TWIW 11: March 9, 2026

In this episode:

• County Executive Ken Jenkins discussed Federal Department of Homeland Security Funding Standoff, and Westchester County Airport impacts.
• Cortlandt Town Supervisor Richard Becker discussed priorities and updates from the Town of Cortlandt, including ongoing community initiatives and the Town’s continued partnership with Westchester County to support residents and strengthen quality of life. 
• Westchester County First Deputy Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Conservation Peter Tartaglia provided an update on preparations for the upcoming season at Playland Park, including progress on park operations, attractions, and the official announcement of opening dates for the 2026 season.
• Westchester County Commissioner of Planning Blanca Lopez joined to discuss Census Test changes that could undercount communities and jeopardize funding. 
• Westchester County has received a ‘AAA’ Credit Rating from S&P Global Ratings. 
• The 2026 Championship in Section 1 Basketball wrapped up at the Westchester County Center. 
• Westchester County will be celebrating Irish History Month on Tuesday, March 10. 
• Highlights from the Westchester County Parks Department. 

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Transcript

Intro 0:06

Welcome to this week in Westchester. Your weekly audio briefing from Westchester County Government. Each week County Executive Ken Jenkins breaking on the decisions, investments, and initiatives shaping life across Westchester. Clear information real progress. One place to stay informed. Now, here's this week in Westchester.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Good afternoon. I'm Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins, and this is this week in Westchester, the briefing. We want to start off again. We know that we are in the second week of war in Iran, and there's a lot of impacts, especially on cost here locally and other things that are happening. But one, um, you know, we had a recent announcement um from Secretary of Energy at the Indian Point um power plant or the old power plant in Witch Call in Buchanan, and we reminded people again um that this is a three-part agreement um that any one of us um can take the position and it would be stopped. And we have been very clear about this is that um the Indian Point nuclear power plant should not be started again, because again, it's not just a restart, it's there's no reactor there anymore. So basically, this is a new facility. So no matter what anybody would like to suggest to you, um we have pointed out clearly that it would be five years if things could move forward. So there's no impact on anybody's cost right now. Um the in of the increased cost for fuel right now are all because of some of the impacts that are happening um in Iran right now, whether the gas prices have gone up, whether gas, um you know natural gas prices have gone up, there's all those things that are happening. So let's not get distracted, let's continue to focus on things. And again, um the Indian Point Power Plant um is not the right facility anymore at that location. We got to act like we were starting from scratch, and we would go through the thoughts of saying where would that be? And it would not be in a place that has 20 million people in the area, no realistic ways of being able to evacuate and things like putting duct tape and having a potassium pill is some of the things that were going on. And any of us that have gotten on the taconic north or southbound at uh at uh um at times, you know, at the transit times in the evening, know that's not a real thing. So, again, let's continue to move on and do what the governor has proposed, which is all of the above. It says that we do support nuclear energy, but not in those areas Long Island, the Hudson Valley, or New York City for the various reasons, including the failure to have an evacuation plan, and we have to continue to do all of those above wind, solar, all those kinds of things. And we need to continue to move forward. Let's focus on what we need to do um moving forward. Um, we also have people, it's a beautiful day here um around the the county. Um, there is not a cloud in the sky. It is 60-something degrees, it's gonna hit close to 70 degrees um t tomorrow, and we know that it's spring break time for so many people, and that has a direct impact on uh on the travel, especially at the airports, because there is a partial shutdown that is going on right now that's in impacting the Department of Homeland Security, what TA TSA is a part of. So, again, it is terrible for those individuals that have been going through this. This is their third time of not getting paid, and with that has happened, um it means that there are significant impacts, hours of lines trying to um navigate through while people are um are having to be forced to work for free. Um, people calling out, it's just been a nightmare from that particular perspective. But we understand clearly that the Senate Democrats in Washington who are refusing to approve funding for the Department of Homeland Security until the ongoing actions carried out by ICE Immigration Customs Enforcement are addressed, and we stand firmly with them. If that means we're all look gonna have to endure longer security lines for a period of time, that's something that we're gonna unfortunately have to live with. But again, we are doing everything possible to help support those individuals um that are working at the airport, the TSA offices and some other the uh the air um traffic controllers and all those kind of folks. Um last time, feeding Westchester partnered with us and Congressman uh Latterman's office, and we were able to do some things to get those folks food. Um watch for that announcement coming up soon. Again, nobody, nobody, nobody should be asked to work with our pay. Um, but we all know at the same time we have to be able to exercise the freedom of speech safely, and every person deserves access to due process under the law. We know how frustrating this travel disruptions can be, and we always appreciate the pass of the patience of passengers. This situation is not unique to Westchester County Airport. It's affecting airports across the country. Um I saw some lines this morning where someone was saying they went online for four hours uh trying to navigate through the parking lot. The line was in their parking lot for some of those larger, larger airports. So again, pack your patience, give yourself a lot of extra time and you know, to get through that security line. We're gonna continue to monitor the situation and we're gonna remain in communication with our federal partners to ensure um passengers can move safely through the airport as efficiently and as quickly as possible. So so again, we know it's an inconvenience, we understand that, but again, we have to balance all of these things out. Quite frankly, uh could have been resolved weeks ago. Um, should the Trump administration have said we just need to make some changes that are common sense, especially in the ICE world, with making sure that law enforcement acts like law enforcement that we would have here locally. Mask off and cameras on. So that's what we need to continue to do. Today, we are so pleased to have our um municipal guest with us. He is a great friend of all of us. Um it is from the town of Cortland, that town of Cortland nestled nicely on the Hudson River, having a nice view of the well which or of the old power plant, the old Indian Point Power Plant, which is part of the the town. Um, and we want to work and continue to move forward with Dr. Richard Becker, who is the town supervisor of the town of Cortland, and we're looking forward to hearing what he brings to us today. With that, Supervisor Becker.