Edgemont’s Bernstein To Challenge Feiner

ABG received the following letter (italicized below) from Mr Robert Bernstein, of the Edgemont section of the Unincorporated Town of Greenburgh. Mr Bernstein, a practicing attorney based in NYC, has intervened on behalf of residents of, as well as the Town in numerous occasions and is a former President of the Edgemont Community Council, an umbrella group encompassing the numerous Edgemont civic associations in Greenburgh. 

As ABG has previously posted, the Republican Party has written Greenburgh off entirely and refuses to offer candidates to run against Mr Feiner. ABG believes the diversity of opposing opinions would offer the Town a better balance. The Democratic Party would be remiss by not seizing the opportunity to offer a different candidate than Mr Feiner, let alone a qualified candidate such as Mr Bernstein. While ABG believes Mr Bernstein has always done what he feels best for the residents of the Town, it too has cost us financially. Without delving into that any further, ABG feels the good that Mr Bernstein has done for the Town far outweighs any negatives. Based on his substantive contributions to the Town, ABG believes Mr Bernstein warrants the support for the Democratic nomination for Town Supervisor. We’re sure the “positioning” phone calls have begun.

When Bill developed and ran this site, he ended his articles with his signature tag line, “We can only hope.” This time, I think Bill might believe it! 

Mr. Bernstein’s Letter:
Dear Fellow District Leaders:

In the last several days, district leaders from unincorporated Greenburgh and from the villages have approached me to ask if I would challenge Paul Feiner for the Democratic nomination for Town Supervisor.

They came to me and said if there were ever a time when Paul needed to be challenged, it was now.

It is unfathomable, they said, for Democrats in this town to endorse a candidate for reelection who was found guilty of violating the constitutional rights of a church, destroying evidence, and found to have testified falsely under oath, and where taxpayers will be facing a bill for the damages Paul caused – a bill that could be in excess of $7 million – none of which will be covered by insurance.

They came to me and said Democrats in Greenburgh cannot in good conscience support a candidate who twice turned down an opportunity to extend the WestHELP lease – once the largest single non-tax source of revenue for the entire town, including the villages – for $1.2 million a year between 2011 and 2021. It has been 20 months since the lease expired and Paul has to this day deliberately kept WestHELP’s 108 apartments, which the town is required to use for low or moderate income rental housing, vacant and deteriorating to the point they are now uninhabitable, requiring millions of dollars to renovate.

Why has he done that? My friends in the Greenburgh chapter of the NAACP – who are recognizing me Sunday night at their annual gala for my efforts to promote affordable housing at WestHELP – will tell you. They know why.  

District leaders came to me and said Democrats cannot sit quietly by while Paul insists on entering the Town into a multi-million dollar, 18-year lease of the WestHELP property to a company that has admitted misrepresenting its affiliation with a reputable affordable housing company and which has absolutely zero experience in affordable housing. All of which strongly suggests it will never be able to consummate a deal with the Town and thereby keep the WestHELP apartments vacant and deteriorating – something Rob Astorino and his tea party friends certainly want to see to happen, but not something Greenburgh Democrats should support.

District leaders came to me and asked: Would I be willing to give up my 30-plus years of legal practice, take time away from my wife and family, and end the chaos that surrounds every decision Paul makes.

They cited my experience as a civic leader, as someone who attends town board meetings and is familiar with the issues, and as a lawyer who worked with Dobbs Ferry justice Herb Rosenberg to successfully intervene at our own expense on behalf of the taxpayers in unincorporated Greenburgh and the villages to defeat a claim against the Town by the Valhalla School District for millions of dollars in town revenues – a claim Paul gave his full support to – and to successfully recover more than $1 million in funds Paul illegally disbursed to Valhalla.

And so, having given this a lot of thought, and after getting the backing of my family, I am writing to ask you to support my nomination Tuesday evening as the Democratic candidate for Greenburgh Town Supervisor this fall.

Paul will use every negative campaign tactic he and his team of advisors can come up with.  He won’t hesitate to launch personal attacks on the town website and in the town’s emails. His attitude is always the same: sue me. Well, he has been sued, and the courts have finally figured him out.  

As Democrats we need to unite behind a candidate who can win. I am persuaded by many of you that even though this race is a long shot, it is winnable. I know we will have a lot of grass-roots support. Democrats will actually be enthusiastic once again about supporting a candidate for town supervisor.

Please come to the convention on Tuesday night and support my candidacy.

Thank you.

 Bob Bernstein