FRANKLY FRANGO

City Crime Stats in Westchester Can Be Challenged

by John Frango

4-28-00

There were 2,799 stolen cars (watch insurance rates climb) in Westchester County in 1999; 20 anti-Semitic incidents; 90 hate crimes while handguns were used to murder 8 people. So it's utterly jocular when biggies in Westchester cities proudly announce that crime is down. B.S. Stats on the decreasing of crimes in some cities in the county mean nothing to a family that has been beaten, raped, and robbed the day prosaic publicity figures are released to the press. Each of us suffers or survives in our own predicament, and simple and silly dry stats have as much value as anything you read in this column. Remember: figures lie--and liars figure. . . The county of Westchester is filled with second-rate politicians who think only of prestige, power, and paychecks. And they make sure they get a pay raise just before they retire, adding nicely to their retirement package. Former Westchester County exec Handy Andy O'Rourke, urging all citizens to economize, then has the impudence to ask for a reckless 18 percent pay hike just six months before he retires. Wiser heads prevailed. . . and he didn't get it. He never did. You and I, of course, pay all the salaries and exorbitant fringe benefits of these political bums. This is more tragic when you consider there isn't anyone remotely resembling a statesman in Westchester. Incidentally, do you know the difference between a politician and a statesman: a politician thinks of the next election--the statesman of the next generation. And if any of you believe we really do have a statesman in Westchester, then you'll believe Stalin went to communion every Sunday. Great-guy Joe Cappo, one-time biggie with the Chicago Daily News and now Senior Vice President-International for Crain Communications in Chicago, is the author of a fascinating, well-received book--"Future Scope." Joe writes a weekly column for Crain's.

Chicago Business and is an occasional contributor to the authoritative Ad Age. I met Joe in the late 1960s when he was an award-winning Advertising and Marketing columnist for the Chicago Daily News. He tells me that he started with the News as a police reporter, working from midnight until 8 a.m. Joe says the streets were so mean in those days that he told the night city editor he'd quit if he wasn't issued a helmet. Classy and literate guy, and a sweetheart of a human being... While working with a famous TV and movie actor, I asked him for some new 8x10s. He said certainly. Then he led me to a huge shack, opened the door, and the place is literally stacked with hundreds and hundreds of pies of himself and posters from movies and TV shows he had appeared in. "Pick one," he said. He had to be the most profound example of self-adulation I had ever witnessed in more than 40 years in the business. Ironically, he was a delight to work with; professional and prepared.

Guiseppe Zangara, an Italian ditch digger, attempted to assassinate Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. When subdued by police and taken into custody, he said of Roosevelt: "He's a rich man. He no understand poor people. He no work with his hands." Naturally, the next day editorials in many of the leading newspapers in America referred to Italians as "criminals by nature, people who don't understand or respect the laws of the land, and who are inherently untrustworthy." The bigoted editors insisted on stronger immigration laws, aimed specially at Italians. But a rotund, feisty gentleman by the name of Fiorello LaGuardia (his mother was Jewish) defended millions of hard-working, law-abiding Italian-Americans with such eloquence and passion that nothing more was ever said or heard about the malicious movement. We Italians--who have endured so much prejudice--have a duty to the new immigrants to safeguard their rights as strongly as we can. Never forget!

Congrats to Mike Nolan--the new defensive honcho of the New York Jets. Mike's the son of Great-guy Dick Nolan, one-time fine quarterback at White Plains High School and later a standout at the University of Maryland. He performed beautifully as a well-respected safety for the New York Giants in the National Football League. Dick was also head coach of the San Francisco Forty-Niners (they missed going to the Super Bowl by one game) and the Houston Oilers. I hired Dick years ago for some heavy-duty promotional work when I was Director of Public Relations and Trade Advertising for RJR Foods in New York. Unlike so many celebrities and athletes I had hired, Dick never once asked about his fee. And because I worked for a brilliant and classy guy, John Phillips, I was able to pay him a fine fee. He performed beautifully for RJR. Dick, I was told, returned to White Plains recently for a high school reunion. I was deeply sorry I didn't get the opportunity to visit with him.

