Each year Mr Feiner boasts of his accomplishments during the year. To quote a line in a movie, “He’s a legend in his own mind.” As such, we enjoy clarifying his take on several of the issues as we attend different board meetings, community groups meetings, rallys, etc. Regardless, we wish all a Happy New Year and a clearer perspective on what’s going on in Town. Mr Feiner’s points are in black, ours in red.
1) Town complies with the tax cap. Our tax increases have never exceeded the tax cap since the State Legislature and Governor offered the incentive to local governments. NYS enacted the tax cap to encourage communities to help end our state's distinction of being the highest taxed communities in the United States. Other communities in Westchester exceeded the tax cap this year.
Despite this claim, only about 20% of counties and towns sought to override the tax cap, which can easily be done with a vote of 60% of the Board. Since Mr Feiner is easily swayed to urinate our hard-earned money away with $150,000 of unauthorized payments to former judges (Spolzino), he should be seeking to reduce our taxes by staying out of court, guilty verdict fines, not spending money that is unauthorized and focus on infrastructure repairs and reducing taxes.
2) Town maintains Aaa bond rating from Moody's & Standard & Poor's bond rating agency. We have the highest bond rating possible. As a result, when we borrow our costs are reduced by six figures!
Since the Town takes out few if any bonds, this is like kissing your sister – it just doesn’t mean much.
3) Election great for Greenburgh-- the mid term elections were excellent for Greenburgh. Our Congresswoman, Nita Lowey is the new chair of the House Appropriations Committee. She will be responsible for all federal appropriations. Our State Senator, Andrea Stewart Cousins is the new Majority Leader of the NYS State Senate --one of the most powerful leaders in NYS. And, Congressman-elect Sean Casten from Illinois is a graduate of WOodlands HS and Phil Weiser, my first campaign manager for Town Supervisor is the new Attorney General of Colorado.
It remains to be seen if this will “be great for Greenburgh”.
4) the town was able to accept prepayments of town taxes in 2017, enabling participating taxpayers to deduct the town portion of the real estate taxes (before the new law took effect. --many residents took advantage of the opportunity to deduct a large portion of their real estate taxes one last time. Hope that the federal government will authorize deductions in the future and repeal that portion of the law. NYS authorized charitable deductions of property taxes but the IRS indicated that the deductions would not be allowed.
While the Town allowed pre-payment in part to protest the new tax law, President Trump and whatever else, we will find out this year how well that will work out for our residents. However, regardless of the outcome, it highlights in part the tax burden most in the Town, County and State are saddled with. Instead pf playing games, our lifetime-appointed, stale thinking and ideas-bereft politicians should be addressing the out-of-control high taxes we pay and permanently reducing them.
5) The Greenburgh police were successful in closing down spa's involved in sex trafficking on Central Ave and around town. News12 praised the Greenburgh police efforts.
This is good and we believe our police do a good job. But when asked if they had any evidence of sex-trafficking, police were unable to give any statistical or definitive proof.
6) Groundbreaking -start of construction for new assisted living facility at the former Frank's nursery. For years the nursery was the subject of lots of controversy over potential uses. We worked with the community and reached a compromise! The property has been cleaned by the developer.
To be clear, as is typical of the supervisor, this controversy was needlessly created by Mr Feiner and his Board as they attempted to illegally give the parcel of land to Mr Feiner’s friends.
7) Taking steps to revitalize 4 corners in Hartsdale. The Town Board sent a proposed vision plan to the Planning Board and we purchased two old building on W Hartsdale Ave that could be removed and used for an eventual right turn turning lane --to reduce traffic congestion on W Hartsdale Ave. During the budget process the Board appropriated $150,000 to study traffic and stormwater issues.
The Town is begrudgingly taking these steps mostly out of fear. The Hartsdale Neighbors Association had pushed the resistant Town Board to improve the 4-Corners area. Two of the property owners even commissioned a study which bolstered the HNA argument and forced the Town to react. Add to this the Edgemont Incorporation debacle – again created by Mr Feiner – and the rumors of a Hartsdale Incorporation and they realized they needed to do something. With a budget that is so porous and mismanaged, it was easy for them to “find” $150,000 for another study in addition to $400,000 spent on acquiring 2 properties on West Hartsdale Avenue.
8) Students stepped up and helped organize the winter 2018 snow angels program-- helping seniors and disabled residents after each snow storm. The snow angel program will soon begin our 28th year of service to the community.
Of course this is good. Although, we know of many people throughout our neighborhoods who provide this for seniors and the disabled.