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Thank you, Ken. Appreciate it, Brett. Thank you, Mr. County Executive. Um yeah, Cortland is on the northern border of uh the county, and we share that northern border with our neighbor, Yorktown. And uh Cortland's huge. It's uh almost uh uh 50 square miles, and it's got population just under 45,000. And we've got the uh villages of Buchanan, which you just mentioned with Indian Point and Croton on Hudson, as well as the hamlets of Verplank, Montrose, um, and other areas like T Town. So it's a very diverse community. Uh and uh we're blessed to be on the Hudson River, which I'll talk about in a moment. Um of the things we've worked on for the last uh couple of years is our communications with the public. Most people don't know what's going on locally, and uh communication is always a two-way street. You want to get the word out and you want to get information back from the public. Uh to get the work out, we started a newsletter a few years ago. Uh it's now up to 15,000 people who get it every uh Friday afternoon at four. And we know it's successful because I walk in on Monday morning to a ton of emails responding to that. Uh, but also because almost every agency, uh not-for-profit church, synagogue in the community asks us to post what's going on. And so that's really been a very successful way of getting our information out. But we also need to hear from the community, and so we came up with a phone app, uh, we call it 311, where folks can let us know what's going on in the community. If you're driving by and you see a large pothole, you can take a picture of it and send it right to us. Uh you can conduct all the business you'd normally conduct in town hall in the palm of your hand and obviate the need to drive to see us. You can pay your taxes, sign your kids up for recreational activities or uh camp, anything you want to do, apply for building permits, and uh so put uh it's just a wonderful application. So we really have established a very successful uh two-way communications. As uh the county executive mentioned in his opening remarks, we are a beautiful waterfront. We're right on the Hudson River, and uh in the past we received uh 27 acres that used to be a trailer park, and we converted it into a beautiful park. It is the only park between Manhattan and Albany that does not have trains nearby, so you don't hear the noise and the rumbling. You had an uninterrupted, beautiful experience on the Hudson. And a couple of years ago we built a stage there that we've really started to utilize a lot. Uh, for example, uh last year we had our first town wide tag sale, uh garage sale. Um no one wants to sit at the bottom of your driveway alone. You don't know if you're gonna have customers, you don't know if bad folks are gonna show up. So we called everyone together. The first time we did it, we had over a hundred tables and tents set up. We're gonna do it again this spring uh on May 9th, and it will run all day from 10 to 4. We'll probably have uh closer to double the number we had last year. Uh we also have a summer concert series that starts in June. It's every other week. We've already got six concerts set up. It's a beautiful way to spend a Thursday evening with food trucks and your family and watching the kids dance as the boats go by on the Hudson. It's really beautiful. Um and then we've also last year had the first high-end festival of makers, which is really a crafts fair. Just you'd like you'd see down at Lynnhurst or up in Garrison, some of the same folks uh participate. It's a juried crafts fair where high-quality uh material is sold. Last year we did it with over a hundred vendors, and our first year we're gonna have many more this year. Uh it's really a beautiful way to spend a weekend. And last year we had Shakespeare in the Park, which was very successful on a beautiful Saturday night. We'll have more programs similar to that. Uh and just like most towns across America, we're celebrating the 250th of America. Uh and in that newsletter that I mentioned earlier, every week since January, I featured another part of our town that has historic significance. And I was concerned, will I really have 52 weeks of historic sites? We do. And um last uh episode that I wrote about was about Kings Ferry. Kings Ferry is right on the Hudson in Verplanck. And when all the northern uh colonies got together to send their forces south, along with the French, and of course with the Indians as well, and all their materials, cannons and rifles, they all converged in Cortland and crossed the river at Kings Ferry. And that led to the troops getting all the way south into uh Yorktown, where Cornwallis was defeated, and Americans won the war. So that's a very historic site. And that's just one of dozens that we have throughout the town. We're featuring it every week. We also have gonna have a 250th Revolutionary War reenactment as well as a uh Victory Town plaque dedication coming up on Saturday, May 9th. And uh we'll also have the Camp Smith 42nd Infantry Division Band playing that day. And finally, uh for the 250th, we're gonna have a movie night where we're featuring Hamilton and a Hops event. So it'll be a family event uh showing the movie Hamilton, and it should be very fun. And uh I wanted to talk a little bit about the remarkable growth that Cortland's had in the last uh couple of years. And that's based on we had an award-winning master plan, and um we featured the MOD, which is the medical-oriented district, which will provide housing and facilities across the street from NYP, the Todd, the transit-oriented district, and we're one of three towns selected by New York State, along with Beacon and Poughkeepsie, to host uh building along right at the train station in Cortland. And finally, the LWRP, which is the local waterfront revitalization project that the county executive has helped us, along with uh County Legislator Emiliana Uli and Colin Smith, to provide sewage to that area. We've already rezoned it, and it's going to be a very big part of our town for new housing. And these changes have been recognized. Last year, 914 Inc. magazine picked Cortland as its best place to work. And that's the first time a municipality has been so selected, so I was very proud of that. And Cranes, New York also reported that Cortland is undergoing a remarkable growth in business. So we're very happy. Uh closing, I'll just say that we like to have the tagline that we offer twice the space for half the rent, and it's where life works. And last year we put up 14 signs at all the different entrances announcing this is where life works. And uh it's really been remarkable to see how our town uh has progressed. So in closing, I just want to thank the county executive who works hand in hand with us. Uh he's been a true partner, and it's just a pleasure to call Ken and have Ken say to you, How can I help you? So thank you, brother.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

