Sandy's Written Creations

Parking in White Plains

Posted on April 8, 2019 by sandraharrison1954

Parking is a challenge everywhere, but very much problematic for those in White Plains (WP). No overnight parking is allowed on the streets between 2 and 6 am. Most meters require payment (M-Sat); start at 9am but the cut off in the evening varying by location. Some go till midnight.

Parking on many WP streets in the busiest areas are metered & many streets have limited parking or none at all. WP has numerous metered and/or permit parking lots that require a fee. Some monthly permits require residency. See the City’s website for information at cityofwhiteplains.com under City Department section on Parking & Traffic (cityofwhiteplains.com/97/parking-traffic).

WP provides an app for paying parking fees with phone (parkwhiteplains.com). Residents can obtain parking permit at some garages at night & weekends for $75 a year. Some areas around WP offer 15 min. free parking on Mamaroneck Ave (like at Iron Tomato) & at WP Public Library. WP offers free weekend parking at N WP Train Station. On Sundays & certain holidays (Thanksgiving, Dec 25, Jan 1, Memorial Day, Labor Day; July 4) street parking is free & there are no time limits. Parking in delivery areas is allowed on Sunday and certain times but not drop off areas. Make sure to read the meter and signs before you park to be sure.

City has a grace period for ticketing for meters that expire and it is now 12 minutes (from the 5 min).

There are private parking lots & garages available in WP. There are websites/ apps to help locate parking & some allowing reservations for a space. Price comparisons are given. Inrix parkme (parkme.com); Spothero (spothero.com) & Propark.com are some. One lot of Propark on Paulding Av next to hotel lot has fees posted at entrance and overnight is $10.

Propark Parking for One Westchester entrance Paulding Ave

There are restaurants, stores & other businesses that offer parking for their customers or clients for free and others offer parking credit at pay lots: Bloomingdale’s, Stop & Shop, The Container Store, Thomsoms Art Supply (behind the building), Sam’s of Gedney Way, WP Diner, TD Bank, Pedigree Ski Shop, CVS at 325 Mamaroneck Ave and Citibank at The Mitchell), New Deal Deli as well as stores along Mamaroneck Ave behind Saxon Pharmacy (460) & WP Bakery and UPS Store (366) where the lot is also used by CVS. Rosedale shops (i.e. Lombardi’s, K&S Cleaners, Chase) offer free parking.

U.S. Post Offices at Fisher Ave & Gedney PO offer parking. Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, NY Presbyterian Hospital, as well as medical offices at former St. Agnes Hospital grounds offer free parking.

Some parks offer parking (Liberty, Gardella (at Church St School but not during school hrs), Gillie, Purdy House, Baldwin, Battle Hill; Delfino Park) & schools have visitor parking on their campuses. Parking during non-school hours is available especially to use ball fields, tennis courts & parks near-by. County parks offer free parking (Maple Moore Golf Course, Silver Lake Preserve & Saxon Woods).

NY State Dept. of Labor has parking at 120 Bloomingdale Rd. Ballard-Dullard & Mahon, Lynn & Hartnett Funeral Homes have parking lots. YWCA on N St, & Westchester Hills Golf Club offer parking. Garden Centers such as Ridgeway, Gedney & Amodio’s offer parking. Many religious centers offer parking for their congregants throughout the city.

Westchester County has parking for employees and jurists at Michaelian Building & Court House. Federal Court has an employee parking lot. There is a fee at County Center lot but there are times where one does not get charged.

City and County offer free parking at NWP station on weekends and other times so check if you are parking there.

Parking credit is offered by some stores like Shoprite, Whole Foods, and Westchester Road Runner. See WP BID for others at wpbid.com.

Valet parking is offered at some locations in the city (City Center (on Mamaroneck Ave at certain hours with fees), The Westchester on Paulding, Cambria Hotel & White Plains Hospital). Medical building at 122 Maple Ave has valet parking (with a fee) and the Cancer Center on Longview has valet parking for patients without a fee. If you need to be at the Infusion Center best is to do valet parking since it is hard to find a long-term spot at the city lot on Longview.

The Westchester has free 30 min parking on Paulding Ave. by entrance (Express parking). This area is hard to find parking at times.

Handicap Parking:

There are very few handicap parking spaces on streets with meters and none where there are no meters. Most spots are in large multi-level garages, metered lots owned by City and private store parking lots. Fees are required unless you have a special permit (through county). Be aware that many handicapped spaces are designed for vans and for people who truly need more room exiting and getting in vehicles. Removal permits should be displayed but not while driving. Fines for taking a spot from those with the most need go from $125 and up. These spots cannot be used for vehicles without plates for waiting or even stopping to leave someone off at a location.

Accessible On Street Parking Map 2021_Page_1

Regulations for Non-Designated Accessibility Parking

The holder of a handicapped parking permit or disabled person plate may park up to three hours at a half-hour, one-hour, and two-hour parking meter, by depositing the full amount of the respective parking meter (i.e. paying two hours for a two-hour meter, etc.). The holder of a handicap parking permit or disabled person plate may acquire a $50 monthly permit and park all day at parking structures’ reserved parking spaces. Both the handicapped parking permit and the monthly permit must be displayed.

Designated Metered Accessibility Parking Spaces

1.Church St. n/o Hamilton Ave (4th meter) – Driver Access, Slight Tree Obstruction

2. In Front Of (IFO) 44 Church St – Driver Access.

3. IFO 158 Grand St – Passenger Access

4.WP Library Martine Ave Entrance – Passenger Access (in Library drop off)

