suggests a lack of serious purpose by the City of White Plains.

Street view. EV spaces up and behind truck.

More photos below.

Electric cars, i.e., Electric Vehicles (EV): can they be charged in White Plains? Friday, August 24, 2018

http://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/index.aspx?nid=368

Electric Vehicle Charging
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in White Plains

The City of White Plains currently offers twenty publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in parking structures and lots throughout the City.

Eight EV charging spaces are located in the surface lot adjacent to the White Plains TransCenter Garage on the North side. Four of those are Level 2 charging stations and four are Level 1 charging stations. Monthly permits are available for $129.00. This fee guarantees a spot and includes parking and electricity...
______________________________

My comments in my previous post:

... Galleria (Lexington-Grove) parking garage ...

1. no signs directing you to the location of the EV charging stations
2. different types of EV charging stations at each of the two locations tried
3. 60% of the EV charging stations found were not operational

I may try this at one or two more city public parking areas. Will the result be better? Does anyone in city government care? Do the car companies selling EVs care? Or is all this just another feel good exercise, a Kabuki dance?
_____________________________

Yeah, there are signs but only near the spaces. There are no signs indicating that any such EV spaces exist, much less where they are. Plus, the signs are confusing and there are three different types of signs and seeming procedures here and at the two Galleria garage locations. It is reminiscent of the early days of pumping your own gas with different interfaces and payment methods.

Electric cars, i.e., Electric Vehicles (EV): can they be charged in White Plains?

I'm considering getting an EV. I have not had a car this year (2018) after decades of having a car. Living in downtown enables being car free.

Of course, if you live in a house and have a private garage, you can charge your EV easily enough. You would know the procedure and have working equipment. But if you live in an apartment building, you need to convince the building management, either a rental company or a condo/co-op board, to install charging equipment.

As a supplement to charging at home, you would also want the option of charging your EV batteries elsewhere. Where? How about one of the MANY huge public garages that constitute the architectural definition of downtown White Plains?

The City of White Plains has that, sort of.

http://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/index.aspx?nid=368

Electric Vehicle Charging
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in White Plains

The City of White Plains currently offers twenty publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in parking structures and lots throughout the City.

Eight EV charging spaces are located in the surface lot adjacent to the White Plains TransCenter Garage on the North side. Four of those are Level 2 charging stations and four are Level 1 charging stations. Monthly permits are available for $129.00. This fee guarantees a spot and includes parking and electricity.

Twelve additional EV charging spaces are now open and available for use. They are located in the following public parking garages:

Lexington-Grove East Garage (100 Main St.) - 3 chargers
Lexington-Grove West Garage (100 Main St.)-2 Chargers
Hamilton-Main Garage (365 Hamilton Ave.) - 3 chargers
Longview-Cromwell Garage (11 Longview Ave.) - 2 chargers
Lyon Place Garage (1 Lyon Place) - 2 chargers

To utilize one of the above charging stations, customers should download the free 'EV Connect' app. This will activate the charging station and allow the customer to monitor the charging process remotely. Once the app has been activated, the customer pays $1.50/hour, which covers both parking and electricity, through the normal payment process at the garage pay stations.

For more information, please call: (914) 422-1232.
____________________________

Wow, that seems pretty comprehensive. I installed the 'EV Connect' app mentioned onto my Android phone. Yesterday about 5:30 PM I went to the Galleria (Lexington-Grove) parking garage in search of the five EV charging stations that constitute 25% of those in city public parking spaces and 42% of the EV charging stations in the public garages.

I entered the Galleria garage on foot (remember, I don't have any car, much less an EV) from Martine Avenue near South Lexington. I did not find any signs directing one to an EV charging station. I continued into the Galleria food court and asked a guard. He had no idea. I left and walked up Main Street and noticed an office inside the "east" Galleria garage. I walked down in there and entered the office. The person behind the desk had no idea but called someone, who was then put on a speaker phone so that I could ask questions. I got enough information to find the two Galleria (Lexington-Grove) locations.

One is in the middle of that creepy underpass that divides the Galleria, you know, the one where almost no one walks. I went inside on the "east" side and finally found three EV charging stations adjacent to the sidewalk, down a few steps from the sidewalk. No signs anywhere to indicate their location.

The instructions on each were in font size of about five and it was dark. I opened the 'EV Connect' app on my phone and tried to engage each EV charging station in turn. I have not put credit card information into the app, so I don't know why the programmer who wrote it did not check for that right away. I stumbled through trying to get the app to find the stations, including loading an ID. I used the parking space number but apparently that was not it. Finally I realized that all three EV charging stations were "unavailable", i.e., not operational.

