Great News & More Lies

A recent press conference held by County Executive Latimer, touted, finally, the upcoming plans for the former abandoned Westhelp facility on the Westchester Community College campus. It was abandoned because Mr Feiner decided to play games with the facility while it was under the Town’s control. Sadly, due to his politicization of the site and his desire to generate publicity, the “problem causer’s” plan backfired for the Town.

The facility originally generated $1.2 million a year for the Town, guaranteed. Now, forever lost, these were monies that could be applied toward paying off penalties and fines brought upon the Town with the Fortress Bible guilty verdict by Mr Feiner and Diana Juettner directly, and his Board indirectly through their condoning of previous behavior, to mention just one example. During the Feiner-induced Westhelp debacle, Mr Feiner decided on his own to not sign the Westhelp renewal contract with the County during the waning days of the then-County Executive Spano administration. In fact, they reached out to Mr Feiner numerous times only to be rebuffed by him. Mr Feiner then lied to the public when asked about it, saying the County never reached out him and that was why the contract was not renewed. Copies of communications from the County Executive later validated the County’s claim that Mr Feiner was again lying.

Now Mr Feiner has again used his infamous GB-email list to share more “great news” - even if it’s only partially true. In his announcement, he thanks his Board "who worked very hard" to make this happen. They did nothing! They condoned everything that Mr Feiner tried to do with the site. Instead, they should have forced him to adhere to the original contract, intent and agreements that were in place when it was created. After which the facility would be turned over to the Town entirely to be used for senior rental housing - period! 

Ever the shrewd publicity hound, Mr Feiner publicly suggested that it was the County causing the problem with utilizing the facility and not him. County Legislators Williams and Shimsky, not at all Feiner fans, vociferously countered as did then-County Executive Rob Astorino. Also following this sham, his lies and missteps was Journal News writer David McKay Wilson, who painstakingly detailed Mr Feiner's bad and possibly illegal activities. In fact, it was repeatedly pointed out that Mr Feiner and the Town were in breach of the inter-municipal agreement in place for the facility. As we’ve stated numerous times before, when Mr Feiner doesn’t like a particular law, agreement or decision, he simply ignores it, leaving the taxpayers to pick up the fines and penalties generated by his bad behavior!

The original conversion of the apartments was to be into 54 units. Regardless of the rationale, the number was then inflated to 74 by those involved as the numbers were increased to make a more profitable result for the management company, claiming 74 units would make the project more financially viable for them. Critics complained that the change would make for smaller, more cramped apartments for the future residents, which was not the right direction to proceed.

Now that County Executive Latimer has been dragged into the Feiner quagmire, he’s agreed to the 74 units at the facility in a lease created last October. Part of the discussion was about whether or not the new facility would generate more students for the Valhalla school district. Isn’t it a bit ironic that so often we hear about declining enrollments and yet “leaders” continue to try to keep new students from coming into our schools? Presently, in fact, Dr Tahira DuPree Chase, the Greenburgh School District Superintendent, is fighting the Greenburgh Central School district’s current reputation by visiting civic associations and neighborhood groups to try to dispel what she considers to be a false narrative from realtors and others about the Greenburgh schools. 

The plans call for the developer, Marathon Development Group, to pay $1.5M - $900K to the County and $600K to the Town, on behalf of the County, in exchange for the Town relinquishing all rights to the site. The new development will serve a wide mix of income levels, including 40% to 60% of Area Median Income as well as 80% to 90% of Area Median Income. Market analysts note the mix of units will broaden the property’s appeal to the senior community. 

The Town has suffered long enough and lost millions of dollars due to Mr Feiner's arrogance, failed management and his rubber-stamp Board. As is so often said, the Supervisor, who is missing the “shame gene”, says this is good for the Town and the County. Is it? Cramped living quarters are certainly better than no living quarters. And, receiving $600k for the Town doesn’t negate the loss the taxpayers have incurred on top of the millions of dollars that must now be spent unnecessarily to remediate the mold and destruction that has taken place in the interim. This kind of arrogance and incompetence needs to end. Only then will we 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.