5. IFO 197 E. Post Rd – Passenger Access, Lamp Post.

6. IFO 452 Mamaroneck Ave – Passenger Access, Utility Pole Obstruction

7. MLK Jr. Blvd. n/o Hamilton Ave – (1^st meter) Passenger Access, Slight Tree Obstr.

8. Hale Ave s/o Hiram St – Passenger Access, Slight Tree Obstruction

9. Main St. w/o Court St – Driver Access, Tree and Trash Can Obstruction.

10. Old Mamaroneck Rd opposite Doyer Ave – Passenger Access

11. IFO 60 Mitchell Pl – Passenger Access, 2 Meters

12. Quarropas St (Opposite Slater Center) – Passenger Access, Two Parking Spaces

13. S. Lex s/o Martine Ave – (1^st meter on right) Passenger Access, Bike Lane Buffer

14. Cromwell Pl – (1^st meter, left side) Driver Access, Utility Pole Obstruction

15. IFO 250 Mamaroneck Ave – Passenger Access, Tree Obstruction

16. Opposite 15 Chester Ave – (2^nd meter on left) Driver Access, grass strip

17. Winchester St n/o E. Post – (1^st meter on right) Passenger Access/ Slight Incline

18. IFO 20 Old Mamaroneck Rd – Passenger Access, grass strip

19. IFO 230 MLK Jr. Blvd – Passenger Access, Bike Lane Buffer for Driver Access

20. IFO 7-11 South Broadway – Passenger Access, 2 meters

21. Cromwell Pl – last meter before Maple Ave. Driver Access, Slight Incline

22. IFO 176 Grand St – Passenger Access

23. Martine Ave w/o Court St – (1^st meter on left) Driver Access

24. Carhart Ave e/o Mamaroneck– (last meter before Mamaroneck) Passenger Access

25. E. Post Road e/o Court St – Both Sides Access, In Small Municipal Lot

26. Church St n/o Barker Ave – (1^st meter on right) Passenger Access, grass strip

27. IFO 56 Doyer Ave – (7^th meter before Old Mamaroneck) Passenger Access, grass strip

28. Opposite 88 Gedney Way – Passenger Access, 2 meters, grass strip

29. IFO 245 Mamaroneck Ave – Passenger Access, Slight Tree Obstruction

30. IFO 201 South Lexington Ave – (1^st meter on left) Passenger Access, Small Incline

31. IFO 200 Mamaroneck Ave – Passenger Access

32. IFO 199-201 Main St – (1^st meter on left) Driver Access

33. Quarropas St. e/o Grand St.– (3^rd meter on right) Passenger Access

34. IFO 245 Main St – Driver Access, 2 meters

35.Mamaroneck Ave. at City Center Entrance – Both Sides Access past drop off lane.

City is very aggressive enforcing its parking regulations but there are places where enforcement is less often at night & on weekends. Some avoid fees by finding lots near by. One place is Stop & Shop & non-metered streets close to malls. Holidays not allowing free parking & weekends have even less monitoring.

Police ticket overnight (after 2am) while out on patrol; parking authority tickets during day/evening. They use electronic license readers (not chalk). Main St near City Center is monitored weekdays very aggressively. Tickets can be $25 on the street but more for parking in an illegal area like a fire zone ($50). Some can get ticketed again if you move to different part of the same street (or block); people can get multiple tickets. City does use booting for outstanding repeat offenders.

Best is to feed the meters and follow instructions for the place you park. Use the parking app if you are delayed or don’t have cash. Make sure you keep your receipts so you can add time. Try googling a location to see on street parking regulations for a place you are headed for, but many are out of date so for most current maps/visuals use Westchester GIS. Suggested by resident is to put a nickel in a meter before 9 am so if you return after 9 you get 5 min with the nickel and a 5 min grace period after that. The money you place in a meter before 9am doesn’t start till 9 so plan accordingly. No money is needed if you park between 6am and 9am.

If you have a suggestion for changing the parking in an area, please send in the requests using email, contact forms online. City does look at individual requests (taking out spots, putting in spots, extending time, shortening time for example) so do not hesitate to make requests. City has the Transportation Commission that oversees these requests. You can get notified through the city website for agendas and minutes of meetings or you can just check them yourself.

WP Parking Department: https://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/97/Parking-Traffic.

When stopping to drop someone off or waiting in car for someone note posted street signs because there are areas where stopping and waiting are prohibited. Delivery parking areas on streets are designated, and they are for commercial vehicles that are actually making a delivery to a shop or business nearby. These spots are not available for regular vehicles during certain hours so be careful to read the signs. These spots are not for waiting or stopping.

Violations:

Parking tickets in WP can be paid online, by phone, by mail, or in person at the Parking Violations Office. Online at: https://whiteplains.citationportal.com or by phone with a $3.50 service fee per ticket. By Mail Send payment to: City Court – Parking Violations Office, City of WP, P.O. Box 6500, WP, NY 10602-6500. In Person at Parking Violations Office, 77 S. Lexington Avenue, WP, NY 10601, Mon.-Friday 9 a.m. to 4.

Tickets must be paid by deadline around 14 to 30 days after issuance. Late payments can get additional fees, collection actions, vehicle registration holds, or towing/ booting for multiple unpaid tickets. Fines range from $35 to $65 but with increase when ignored. Reasons for disputing a ticket are when signs are missing or there are unclear parking meter or app malfunction. Proof of payments exists contains incorrect info. All disputes must be filed before the payment deadline. Keep confirmations for records. Use parking app or check street-cleaning schedules to avoid future tickets. Contact Parking Violations Office at 914-422-6135 or visit City Hall at 255 Main Street, WP, NY 10601 for questions or assistance.

Sandra Harrison’s Family Heritage Story

Posted on March 20, 2019 by sandraharrison1954

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Following here is a paper I wrote in 1971 for a Sociology class in high school. For my assignment, I interviewed my grandparents to find out my family’s immigrant experience coming to the United States. At this time, I had only one living grandparent on my father’s side Rita Harrison that had emigrated here. My mother’s father Samuel Schild was born in this country but his present wife (who was his 3rd wife Molly Schild) was from Russia so I included her in my assignment:

I was born in the United States as were my parents and one of my grandparents. My other grandparents, like the Pilgrims came to this country with the dreams and hopes of a new life.

Through personal interviews with my grandparents, I was able to obtain the reasons why, when, and how they or their parents came to this country. I will allow them to speak for themselves.

First my grandmother [Rita Harrison] on my father’s side will speak:

My father and mother was buying orchards (fruit). We lived in the province of Minsk ( in the western part of Russia during early 1900’s but now part of Belarus). The winter was very cold and summer was very warm. They had a lot of snow and rain like in the United States.

My brother was writing letters from America. He went there from living in Austria. He said, that I maybe could come out. I went because, everyone wants to go to this country. They didn’t want to give me no papers because I was too young, so I was waiting for them. My father didn’t want to go to this country. They wanted him to go before us but some friends were talking to him. He didn’t. My mother wanted to go. She dreamed this was a big city (NYC). My mother was already in big cities.