9) 36 student interns worked at Town Hall this summer and lobbied NYS to repave NYS roads located in Greenburgh. They met with the regional director of the NYS Department of Transportation, our state lawmakers. They organized on line petitions and their efforts attracted the attention of the media. They worked with the Town Attorney, Town Clerk who arranged for interesting meetings with prominent community leaders and learned about government. Today's interns will become tomorrow's officials!
Interns can be a good thing if utilized properly. In our Town, however, they often seem to actually be performing work that is the responsibility of our regular employees. And then the results are politicized by Mr Feiner alluding that this couldn’t have happened without them.
10) The Town Board approved plans to upgrade our website:
www.greenburghny.com. Implementation scheduled for 2019. Less clutter. Easier to find info you need. You can sign up to receive fewer e mails and town notifications if you wish.
Many have complained about this site for years and years only to be told, “We’re looking into it.” It’s the same with our sound system. We have little reason to believe that this time will be any different.
11) We received a grant to study ways to improve the 119 corridor - and are working with other localities and NYS to make the corridor more bicycle friendly.
It’s difficult to recall any other Town administrations, as this one has a lifetime appointment, but this has been discussed for the last 50 years or so with no action ever taken. This problem is systemic: the “infrastructure can” keeps getting kicked down the road by all our politicians and especially Mr Feiner. And, the Comprehensive Plan that was recently adopted doesn’t address it either, seeking to overdevelop the Rt 119 corridor while leaving the 9A corridor to languish. We’ll hear from Mr Feiner that it’s a state road and NYS must deal with it. Kick that can again.
12) Working with the Greenburgh Nature Center, Greenburgh opened up a food scrap recycling drop off location at AF Veteran Park. The program is enormously successful and we hope to eventually have curbside pickup of food scraps. We're expanding the initiative to the villages within the town. Westchester County acknowledged the town and Nature Center and awarded us their Eco Award for outstanding contribution to the county’s environment. The Nature Center also expanded their zero waste education effort in our local schools and community organizations
The Greenburgh Nature Center, a private entity that leases space from the Town, is not directly a part of the Town. Taking credit for their programs is a bit empty on Mr Feiner’s part.
13) In February the police chief announced that burglaries are at the lowest level since we started recording burglaries. Thank you Greenburgh Police.
Except in Edgemont.
14) A major new restaurant, Shake Shack opens on Central Ave creating momentum for the Avenue.
Sadly, we don’t have any vacant buildings that could have been used or enough traffic on Central Avenue. So, building another structure in an already congested parking area just highlights an already existing infrastructure issue that the Town is ignoring. Kick that can down the road.
15) The Town Board appointed a highly qualified new Town Judge - Christie D'Alessio who was elected to a full term as Judge.
While Judge D’Alessio may be a fine judge, it’s sad that we cannot get more diversity in the Greenburgh courts, whether it be color, political affiliation, etc.
16) During the first quarter of the year many residents experienced power outages. Thankful to the CERT volunteers who provided emergency shelter and assistance to neighbors without power. And thank you to the Greenburgh Police for responding providing help to those neighborhoods that experienced downed trees.
Cert volunteers aside, the police and fire personnel simply did their jobs. Perhaps if the Town government were more aggressively dealing with problematic and dead trees, and removing them before any storms, the power outages could be kept at a minimum.
17) Although the town foreclosed on properties that hadn't paid taxes we were able to help hundreds of families and property owners avoid foreclosure by putting them in touch with non profits and groups who were able to help them come up with a plan to save their properties. We auctioned off properties that the town now owns.
It took the Town administration too long to go after the scofflaws and foreclose on these properties. While giving the property owners time to work out their issues and get the taxes paid, there needs to be less time that goes by. In some cases, the Town had not acted in 7 years.
18) Greenburgh is a diverse community. We celebrated the 17th year of the Evergreen Chinese Club- which meets at the Theodore Young Community Center.
There are many groups and organizations but you might not know it now because while they used to meet at Town Hall, that was stopped after Mr Feiner invited an anti-Israel Hamas group to use Town Hall and almost started a riot requiring police intervention. Then he decreed that no one (unless he approves) can use their own town hall for meetings. The biggest sufferers are the Town’s numerous civic associations, to whom he has always said, “No!” This is simply wrong!
19) The post office continues to make lots of mistakes (mail not delivered, if mail is delivered some mail delivered to wrong addresses). Reached out to the United States Postmaster General and other Washington officials. Believe we got their attention. They replaced the Hartsdale Postmaster and made some other changes. There are still major problems but hopefully they will work to improve the service.
While the postal service moves a lot of packages, letters, etc., doesn’t this highlight government’s inability to successfully run anything? Keep thinking government run health care every time you complain about your mail delivery, or going to the DMV, etc.
