Memorial Day Remembrance

Incorporation Continues to Move Forward

A small setback would not stop them. Mr Feiner's biased decision against Edgemont incorporation was not based on the law. We believe he miscalculated and has actually pushed the Edgemont Incorporation Committee's (EIC) cause forward. And, having temporarily slowed the incorporation movement, Mr Feiner has ensured an Article 78 appeal. An Article 78 is the court-provided vehicle for the public to appeal what they believe to be bad or incorrect decisions made by a municipality.

As we write this article we are aware of a second petition that has begun to be circulated by the EIC. It mirrors the original one, as it’s still believed by the EIC that their first attempt was legally correct and should not have been dismissed by Mr Feiner. This time, however, they have engaged an engineering firm with Westchester County experience to validate the boundaries that the EIC and the petitioners seek to become the new Village of Edgemont.

Whether or not everyone agrees with Mr Feiner’s position or are even against incorporation, it appears many people have been persuaded toward incorporation after Mr Feiner hired private investigators to dupe residents into signing a newer affidavit to invalidate their original incorporation petition signature. A video captured on a home nanny-cam security system showed the entire process, with sound, in play. In fact, the video system had just been installed the day before. And, it was not the grainy, useless video we see on the news of shadowy figures robbing a convenience store at 2 AM. The picture was sharp, the sound clear and the evidence damning!

Since one of the Mr Feiner’s sticking points was the argument that signers of the original petition were not provided a map indicating the boundaries of the proposed new village, the engineering firm hired by the EIC will provide the EIC with a modern map showing all proposed property lines. Another argument made by anti-incorporation proponents was the lack of a financial analysis of the new village. The analysis and all subsequent information was provided on the EIC website (www.Edgemont2017.org). However, we understand how Mr Feiner likes to operate. Say something that is not factually correct enough times and eventually it will be believed as true. Perhaps the EIC should have used this tactic as well and just kept referring to themselves as the Village of Edgemont...

Mr Feiner weakly claimed several other reasons contributed to his reasons for invaliding the EIC petition. Knowing, however, that he was against the petition from the beginning also provided predictable responses. One of his reasons to be against the incorporation was that it would cost the Town approximately $17 million in lost revenue. Every time this point was raised the EIC stated that they wanted to contract services with the Town which could keep the Town budget virtually unchanged. Mr Feiner and Councilman Jones openly said the Town would not contract the services with Edgemont as a village. If they were truly concerned about the well-being of the Town, they would not be so obstinate and go along with this.

Now it was just a dog-and-pony event, utilizing a retired judge and NYC private investigation company as his foils. It also necessitated writing several emails, press releases and photo “ops” where Mr Feiner could substantiate his decision. The master of deflection was at it again. The issue again became the methodology necessary to pull this off. He held the hearing open for the required length of time and shrewdly scheduled the final hearing date to be the day before the hearing’s close date, making it impossible for the EIC or any pro-incorporation proponents to challenge “evidence” submitted by anti-incorporation proponents.

Not only will the EIC have people out and about getting signatures a second time around for the new petition, but Edgemonters can find out when and where someone will be and go to them to sign the new petition or schedule a time to sign by reaching out through the EIC email: edgemont2017@gmail.com. Mr Feiner, who we believe lies regularly about open government, has tried to shut down the Edgemont community’s right to vote - once. We’ll have to see what happens in court or with the second petition. We hope this time the right thing will take place. It will make for A Better Greenburgh.

Happy Ramadan

May the Spirit of Ramadan stay in your heart and
illuminate your soul from within.
Happy Ramadan 2017!

Ramadan(Ramzan) Mubarak:-

Ramadan/Ramjan/Ramajan/Ramazan/Ramzan/Ramdhan is the festival of fasting, prayer, giving and self-evaluation observed by Muslims. It is celebrated in India as well as whole Islamic country in the world. It is  a popular festival of Muslims.

This year Ramadan will celebrate on Saturday 27th May 2017. This is celebrated almost one month. This is the popular festival of Muslims. It will start on 25th May or 26th May 2017 and end on 25th June or 26th June 2017 around the world. It is not a fixed date because of depends on the sightings of the crescent moon, during this festival Person are encouraged to read the Qur’an entirely during this time. It is time for charity and many Islamic organizations take part to Islamic businesses and groups may arrange schedules for prayer times during this month.