My father and mother remained and I went in 1913. I took a train to Latvia and from there we took a boat. I was alone and 16 years old. They took so many people. Not too many. Everyone had their place on the boat. They gave us food to eat. I was sea sick. It was very bad because it was going so slow. Two weeks.

We landed in Ellis Island. My brother came with his brother in-law and took me over right away. His brother in-law made furniture covers so I went to work for him. I felt it was very bad the United States and I wanted to go back because downtown the little children were going like it was summer with only a little shirts. It was very poor. But everything was cheap. I was disappointed. ‘To this country you bought me?’ I said to my brother. ‘Why did you bring me here? There I had apples and plums and here I haven’t got nothing.’

Then in a few years I and my brother sent for my father, a sister and another brother. They came here. My father was two years here and he didn’t want to stay here. He left us and left for me the small children. We lived once in Harlem in the East Side. We didn’t have the facilities that we have now. We were washing in a wash tub the clothes and the stove had an oven. Summer time was very hard for me. In Russia it was pleasant because it was country. We went to Chicago once. I like it because it was a little bit quieter, not so big or as hard.

Then I worked at dresses for three to four dollars a week. I didn’t know English but Yiddish. I learned it when I was working sewing covers and at night school. The teacher was working for ten cents a pupil. The rest of my brothers and sisters came over because they thought they could do better. We heard of the Golden Land but here wasn’t golden. We were poorer than there. We never had religious persecution in Europe or in America. My father said everyone was equal.

We lived in a Jewish community but a cousin lived in a gentile area. He was a black smith. I got married and my husband came from Kiev, Russia and he worked pushing carts (selling fruits and vegetables). He came to America because his father died and he made a hard living in Russia by gluing linings in coats.

Next I spoke with my grandfather [Samuel Schild] on my mother’s side. He himself was born in the United States but he will tell of his parents experiences:

My father came over in the late 1800’s from Austria because of the Pogroms in Europe. They just didn’t want the Jews there. So the Jews came here and worked very hard to save all the money they could to bring over other relatives.

My cousin came over here and like in Austria started a furrier business in New York City. He worked day and night to bring over his wife, father and my father. They all went into the fur business and became very wealthy. My father due to health reasons had to work elsewhere. He got a job at a gentile book binder that did book binding for Barnes and Noble.

My mother came also from Austria because jobs were scarce. They gave the gentiles most of the positions. She came over in the 1880’s at an early age. Her grandfather and her father had gone to New York City first and later sent for her. They went to the city because it was the Ghetto. They lived in a Jewish community and found jobs easier here. There was no religious persecution here. My mother knew how to sew so she got a job working for a dress maker. Later she married my father. Jobs were easier to find because employers were looking always for Green horns (immigrants) who they started at the bottom for little pay. You had to work hard for little money because they took advantage and even your employer was working cheap, so nobody could pay a working wage.

Both my parents came over by boat. They got money from relatives already living in America. Everyone had to have at least 25 dollars on himself so one couldn’t become a public charity. They traveled in the bottom of the boat. It was called steerage. The voyage ended after a two weeks on the sea at Ellis Island. Friends and relatives picked them up and they stayed with them until they could talk a little and get jobs. My parents never complained about conditions. The only thing is they could not keep the religion as well as they did in Europe because when my father worked in the book binding he worked for a gentile man, so he had to work on Saturdays and thus he didn’t keep the religion, but otherwise he did.

Finally my grandmother [Molly Schild] on my mother’s side will tell of her experiences:

My mother, my sisters and myself came over in 1923 from Odesa, Russia. My brother sent us money ($2,000). At that time it was a lot of money.

The conditions in Russia were the famine, the typhus epidemic and the post-revolution. People were just dying in the streets and we didn’t get enough to eat. The were socializing everything. Our business was taken away and my parents were not trained for any other jobs. They used to give us cards for bread. The bread was very black. Sometimes you stood in line all night and just in front of you they would tell you that there is no more bread. You were just out of luck. We used to get five pounds for everyone in the family. Not long before we left my brother sent every month ten packages by way of the American Relief Association. We used to sell it and used the money for our passports.

My father died and my brother who came over in 1913 to the US was doing well in the coal business and sent for us. We had trouble getting out of Russia until we got our passports. It took a long time. My brother even sent an agent to help us.

We went to Turkey to get a boat. We waited six weeks in comfort there in a hotel. After we left the Quota closed. We came on a French boat and had a wonderful time. We went first class for the thirty day trip with a nice cabin and plenty of food.

When we arrived in New York’s Ellis Island, we stayed for a night and then our brother came for us. He spent a lot of money on us and even bought a house in Borough Park, Brooklyn. We were disappointed in the US because we didn’t know the language or have any friends. We went to night school to learn English and I had a special tutor on Sundays. It took three years to settle down and we had to make the best of it.

All three of my grandparents each told of their own experiences or of their parents. All came over at different times, my paternal grandmother in 1913, my maternal grandmother in 1923 and my maternal grandfather’s parents in the 1880’s. Four reasons why they came could be summed up as the following: 1. religious reasons, 2. political reasons, 3. economic reasons; 4 because it was the thing to do at the time.

Also their economic state of affairs had an affect on the way they were to come to the US and how they were to live here. My maternal grandmother had a healthy family and brother and this were able to afford a nice voyage over and a nice home in the US. My paternal grandmother on the other hand had neither a rich brother or a rich family and this traveled third class and lived poorly.

Also the time they came over made a difference. My maternal grandmother had trouble getting passage and also the quota had only come then into existence, where as my other relations had little or no trouble getting passage.

My grandparents all changed in one way or another into the American way of life. They had to adopt to American ways, learn a new language, get used to a new environment and sometime adjust their religion. Through thick and thin though all my grandparents have stayed in this country and like my grandmother said, “We had you make the best of it.”

I have attempted researching my roots but hit so many snags. Only knew the grandparents quoted in report so never met my paternal grandfather Sam Harrison (from Russia) or maternal grandmother Ida Schild using Cohen or Kulka as maiden name from Poland. I have photos of family including great grandparents who emigrated to US but have never been able to find data online for Ellis Island or on other ancestry sites.

Had my DNA tested (My Heritage) and my mothers when I showed 1.8% Nigerian. Have 94.4% Ashkenazi Jewish DNA from Europe and 3.8% Sephardic Jewish from North Africa.