I walked across the street and entered the "west" part of the Galleria garage from Martine Avenue. I had been told that those EV charging stations were on level three, which in White Plans parlance was street level. I found them in about a minute along an inside barrier on a slant. These two EV charging stations were illuminated and had EV Connect written on them, which the other three did not.

I fired up the EV Connect app again and it appeared to find them. I also located, in small print, the ID and entered it. The app warned me that it was going to start charging both my EV and my credit card even though it did not have any information on either. I waited about a minute for it to fail and give me an error message but it's state did not change and I closed the app.

So:
1. no signs directing you to the location of the EV charging stations
2. different types of EV charging stations at each of the two locations tried
3. 60% of the EV charging stations found were not operational

I may try this at one or two more city public parking areas. Will the result be better? Does anyone in city government care? Do the car companies selling EVs care? Or is all this just another feel good exercise, a Kabuki dance?

Should I get an EV?

Common Council twice warned about dangerous bus traffic downtown. Maybe if they lived downtown ... Monday, September 25, 2017

Common Council, unprotected bike lanes on major streets are deadly.

from: Ken
to: City of White Plains <commoncouncil@whiteplainsny.gov>
date: Aug 12, 2018, 11:12 PM
subject: NYTimes: Australian Tourist’s Death Renews Cyclist Calls for Safer Lanes

Australian Tourist’s Death Renews Cyclist Calls for Safer Lanes https://nyti.ms/2P0T58t

“Every day in this city, bike lanes meant to protect people on bikes are used as drop-off lanes, parking lanes, and idling lanes for lazy and entitled drivers,” he said. “As a city we should be ashamed, because this death could have been prevented.”

As more people use bicycles to get around, Mr. White called for the city to install protected bike lanes on every major street. About 25 miles, or less than half, of the bike lanes installed last year under Mr. de Blasio have protective barriers.
__________________________________

From nytimes.com

Replace Walmart's with Best Buy or Trader Joe's.

Walmart's is closing its trashy store on Main Street in White Plains. Good. It was tacky from day one. The video on the LoHud website shows people interviewed outside Walmart being asked about the closing. Only one mentioned Target just across the street. White Plains did not need both and this may help keep Target from also leaving.

Downtown White Plains could use an electronics store. Pretty much anything else being suggested is already here. Circuit City had the space now occupied by the Nordstrom Rack on the ground floor of the City Center. But Circuit City ceased operation in 2009. Maybe some Walmart customers will discover Nordstrom Rack for inexpensive stuff.

The Best Buy electronics store on Central Avenue in Hartsdale is not accessible to downtown residents on foot. Foot traffic was part of the appeal of Walmart's for some.

Another option would be a Trader Joe's food store. It too has a store on Central Avenue in Hartsdale. The Shop-Rite supermarket across the street from Walmart on the second level of the City Center operates as if it's in a poor inner city neighborhood with at least half its workers standing around, at least half its checkouts not in use and food that's not the newest available. Compare dates to the other supermarket in White Plains (Stop & Shop), the one serving customers driving there from their houses, not walking from their apartments. White Plains is a tale of two cities.

Lake Street crossing light ignored too often by drivers. White Plains needs a Pedestrian Commissioner more than ever.

It should have been like the pedestrian controlled TRAFFIC light on the east side of North Broadway where it aligns with Barker Avenue.

But, instead, on Lake Street the City merely installed a pedestrian controlled FLASHING light that is designed to alert drivers that pedestrians may be walking across Lake Street to/from Stewart Place.

On a recent sunny afternoon I tried to cross Lake Street. I pressed the button to start the flashing light. The light flashed but many  drivers ignored it and did not stop. After finally reaching the park, I later noticed it happening again to another pedestrian.

Here's why the City of White Plains implemented this halfhearted measure:

White Plains needs a Pedestrian Commissioner, part II Tuesday, May 17, 2011

I sent my original post to the members of the White Plains Common Council, including the mayor. Obviously, the problem has not been addressed. Why not? I will send this message to the CC members again but I am not optimistic that anything will be done...

To them downtown White Plains is there for their convenience and amusement. They would never consider living downtown but enjoy having the stores and restaurants so close and accessible. Just hop in the car and you're there in a few minutes. That's why we have so many high speed mega lane roads and multi-level parking garages, the architectural feature that defines White Plains.

Downtown has been blighted to support cars to support retail sales tax. Maybe breaking that boom-bust tax dependency would also begin to change public policy that has become so distorted by its accommodation of cars.

White Plains needs a Pedestrian Commissioner more than ever.
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