Senior Housing and the Comprehensive Plan

Here’s something we don’t hear about every day, or ever see happening in Greenburgh. The City of Rye has elected to change zoning for a commercial property into residential in the hopes of repurposing vacant or unused office space in their community. Specifically, construction is slated to start on a 122-unit senior home in a former office building at 120 Old Post Road after the city's Planning Commission completes a site plan review. According to Republican Rye City Councilman Richard Mecca, “…there’s a market for this kind of property.”

The kind of property he’s discussing is the construction of a 122-unit senior housing facility that would provide luxury residential housing for seniors. The office building in question has been unoccupied since 2009. Once completed, the over-55 residents would be able to choose from one and two bedroom apartments. The current building would be razed and a new 245,000 square feet building would be constructed, roughly 3 times the size of the current building. While we question the increased size as necessary, we’re sure the developers have claimed the usual reasons, focusing on their profitability only working with this size building. We’re also sure if challenged, they have another number they are willing to scale it down to.

In Greenburgh, however, we’ve seen the new Comprehensive Plan adopted. Critics, including ABG, point out that it is more of a political document/statement and an encapsulation of what the Town currently has as opposed to providing a blueprint and true plan for the future of our Town. After 8 long years of preparation, public forums and road shows, the document falls flat on its face, allowing Mr Feiner and his Board similar carte blanche with zoning changes throughout the Unincorporated Town. This failing will be evident tomorrow night when the Town Board adopts a change to zoning specific to the Manhattan Avenue area to eliminate the existing HUD housing and build bigger buildings with mix-use retail space at ground level. It’s easy to perceive the Town Board as doing spot-zoning but they will apply this as a Town-wide endeavor to skirt that issue.

The one bright light throughout Mr Feiner’s constant onslaught to allow commercial enterprises in residential areas has been neighborhood pushback. At the former Frank’s Nursery property on Dobbs Ferry Road, Mr Feiner tried to convince residents to accept an 8-story, 83-foot sports bubble in their residential neighborhood on that property. By banding together, they were able to push back with one mantra: keep the zoning residential and build residential housing of any type at that location!

The GameOn 365 owners, who had been encouraged in private meetings with Mr Feiner and his Board  not to worry about the zoning as they would name themselves the lead agency and push the zoning change through, moved their plans to the Visioli golf driving range property next door. What Mr Feiner and crew hadn’t counted on was the resolve and intelligence of the residents. Using the Town’s own laws, they held fast and got every neighbor adjacent to the property to object to the usage. Subsequently, after Mr Feiner played his games with the property and losing more money for the Town, movement on creating a new senior assisted living facility has begun.

To that end, there will be a Public Hearing/Discussion on the proposed CHS Assisted Living Facility at the Planning Board on Wed. Oct. 19th. The meeting starts at 8:00pm. Residents of the Town are urged to attend to see and hear what the plans are for this new facility. This is a story of David beating Goliath. Right now, however, we applaud the City of Rye for taking a positive step in creating housing from commercial property and wished we could see similar thinking in our Town. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

Local Flooding Ignored

Religiously, we seem to enter into that time of year with area flash flooding, road closures, blocked roads, power failures and the like. Each time this happens our representatives search for or notify the media which flooded neighborhood they will visit in hopes of getting some “free” publicity. Mr Feiner routinely does this after he receives word that it is safe for him to exit his Boulder Ridge gated community. The 1%-ers such as himself know when to stay in. The rest of the Town, basically at opposite ends of each other, wait apprehensively, and are usually furnished enough water to provide the requisite flooding of their neighborhoods. Nothing changes except the promises to “do something”. As anticipated, nothing changes.

After Hurricane/Tropical Storms Irene and Sandy, the Village of Elmsford organized a cleanup of the Saw Mill River just south of the Elmsford Little League field adjacent to the river. For those unfamiliar with the fields location, it is along Rt 9A where southwest Elmsford and Greenburgh meet. The Babbitt Court neighborhood, well known for its political visitors seeking the flood limelight, usually floods quickly and gets media coverage. While the Elmsford Village officials organized and implemented a cleanup, Mr Feiner issued a carefully crafted press release alluding to taking credit for it. Interestingly, the Village officials did not seek the limelight or “atta boys”. They simply did what they could for their residents. It was not the end-all to the problem, but it was a start. Highway Commissioner Victor Carosi has tried to make sure area storm drains and such are as open as possible. But once the river cannot handle the volume of water, his efforts are, pun intended, a drop in the bucket.