All right, so so that was town supervisor of the town of Cortland, Dr. Richard Becker, and and you know, and and he is a real doctor, right? It's not like Dr. J or something like that. But but he he has definitely been one of the leaders, and and as he was pointing out, with the town of Cortland in so many different angles, and whether that's about environmental protection, um, the stewardship on the Hudson River, um, the beautiful, beautiful stage that's out there. We've been there several times for so many different uh uh events, and and you know, a super shout out to uh Senator Harker and then Assemblymember Levenberg, who assisted in the in the some SAM grants as well, but you know, the town taking care of business and doing that, environmental stewardship, environmental leadership, but also making sure to balance um the growth as well as making sure that all the residents are are heard and listened to. So um congratulations on the 15,000 people that take um an opportunity to get that newsletter, and we continue to remind people that to make sure that they're um engaging with their town. The 250th anniversary um of America and all of the celebrations and recognitions that go on. Westchester is just a key component, and and the example that you provided for us today is just another example of how many things happened here in Westchester. So, rooted in Westchester, we're gonna see some more things going on down that um as we continue to move on, um, making sure that we're having so many recognitions and celebrations. So, again, thank you so much, Supervisor Becker. It's a great partnership um with the town, and certainly on the goat trail and doing the wastewater recovery facility, it just opened up Anzill Circle with the state after having um some remediation activities take place where they raised the road. I think it was four feet, so had to be done. So, so again, there's so many things that are happening in the large, large town of Cortland. 50 square miles is a lot. And the supervisor and his team just does a fantastic job. The town board members, the professionals that are uh working in the town just do a tremendous, tremendous job. So, congratulations once again, supervisor. So uh at that time, so we're gonna keep going on with a warm day like today. I know people's minds go to one of the best places to enjoy that in the entire county in the nationally accredited and award-winning park system, and that is Playland. And I know that people were so excited to see the announcements, but I'm gonna let Deputy Commissioner, um, First Deputy Commissioner Peter Tartaglia come up and let us know everything that's going on, that countdown being on. He's gonna give the dates. You know, we he we tried to get Costa to come in with us, but you know, Costa is getting cleaned right now, so we want to make sure that everybody is ready. So with that, let's turn over to First Deputy Commissioner of Parks, Recreation, and Conservation, Peter Tartaglick. Peter. County executive, thank you, Ken.