A Zone Free Greenburgh – Will Anything Change?

It’s no secret that Mr Feiner has ruled against the Edgemont incorporation petition. It was also no secret that he was against the incorporation from the get-go. For all intents and purposes, the petition was correctly filled out, filed and met the standards of the law. Now, many are asking what’s next?

Comments made at many of the meetings were what we expected to hear as elections are coming up soon, we should run another candidate, someone should run, we’ll vote him out and more. The problem is that no one will vote him out. The master of the campaign, Mr Feiner continues to get 7-9,000 votes when running unopposed. Should a viable candidate appear and even contemplate running against him, it will need to be an independent candidate, not a Democrat or Republican. In fact, the Greenburgh Republican party has written Greenburgh off as unwinnable and will not “waste” Republican resources in Greenburgh.

Several years ago Edgemont resident Bob Bernstein challenged Mr Feiner in the supervisor race. A progressive democrat, Mr Bernstein's candidacy forced a primary runoff, pitting he and Mr Feiner against each other for the democratic nomination. While Mr Bernstein met with community groups, went to events and reached out as much as he could, Mr Feiner used the then-personally controlled GBList (Town email list) to rally his troops. Subsequently, several things happened.

First and foremost, Mr Feiner won the primary. Second, he and his “team” attempted to disqualify Mr Bernstein’s petition signatures, this time not using private investigators and a retired judge. Third, he sat back and utilized his 24+ years of contacts, favors, connections and paybacks to defeat Mr Bernstein. While the numbers always amaze many people, only a small fraction of residents even bother to vote. So the argument about voting him out of office is more than likely, moot!

So?

We’ve written previously that what affects the Town in one community will eventually do the same thing in another. Examples? An easy one the Brightview Assisted Living Center at Benedict Avenue and Rt 119. The G10 fought most of what the proposal encompassed alongside the small group of residents that live in the Glenville section of unincorporated Greenburgh. Therein is the rub. The residents in Glenville went out of their way to try to work with the builder, believing the Town would have their back. They played by what they thought were the rules and were summarily dismissed - and ultimately screwed - getting an oversized behemoth structure smack dab in the middle of their small single-family homes neighborhood. Other neighborhoods got screwed as well.

How?

The attorneys for Brightview wrote the zoning bill that Mr Feiner and his Town Board adopted into law for assisted living facilities in the Town. It did nothing if not address and eliminate every issue Brightview faced with their proposed project. Subsequently, the bill was adopted and pushed through the various Boards with almost record setting speed. With no resistance left against the Brightview projects, residents and the G10 repeatedly argued that they were setting a terrible precedent for the Town with future assisted living facilities. That precedent has come full circle.

When?

In a 4 to 3 vote, the Greenburgh Zoning Board of Appeals voted to allow a 3,000% variance as well as to waive the 4-year old assisted living zoning code’s mandate of a minimum 4-acre requirement. It is not unusual to see developers ask for and receive variances. A setback variance example from a required 8-foot setback to a 6-foot setback would be considered reasonable in some instances and probably granted. Invariably, most people would not have an objection to that. If a developer were to ask to change a 50-foot setback to a 10-foot setback with a four to five story building in a residential neighborhood, many, if not all in the neighborhood, would probably object. This is exactly what happened in Glenville when Brightview agreed to slightly turn their building instead of reducing its size to try to make it more palatable to the residents it was about to overwhelm.

So, now that the developers know what they can get away in the zone free Town of Greenburgh, they are proceeding with every ridiculous proposal they can come up with, including the 3,000% variance Shelbourne knows Mr Feiner will vote against but instruct his Board to pass. Why have zoning laws or even a Comprehensive Plan if all the administration will do is kowtow to every developer that comes before the Town with a proposal?