Redid my DNA with Ancestry.com and the results of North Africa and Nigeria did not appear at all so I came out 100% European Jewish. Now, I am more confused.

Rita was actually from what is now Belarus and Sam Harrison was from what is now the Ukraine. Sam Schild was from what is now Austria.

The Arts in White Plains: Past & Present

Posted on March 15, 2019 by sandraharrison1954

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Film Production and Cinemas:

In more recent years, film making has become common place in White Plains (WP) but going to a cinema to watch a movie on a big screen has been a favorite pastime in WP for over 100 years.

On Oct 29, 2023, Showcase Cinema de Lux City Center 15 in White Plains closed its doors but in May of 2024, Apple Cinemas took over the space and reopened the closed venue.

Back in the 20th century. the city had many theatres to choose from. They were usually in larger spaces with a single screen.

Most of the old buildings that housed cinemas in WP were demolished but a few were repurposed for other uses. An Auditorium Building at corner of Main St and Mamaroneck Ave showed silent films in the early 1900’s. The building was expanded but later it was demolished in the 1970’s.

The Auditorium Building is pictured in the center of photograph. It is where Renaissance Plaza is today.

The former building that housed The Colony Theatre (dating from 1926) at 100 Mamaroneck Ave was known as the Music Hall in 1976 and at one time it an RKO. There was one screen with 600 seats. Today the Dollar Tree store takes up the main floor. But, now there is talk of that building coming down making way for a new development.

The former Pix (1935-1976) Theater at 355 Mamaroneck Ave was active in the 20th Century showing “talkies.” The inside auditorium underwent a remodel with an addition added in 1940 with 600 seats. After 1976, the theatre became a restaurant. Today the building is used by Pedigree Ski Shop.

Keith’s RKO on Main St has been gone now for decades. The theater opened in 1927 with vaudeville and movies (Keith-Amber Theatre) but changed name in 1927. In in 1928 (with formation of Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation) the name changed to RKO Keith’s Theatre or as advertisements named it RKO White Plains Theatre. Theatre closed around 1972 and was demolished in 1977 (Westchester Historic Society has pictures of the building being demolished).

Opening in 1907, the Newell Theatre at 199 Main St became Court Square Theater in 1911. In 1913 it went back to being the Newell but became in 1917 the Palace. By 1926 with building of the Bar Building one section of the building was gone with the rest demolished when the Ritz- Carlton Residence was constructed.

Loew’s Theatre (134 Main St) opened as the Lynn Theatre in 1921 and was renamed the Loew’s State Theatre in 1924. It had 1,830 seats.

The Strand Theatre was nearby and dated from 1920’s. During the 40’s and 50’s the theater showed “B” westerns and locals called the theater The Ranch House. They had one screen with 1,100 seats.

The City had an outdoor screen at the White Plains Aerodrome in early 1900’s at corner of Martine Ave and former Grove St (now Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard).

The UA Cinemas (1966-1990’s) at One North Broadway and the Galleria Twin Cinemas (1980 opening) closed in 1990’s but the spaces were repurposed for other uses.

JJ Sedelmaier Productions founded in 1990 has been at the Bar Building (199 Main St) Penthouse and is a design and animation studio. Sedelmaier was very involved in saving the Bar Building from demolishment. See jjsedelmairer.com and their Facebook page for picture, videos and information/links.

Films are also available for viewing through other venues like the public library, senior center and even outside during summer months through the City’s Parks & Recreation Department.

Books & Poetry:

Poetry events and/or slams are held at WP Public Library, Martin Luther King Jr Library (at the Slater Center) and at other venues (including malls). Book Lectures/signings and other events involving books and authors are frequently held at Barnes and Noble Book Store (at 230 Main Street) and the White Plains Public Library as well as other venues.

Live Performances of Music, Theatre & Dance:

Westchester County Center has live performances throughout the year. WP Performing Arts Center at City Center (wppac.com) has musicals and other events (concerts, comedy). Play Group Theatre (at 1 N Broadway) has activities for children and teens with performances during the year. The Fort Hill Players perform at Rochambeau Theatre along with other events. The public and private schools have plays, musicals and other live music performances throughout the year. Shakespeare Play is performed outside at one of the City’s parks during the summer.

ArtsWestchester holds a Jazz Festival every Fall. Outdoor live music performances are held during the summer months by WP Parks/Rec, at the City Center and now at the renovated 1 N Broadway Plaza. Live performances are held at the library and at Grace Church. There are the weekly free noon day performances at Grace Church called Downtown Music at Grace (dtmusic.org).

Westchester Music Conservatory (established 1929) has events, performances, music therapy and lessons (musicconservatory.org) and is at 216 Central Ave. A School of Rock is located at 242 Central Ave (music & singing lessons). Forbes Music is at 277 Martine Ave (music and voice lessons).

Various bars in White Plains have live music performances. Religious organizations hold concerts and/or other music events during the year and many have choirs. The New Westchester Symphony Orchestra (formed 2011) has rehearsals and concerts in WP (newsymphony.org).

There is a Comedy Club at 189 E Post Rd.

City Center Dance teaches dance at 98 Lake Street (citycenterdance.com). Steffi Nossen School of Dance (founded 1937) is located at Westchester Music Conservatory at 216 Central Ave (steffinosen.org). Arthur Murray has a ball room dance studio in WP at 139 E Post Rd. Cobra Performing Arts Center is located at 2 Fisher Circle.

City has two music stores. Sam Ash at 178 Mamaroneck Ave and D Z Strad Violin Shop at 60 S. Lexington Ave. Union Recording Studio is at 19 S Broadway.

Art & Crafts:

White Plains used to have a few art galleries in its Business District but now most are at ArtsWestchester. Dafco African Art Gallery opening in 2001 at 193 Mamaroneck Ave but since 2013 is at ArtsWestchester at 31 Mamaroneck Ave (dafcogallery.com). ArtsWestchester has studios and a public gallery that holds events throughout the year. Recently they were involved in painting the street around the building. SK Art Gallery at 122 Westmoreland Ave has on going exhibits.

Harlem fine art show is held in WP now for at least the last seven years.

