Counterpoint To Year In Review, Part 1

Each year Mr Feiner sends out his list of “accomplishments”. Since Mr Feiner has a difficult time with facts and truthfulness (he was convicted for lying under oath) ABG posts the other side of those same “accomplishments”. Our responses are in blue.

1. Finally, after years of controversy, the Frank’s nursery property that the town acquired via foreclosure is being sold to a developer—with community support!  A 101 unit 115 bed assisted living facility will be built at the site on Dobbs Ferry Road.  The developer agreed to offer ten affordable units to Greenburgh residents at a 20% discount!  Assisted living facilities are expensive.  We are pleased some units will be more affordable.

After years of controversy indeed! The controversy was created by Mr Feiner and his Board when they attempted to violate County and State law by gifting the property to his friends from GameOn 365 for much less money than it was worth instead of selling it as required by law! The surrounding neighborhoods were incensed, organized and fought this injustice. By law, a municipality cannot be a landlord and must sell any properties they receive through foreclosure. Convicted of discrimination, lying under oath, destroying evidence and more in the Fortress Bible Discrimination Lawsuit, Mr Feiner is no stranger to violating the law.

2. We installed solar panels at Town Hall and expect to save $622,000 over a 30 year period.

What he doesn’t state is why the payback will take so long and how he came up with that number? Like most of his numbers, he always overpromises and under-performs.

3. We dedicated a beautiful new park at DeSanti Plaza on East Hartsdale Ave in honor of our veterans.  A great enhancement –a terrific first impression of Greenburgh & Hartsdale.  150 half hour interviews with veterans can be viewed on demand by accessing www.greenburghpublicaccess.com.

Beauty is in the eye of the holder. Most who have seen this “park” have compared its stone monument to an unattractive tombstone and claimed it is not a monument.

4. Installation of 103 additional ADA-compliant curb ramps around the Town, making sidewalks more accessible.

Had these not been required by law, we're sure these would not have been installed.

5. More sidewalks are being built around town: Seely Place (almost done) in Edgemont, Fort Hill Road (work started), Sprain Road (work started), Benedict Ave. (work to start soon).

Much more funding exists for sidewalks that could be built throughout the Town. Unfortunately, Mr Feiner has only finally applied for some of this money because of the Edgemont threat of incorporation and has to at least appear concerned about that community. Should Edgemont incorporate, a major portion of the Town tax revenue would disappear. Given the high costs to taxpayers of Mr Feiner's lawsuits during his 24-year tenure, the Town needs all the income we can get!

6. Town Board complies with tax cap in approving 2017 budget.  The Town Board has complied with the tax cap every year since the cap was implemented.

While technically correct, the NYS 2% Tax Cap is exempt from many aspects of the budget and is not truly a 2% cap. Regardless, the Town Board can go beyond or exceed the tax cap by a majority vote at a Town Board meeting without having their feet held to the fire.

7. We obtained CDBG funding for a sidewalk on Secor Road near the Greenburgh Housing Authority development.  Pushing for private funding for a sidewalk near the Community College on Knollwood Road and Grasslands Road.  Applied for grants to build more sidewalks on Central Avenue.

 All good. Why did it take so long to start applying for these grant monies? See #5.

8.  From April 2016 through November 2016 the Town paved approximately 12.46 miles of Town Roadway.

Paving our streets is but one of the functions of government and we should be seeing all of our streets repaved as part of an infrastructure planning schedule.

9.  Received the Automobile Club of the Northeast’s highest award - one given to only four communities in the northeast for our proactive efforts promoting pedestrian safety: digital radar speed signs, using message boards, more enforcement, promoting motorcycle safety, analyzing traffic locations that need safety improvements.  We are organizing a new effort - encouraging pedestrians to wear bright clothing in the evening.  Have been distributing free reflector arm bands so motorists can see pedestrians walking.

Should we be rated for spending money on signs advertising a lack of police presence or should we have more police on patrol? Of course, we want to see more officers on the road addressing speeding, inappropriate vehicles driving through our residential neighborhoods, illegal housing and controlling our safety through enforcement. The police department's new traffic control officer is not addressing speeding on many of the streets known to host speeding. This needs to change as residential speeders know there is no longer any enforcement and no consequence for breaking the law. Wearing wristbands and bright clothing are smart, time-proven ideas. So are sidewalks and the safety they provide by getting pedestrians off of our dangerous streets.