Ever meet a secretary that's so polite she's rude!. . . Name the political boss in a large Westchester city called "Executive Ass?". . . Who ever looked better in white tie and tails than Cary Grant? . . . A truly bittersweet story of the 20th Century: the birth of and the savage exploitation of the Dionne quintuplets in Canada in 1934. . . James Forrestal, brilliant but brittle Secretary of Defense under the great Harry Truman, wrote the following before committing suicide: "Worn by the waste of time--comfortless, nameless, hopeless save in the dark prospects of the yawning grave." . . . Adlai Stevenson was witty, eloquent, and satirical-and the average Joe and Jane didn't get it--and that's a key reason why Adlai didn't get to be president. . . As Machiavelli noted in "The Prince"--governments are run by political deviation. . . Joe Rao of Channel 12 TV out of Yonkers, N.Y., is a genial and sometimes witty weatherman. But far too many of his forecasts are all wet. . . One of Harry Truman's favorite truisms came from Mark Twain: "Always do right. It will please some people and astonish the rest.". . . Terrific Tina Beaton can't be beat as he winning waitress at the popular Tighe's in downtown White Plains, N.Y. Tina's one of the all-time good-gals.

The venal and viperous, Richard Nixon, and his wife, Pat, attended a Republican fundraiser in Chicago--where Tricky Dick was the keynote speaker. He cautioned against "the temptation to stand pat on what we have done." The next day an eight-column headline appeared in one of the Chicago papers. It read: "Can't Stand Pat, Nixon Says." It's all in a delightfully amusing book by Paul F. Boller, Jr., called "Presidential Anecdotes."

Bob Henry of Pleasantville, N.Y. is a decent, good-hearted, and amiable gentleman. And he's sincerely interested in people, especially the less fortunate among us. Mr. Henry gives much of his time enthusiastically to Meals-On-Wheels--a beautiful program that helps those who otherwise cannot help themselves to a good meal. Although not a vocalist, Mr. Henry often serenades the people--on birthdays and other special occasions. He's been in the "program with a heart" for 3 years--and he loves it as much as he loves and respects the people behind such a noble, mobile endeavor. My kind of human being. And he's my brother-in-law!

Exorbitant overtime submitted by Westchester County police now scrutinized very closely. Why? We'll never tell. . . Rekas, a delightful Thai restaurant in White Plains, New York is indeed an epicurean experience. On a recent evening at Rekas my son had Chilean bass, my wife, pork, and I, steak. Couldn't be more delicious. Place is run by a lovely, gregarious and classy lady, Reka Souwapawong. She's tops-n-taps. . . Congrats to peripatetic professionals on TV's Channel 12 News out of Yonkers, New York; Janine Rose, extremely competent and compassionate news editor; Alan Oren, literate and lyrical movie maven, and Mike Edleman (Point-Counter-Point) politically astute and articulate, even though he's Republican.

The late Hedy Lamarr had one of the most gorgeous faces in the history of Hollywood--absolutely stunning. The story goes--apocryphal or not--that after Jack Warner had seen Lamarr in "Sampson & Delilah' in 1949 opposite Victor Mature, he told friends:

"That's the first time the leading man had bigger boobs than the leading lady." . . . Jack O'Dwyer's "PR Service Report"--by far the best in the biz. Jack and I became friends when I was a senior publicist with Pepsi-Cola and he was a widely read ad columnist with the old Journal-American. That was back in 1964. And we still communicate. One of the great guys and a fine writer and true pro.

"Do you have a lawyer?" the judge asked. "No," replied the convict, "I decided to tell the truth.". . . . Winston Churchill said: "History is going to be kind to me because I intend to write it.". . . Grand-guy Arnold S. Bernstein of White Plains reminds me that the 8th Annual Holocaust Memorial Service will take place April 30, 2000, at the White Plains Garden of Remembrance on Martine and Grove Street. Festivities begin at 9:45 a.m. Shalom.