20) Our Greenburgh Human Rights Committee is one of the most active committees around. Among initiatives: they produced a know your rights video for immigrants.
What are they doing for taxpayers and how much are they costing us? Is this another anti-President Trump initiative to help illegal aliens or a legitimate attempt to help legal immigrants?
21) The Town Board approved funding and design for a new light at Sprain and Ardsley Road. I anticipate that the light will be installed in the spring. Had hoped it would of been installed by the end of this year but the engineers needed more time. People have been asking for the light for decades!
While long overdue, if people have been asking for this for years, why did it take our representatives so long to act on it?
22) NYS installed a left turn arrow on Underhill and Old Army Road heading to Central Ave-- a major quality of life improvement.
Again, why did our representatives take so long to get this done?
23) After reports of coyote sitings a representative of the NYS DEC made a presentation to the Town Board, advising residents what to do if they see coyotes. Over 1000 people have already seen the video! It's very helpful.
And, even with all of that, the Animal Control unit will do nothing because supposedly this is an endangered species. What about the safety of people and their pets?
24) After years of controversy some positive action: Westchester County, the town of Greenburgh agreed to turn the former WESTHELP homeless shelter into affordable housing for seniors. Construction to take place in 2019.
This "controversy" was created solely by Mr Feiner and his Board! The Town lost $1.2 million a year in an effortless ownership because Mr Feiner wanted to deflect away from other costly issues in the Town (that he also created).
25) I'm an avid cyclist and I'm excited that the new Mario Cuomo Bridge will include a bike path--something I advocated for. This past week I learned that NYS will be working with the arts community and installing sculptures at both ends of the bridge. I had called for an outdoor art museum along the 3 mile path.
Focus on the Town of Greenburgh and developing bike paths as requested and included in the Comprehensive Plan within Greenburgh. If and when that’s ever completed, then worry about other communities.
26) We continue to work to make Greenburgh more pedestrian friendly. The design for the Columbia Ave sidewalk, Central Ave sidewalk (Marion to W Hartsdale) and Fair Street to Juniper Hill have been finalized and the new sidewalks should be open to pedestrians before next summer. We have applied for grants to build a sidewalk on Hillside, are working to build a sidewalk on Old Tarrytown Road and in other neighborhoods around the town. A new railing for pedestrians using the relatively new sidewalk from the Scarsdale Golf Club to E Hartsdale Ave will be installed soon to reduce the stress levels for pedestrians worried about walking down slippery sidewalks. We are working with the county to improve the crosswalk on Ardsley Road/ Edgemont Road and hope that plans will be finalized very soon. We have given out free reflectors to pedestrians --it's difficult seeing pedestrians, dressed in dark clothing walking.
Many Civic Associations and the Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations have repeatedly been steadfast in identifying dangerous roadways that should have sidewalks. Rather than continue to research and apply for money from other sources, this piece of infrastructure has been ignored by this administration. What isn’t described above is the incredibly small amounts of sidewalks that are being constructed in some of these locations. Again, the Comprehensive Plan warrants it as well as governments main purpose: protect its citizens.
27) A new café will open at the Greenburgh Library - thanks to a NYS grant.
Perfect timing with Starbucks opening next door.
28) Making progress on the 9A bypass --a road improvement that has been talked about for decades. Follow up meetings planned for early January.
See number 11.
29) Riley Wentzler and Felicia Barber appointed assistant Town Historians. They write an interesting article we post on the town website about Greenburgh history,
We have no issue here.
30) We're involving the community in the decision making process- the future of Elmwood. The controversy: single homes or senior condo's. People have different thoughts. Representatives of both sides will help select a consultant to review the proposals, analyze the traffic and quality of life impacts.
While it’s easy to say the community is involved, they are only involved when it’s convenient. Specifically, the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association stopped the GameOn 365 fiasco from happening because the neighbors for this project had the right of refusal against the 83ft tall inflatable bubble not because they were against the bubble . Rather they insisted the property be developed as it was zoned. They exercised their right and stopped the proposal from continuing. In spite of his statement above, Mr Feiner has entertained numerous meetings with the Elmwood developers without including the neighbors. The controversy is not about single family homes vs. senior housing. The issue is about zone changing. The developer wants to downzone the Elmwood site from R-30 to R-20 in order to build 175 townhouses for 55+ adults only. The current zoning would only allow for 119 single family homes.