SPEAKER_04 16:44

Thank you, everybody. Um thank you, County Executive. We have such a great county. Um, and you know, parks are really here in the good times and in the stressful times. We're here for you for all of your mental and physical health needs. And Playland Park is certainly one of those places. Um, yes, Coaster, he's a little bit like Santa Claus, you know, he he disappears for a few months and then he'll he'll be back. Uh he you know, he's he had a couple of spa days, but but he'll be back. But the anticipation does build. The countdown is on. Uh, as county executives said, it's a spring-like day, which which makes the countdown even more important and a great day to announce it. But when is Playland going to open this year? That's the question that is on everybody's minds. Now, we all call it different different things, but it's all the same thing. The People's Park, the Memory Maker, Jewel on the Sound, a National Historic Landmark. It is one of our over 50 nationally accredited parks. Everybody has fond memories, and everybody has stories about Playland, and that's what makes it so great. It's intergenerational. And the county's commit commitment has continued since the park closed last September. The continued commitment of work has gone on. It has not stopped. It did not stop during the two major stow snowstorms we had this year. Some of the work had to move inside. But there's work being done on every ride and every facility within the park. We are working on all the major rides, all the Kitty Land rides, and we will be announcing which rides will be open when we open. But things are looking really good, and that's good for the people of Westchester and beyond, because Playland is not just a Westchester County park, it's a Metro New York park. Everyone knows it. And in the industry, the amusement industry, it's worldwide, and it's really a wonderful thing. So without further ado, let's tell you when we're going to open. We're going to have a preseason, like we used to, a preseason weekend, uh, which is May 16th and 17th, Saturday and Sunday. If you want to beat the crowds or you want to walk around and you know, a little less hoopla before the big holiday weekend, the park will be open at 12 noon to 7 p.m. on both of those days. Then, believe it or not, Playland will be opening fully for its 98th season on Saturday, May 23rd, which is Memorial Day weekend. And that is the highly anticipated day for the triumphant return of the Dragon Coaster. And as Ken Jenkins, our county executive, would say, meet us all at the Dragon Coaster on that day. So we're very excited about that. Um, you know, people may have seen photos and things going on down there. The Dragon Coaster is, you know, a multi-level ride, and the amount of care that's being taken to get it back to where it needs to, to open to the public, has really been unbelievable, and we're really looking forward to that. Other things for the season: rides, games, more food, free entertainment. Fireworks are back. Uh July 4th will be the first fireworks, and then every Friday through Labor Day weekend. We have a couple of surprises in store. We want to wait until we know more about that, maybe a new thing or two. So we're working on all of that so that everyone will have not just a one-time visit, but a two and a three-time visit, and that's what Play Lin is all about. It's about coming back and enjoying it. It is it is affordable, and it's it's much more affordable than some of the bigger parks. Um, after the uh Memorial Day weekend, Play Lynn will be open uh at various hours and times from Wednesdays to Sundays, and that is through Labor Day, and then it'll be open for one more weekend after Labor Day. Then we start to prepare for all the fall events, uh, you know, such as an Italian festival on the boardwalk, uh the return of Scared by the Sound, so on and so forth. And let's not forget the beach also opens on Memorial Day weekend, four weekends, and then at the end of June, on June 26th, Friday, the beach and pool will open on a seven-day schedule. The pool was so successful last year. It's it's in a historic setting, uh, it's a more family-friendly pool, and the attendance was great. People had a great time. So please don't miss any of these things. There's some other things. Don't forget our partners. We have we are the home of the Westchester Children's Museum. They're open year-round. What a great place they've come so far, and they're a great partner, not only for children, but for adults. We have our tiki beach and pier restaurant, which is also on the boardwalk, and they are open usually during the season, but the views of the sound there are unbelievable, and they've been great partners. And Edith G. Reed Wildlife Sanctuary is another arc of our county parks in the back of Playland, uh, you know, where the lake is, and it's a wonderful, wonderful resource. Lots of things happening. The Playland Ice Casino uh is open and will remain open, but we will also be going into reconstruction of that facility soon. So there's a lot going on at Playland, and it's all really great. It's going to be a great season, and if it's any indication of the weather today, we're going to have a great time. Any information that anybody needs, go to playlandpark.org. We will constantly be updating information and always visit us on Instagram and Facebook and and other social media. But as Ken would say, and I'll say it one more time, meet us at the Dragon Coaster on Memorial Day Saturday. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Peter, don't go away. So a lot of people, Peter, don't know what your history is at Playland. So tell them just really quickly about your history at Playland.