In a sadly veiled attempt to justify their votes favoring the Shelbourne project, Feiner appointees Daniel Martin, Rohan Harrison, William Losapio and Louis Crichlow ensured a back-door for Mr Feiner and his Board to escape another lawsuit initiated by Shelbourne after we believe Mr Feiner instructed his Board to rescind the negative declaration for the project, claiming the project would not have a negative impact on the environment. They also ignored the Fire District’s request for a study of the impact the facility will have on the emergency services they provide. All examples provided by Shelbourne have thus far been inadequate or not on a par with the size of the district, staffing, size of facility, amount of patients/residents, etc.

This project has been favored by Mr Feiner from its inception. Consequently, Mr Feiner’s Board is also in favor of it. Residents be damned, but this project has legs and has begun to run, regardless of what the neighborhoods want, the fire district says or the laws that are being swept aside. Mr Feiner was able to slow the Edgemont incorporation attempt by finding the petition insufficient. Pro-incorporation proponents are taking a step back and regrouping. Mr Feiner is ensuring several things will happen by those pro-incorporation residents. First, a new petition being crafted. Second, a larger boundary being created for the proposed village. Third, another lawsuit (or more). Fourth, people on the fence or wondering about incorporation have now been convinced to change their position, favoring incorporation. Finally, people who may have been in Mr Feiner's camp are jumping ship. His plan is backfiring!

The behavior of Mr Feiner and his Board are disappointing to people in the know. People not in the know usually find out after the bad decisions have been implemented, groundbreaking has taken place and the done-deal signed, sealed and delivered to the developer. This has to stop. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Happy Mother's Day!

Yvette Quinones-Eannazzo Seeks Position on Elmsford School Board

As a candidate for School Board, I want to make our great schools even better and be a voice for all the children. Many parents may already know who I am. Some may have no idea who I am . I have been part of the Elmsford Community for the past 17 years. I was a member of the Elmsford Fire Department for 4 years, during which time I ran our Junior Fire Fighters organization. This is where I met my amazing husband who is a former Fire Chief for the Elmsford Fire Department. In 2004 we had our first child, Olivia and in 2006 we had our second child AJ.

Olivia and Aj attended Our Lady of Mt. Carmel until last year. For personal reasons, we transferred both children to Elmsford Public Schools. While we were at OLMC I was President of the Parents Guild. I worked with other parents to organize and run fundraisers. Some of the events we ran were: as Babysitting night, Movie Nights, Bunko Night, Valentines dance, 5th, 6th and 7th grade dance, Teacher appreciation Breakfast, back to school BBQ End of the year BBQ Christmas fair, monthly bake sales and the Annual Parents Guild dinner. Although it was important for us to fund school projects we also wanted to run events that would bring the school together and create a family at mosphere.

I also helped coach both my kid's basketball teams at OLMC.

Since we started EUFSD in September I have Volunteered at International Night, Grady's Carnival and both book fairs. Both of our children have done very well academically and have taken advantage of many of the after-school activities. They have adjusted to their new school and still stay in touch with their wonderful OLMC fr iends.

If elected, I will work hard for every student, parent, teacher and resident. I believe in being fiscally responsible and to make sure every tax dollar is used appropriately . It is important not only to continue the great work the current board is doing but it is equally important to make our school district even better.

I respectfully ask for your vote on May 16.

Sex Offender Moves To Elmsford

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services issued an alert on Thursday to Westchester residents regarding the residency of 46-year-old Shawn Rutledge, who has moved from White Plains to an address on Tarrytown Road in Elmsford.

The Division of Criminal Justice Services has assigned Rutledge as a level two threat, which means he is at "moderate risk of a repeat offense."

According to the Division of Criminal Justice Services, Rutledge sexually abused his female victim, whose age has not been disclosed, in March 2007. He was arrested by the New York State Police Violent Crime Analysis Program VICAP and sentenced to 90 days in local jail in February the following year. He is now under the jurisdiction of the Elmsford Village Police Department.

