Public Forces Feiner To Capitulate

In an “its about time” moment before the public comment section was about to begin, Mr Feiner finally closed the barn door now that all the animals are out and announced that he and the Town Board have decided to put the property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road out for an RFP (Request For Proposal). For about three years now, the G10 specifically, and others, had been asking, telling, cajoling and pleading with the Town Board members and Mr Feiner to put the property up for an RFP. The good news for the Town residents is that the G10 were relentless first about the illegal lease and then the below market value sale of the property, inadvertently keeping the process on hold until now. What is so important about now? Mr Feiner has opposition for his job in the 2013 Democratic Primary elections. 

Faced now with an impending election, Mr Feiner must have recognized the futility of trying to continue his “gift” deal to GameOn 365 for the property. Forget the illegal nature of everything he was trying to do by offering the property for lease. Forget that he created a slanted referendum to push his agenda of gifted property to GameOn 365. Forget that he prolonged three years of wasting our time, losing money and revenue through his actions. He claimed at last night’s Town Board meeting that if he sold the property to one business, the other would sue the Town - and vise versa. He purported to be concerned about litigation and delays. Interestingly, litigation and delays have never been a concern for Mr Feiner in his 22 years in office as lawsuits abound. The most significant would be the guilty verdict in the Fortress Bible Church lawsuit.

So what changed? Getting honest answers from this Town Board has always proven incredibly elusive, especially with our double-talking Supervisor. While the Town indicated it would accept an offer last week for the property from the Ardsley-based Elm Street Sports for $3.5 million but preferred a lower bid of $1.7 million from the Feiner-annointed GameOn 365. What happened to those offers and why has Mr Feiner offered to do an RFP? Was it the culmination of the onslaught of information from rational, intelligent residents able to prove that Mr Feiner’s actions were nothing short of illegal? Was it the threat from numerous attorneys that they would sue the Town if Mr Feiner proceeded the reason? Was it the fact that his customer of choice didn’t have enough money to do the deal unless the Town carried the paper? Could it be all of the above?

GameOn 365 representative Martin Hewitt spoke at last night’s Town Board meeting and then bolted like he saw his car being towed. He said that GameOn 365 is looking to purchase the Golf Driving Range property next door, which is about the same size as the former Frank’s Nursery property and probably more expensive. Then he added he planned to be involved in the RFP for the former Frank’s Nursery as well as the Driving Range. Hardly believable. Unless he won the lottery, he has been unsuccessful in raising the required funds to offer more than a deposit on the former Frank’s Nursery property – even with the Town underwriting him. Secret meetings aside, how will he be able to purchase the second property let alone both. But he can dream. We also question how enthusiastic the homeowners will now be on Westchester View and the surrounding area toward GameOn 365 after learning they will be moving directly next to them? And since this will be a private sale, the only gift Mr Feiner can offer Mr Hewitt now is carte blanche spot zoning – a hallmark of the Feiner administration.

ABG has also pushed for an RFP for this property. Regardless of the purchaser, remediation and contamination is still an issue. It hasn’t been used for something as serious as Indian Point’s spent fuel rods, but the site is contaminated and needs significant remediation. We have learned all too often, all too clearly and all too easily how deceitful Mr Feiner and his Board has been at every juncture of this debacle as well as others. As such, we and others are naturally suspect of his motives and what other back room deals may have already taken place with Mr Hewitt and what promises have been made – legal or otherwise. We’ll just have to wait and see.