SPEAKER_04 22:21

Well I've been involved in Playland for 43 years. Out of those 43 years, I worked at Playland for 16. Working down there, you get so much experience. You work in, you learn the operations of the park, the maintenance, you see everything coming together, the the marketing end, the IT end. But the best part is all the hard work and then you open the gates and the people come in and they're there for a seamless experience. And they're there to forget about their day. They're there to have a great time and when they go day or night the place definitely comes alive at night when the lights are all on and you know and fireworks are going, but go there day or night. It's really a beautiful spot. It is a Jewel on the sound. It's very close to our heart and parks.

unknown 23:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

And we have don't we do we have a a job fair coming up right yes we have a job oh forgot about that.

SPEAKER_04 23:12

This Saturday is a job fair at the county center. We already have a lot of people coming but again go on our website playlindpark.org. If you don't if you can't make that job fair we will have other job fairs we have a new easy way for people to apply online even if you're not in a job fair you will get a call back or an email. So please join us. We're getting prepared lots going on the next few months.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Thank you, County Executive Thank you, Peter. Hey that's our first deputy commissioner of parks, recreation and conservation Peter Tartaglia and and he is was so excited because again one playland is opening everyone asked me uh as Peter knows that people asked around like when's the park going to open and I was like well you know I probably think when you expect that it would uh again um opening for the preseason you know that early opening it's a warm-up day it gives a lot of people a chance to come in and take a look around and we're certainly going to have our our communications um team making sure that they're showing so many of the behind the scenes etc we we have our Friends of Play Lair group that's led by um Robin Latimer who's chairing that and they got a great group of folks that are doing that along with the friends of Edith Reed and along with all of those kind of things we have so many of those things going on. But the biggest part of that is that on the 23rd that yep the Dragon Coaster is going to be up and operational Peter's taking the first ride. He does that all the time you know he did that a few years ago and got splashed up um on the log flume he has a great picture of it and that I like to you and show him every now and then because I refuse to do that. Although that was when we opened up that was the day we opened up the Dragonator. All right and so we we had such a great time doing that. But again for all of those folks that have been interested and whether you go into the Westchester Children's Museum, the other partners like Tiki Beach and all those things again the Ice Casino doing all that work again it's just been so tremendous everyone's support for that and we know how much people around the world love Playland and it's going to be back and better than ever. And we do have a few other surprises that will be dropping down along the way and you know with that's a tease. So keep watching and keep seeing the things that are going on playlandpop.org um the the schedule's up right now um and I'm sure that it's opening the beaches are opening with all of our beaches. So stay tuned. We got more stuff to come the parks department is that door for Westchester County that's what people see so many people in Westchester don't take advantage of any of the other um services that we have in Westchester County. They don't pay attention to you know the wastewater recovery facility or the things when we're picking up trash from solid waste or social services, etc, but they do know how to utilize the parks and we have a lot of fun coming in the parks, recreation and conservation. Thank you so much, Peter. With that we're gonna flip over uh again with with something that's just as important um with someone by the way who is just as busy um we're gonna have our Commissioner of planning Blanca Lopez coming here to discuss the um the census test changes that might impact things um the county's position on that and then we um you last week you know I sent out it with and joined with leaders across the country not just across the state but across the country and expressing concerns about the proposed changes um to the census a fair and accurate census is critically important because it counts people not citizens that's what it our census is about so that the right amount of dollars get to the communities so services can happen. So with that let me turn it over to our tremendous Commissioner of planning Blanca Lopez Blanca.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