At many Town Board meetings, Fulton Park residents, Hartsdale residents, their respective Civic Association leaders, and others, all request the Town do something to clear out the Bronx River to allow better water flow by removing the debris and “strainers”causing water backups into the Town’s flood-weary neighborhoods. Simply, strainers are debris of every size and shape that get caught up in the water, flowing with it until it gets caught in something, blocking the water flow and causing a clog at that point. Where does all this debris come from? Some of it flows downstream because of littering. People who are too lazy to hold the garbage from McDonalds or Burger King and toss it on the side of the road before they can dispose of it properly, beer and soda cans and plastic containers that will never degrade and are tossed out their car window all accumulate and go with the flow. Some of it is from dumpsters and garbage cans that are overturned during a flood, emptying their contents and finding its way into the river. Other debris could be larger items stored next to, or behind and near buildings and homes that also gets swept into the current and is on its way. Again, nothing changes.

At one Town Board meeting, when a resident pointed out to the Board that its been a relatively dry season, and a good time to work on clearing the river, Mr Feiner said it was County property and the County has to do it. “You’re my representatives,“ he said, “I’m just one guy. I need you to represent us with the County and any other agencies that need to address cleaning out the river.” Mr Feiner subsequently sent an email to a County commissioner that a resident had complained about the river needing to be cleaned out. That’s as far as he was willing to go. “Please re-elect me. I’m just as excited now as I was on my first day as Supervisor.” ABG understands its difficult for Mr Feiner to request County help since he has spent the last two years fighting with them over WestHelp, HUD, etc. But, residents shouldn’t suffer because of his bad behavior. It’s akin to him complaining that Greenburgh is losing HUD funds because County Executive Astorino is fighting with HUD. Again, nothing changes.

Today’s weather report is for mild temperatures and rain, heavy at times, with local flooding in low lying areas expected. The people who live in these low lying areas know that they will be dealing with flash flooding or just flooding. What they don’t know is why they cannot get help from all of the representatives who pander for their vote every two or four years. It’s time for the willfully ignorant to say, “Enough! We demand a change.” Only then may we see A Better, and drier, Greenburgh.

Feiner Guilty Again

ABG and others have been saying Mr Feiner had violated the terms of the contract the Town entered into back in 1989 with Westchester County regarding the WestHelp “gift” years ago. You’ll recall, then State of New York Governor candidate Cuomo, later appointed to the position of HUD Commissioner, built the facility amidst intense controversy in the area. The Town received the keys to the WestHelp property at no cost and was allowed to collect rent without having to lift a proverbial finger, or spend any real money for the facility. In fact, with the exception of erecting a fence to keep the residents in (others claim it was to keep people out), the property has remained unchanged for years.

The residents of WestHelp were primarily females, some with youngsters, some not. The area residents of Valhalla, along with several community leaders objected to these young families and did not want them attending their Valhalla schools. To reward them for accepting them, Mr Feiner instituted payments to the Valhalla School Board. In 2008 the State Comptroller said Mr Feiner illegally paid-off the Valhalla School Board with these payments. These payments were challenged in court. No surprise here, but Mr Feiner lost and was again found guilty of providing illegal payments and the Valhalla School District was ordered to return the money. This was all due to the successful legal challenge by Greenburgh residents, Robert Bernstein and Herb Rosenberg. They brokered a repayment deal for a return of the illegally expended money by Mr Feiner, and while these two residents won the court case on the taxpayer’s behalf, their efforts will “only” gain the Town a return of about $1.2 million.

Mr Feiner decided to play politics in the last election and use the WestHelp property as a political football for his own endgame. In the election prior to this last one, Mr Feiner began to lay out his plans to get more votes from the Valhalla area by pandering to their elitism. To hedge his bets because he is so disliked by the majority of Democratic leaders in Westchester, especially in Greenburgh, he decided to pander to the Republican leaders, from the top right on down. Having originally been against the affordable housing from the start, they naturally supported Mr Feiner’s folly and the Republicans in the County Legislature, aligned together against anything Democrat, went right along with the County Executive’s endorsement of Mr Feiner’s plan.