31) The Appellate Division of the NYS Supreme Court unanimously ruled that my decision to deny the Edgemont incorporation petition was correct because the statute was not complied with. Incorporation proponents have announced that they will ask the NYS Court of Appeals to hear the case (which is discretionary). I was pleased with the Appellate Division ruling because it confirmed the fact that my decision was based on the statute not being complied with, not my views on whether or not incorporation is good or bad for the town. Proponents of the incorporation have submitted a petition to the NYS Court of Appeals asking the Court to grant permission to appeal (which is totally discretionary on their part). Sometime in the coming months should know if the Court of Appeals will hear the case.
We have always maintained that having appointed judges by Mr Feiner locally, and having one-party judges throughout the system will render the same thought process verdicts regardless of the merit of the case. ABG staffers believe that is the case here.
32) We have a very dedicated Town Board, department heads and town employees. Many answer e mails late in the evening, weekends and holidays. They really care about the town. Grateful to the team.
Yes, we do have dedicated staffers in the Town trying to do the right thing no matter how difficult it is due to their boss. We, too, are grateful for the job they do.
33) A group of retiree's with extensive management experience, meet with me (some weekly) to review my management style and to make constructive recommendations. This has been extremely valuable and helping to make the town more efficient.’
Sadly, relying on a few close friends for instruction has obviously not helped improve the Town’s operation. In fact, we believe the departments do well in spite of Mr Feiner’s ineptitude and lack of business acumen.
34) Previous County Executive's said no, but our new County Executive George Latimer is working with those of us who advocate allowing a limited number of non motorized row boats on the Sprain Lake off of Jackson Ave. I have been pushing for this for many years. If we can work out the details area high schools will be able to provide students with another college scholarship opportunity -rowing. And we will be turning a beautiful lake into an important recreation asset for our community.
Instead of worrying about a lake for a few boats, and there are other boating outlets, how about fixing the Veteran Park pools that benefit hundreds, if not thousands of taxpayers in our own community?
35) The Town Board authorized a change in the 2019 recycling/garbage schedule. We will be picking up paper and commingles weekly instead of every other week and continuing twice a week garbage.
This “change” had originally been done when recycling was started in the Town. It was Mr Feiner who decided to stop this and now has decided to go back because of Amazon’s box use. Huh? What’s the real reason?
36) The Greenburgh School district, which is independent of the town, plans a $116.6 million dollar bond referendum for February 12. The school district wishes to consolidate all schools to the Warburg campus. The Town Board recently hired a traffic consultant to review traffic issues and should release the consultants findings before the Feb 12th referendum.
Traffic study costs aside, here’s the resulting traffic study findings: while the increase during rush hour will contribute more vehicles and bus traffic, the increase will be negligible and have no detrimental impact on the area. What will have an impact is the $850 average tax bill increase to Greenburgh Central School District home-owners and businesses in the Unincorporated portion of the Town!
37) The Town Board met with representatives of a company that would like to install a solar farm in the E Irvington section of town. We are working with the E Irvington Civic group. They will help the town select a consultant to review the application once it is submitted.
Mr. Feiner does not mention that the residents of this section of town could be receiving a discount on their utility bill. From beginning to end this is wrong! If any solar farm is created anywhere in the Town, all residents should benefit from it and be entitled to the savings. This is Mr Feiner pandering to the East Irvington area again, after creating a park for his friend and former deputy supervisor Danny Gold.
38) The town received almost 5 million dollars for major water infrastructure . We plan to upgrade the water supply infrastructure. Will be connecting the Rumbrook and Knollwood PUmping stations. Joining the two pumping stations is a vital infrastructure upgrade and will allow each station to complement the other's supply capabilities, better ensure sufficient water volume and pressure during periods of peak demand and provide a continuous water supply when either station is undergoing maintenance. This is probably one of the most significant infrastructure initiatives the town has been involved in during recent decades. A big thank you to our Water district advisory committee.
While it may be one of the most important infrastructure initiatives in decades, it was only with grant money that it could proceed because Mr Feiner and his close circle of business tutor friends never plan for any infrastructure maintenance during his 25 years at the helm. Why has he not planned for and/or addressed flooding, increased traffic congestion and sidewalks throughout the Town during his tenure? He’s kicked those cans down the road for so long and now we’re feeling their impact almost daily. Traffic studies are a joke used by developers to get what they want, not what the neighborhoods need.
39) NYS met with town and village officials at Town Hall to discuss plans to build a new Ravensdale bridge off of Jackson Ave. NYS completed construction on the Payne bridge and re-opened Payne Street.
Finally completed, the Payne Street repairs went way beyond the projected finish date. Any time you think government health care might be the answer, examine and scrutinize these projects to decide how well government runs anything.