Further info on Rutledge from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services can be accessed after entering the code in the CAPTCHA box found by clicking here.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

In an entirely predictable move by Mr Feiner, he officially ruled the Edgemont Incorporation petition was not sufficient and cancelled the hope of a proposed incorporation referendum for the Edgemont community. Mr Feiner had said all along that he was against the incorporation citing a loss of revenue, approximately $17 million out of the Town budget that would be Edgemont’s portion. Regardless, what Mr Feiner and any elected official should be doing, is entertaining different ideas and listening to their constituency. Clearly that did not happen. To quote the old Gomer Pyle TV character, “Surprise, surprise, surprise.”

Mr Feiner claimed that the Edgemont Incorporation Council (EIC) had been careless with the petitions, referencing failed boundaries for the proposed village – all of their documentation stated they were utilizing the Greenville Fire District boundaries. He referenced the EIC petition not including minors in their list of inhabitants – although we would assume that would be two-fold: one to protect children’s identity and two because they cannot vote and subsequently don’t “count” toward this event.There’s additional supposed reasons Mr Feiner ruled as he did but these other issues will, unfortunately, flush out in court. That said, he ruled many of the signatures invalid. If anyone could fabricate a reason or a way to invalidate petition signatures, it’s Mr Feiner and his Board.

“Forged signatures falsely sworn to by a witness in front of a notary is a legal violation that invalidates all the signatures collected by that witness,” Mr Feiner said. Wow! His incredible statement is ironic given his own conviction by a Federal court for lying under oath in the Fortress Bible case, destroying evidence and discrimination! Could we ever witness more hypocrisy in government? It’s almost as if Mr Feiner practices doing the wrong thing to see how he can get out from under it.

He floundered helplessly several times during the hearings without his Town Board to keep him from speaking too much. Normally, they would intervene and keep him from going down the proverbial rabbit hole. We can only wonder if this time they knew what he was doing was wrong and decided to err on the side of caution and stay far away. This by no means excuses most of their bad behavior and we even believe Mr Feiner might have told them, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this one. You can stay away.” But not after they agreed to spend $50,000 to hire attorney Robert Spolzino!

“The Town had to develop the facts,” Mr Feiner said. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be a real decision.” Actually, what he should have said was the Town needed to invent the facts and in lieu of actual facts and create what they needed to kill the petition. How? He enlisted his troops from his core of regular supporters, Mona Freitag, Martin Payson, Planning Board appointee Hugh Schwartz and his wife, Town Attorney Tim Lewis and his wife, along with others. The sad part is now that he’s decided to invalidate the petition, a new petition will invariably be filed expanding the area to include portions of Hartsdale parking district – backfiring on Mr Feiner big time! At the same time, it is expected that a lawsuit will be filed by the EIC against the Town and Mr Feiner for ruling the way he did. 

The elephant in the room is that Mr Feiner, with a modicum of assistance from Councilman Ken Jones at one of the public meetings about incorporation, was against the Edgemont incorporation from the get-go. At the first hearing, Councilman Kevin Morgan could be seen whispering in Mr Feiner’s ear after he lost control of the meeting. Instantaneously, Mr Feiner said, “We’re adjourned.”

At no point did he hide his disdain or opposition for the incorporation, claiming routinely that it just wouldn’t work. ABG staffers always believed his end game was to delay the petition until after the (re)election in November, knowing that people would tire of this and he could do what he always does: wear down the opposition while he campaigns against them and rally enough votes to squash everyone in favor of incorporation.

If they don’t tire of the incorporation movement, he’ll simply assume they would forget about. He knows voter memory is minuscule at best. That strategy might have worked had he not hired retired justice Robert Spolzino, who in turn hired private investigators to try to trick pro-Edgemont incorporation residents into signing an affidavit that would invalidate their previously signed endorsement for incorporation. It was so unbelievable that one resident supplied a nanny-cam video with sound that proved what was being done to dupe residents. Watch the resident’s video here: https://youtu.be/MBR3L16s3_s

One detrimental move was when Mr Feiner adjourned the first hearing after losing control of it following his mandate that pro-incorporation residents could not speak at the hearing, only anti-incorporation residents could. At the second hearing, adding insult to injury, he allowed the President of the security firm that they hired to speak during objections, followed by Town Attorney Tim Lewis reading affidavits from the surveyor he hired and the Title search attorney he hired, all during the objections. 