Thankfully, our two County Legislators representing Greenburgh and County Legislative Chair Ken Jenkins, saw through Mr Feiner’s charade and sought to stop this travesty. Equally important was their desire to put people in need of housing into those languishing units. Now, however, since Mr Feiner ordered the apartments to be left open to be ravaged by the elements, animal infestation, vandals and so on, the usage of those apartments is on hold until they can be renovated. As the tide against Mr Feiner rose and the defecation began to hit the ventilation, Mr Feiner went into “deflection mode”, blaming this on the County Executive saying the County Executive is against affordable housing. It’s ironic because the County Executive’s entire administration is based on two things: lowering taxes and completion of the court agreed upon affordable housing throughout the County.

Refusing to admit this problem was caused by him and condoned by his Town Board, Mr Feiner began twisting a small bit of truth into one of his “Deflection Mode” lies. He even went so far as to “hire” a non-provened management company, Group MRH. This “company” is comprised of one man who apparently lied on his application bid to the Town Board. He stated dollar amounts to renovate and manage the facility. When it got down to actually doing some work, he asked for all kinds of adjustments from the Town Board at a work session. It was defeating the whole purpose of a bid. All of the other (losing) bidders, with affordable experience, came in close to the same amounts with their bids for renovations, down payment to the Town and management fees. Mr Feiner stayed with his poorly handpicked choice.

Prior to the Group MRH fiasco, we witnessed another Feiner Deflection where he promised the affordable housing property to the Ferncliff School for the Developmentally Disabled. They were ecstatic to finally find a place that might fit their needs. But when residents resisted this flawed plan, Mr Feiner insisted it was the residents (G10) who were compromising his efforts and affordable housing! Not knowing any better, as well as not being used to being lied to by government officials, they believed Mr Feiner and his Town Board’s offer as sincere. The G10 knew better and often stated that the Town was under contract to utilize the property for affordable housing. Mr Feiner didn’t care and continued his ruse with Ferncliff, dealing them a crushing blow once the County finally told Mr Feiner the facility will not be sold, torn down or used for anything but affordable housing. We can only sum up Mr Feiner’s actions as despicable. 

Another part of the lies from Mr Feiner is that he and Town Attorney Timothy Lewis refused to disclose the Environmental Impact Study for the property and the study’s requirements. One requirement was that whomever takes over the project would have the right to renovate and rent all 108 apartments. This is simply not true! According to the 1989 document two units would need to be combined into one, creating one appropriately sized living unit. Ultimately, they would be left with 54 dwelling units, not 108! Fewer units mean close to half the number of residents and occupancy, and the question of parking is another point of contention. Given the change in occupancy, there should not be an increase in traffic. Finally, the gross and net incomes for the facility management will be significantly less than promised. Another Feiner lie.

In the end, Mr Feiner and his Town Board have intentionally neglected the WestHelp property for 27 months. When they learned a County inspection was scheduled to take place, Councilman Morgan instructed Commissioner Carosi to send a cleanup crew to the site to clean up debris, mow the weeds and generally straighten it up. It’s the only time the Town expended any effort toward the facility. As such they are in breach of the contract that had been worth a minimum of $1.2 million a year for the Town. They are also in breach of the taxpayer’s trust. The Feiner-faithful re-elected him to office in spite of this debacle that needn’t have happened – along with Fortress Bible Church and so more.

It remains to be seen what the County plans to do with the property, if there will be fines against the Town, a termination of the contract and possible court action. If the County chooses to go to court against the Town, Mr Feiner’s track record does not provide any level of confidence for our already overburdened taxpayers. Mr Feiner should consider stepping down for health reasons – ours. Then we can focus on A Better Greenburgh.