Knitting groups meet in WP or at least they did. Knit Wits (from 1992) have items for sale at the WP Hospital Boutique. Second Saturday Knitters (that meet at the WP library 2nd Saturday each month). The White Plains Library, the WP Parks & Rec Department and Malls also sponsor activities for crafting and knitting. Muse Paintbar, 84 Mamaroneck Ave has events and painting classes. Bead Everything at 175 East Post Rd has bead crafting classes and sells equipment and beads needed to make jewelry. Art classes can be taken at Westchester County Center through Westchester Community College (sunywcc.edu/locations/arts/). Thompsons Art Supply on Mamaroneck Ave has been in business for decades and has craft and art supplies for sale. Reilly Art League of Artists at 230 Ferris Ave from the middle 1970’s has been holding sessions with live models for artists in their media of choice.

Handmade craft items and art are available for purchase at the ArtsWestchester Shop (31 Mamaroneck Ave) and there are usually craft sales at different venues for the holidays.

Sculptures, murals and street painting can be found throughout the city and at the malls. See the section of my website on “Art in WP.”

Making Change

Posted on March 7, 2019 by sandraharrison1954

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So you want to make a change? A personal change? A change in your community? The nation or the world? Enacting change that sustains the test of time? “Gotta start with the man in the mirror!”

Take a long look at yourself. Think! Start with an idea. Search for an idea by reading, doing an internet search or even watching the news. Make sure the idea is one that you can live with.

Then make a plan that you can manage; then take action, one step at a time.

People think they can enact change with a Facebook post but that is purely naïve. Using Facebook or other social media sites can be part of a plan that includes marketing.

What about changing someone else’s behavior? The only one you have control over is yourself. But, you can change your own behavior to affect someone else’s behavior.

For example, if someone is yelling at you in a loud, angry manner and you do not want this, the best way to react is to do the opposite. Talk back in a quiet, slow none provoking manner to deescalate the confrontation. The yeller has to stop yelling just to hear you.

Aggression often breeds aggression. Striking back is often counter productive. Today, video taping someone can be an effective tool in not only getting a record but in getting the person to stop their behavior.

Silence or ignoring is unbelievably effective but takes skill to master. This often evokes an escalation of the behavior before it stops. People acting in a confrontational manner usually expect a negative reaction. But, if done correctly and at the right time, ignoring that person can be effective. If you are physically being attacked, your opponent expects you to defend yourself or even fight back. But what if you just stopped resisting and collapsed instead?

Ignoring someone over time can stop someone’s behavior. I had many students who acted out in class and often I reacted by just going to my desk and started to write down the behavior. The behavior will escalate and might get worse but at a point, it will just stop. This is a behavior modification technique that was very effective but takes tremendous skill to master. But one needs to be careful using this approach. But in other instances being calm and talking in a low voice without emotion or movement can be very effective.

White Plains Revitalization; Its Vanishing Past

Posted on February 24, 2019 by sandraharrison1954

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In February 2019, one of White Plains’ older homes was demolished. Former Rocco Briante house was built around 1914. Rocco Briante was a builder of homes and other structures. House at 40 Chatterton Parkway had become a “zombie” property. Neglect obviously caused severe deterioration of not only the house but to the stone stairs that rose above the street.

The neighboring community of Battle Hill pressed for something to be done by White Plains (WP) and this was the result. The three-lot property was to be redeveloped into 6 apartments that the city approved some years ago (2017). The developer asked for an extension in March 2018 but due to money issues, the plan had never begun. Therefore, the building that was to be demolished became a problem as it was left to deteriorate. The property now seems to be up for sale. Without redevelopment, the grounds will continue to be an eyesore and danger to the community as has other areas around the City that have had demolished structures while the plans for redevelopment of the property seems to have been abandoned.

Former Rocco Briante House Demolished 2019

When a structure is created for a particular purpose, its design often reflects its purpose. But, over time a constructed building can lose its occupants and often a structure left empty is neglected. Without maintenance, repairs or updates a building will deteriorate. Older structures often become a burden to landlords not having the revenues to maintain them.

Owners might find that selling an underused, empty or older outdated structure the only way to recover their loses. The property might be sold to a developer with the intention of replacing it with something new or for them to renovate. Sometimes a repurpose of its future use is necessitated. A community’s zoning might dictate its replacement but a request for a zone change is usually made by Common Council since revitalization is needed for the City’s survival. But, often the character of a neighborhood is changed and urban blight creeps in.

White Plains (WP) is one of those cities that has undergone many changes during its long history from its beginnings in 1683. The railroad coming in 1844 from NYC had a huge impact on the small village of farms that reemerged to become the modern City that it is today. WP revitalized much of its Business District in the 1960’s & 1970’s by tearing down most of the area and rebuilding newer structures. As a result, many older structures were destroyed. Even today this process has continued and despite the formation of a Historic Preservation Committee in 2015 that identifies and gives landmark status to historic structures; many of our city’s older structures have been destroyed.

This picture from over a hundred years ago looks down from Battle Hill where the Down Town with Railroad Ave down the middle has today Main St up the middle. Chatterton House was in this picture and it is long gone. Picture is from the City Archives.

Gilbert Hatfield from John Rosch’s book from early 1900’s

One of the city’s oldest houses, the Gilbert Hatfield house at 636 on Hall Ave. was destroyed some years ago (around 2012) to be subdivided into two new structures. This house had predated the Battle of WP (circa 1770) and was used by Americans during battle. It was located on Hatfield Hill on what is today’s Hall Ave.

Gilbert Hatfield as it looked in 2012

The structure known as Soundview Manor that is on the National Registry of Historic places is in very bad condition. After B&B was closed the buyers of the house continued to ignore the structure that was damaged from leaking, and put in a plan with City to subdivided property and build new homes that included the demolishment of the older home. Historic Preservation Committee stopped the demolishment by giving the manor Landmark status. But with the continued deterioration, who knows the future of this former grand home. The new houses on the land that was once part of the Soundview Manor have been completed but the house is still under construction. Renovations are taking years.

Soundview Manor

More recently, two buildings on Mamaroneck were leveled and one garage on Mitchell Place. The former Mammoth Garage was where the city’s first cars were made, and the building was over 100 years old. The building next to it that dated from 1928 was used by B Altman Department store when it opened in WP and years later by Alexander’s before it had its own home on South Broadway (repurposed for Westchester Pavilion and then razed around 2017 for new development that has stalled). The garage on Mitchell place also had a history of car making and racing. The Mitchell (now standing on the property that once was the Mammoth Garage and the building that was used by department stores) and was finally completed around 2022 (after years of construction that got stalled and restarted).

