A Better Greenburgh: A Shady Deal? Pull Out All The Stops

About one hundred or so people attended the “cancelled” Wednesday night meeting at the former Frank’s Nursery site on Dobbs Ferry Road. The officially rescheduled meeting on the following night, previously posted on ABG, found another one hundred or so participants. ABG didn’t attend the Wednesday night meeting because it was cancelled. After seeing the amount of people who showed up to learn more about the GameOn 365 proposal and realizing that canceling their Wednesday night meeting would not be good public relations, The Paul, his Town cohorts and the GameOn 365 decided to stay and answer questions “unofficially”.

On Thursday night, the official meeting got a bit lively. An added police presence ensured stability to a somewhat unstable crowd. There were two distinct sides in attendance and ready for answers and as we soon found, a shouting match. A professional politician, The Paul, with his nurtured schlub-like and confused looking “disheveled” persona in rare form, took the microphone, plugged into what could only be described as a mini-amplifier, about the size of a desktop printer, and officially started the second meeting. As he spoke, people complained they could not hear what was being said. He promised that he, the Town employees and the GameOn 365 people would answer everybody’s questions, no matter how long it took. ABG won’t rehash everything that took place but suffice to say, many people left with a foul taste of our Town leaders (as well as GameOn 365’s leadership) as impersonal, arrogant, condescending, uncooperative and most importantly not forthcoming with any answers. The G8 are well aware of The Paul’s modus operandi; and now 200 more residents know as The Paul’s facade gets chipped away.

Todays mail brought us two pieces. The first was a mailing from The Westchester Field House, which we presume in doing business as (DBA) GameOn 365. This piece’s mailing was intended on “Setting The Record Straight – Why the “Bubble” is Good for Greenburgh” with the corresponding web address: www.TheWestchesterFieldHouse.com. Going to that site yields artists’ renditions of what the site will look like once GameOn 365 develops it (below). We’ve posted their mailing and the images for you to determine what’s true or not below. Ironically, almost as if it were scripted for The Paul, the verbiage on the mailer sounds strikingly like what he’s been saying these last few weeks. Hey... wait a minute... you don’t think the GameOn 365 people told The Paul what to say, do you? Nah, couldn’t be...

There are 10 points on the flip side of the mailer. While there are no out and out lies, there are a number of convenient “gaps” of information with what is being foisted on the subject. BTW, GameOn 365 representatives and Town officials are all going around saying the mailer sent out by a Simon Cohen had incorrect information in it. After comparing the two, ABG’s staffers were unanimous in our belief that Simon’s was more accurate. You can decide as it was previously posted here.

The second mailing was a two page letter from The Paul, interesting also written to espouse the benefits of “the bubble” on the former Frank’s property extremely similar to the GameOn 365 mailing. Hmmm, coincidence? The Paul’s mailing also conveniently leaves out critical information while painting the lease as Greenburgh’s answer to the Town’s financial prayers. While ABG believes this is not the case, we’ve never heard why the Town so readily agreed to a low rent for such a long period of time? Or why site contamination was never addressed prior to having a possible tenant? In fact, what marketing was ever performed for this parcel? What numbers were offered for purchasing the property? The constant harping that this is a depressed market, yet Westchester real estate is the most sought after in the state and perhaps even the country and this is the best we can do? Why wasn’t an independent assessor hired and tasked with a market value property valuation and plan to market it by a realtor? How can we expect the Town Assessor, appointed to her position by The Paul, as well as told to begrudging participate in this charade, to give an honest assessment? She, along with The Paul continually compare “comparable” bubbles in other communities that are easily half the size of the GameOn 365 bubble and don’t have the basketball courts behind it to the GameOn 365 project. It’s simply not an apples to apples comparison.

The Paul claims he sent out RFPs to newspapers, and sought interest by going on blogs (any others than his own?), social media, etc. ETCETERA??? Really? Do most real estate developers, with whom The Paul will give away the keys to the Town as well as change zoning and planning laws at the drop of a hat, follow the real estate business on blogs and social media sites? Pul-ease. He then states traffic will not be an issue because all of the other entities in the area will not be busy during the winter months, when GameOn 365 plans to be the busiest. Again, The Paul’s lack of business acumen (see above schlub-like and confused looking) not only highlights why he shouldn’t be negotiating or even signing deals with real companies, with practicing attorneys and management he can only read about. But when did he become a traffic study expert? The Paul and GameOn 365 say that our seniors and residents will have access to the track for jogging and walking FOR A FEE. Don’t we pay taxes for this?

Here’s the mailing information we received so you can study it. There are many other sides to what is being presented in these two most recent mailings. ABG hopes more residents will come to the special meeting which is scheduled for 6:30 on July 25th at Town Hall. There are too many things about this “great deal” for Greenburgh that don’t add up. ABG hopes the constituency will come out and help stop this travesty from happening for the next fifteen years, before it is too late!

GameOn 365 Mailer, front and back:

ABG added this photo taken from one of the displays being shown at the meeting Thursday night:

GameOn 365’s photo presented at the Frank’s Nursery site meeting on Thursday night. Note how the bubble is intentionally obscured behind the facade they claim will replace the “dilapidated” Frank’s Nursery building (it isn’t dilapidated, just boarded up). Compare this image to the first one in their mailing (above). A convenient distortion? You decide. Below is Page 2 of the GameOn 365 mailer.