10. Our first annual new residents’ reception and pool party at the Theodore Young Community Center resulted in an opportunity to highlight some outstanding programs and resulted in new enrollments.

The new residents’ reception is a good idea but the rest is nothing but blatant and shameful campaigning.

11. Moody's and Standard & Poor's both reaffirming town's Aaa and AAA bond rating --the highest rating a government can receive. Our bond ratings have gone up a few times during my administration and results in six figure savings when we borrow.  We have continuously received the highest ratings since 2008.  Moody’s based their ratings on our “sound financial position with strong fiscal management, low debt profile, and manageable pension liability.”

What this really means is Mr Feiner has no problem dipping into taxpayer pocketbooks whenever he has been found guilty and needs to pay a fine. Moody's gives him that bravado.

12. Progress with county on WestHELP to convert WestHELP into 54 affordable 62+ senior housing units.

Mr Feiner was the one who did not renew the contract with the County for WestHelp which provided $1.2 million a year to the Town He is the one who instructed Town employees to leave the facility open furthering its ruination so he could use the property for political leverage and try to tear it down and “hawk” it as the future site of a handicapped facility for a school in Yonkers looking for a new location. Not only did that plan fall through for legal reasons, but as Mr Feiner continued to be in violation of the contractual terms in place, the County has decided to take back control of the property, losing $1.2 million a year in revenue!

13. Building Department initiated plans to demolish an abandoned hazardous home on Teramar Way and is inspecting other abandoned properties.

This goes back numerous years. Why does the Town continue to ignore their fiduciary responsibilities as well as the safety side by ignoring their responsibility to the taxpayers?

14. Comprehensive plan approved---first in town history.  Will include more town-school partnerships in land use reviews.

This is not the Town’s first Comprehensive Plan. Regardless, the Comprehensive Plan could have been a document that truly created a vision for the Town’s future. Instead, the majority of the Steering Committee chose to make a political statement with it and squandered a tremendous opportunity for the future of our Town. Instead, it perpetuates the zoning quagmire that Mr Feiner relies on to do his spot-zoning.

15. Regeneron plans a 1,016,190 sq. ft. expansion-- nine new research and development buildings, consistent with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan.  Greenburgh is becoming the center of biotechnology in New York State.  Expansion will generate jobs and significant revenue for the town.  TIME MAGAZINE named Tarrytown/Greenburgh bio tech corridor as the "40TH MOST GENIUS PLACE IN AMERICA."

While Regeneron will generate jobs, Mr Feiner and his Board ignore the fact that a lot of the property in the Greenburgh side will be 9 buildings and 5 parking structures of impervious space, adding to the flooding downstream in Elmsford and the 9A corridor. Time magazine, no longer a substantive periodical, can call it whatever it likes. It just doesn't mean it’s true.

16. Greenburgh and 19 other localities in Westchester signed an agreement to purchase electric power in bulk fromWestchesterpower.org.  During the first six months every ratepayer saved some $$ money!

There were several problems with this deal made by Mr Feiner without taxpayer input. First, he took it upon himself to enroll every taxpayer of the Town into this program – without their permission! Second, he continually stated that taxpayers would save between $400 to $600 a year. Actual math, obviously not Mr Feiner's favorite subject, has shown that most taxpayers have only saved about $30 at most while he claims “every ratepayer saved some $$ money”. Third, the original deal promised by Mr Feiner was for electricity and gas. When the final deal was made, it was only for electricity transmission! Finally, he made this deal with Westchesterpower.org, a paper company of investment lawyers creating a template with Greenburgh so they could roll-out their program nationwide. This startup, not for profit will change to a for-profit company once their experiment in Greenburgh is completed.

17. Town turned over land previously used by Pets Alive over to Paws Crossed – a no kill animal shelter – which opened up last summer.

The Town's Building Department condemned the facility, stating it was too dangerous to occupy. Then, after much publicity, which ABG believes was the entire purpose of this; the building was miraculously habitable once again.

18. Judge signs order turning over to town 60 properties that haven't paid taxes.  In 2013 over 370 parcels representing $19.9 million in delinquent taxes was on the books.  We reduced the amount of delinquent taxes by almost $13 million.

The Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations has been urging the Town leaders for years to initiate foreclosure proceedings against delinquent taxpayers. Finally, we are seeing some action. What has been done with the 60 properties since the Town took possession? Until disposed of, they will continue to receive Town services - garbage pickup etc., costing the taxpayers thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

19. Governor signed into law legislation approved by NY State Legislature authorizing the town to phase in assessment increases for tax purposes for property taxpayers whose assessments increased by more than 25% as a result of reassessment.  This new law, which Greenburgh was the first to adopt in NYS, will ease the impacts of reassessment for about 1000 households.  Most of the villages are in the process of adopting the town's tax rolls, reducing duplication (previously they had their own assessor).  This is the first reassessment in over 60 years.

It is the first reassessment in over 60 years. The last 24 of them were during Mr Feiner’s tenure. We’d like to know why he waited so long? Had he done the revaluation sooner, the lopsidedness of increases and even decreases would not have been so severe. Plus, the people who were overpaying are being further penalized while Mr Feiner tries to appease those who got clobbered by his 24-years of inaction by making them wait even longer to get their over-taxation corrected.

20. Created a new committee to help recent college graduates who can't find work find employment.

It is sad that there are no employment agencies located in our area. It’s also sad that after spending a ton of money for schooling that these colleges don’t offer any kind of placement assistance. Oh wait, they do and there are employment agencies in the area. If you have a degree in a viable subject and are flexible, you will probably find a job – with or without Mr Feiner’s assistance.




21. Southern Westchester BOCES agreed to help the town restore the 911 wall (1600 murals on Central Avenue).  They are providing the town with recommendations.

Too bad the job wasn't done correctly the first time or the second time by the professionals Mr Feiner swore would fix this. This is another example of Mr Feiner going to non-paid interns for solutions when he has none. It also allows him beau coup publicity campaigning to tout the wonderful work they are doing, regardless of how successful they are.

22. Created a new committee to promote motorcycle safety.

This seems like something the Police Department should be doing, not Town Hall.

23. Treated Crane's pond and it worked--not a lot of algae.  We installed a second water fountain.

The same answer as it relates to Edgemont in #5 applies here.






24. Added new pavilion at Anthony Veteran Park.

There may be a need for more shaded areas there.

25. The former Greenburgh Health Center on Route 119 will be demolished.  Construction of a new 15,000 sq. ft. retail building with related site improvements/landscaping to take place.  Building will be occupied by Harbor Freight Tools.  Joyce Leslie building at 250 Tarrytown Road undergoing enhancements.

While we welcome Harbor Freight coming into Greenburgh, the Town has made starting and opening a business so costly with regulations and fees that small retail businesses are few and far between. It's why we are only seeing big box and chain stores come to Town. And yet, we still hear the administration saying they’re business friendly.

26. Installed new spray pad at Massaro Park in North Elmsford.

This is a minor park improvement, however the security cameras Mr Feiner repeatedly promised and postured about to the civic association there have never materialized.

27. William L. Carter Foundation gave 4 scholarships to worthy students...offered student musicians a free summer jazz clinic...started a mentoring program and took young people to Madison Square Garden.

Kudos to the William L. Carter Foundation.

28. Enrollment in Greenburgh Central has gone up due to improved reputation of the school district.

The enrollment, whether increasing or not, is not quantifiable as no breakdowns were provided. Enrollments in area private and parochial schools are also up.

29. Westchester County Parks Foundation implementing a suggestion I made last year to organize a graffiti busters initiative.
While anyone can make suggestions to anyone else, we'd prefer Mr Feiner work on cleaning up the graffiti throughout our Town. 


30. Controversial Jefferson application near the Village of Ardsley was withdrawn.  Residents were very concerned about the impact the proposed 272 rental apartment complex would have had on the local school district and traffic.

This is misleading as it was the Ardsley residents who organized the protest that they took to the Town Board after proposals were made that caused it to be withdrawn. In fact, in an unprecedented move, the Ardsley Mayor and several trustees spoke against 
the project along with the Ardsley residents. Mr Feiner and Ms Juettner were against the project because it was in their backyard. Can you say NIMBY?