The second detrimental move was when Mr Feiner held the second hearing the day before the hearing was scheduled to close the record, not giving residents or the EIC an opportunity to review statements, evidence or information presented by anti-incorporation proponents. More importantly, at the second meeting Town Attorney Tim Lewis read the previously read statements already entered into the record and then called the same anti-incorporation proponents up to the podium to re-read their statements again. The reason was surely to eat away at the precious time the pro-incorporation proponents would try to utilize for their cause, further thwarting their efforts.

As always, there were no surprises with this announcement. The one surprise we would have enjoyed would have been one where Mr Feiner did the right thing, didn’t force another lawsuit for the Town taxpayers and allowed the petition to go through. Had he done the right thing, we might have gotten A Better Greenburgh, smaller, but better.

Announcing Nothing Says It All

All they want to do is vote. All they want is to become a Village. All they want is to control their destiny. All they want is to get out from under the incompetent, illegal, and bad decisions repeatedly made by this Town’s mismanaged and incapable Town Board. Hey, wait a minute... we all want this. But we all can’t afford to do what the Edgemont Incorporation Committee (EIC) has undertaken. Be it the expense, the lack of expertise or the support that doesn’t exist elsewhere in the Town, most of the rest of Unincorporated Greenburgh is saddled with what the EIC has confirmed is a problem. The Town not acting in their/our best interest.

In another calculated move this week, Mr Feiner chose to announce he had reached a decision as to the sufficiency of the EIC petition but would not make it known publicly until after he met with his Town Board early this week. If the decision has been made, why not just announce it? The legal requirements involved are simple: determine the sufficiency (or not) of the petition and let the EIC specifically, and the public in general, know the decision. But Mr Feiner, the Master of Deflection, the King of Compounded Confusion, the Purveyor of Publicity, the Convolutor of Crappola, decided early on that he was against the incorporation and attempted to thwart this effort at every juncture. Hence, the delayed announcement. But again, why?

The EIC’s move to incorporate and the efforts against it may or may not be legitimate. There are other events at play that factor into the Master of Deflection’s suspect actions. Take, for one instance, the Town’s maneuvering with the Dromore Road fiasco; or another instance to get the Shelbourne Assisted Living facility approved by any means necessary and take some of the attention off of the EIC case. The reality however is that it highlights the exact reason the EIC is seeking to incorporate!

What's also interesting is that Feiner Planning Board appointee Hugh Schwartz has been a vociferous proponent on the anti-incorporation side of the fence. Mr Schwartz has publicly positioned himself as being recused as a Planning Board member from the Shelbourne project because his wife works for the law firm representing Shelbourne. However, we came across this piece of information that may indicate otherwise where he requests to talk to Town Attorney Tim Lewis about it. Hmm, this makes us wonder.

Mr Feiner usually has many irons in the fire, enabling him to dance from one controversial issue to another. What he fails to publicize is why. We believe it is simply to be able to change any conversation from the question raised to something else, hence the moniker, Master of Deflection. The issue at hand, beyond Edgemont's right to vote for incorporation, is what else is he doing?

Some have said Edgemont activists fear Mr Feiner will reject the petition, and is conferring with his Town Board to plan a response once the announcement is made. We've also learned from some in Hartsdale that the EIC is considering circulating a new petition, and expanding the boundaries of the proposed village to include parts of Hartsdale, including the hamlet's parking district. The boundaries must be determined by the proponents of the village incorporation. Not the Town, an existing fire district map or school district map. In fact, it can be drawn by a kid with a crayon and agreed to by the EIC and submitted as final. Clearly, there is more going on and wonder how much is from the corner office?

Strangely, when questioned at numerous meetings about what preparations were made by the Town should an incorporation take place, Mr Feiner hesitated and said, “Nothing, because I don’t believe it will pass.” Many were taken aback. Shortly after one of the last meetings about Edgemont incorporation, Mr Feiner said he wanted a citizen’s group to look into what the Town could do should incorporation takes place. He subsequently appointed Luis Polit to chair the Greenburgh Unincorporated Area Citizen’s Contingency Committee which would be tasked with seeking solutions. 