Former home of B Altman Store and to left was former Mammoth Garage

Twentieth Century House Thomas E. Conklin (dating from 1924) used by Elk Lodge at 115 N Broadway demolished for The Reed (2015, Vibe Living).

Another issue is long time businesses in WP leaving the City after decades. Before publishing my book, White Plains, New York: A City of Contrasts Georgeau Furs at 212 E Post had closed (2013) moving to NYC (in business for about 80 yrs). It is now a Barber Shop. When the White Plains Mall closed for redeveloped many of the former older businesses that moved to the building during urban renewal in Business District closed or moved to other places in WP or other places in Westchester. Hecht Hardware was the city’s oldest shop and it closed for good. Franklin Clocks moved to Elmsford and Chillemi Shoe Repair moved to Church St. Now the Galleria Mall has closed (1980- 2023) and is waiting for the plans for redevelopment by the owner. The parking garages are owned by the City of WP so they will be involved as well. Looks like the complex will be demolished and many in community are concerned about what will replace the mall that is basically in the middle of the Business District covering a large block of real estate.

Tighes Tavern on 174 Martine Ave closed its doors in Feb 2019 after being in business since 1935. It reopened as another restaurant.

Ridgeway Golf Club (1952) closed in 2011 (some sources say 2009) and sold its property to the French American School of NY (FASNY) (2010 or 2012). After a long process involving lawsuits, the school was given permission to open a middle and a secondary school in 2017 on some of the land and decided to sell the other areas but the plans for the school were abandoned. FASNY sold the entire property in 2021 that first started as Gedney Farm Golf Course in 1923 serving the Gedney Farm Hotel till in burned down in 1924. In 2022, new owners of former golf course have proposed putting in a new development of 98 single family homes (Farrell Estates). The former club house will be saved and used by the development. Plan calls for new streets as well. Many trees will be taken down. The homes will be selling at one million or more.

Now in danger of being leveled are most of the structures making up the former Good Counsel Complex at 52 N Broadway. Complex sold to a developer in 2015 with the closing of Good Counsel Academy and the elementary school moving on. Now, with Landmark status (2018) the plans have changed but not sure whether they have been approved.

New owner of YMCA on Mamaroneck Ave announced that they are planning to demolish building for a rebuild in 4/2019 but this did not happen till 2021.

YMCA Coming down Summer 2021

City’s website has an interactive section on projects proposed and approved by the Common Council. But has WP become addicted to new development sacrificing not only its history but causing more environmental issues? Most new developments approved and planned include luxury high-rise apartment buildings with or without retail space.

But the city is still oversaturated with office and retail space. There are many apartment units within buildings that are vacant. Some office buildings went through major renovations and the old AT& T Building is being repurposed into an apartment building. A new building was constructed in the large parking lot next to it.

There are signs all over the city advertising vacancies. City thinks that these projects will revitalize the business district and by bringing in more resident’s sales tax revenue will increase. But, for how long? Without a continual commitment to improve neighborhoods and the business district there will be a continual cycle of people, businesses and retail moving in and out of the city. Everything ages and the new once again becomes worn and run down. If the present owners can’t retain retailers now, how are they going to do this for a new development after a number of years when things get older?

The lack of convenient inexpensive parking, dirty unmaintained sidewalks and streets are just part of the problem. Construction often brings years of noise, pollution and congestion. Stalled projects create an eyesore in neighborhoods. City has started putting up signs outside parks or in green areas causing unnecessary blight and ugly clutter. Some neighborhoods outside of Business District feel like their areas are being neglected.

Recently, there has been movement on the part of the City to improve the business district but it is limited. The White Plains Public Library Plaza recently was renovated followed by a redo of the inside. The MTA has been working since 2018 on a 92 million renovation of the White Plains Train Station but was finally completed.

Luckily a number of businesses have chosen to renovate instead of asking for a rebuild. Some remodels include Gateway Building, Westchester One (westchesterine.com) and Target. The Westchester, The City Center and The White Plains Plaza (1 N Broadway; 445 Hamilton) have done renovations. The former American Cancer Society building at 2 Lyon Place was renovated (2018-19) after it was sold. But sidewalks and green spaces need attention as well. Crystal house seems to have done some major renovations of its outside where all the terraces are.

House in parking lot on E Post Rd came down.

St Agnes Hospital became The Bristal with repurposing.

Waterstone (Independent Living) on Bloomingdale Road over a former parking lot. This was completed 2022 and started renting out units.

There are a number of new buildings going up around the train station and plans to demolish and rebuild rentals on Water Street, Bank Street and N. Lexington where there was a parking lot. These projects are listed on the City of WP’s website under Proposals and Projects.

Even the Main Street Bridge over the Bronx River Parkway is going to be redone in 2023.

There is more information on WP Revitalization in other posts like Renovation the Westchester, and City Center Redo.

Book, White Plains, New York: A City of Contrasts

Posted on December 28, 2018 by sandraharrison1954

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The book White Plains, New York: A City of Contrasts by Sandra Harrison was published in 2013. This website contains updated versions of the book broken into separate entries. In addition, other things about White Plains are included on the website but not in the book.

A full preview of the book can be found on Lulu.com the publisher of the printed and e-book formats of the book . One can purchase the book online through many book venders.

Copies of the book were donated to White Plains Public Library and some copies are available through the White Plains Public Library and the Westchester Library System. Copies were also donated to the White Plains Historic Society, Westchester Historical Society and the White Plains Public Schools.

Besides the website, a corresponding Facebook page with the same title as the book can be accessed for information about White Plains.