Thank you County Executive good afternoon everybody so thank you county executive for the opportunity to join you in this afternoon's briefing um to talk a little bit about what is going on with the 2030 census. While Census Day is still several years away it's actually on April 1st 2030 to be exact there's a lot of work happening behind the scenes to ensure that we are prepared. As the county executive mentioned last week he signed a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce raising several concerns about the Census Bureau's announcement in early February regarding its field testing and preparation for the upcoming census we would also like to thank our partners at the National Association of Latino elected and appointed officials education funding this information and for organizing this awareness campaign throughout the country I would like to highlight uh briefly highlight several issues that we believe could be detrimental to achieving a complete and accurate count here in Westchester County and we are closely monitoring how the Census Bureau moves forward and responds to the concerns that we and many other stakeholders across the country have raised the first issue relates to the number of field testing sites the Census Bureau has identified these testing sites are used to identify problems with field operations, technology, data collection and processing before the census is conducted originally the Census Bureau planned to conduct testing in six locations throughout the country to reflect the geographic and socioeconomic diversity of the United States however that number has now been reduced to only two sites Spartanburg South Carolina and Huntsville Alabama both are located in the southern region of the country and do not adequately reflect the diversity of communities across the United States the second issue involves the potential inclusion of a citizenship question on the census questionnaire. As you may recall in this during the census 2020 the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the inclusion of this question after it was proposed by the Trump administration during its first term the current administration has indicated that it intends to pursue this question once again in the 2030 census and it is likely that this issue will again be subject to litigation testing such a question only in areas that do not have significant immigrant populations does not adequately reflect or accurately reflect how communities may respond nationwide. In communities with large immigrant populations the presence of a citizenship question particularly in the current climate surrounding immigration enforcement could discourage residents from participant from participating in the census this could significantly undermine the efforts to obtain a complete and accurate count a third concern involves the Bureau testing only internet responses and not responses by phone or by mail. While these options will likely be available when the census is conducted in 2030 the Bureau will not be testing them during the field testing phase. Without testing these response methods in advance the Bureau risks missing important feedback about how well these systems function before they are fully implemented. In addition the Bureau is also cutting a plan to provide Spanish and Chinese language versions of the census test's online form, which is now expected to be available only in English. This presents a serious barriers for communities where English is not the primary language and where residents rely on materials in their native languages to understand and respond accurately to the questionnaire. There are several other concerns outlined in the letter sent by the county executive to the Department of Commerce including the removal of a national self-response testing component, the elimination of community engagement and assistance components the elimination of group quarters enumeration and a proposal to use United States Postal Service employees to conduct census enumeration we will continue to closely monitor how the Census Bureau responds and whether it makes adjustments to the procedures outlined in the in its federal register notice earlier this year. Finally I want to emphasize why this work is so important. Achieving a complete and accurate count is critical for our communities and for our county census data determines how much federal funding we receive affects our representation in Congress and informs how policies and programs are designed and implemented. Most importantly participating in the census is a constitutional mandate.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Our nation's founders establish the census not as a citizenship exercise as the county executive mentioned but as a way to count everybody living in this country regardless of age race ethnicity or immigration status so that we can understand our population and plan for it's for the needs of our communities we will continue to monitor developments and provide updates as more information becomes available and we thank you for your time thanks CE and that was our planning Commissioner Blanco Lopez and and again pointing out about why it's so critically important so again we want to thank Naleo for their work and being able to present this information to us. But Commissioner Lopez took the time to go through the detail on why it was important for us to respond in the way that we did again you you you get what you measure right it's just that simple. And if you don't do the testing in this test phase to make sure that every um available option that you're going to utilize to try to make sure that you have a an accurate count and you you may have unintended consequences. Who thought about that when they were planning for the census um the the questions about group um group headquarters or group quarters that was a very important one for us in Westchester especially given the fact that there's people um that are in those group homes and they're in places like colleges as well as being incarcerated in different places. So again all of those things make a difference for the resources that you get for the municipality the question about having the re representation the numbers of representation if people remember in the past New York was expected to lose two congressional seats in the last census we ended up