40)- The Greenburgh Nature Center Manor House’s 100th year was recognized in 2018 AND
Phase ll of our Manor House restoration project, focusing on exterior work and including new shingles, windows and doors, commenced in November and will restore the building’s handsome character.
Maintenance by a landlord is a normal process. Perhaps Mr Feiner’s friendly advisors neglected to teach him that during their 25-years of meetings.
41) Sad news. Two giants passed away. Lois Bronz, former Deputy Supervisor and the first African American female Chair of the Board of Legislators. Olivia Hooker, 103 years old, one of the last survivors of the Tulsa Okla race riots and the first African American Woman to serve in the US Coast Guard.
While sad, many have passed away and will be missed, who also participated in many “firsts”. Rest in peace.
42) 9-11 living history: We formed a committee to record the experiences of those impacted by the 9-11 tragedy –Greenburgh first responders, volunteers who helped out after 9-11, residents who lost friends and loved one’s or who personally observed the tragedy. We will be interviewing the residents on local TV and sharing the interviews with historians, schools and civic leaders.
Many people perished in the attacks of September 11, 2001. Our hope is that this is not simply another publicity stunt by the supervisor that he is so apt to do. We’ll wait to see the results before commenting on this.
43) Introducing legislation to require a certain number of units in future assisted living facilities to be affordable.
The Town already has legislation through its code, to have 10% of new housing include affordable units. This seems redundant and another publicity stunt.
44) We are trying to save the Odell House – a historic house on Ridge Road that played a significant role in the Revolutionary War and is falling apart. It is privately owned. We applied for a grant from NYS—unfortunately did not receive the grant. But a meeting with state officials has been scheduled for early January. This house must be preserved for future generations. The Odell House was Rochambeau’s headquarters for six weeks in 1781 during the Philipsburg Encampment. The Sons of the American Revolution own the house. At least a half a million dollars will have to be spent to save the building.
If anyone knows about dilapidated housing, it’s Mr Feiner. You’ll recall he ordered the WestHelp facility to be emptied and then left open to rot instead of using it to house people on the Greenburgh Housing Authority waiting list. This house, not matter how historic its value (and we do want it preserved), is privately owned and not the responsibility of Mr Feiner.
45) A bike share company that went out of business donated to the town 105 bicycles which we gave to those who could not afford bicycles (including non profits).
What was the criteria to receive these bikes? Was there a lottery or did Mr Feiner decide who to give them to? It could have been a good thing but we’ll never know.
46) We renewed an agreement with Westchester Power to supply power to residents at lower cost. Over a 25 month period from June 2016 to June 2018 Greenburgh’s participation in the Westchester power program has resulted in 191,709,288 kilowatt hours of electricity have been served, customers saved $2,156,547 collectively. Residents saved about $194.51 – a modest savings of $7.78 per month
The truth is, these savings are not representative of what Town of Greenburgh residents, forced into this ESCO by Mr Feiner and his Board, actually saved! On a monthly basis, when the ESCO might have been lower than ConEd, it was only by pennies. Shame on Mr Feiner and his Board for forcing residents into this ESCO and then about lying about the results.
47) The Multiplex theater in North Elmsford will close in the spring. The landlord is negotiating a lease with another tenant but I have been asked not to disclose until the lease is signed.
Does anyone else see the irony here? They asked him not to say anything and what does he do? Exactly the opposite. He simply could have said there is an interest in the property.
48) I continue to coordinate a jobs club which has helped hundreds of residents find employment. Share job opportunities with those who subscribe to the e list. And we sponsor periodic job sharing tip programs.
Thankfully, the economy is strong and the jobs numbers are fantastic. Now perhaps Mr Feiner can focus on running the Town.
49) New WIFI at the Anthony Veteran pool grounds. A newly renovated outdoor shower installed. Women’s bathroom renovations at the pool.
Infrastructure and maintenance are necessary and a good thing.
50) Continuing to push NYS to provide the town with a grant to make Jackson Ave safer. Meeting with state officials scheduled for early January. A traffic light on Ardsley Road/Sprain is being designed and should be installed by the summer of 2019. It’s funded.
The problems with placing a traffic light at this location have still not been solved and safety at that location is one of the paramount issues with its installation. Again, funding through grants is not how to run a Town.
The year in review is always suspect as the information presented must be viewed with a grain of salt since we have witnessed the lies first-hand from 177 Hillside Avenue. We continue to applaud our Town employees who must endure the barbs that are not directed at them. We’ve exposed and written about racism in Town Hall and so many other things that the best way for our Town to get on the right track is to see new leadership elected. That won’t happen anytime soon so we’ll continue to be the watchdog for you. It’s the only way we’ll get A Better Greenburgh.