Reward Programs & Perks in White Plains

Posted on March 20, 2018 by sandraharrison1954

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Offers by Government/Businesses/Restaurants are available in White Plains (WP):

Discounts:

BID Discount Card: sign up online and use card at various places for discounts.
Target (sign up required with use of their credit card, 5% off)
Stop & Shop; Shoprite: Offer discounts/coupons with card that requires sign-up.
City Center 15 Showcase: Offers discounts/ perks at certain times and/or for certain groups (see online: Bargain Tuesdays, Senior Wednesday, Popcorn Club & Mom’s Night Out)
Verizon Discounts for certain government, corporate, educators and military personnel.
Sprint discounts for military

Reward/Loyalty Programs:

Iron Tomato offers a free sandwich or salad after 8 buys of either salad or sandwich. Card punched for each buy at cashier.
Showcase Cinema: Sign up required but earn points for free movie; food.
Fridays Restaurant (sign up online with app required)
Nordstrom Reward Program: online sign up
Bloomingdale’s Loyalty Program: Sign up at register or online.
Barnes & Noble: Discounts for members at $25 a yr. Discounts for educators, military, corporate groups and gov employees also offered.
Whole Foods-App online gives coupons/deals.
City Center and The Westchester have websites/Facebook pages that offer events and deals.
Container Store: POP! Reward program. No fee.

Parking/Rides:

City Fresh Market: Free shuttle ride spending $100; free delivery of $40 orders
Metro North Discount off peak hrs & for seniors/disabled.
Bee Line Bus discounts for seniors/disabled with Metro cards.
Discount $75 a yr permit for residents parking in certain garages (Lyon, Trans Center, Galleria lots, Library, Main St, Chester/Grove; Longview) M-F 8pm to midnight; Weekends 10am-midnight.
Free parking during storms when announced (sign up for alerts online).
Shoprite: free 1 hr parking
Wholefoods: free 1 hr parking
Westchester Road Runner: free 1 hr parking
Zipcars: Shared cars that you drive from Hamilton/Main Garage as a member with sign up online at White Plains website under “Our Community.”
Electric Vehicle Charging for a fee at garages: Lyon, Galleria, Hamilton/Main, Longview/Cromwell.

Free Services/Things:

TILI (Take It-Leave It) Shed: Gedney Way Recycling Center April-Oct Wed (2-4:30); Sat (9-12), Free stuff.
Museum Passes: White Plains Public Library (WPPL) requires sign up.
Charging for Cell Phones: City Center, Galleria; WPPL.
Free Wi-Fi at various stores, malls and WPPL requiring sign up.
Books, DVD’s, CD’s, Classes & Heritage Searches at WPPL. Requires card. Some services are available online.
Free firewood, mulch, compost at Gedney Way Recycling Center.

Free Newspapers:

Online: Patch; Daily Voice
Westchester Parent, Family
White Plains Examiner

Information will be updated as things change or become known.

Notable Afro-Americans of White Plains

Posted on March 14, 2018 by sandraharrison1954

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Copied here is information from handout given out at White Plains Local History Roundtable Feb 2018.

NAACP in area covers Greenburgh & White Plains (WP). Housing in WP was segregated and Battle Hill was part of Greenburgh till 1916 when WP annexed the area as a City.

Many Afro-Americans lived in the Business District till Urban Renewal (1960’s through 1970’s) that demolished much of Business District. Winbrook Public Housing Development (1949) remained. In the last decade, the redevelopment of Winbrook begun. Called now Brookfield, one new building The Prelude was completed but demolishment of the older buildings and construction of the second phase has yet to start. WP Housing Authority manages the development.

There are other affordable income buildings in the City (DeKalb, Lake and Ferris) but many blacks and black businesses were driven out during Urban Renewal. Some businesses went to WP Mall.

The use of Affordable housing is now the preferred word for housing for lower income residents. Newer buildings constructed in designated areas of the City are required to have affordable units. In the construction of City Center apartments, Trump Tower, The Lofts, and One City Place, and then the Ritz Carlton Residences by Cappelli Construction affordable housing was placed in a separate structure under the NY Sports Club called The Summit at the City Center.

The book On the Streets Where We Lived published in 2011 by Roots of White Plains, Ltd. (established 2007 at 23 Montgomery Ave in Elmsford) and Harold Esannason is available at the library. It is a pictorial study about the experiences of Blacks in WP from 1900 to 1960.

Rosa Kittrell

Posted on March 11, 2018 by sandraharrison1954

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This a copy of the text from Ben Himmelfarb’s blog on Local History on Rosa Kittrell for which White Plains (WP) named one of its parks :

Local History: Rosa Kittrell

By Ben Himmelfarb

October 10 has been designated World Mental Health Day by the World Health Organization. In honor of it, here is a story about a White Plains resident whose activism on behalf of people with mental illness had a national impact.

Rosa Kittrell worked hard to redefine the way we view and treat the most vulnerable members of society. Through her tireless activism, personal struggles with mental illness, and belief in the power of education, Kittrell developed a motto: “Others, Lord, others.” Like so many black women in America, Kittrell was intersectional in her activism before anyone ever heard of that term. She recognized the ways sexism, racism, class oppression, and stigmatization of mental illness operated to prevent her from obtaining help and fulfilling her dreams. Although she was not subtle about her frustration with systemic oppression and the ignorance of individuals, she spent most of her time engaged in helping others and trying to expand the boundaries of people’s compassion.

Kittrell was born in Henderson, North Carolina to James Lee and Alice Mills Kittrell. Her father was in the agricultural products business. During high school, she started working at a local YWCA and that inaugurated her interest in service to women and children. Rosa pursued graduate level education, graduating from the Hampton Institute and the Bishop Tuttle School for Social Work. Once out of school, she worked at a community center in North Carolina. It was while she was recovering from a surgery in North Carolina that she “realized that something was wrong” with her mind. She wrote a heart-wrenching account of her mental illness in the December 1943 Club Dial, published by the Woman’s Club of White Plains (and available in the White Plains Collection!).

Kittrell’s journey began while she was recovering from a surgery in a hospital and felt “some inner force” pushing her away from the people around her. Anti-social, negative feelings were novel to her–she was, after all, a social worker who dedicated her life to helping other people. Laying trapped in hospital bed, she felt she had “a normal self and a new abnormal self.” Her disturbing condition was exacerbated by the way people suffering with mental illness were treated in the 1930s. Her surgeon came into her room and gave her “a strong scolding” about her behavior towards nurses and refusal to eat. “Not once did he ask me why I was acting the way I was,” Kittrell reported. Isolated from family and any professionals who knew how to help her, Kittrell felt strongly that she “was no longer of any use.”