losing one and we were within a hundred um count of people of not losing any. So again every voice and every response counts because again at the end of the day it's not for resources it's for representation but it's also to make sure that we understand who's in the community so we can take the right actions from the federal state and local government to make sure that we're responding to the people and immigrants or whoever is in our communities. And again the age all those great things the American um the ACE report um that that comes out in between um that work again starts now and again we want to thank Commissioner Lopez and all of those people that volunteer on the the forces um the census group that we had last time I know that we're working on um in starting that up again um but again when the the federal government tries to shift um the the way that it's doing these things it's a a big concern and there are additional groups that are gonna be counted um based on uh based on congressional direction all right uh the new group that's gonna be added is the MENA group Middle Eastern North Africa group which was gonna be a separate protected class to be able to have impact so again we have so many things that are so important to us to be able to just accurately count the people and then be able to have the resources to to work with those individuals and whether it's as simple as um the federal dollars that come for um flood mitigation or for wastewater treatment and all those kind of things things that the supervisor was bringing up earlier and so many other things. So again this is important and that's why it's important to make sure your voice is heard and that's what we're working on for you. So Commissioner Lopez thank you so much for bringing that information um to us we got more good news from our rating agencies um this this week um last week right on Friday we received once again from SP Global ratings so SP Global ratings once again rated Westchester County with the highest possible credit rating which is a triple A long-term rating for our county's$250 million of series 2026 A general obligation bonds$30 million for our 2026 general obligation bonds into another series um at the end of the day we're not going to keep going through the numbers at the end of the day you should realize it makes a difference from a financial perspective for how much when we do these projects our capital budget in 2026 the adopted county budget from the board of legislators was$620 million. So those projects are divided into kind of three different areas but at the end of the day it allows us to borrow at the best rates to be able to save taxpayers dollars. So again it is important these um bond ratings and again um we continue to move forward so triple A with um SP with a stable outlook um we're gonna check again um to see because last time for SP Westchester County was the only county in New York State that had a triple A bond rating from SP so it can we're gonna continue to make smart financial decisions that keep Westchester strong and look now and well into the future with our partners on the Westchester County Board of Legislators, we're looking forward to doing that. Last week we heard from Fitch which also assigned us the triple A bond rating for Westchester County's similar set of bonds and we're still waiting for one more from Moody's um but you know what it doesn't matter which things happen we know that Fitch and um SP have already continued and when we had the triple A and we got to the triple A last year and now continuing on it just validates for us the decisions that we make and things moving together. So we want to say thank you um to SP rating. We had some more exciting news in Westchester County uh so last weekend we had last week we had the Section 1 championships as you know that they returned to Westchester County under um Congressman Latimer now our Congressman Latimer our ninth county executive um George Latimer so now we have the Section 1 tournament happening there and this weekend we had some exciting championship week activities that happen and it's all wrapped up at this particular point in time so the gold bulls goal have gone to so on the boys side from um the um the triple A league um the Mamarinek Tigers winning the championship um double a is Rye the your your Rye schools um in A Tap and Z B Woodlands and the C Division North Salem so congratulations to the boys um in that Mamarinek Rye Tap and Z Woodlands and North Salem on the girls side um we had the triple Aberta Albertus Magnus who who's winning a championship win the triple A um the double A League Nyak A League Tap and Z in the girls side B returning champions Yoncas Montessori Academy for the second year in a row and um Tuckahoe in the C division so for the girls Albertus Magnus Nyak Tap and Zoncas Montessori Academy and Tuckahoe congratulations to all of them that have won the gold balls from the Westchester County Center in Section 1s for that championship there is so many memories for the folks that get a chance to play on the court it's not the same exact floor as it was in the old days because after COVID we had to replace the entire floor um but it is fantastic that those young folks get this opportunity in those section one championships to play on the floor the same floor that the Westchester Knicks play on now that New York Liberty played on in the past so many champions that have come through Section 1 and they remember those games forever. So again congratulations to them all and we're looking forward to the continued work that they see that they're doing in Section 1 basketball and thank you so much to Section 1 for continuing to work with us at the Westchester County Center. You know what's coming up now since it is March and we're coming up to the High Holy Days. It's almost St. Patrick's Day but tomorrow here in Westchester County March 10th we are going to proudly hold our annual Irish Heritage Month celebration honoring the rich culture um rich history culture and lasting contributions of our Irish community to our county the celebration will begin with the ceremonial flag raising on the front steps on the McAlian office building bringing together county officials local community leaders and residents in recognition of Irish heritage and tradition following the ceremony guests are invited