One condition of acceptance was that Mr Polit would receive no interference from the Town or Town Board and get to appoint all of the committees members. While this sounds above-board, a documented video exists of Mr Polit physically pushing Robert Bernstein after a disagreement the two had while serving on a different Town committee. Additionally, Mr Polit recently made this statement after being forced to cancel a meeting with department heads and town commissioners, “I suspect they were told not to participate in this meeting until the petition gets resolved, so I kind of read between the lines.” Obviously, while Mr Polit might believe in preparedness, open government and independence, Mr Feiner is clearly not interested in any of these!

Mr Feiner’s ability to “game” the political system to his advantage is well-known and he surely has another ace up his sleeve. Or, he’s looking to delay this until after the (re)elections. It remains to be seen exactly how this will play out. All bets at this point indicate that Mr Feiner will reject the petition on the grounds of some obscure or undefendable technicality. It will warrant yet another taxpayer lawsuit that didn’t have to be. That is not acting in the best interest of the Town. What is in the best interest of the Town is for this administration to step down. With or without a seventh village, it’s what will help us get A Better Greenburgh.

So, What's Next?

The Edgemont incorporation fiasco needn’t be. Mr Feiner could simply find sufficiency in the Edgemont incorporation petition and schedule the referendum to take place. But then again, Mr Feiner is leading this publicity campaign with the hopes of being able to swoop in and save the proverbial day – from himself – and gain another major media exposure extravaganza. What is obvious to those following this sham is that the Edgemont Incorporation Committee (EIC) has dotted their “i’s” and crossed their “t’s”. So, why not just let it happen? Control. Mr Feiner, without the benefit of public input, also decided with secret meetings to hire an attorney and private investigators without telling the taxpayers. Remember this, you’ll see it again.

We spoke previously of an Edgemont resident who had initially been against the incorporation until he learned of the private investigators hired by Mr Feiner and his Board to try to invalidate resident petitions in favor of incorporation. Once he learned of this he changed his tune and said he was disgusted by Mr Feiner’s actions and changed his position. Many that we spoke to at the different hearings echoed these sentiments. Had Mr Feiner left the process to run itself out, followed the law, not tried any of his typical shenanigans, actually done his due diligence, etc., the proposition probably would have died a natural death.

This is not the first time we’ve seen Mr Feiner “muck up” the process. You’ll recall the former Frank’s Nursery property debacle that did not play out as it should have. Years ago, when the former Frank’s Nursery was operating at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road, they defaulted on their taxes. Many have speculated as to why. Some said it was just the natural progression of a company failing and ultimately going out of business. Others claimed they walked away from the property because it was laden with contaminants and cheaper to take the loss on the property than to remediate it. After several years, though, the Town acquired the property through foreclosure. And, Town Attorney Tim Lewis stated the cleanup would be no more than $100,000. Not an environmental attorney, or an environmental anything, he was very wrong.

New York State and Westchester County laws mandate that a municipality cannot be a landlord. As such, the Town is required to sell the land or turn it into a park or utilize it as Town property. Mr Feiner, without the benefit of public input, also decided in secret meetings (here it is again), emails and phone calls with GameOn 365 that he and his Board would lease the property to that commercial entity. In fact, email communications acquired under the Freedom of Information law (FOIL), exposed Mr Feiner's promise to supply the land to GameOn 365 at a ridiculously low rental price. The catch was that instead of selling the property, which is required by law, he wanted to lease it to them to install an 83-foot inflatable bubble. That's 8-stories high. More importantly, it is illegal!

But the property in question was zoned residential. By ignoring the contamination and leaving the property dormant for many years instead of selling it as required by law, Mr Feiner made the situation worse than it needed to be. Then again, Mr Feiner enjoys a tradition of ignoring laws he doesn’t like or wants to follow. And, it appears his Board condones these actions. Consequently, the property reverted back from the special business zoning it had enjoyed for decades back to residential! Oops! But Mr Feiner also knew he would make his Board the lead agency and able to change the zoning to whatever GameOn 365 needed it to be. What he hadn’t factored in was the civic associations and the unity of the neighborhoods around the property. Because of their due diligence, they thwarted both Mr Feiner and GameOn 365 and kept the property zoned residential.