Club Dial, December 1943

She was eventually sent home from the hospital, having completed a physical recovery from her surgery. She isolated herself at home, missed work, and started having bouts of vomiting. She returned to the hospital and was quickly dismissed because no physical ailment could be detected. Home again, she became suicidal and was re-admitted. She began having spells of violent behavior and was regularly sedated for six weeks. Of her first harrowing experiences as a psychiatric patient, she wrote, “I longed for someone to whom I could talk, but no one would talk to me… I felt alone in a world where there were many strange people.” It would be years before her feelings were validated and she was treated with respect for her well-being.

Trapped at home, unable to work, receiving comments from doctors to “snap into” normal life again, Kittrell left North Carolina and moved to White Plains. Even with her professional, educated background, Kittrell was only able to work as a domestic–a position held by many black women in Westchester at that time. In White Plains, she “continued the same hysterical hours, but kept them hidden.” She consulted a lawyer in an attempt to bring a suit against her former employers in North Carolina who shunned her after she began having psychiatric problems. Rather than pursuing the case, the lawyer suggested she see a Dr. Brennan at Grasslands Hospital. Kittrell was frustrated by the lawyer’s response, but did not realize that collaboration with Dr. Brennan would change her life (and the lives of many others) for the better.

A different psychiatrist at Grasslands (not Dr. Brennan), suggested Kittrell be committed. She resisted for fear of being “branded as crazy for always.” Her fear was understandable–last time she submitted herself to psychiatric care, she was tortured and fired from her job. After a few weeks, however, she relented and voluntarily committed herself. She was placed in a “pack” and subjected to four hours of continuous baths, an antiquated and ineffectual treatment. She was sedated and given the primitive and often unhelpful medications available at the time. Again, she was “baffled, frustrated” by a system that treated people with mental illness horribly and doubled the misery of African Americans already suffering under discrimination and oppression in society at large.

A ray of light for her was Clifford Beers’ seminal book A Mind That Found Itself, which told of his struggles earlier in the 20th century. Beers dedicated his life to bettering the fate of people with mental illness. Like Kittrell, Beers came to his advocacy work through personal experience, having spent time as a patient in facilities with abysmal conditions. He was the main force behind the mental hygiene movement that advocated for more humane treatment and thorough understanding of those with mental illness. Kittrell read A Mind That Found Itself and wrote to Beers for hope and direction, eventually meeting with him twice. Through a total of 21 admissions to different hospitals and Beers’ influence, Kittrell developed a critical consciousness about the mental health system and became determined take action.

Reporter Dispatch, January 22, 1965

She felt society “hadn’t learned to face mental illness, and this condition was doubly hard for a Negro.” Her diagnosis of society’s ills had three parts. First, the lie “that Negroes don’t go crazy” must be disproven. Second, people must fully “recognize the fact of mental illness” and accept responsibility for discovering solutions. Third, black Americans with mental illness were forced to “do battle in… an alien white world where no opportunity is given for members of his own to help him.” Kittrell’s community in North Carolina was unable to help her, and she fared no better in the supposedly less-segregated north. Her drive to provide better treatment for all people, but especially black Americans, with mental illness led her, finally, to Dr. Thomas P Brennan.

It took four years for Kittrell to approach Brennan as a collaborator in her activism. She “identified him with the white race,” but was eventually won over by “his real love of all races and a sincere desire to help the mentally ill.” Together, they set up the White Plains Mental Hygiene Group, which had specific goals. The group sought to create a psychiatric hospital for black Americans attached to a “Negro medical school” and to create trainings for the enlightenment of existing psychiatric professionals. Kittrell and Brennan’s campaign was extremely successful in creating a movement for change. Together, they sponsored and attended conferences in Alabama, North Carolina, Washington D.C., Oklahoma, Georgia, and West Virginia, leaving new, local mental hygiene groups in their wake. Like Johnny Appleseed but with a social conscience, Kittrell traveled to spread her progressive message that people should “look upon mental illness as they do upon physical illness,” presaging our contemporary understanding of mental illness.

In addition to putting her energy into national reform efforts, Kittrell dedicated the majority of her time in the late 1940s until her death in 1967 to social activism in White Plains. At a 1965 dinner to honor her work, international medical rights authority and Scarsdale resident Howard A. Rusk, Jr., said, “She was way ahead of her time in her foresight and knowledge of needs in the community.” Kittrell’s “war on poverty” started long before Lyndon Johnson declared the eradication of poverty a national priority.

Reporter Dispatch, January 24, 1967 (1 of 2)

In 1945, Kittrell established the Carver Community center to serve young people in downtown White Plains. In 1952, she founded the Kittrell Nursery School for the children of working mothers. Its original location, at 60 West Post Road, was a storefront space. After the Rochambeau School was closed when the Racial Balance Plan was enacted, Kittrell merged with the White Plains Child Day Care Center in the former elementary school. Because the school served families who could not afford to pay very much for child care, it struggled financially. As Kittrell’s obituary noted, her “impulsive, outgoing, total concern for the children in her care” was sometimes an impediment to garnering mainstream financial support for the school. Eventually, Kittrell was relieved of business responsibilities and able to “concentrate on the school’s program,” which included prayer, food, and socialization activities. Kittrell’s passionate activism “resulted in considerable trial and tribulation” in her life. Her sister, Flemmie Kittrell (Director of the Home Economics Division of Howard University), said, “One of the weaknesses of Rosa is that she is always looking around to see who in the community is poorer than she is, and trying to find out what she can do for them.”

Kittrell usually favored action over talk. She did, however, offer this when she was honored for her work by the community in 1965: “You have no idea how this makes me feel on the inside, but I give all the glory to God. Many hours we have prayed and said, ‘Lord, here is a parent who wants to do the right thing for the children but who just can’t today.’ Let us try awfully hard to be very real now, because we are working with human beings and we have to meet them on their level. But let us also cling close to God, for we have not experienced Him until we have done something for someone else.”

Reporter Dispatch, January 24, 1967 (2 of 2)

Her style of activism was defined eloquently by Prince P. Barker, a colleague in the mental hygiene movement from Tuskegee University. He described their reform efforts as the “correlated use of the social sciences as a tool for the promotion of the mental efficiency and healthful living on men and mankind.” Kittrell acknowledged that mental illness and poverty were not issues that could be improved through strictly technocratic solutions. For her, race, class, gender, faith, and the realities of everyday life all had a place in discussions of social problems. In living by her motto of “Others, Lord, others,” she acted with an authority born of experience.

October 10, 2017