to continue the celebration at the reception and for more information and to make sure you sign up you can always email communications with an S at Westchestercountyny.gov we're looking forward to seeing all of the folks tomorrow at the reception and flag raising it's gonna be another beautiful day it's gonna be a little bit warmer. We won't have to bring it inside like we had to do last year. So we're looking forward to having some soda bread and some corned beef and continuing to work together and to celebrate that rich Irish heritage that we have here in Westchester County and for those of you that did not pay attention to all of the parades I think we have a link for it but we may if we don't we'll put one up for all of the communities having their local um St. Patrick's Day parades we started with two um last week on Sunday yesterday the 8th we had um both Mount Kisko and then the northern Westchester one which continues has a piece of Putnam in it that started in MayorPac yesterday we have a bunch going on this weekend and then St. Patrick's Day on the 17th in the city for those that are participating we'll be down there with our Westchester Pipes and drums um the Emerald Society's Pipes and Drums as they always proudly go up down Fifth Avenue at St. Patrick's and then following the weekends we'll have a few more we'll go into the weekend Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown and doing theirs and some other folks doing theirs and saving at the end for the great city of Yakers on McLean Avenue and we're looking forward to seeing everyone as many as we can possibly be make sure you wear your green it's so lucky so we're all Irish right through the month of of March. So happy St. Patrick's Day for those that are celebrated and we're looking forward to doing that and I can't forget White Plains because they'll be mad at me because the folks at Duns will be really upset if we don't talk about St. Patrick's Day here in this great city of White Plains. Finally our deputy county executive is unable to be with us this afternoon so you get me like the old days to talk about some of the things that are happening in the nationally accredited and award winning park system. And speaking of those Westchester Knicks they are playing on the 12th March 12th they're gonna be playing um with the county center the Knicks versus the Raptors 905 in the G League and again you never know who you're gonna see um when in the Westchester Knicks because um the last game for Black History Month um they they had the Tyler Kolick and other members from the West from the New York Knicks that got optioned to the Westchester Knicks to keep them fresh so as they go into the playoffs. So you never know who's gonna come through and be able to see that. And certainly I'm gonna give another shout out for the job fair that's happening on the 14th Saturday the 14th from 10 to 2 and we are hiring for the 2026 season. You should also take a look at the website because I know I saw the lifeguard series that was out there as well and for those that that need additional training to be able to be certified Um that's available as well. So again, take a look at the playland, uh take a look at the parks.westchester county ny.gov website, and all of that information is on there. And we are going to see that for a Playland Park for this weekend. And I know it's a couple of other um another job fairs that are coming up as well. So that's this week in Westchester. We had so many things that were happening, closely monitoring whatever's happening here at the airport because of the the partial shutdown for Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security, and we're going to continue to work with everyone because again, our hearts go out to those uh TSA workers that are out there, TSA and and our um air traffic controllers and all those federal employees that are working without pay right now. We really want to make sure that we're supporting them. Make sure that you don't fuss with them when you're coming through, smile and say thank you, because they're working for free right now. And again, make sure you pack your patience in doing that. We were so pleased to have our good friend, the town supervisor from the town of Cortland, Richard Becker, to be with us to discuss the important work that's happening in the town of Cortland and the strong partnership we continue to have and build with all our local municipalities because we don't have a favorite. We love them all, all 45 of them, right? Um we had our first deputy commissioner from Parks, Recreation, and Conservation, Peter Tartagliott, talking about not only his love of playland, but playlands opening on the 16th and 17th of May for preseason, and then right up on the 23rd, and on the 23rd is when the Dragon Coaster is going to be open for sure, right? You never know if there be a warm-up ride somewhere else along the way. And we're looking forward to all those things. So uh all the preparations, all the hard work for folks do year-round at Playland. Um, you you know that it's gonna be awesome. So we're looking forward to seeing all of you there. We spoke to our commissioner of planning, Blanca Lopez, who told us what was going on about the proposed changes uh for the 2026 census chest as we're getting ready for um census in 2030, right, to be able to move forward to be able to get as much information as possible. We want to thank Commissioner Lopez for bringing us that information. And finally, we talked about that Westchester County is once again super proud to once having received the highest possible AAA um bond credit ratings from global SP global ratings and from Fritz ratings, reflecting the strength of our financial management, our long-term planning, but more importantly, validating the work that we do with our Westchester County Board of Legislators and moving this county forward. Um we're looking ahead this month for Irish and celebrating Irish Heritage Month with our annual flag raising and welcoming reception to all of these things around the county, and that's this week in Westchester. I'm Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins. Thank you so much for watching. We'll be back to you if we need to for anything that comes up. Make sure that you sign up online for parks, the e news, and everything else, and we'll see you soon.