Then there’s the Westhelp debacle created by Mr Feiner strictly to manufacture another event to garner publicity at the expense of a school for the handicapped. We are unsure as to the reasoning behind Mr Feiner deciding in secret meetings and without the benefit of public input (here it is again) to not renew the lease from the County of Westchester for the Westhelp property on the Westchester Community College campus. This was affordable housing for homeless mothers built under now-governor Cuomo’s reign in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The property was then turned over to the Town of Greenburgh with a yearly income to the Town of $1.2 million.

There’s nothing wrong with having elected officials who are independent thinkers, unless their thinking doesn’t help their constituents. The Edgemont incorporation issue has become just another one of Mr Feiner’s side shows. Regardless of the impact the people of Edgemont may cause the Town by incorporating and becoming another village in the Town, they have followed the law to get to this point. It would be nice if we had a Supervisor who also followed the law. Perhaps if we did, the people of Edgemont might not be seeking incorporation. Mr Feiner must make a determination this coming week. Hopefully, he’ll do the right thing by all Greenburgh residents. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Event

By Arielle E Young

Guest Contributor

At a time when motorcycle fatalities are on the rise, the Town of Greenburgh and families around the community have come together to spread awareness and answer the question that lingers in the wake of tragedy. How can we stay safe on the road?

           

 It’s no secret that most motorists aren’t looking for the small two-wheeled vehicle riding in the lane next to them. Motorcyclists can easily be missed in that two second glance at your rearview mirror, the three second stare at your side mirror or even the hastily made look back over your shoulder before you merge. Then it’s too late, another number has just been added to the statistic that continues to rise. Motorcyclists are losing their lives across the nation. 

 In 1997, the total number of motorcyclist deaths were counted at 2,056. In 2015, the number of deaths had risen to 4,693, more than double the amount of deaths according to the data from the Highway Loss Data Institute. 

 So – How do we stay safe on the road? Police Chief Christopher McNerney answered that question Sunday afternoon April 30, at the Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Event – created by the newly formed Motorcycle Task Force. The goal of the task force was to heighten awareness in a way that not only helped motorists to take notice of the issue but offer tools in dealing with it as well.

Town of Greenburgh motorcycle police officers provide demonstration.

“We plan to achieve this [awareness] by implementing a two-prong approach. Through education and enforcement.” Said Chief McNerney, the event sponsored motorcycle demonstrations by the Yonkers and Greenburgh police motorcycle units who initiated the “education prong” by explaining how to accomplish tight-cornering maneuvers as well as how to pick up a fallen bike. “I can do it, and I have screws in my back!” Said Police Motorcycle Instructor Daron Maran. Additionally, a Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor narrated how to safely make an emergency stop on a bike and explained the benefits of both basic and advanced motorcycle riding courses.

This progressive event was a collaboration by Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner and Chief McNerney after Arthur Hardy, the president of the PhatBoyz Motorcycle Club, New York Chapter, called out for something to be done after a death of a beloved member. 

 

Agnes Mebane, 80, testing out the Harley Kick-starter device.

Last August, Andre Garcia, 37, was riding his BMW motorcycle north on Hillside Avenue when he was struck and killed by an SUV making a turn. The fatal accident occurred right outside town hall during a meeting. Garcia was an EMS volunteer, loving son, brother and father to his nine-year-old son Andre Malik Garcia Jr. “The greatest memory that I have of Andre Garcia was on May 10, 2008 — the day we gave birth to our son,” said Celeste Weston, Andre Jr’s mother. “Words cannot express the look on his face when he laid eyes on his baby boy.” His sister, Cherie Garcia, also a member of the Phatboyz Motorcycle Club was a prominent voice among the strong willed 15-member task force that came together during the following eight months. 

Andre Garcia's motorcycle wreckage from his fatal accident

Over 250 motorcyclists were present at the event, showing their support and taking in the sight of the wrecked motorcycle belonging to Mr. Garcia. Sunday, marked the first of what is said to be an annual event in Greenburgh. This is a quintessential example of what can be accomplished when a community comes together and strives towards the same goal. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.