Fear of Flooding Makes Fighting HUD Difficult

The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lawsuit and settlement by former County Executive Andy Spano, has two, maybe three distinct camps whose feelings are absolute. One camp has people vehemently against the settlement, stating it’s a matter of economics that has segregated our neighborhoods; the other camp is in agreement with the settlement and feel there is housing discrimination against certain people of the lower income scale. Finally, there are those who have no clue about the settlement and insist on keeping their proverbial heads in the sand regardless of how it may affect them. Even though this group is a significant one, they are rarely involved and are easy and unwitting prey for the likes of politicians such as Mr Feiner and their schemes, lies and trickery.

This post is not about those groups of people. Rather, its about a splinter group which maintains the land usage in their community is “maxed” out, with no appreciable land onto which they could even build affordable housing. Per the HUD settlement between then Democratic County Executive Andrew Spano and the federal government, Westchester County agreed to participate in the building of 750 affordable housing units in what has been referred to as “white” communities. ABG believes the color is wrong. They should be referred to as “green” communities – segregated only by the ability to afford the housing prices and more importantly the ever-growing taxes in those communities. Simply because someone wants to live somewhere but cannot afford to do so does not constitute discrimination.

The Village of Scarsdale is already congested with existing buildings and claims little to no developable space throughout the village. Regardless of the amount of units mandated by HUD for the Village to construct, the rallying cry has always been, “We have no room to build any affordable housing units.” Whether the assumption of this statement is correct or not, whether the residents who would move into these apartments could afford to live in Scarsdale or not, and whether their children would be ostracized in school for not being able to “keep up with the Jones” or not seems immaterial to the federal government.

The federal monitor only wants units built. The federal government wants Westchester County to supersede local zoning to be able to force localities to build where they see fit. New York State is a home rule state which allows individual communities to determine their destiny. But the federal monitor doesn’t care as these communities took HUD monies and now they want payback. They will probably win by shear size in another case of “might makes right”. And you thought you finally outgrew the school yard bullying syndrome?

Scarsdale is not the only community making the “no room” argument. Yet, Scarsdale with the others, continue to entertain new buildings proposals, new designs and ultimately new buildings to be built. The Town of Greenburgh, ghettoized by Paul Feiner during his 22-year reign, was allowed to be exempted from having to add more affordable housing units. One down side to Mr Feiner’s affordable housing ghettoization that is witnessed in the Fairview area is that businesses are not able to be supported by the residents, close their doors and leave or are driven out by continued crime either directly or from the surrounding area. In the Manhattan Avenue area of Fairview for instance, Caldor’s closed their doors, the A&P closed theirs and this past week Lash Kia across the street closed as well. The deli one block away had a murder committed in it a while back and the apartment buildings have gangs, guns, prostitution and drug activity. Not very inviting and to the general public, a good place to stay far away from. But’s it’s acceptable according to Mr Feiner because he’s been able to control it to one area of the Town and keep it out of the others. That’s what wrong with the settlement’s “pass” for Greenburgh.

Back in Scarsdale, the KOS Building Group, is working with others to gain a six-lot subdivision in an 8-acre site at Cushman, Garden and Woodland roads. The Church of St. Pius X in a bid to renovate classrooms and create a new sanctuary entrance with other expansions, sought and received site plan approval for a house at 2 Brittany Close, a lot created as a result of a cluster subdivision. Two existing houses, at 119 Cushman and 1 Woodland, are slated for demolition. A subsequent subdivision will create four new lots and result in a net gain of two houses. Another two-lot subdivision that would create four new lots at 2 Ogden Road was on the agenda but removed and held over. Two more lots are adjacent to area wetlands were the property buffers the wetlands into the neighborhood. The argument of no space in Scarsdale doesn’t really hold water (pun intended). And that seems to be the various Scarsdale neighborhood’s argument against the increased housing: flooding. Just as is seen in the Fulton Park area with the Bronx River and the Saw Mill River area throughout the opposite side of Greenburgh, nothing is being done to alleviate the flooding for those people while Mr Feiner routinely “green lights” every developer’s proposal.

ABG is not saying Scarsdale (or any other community) should be required to build affordable housing. Greenburgh has mandated 10% of all new housing be required to include affordable housing, we’re just not sure this as a viable solution toward increasing housing options throughout any of our communities. Just having affordable housing, utilizing either DSS (welfare) to pay for the housing or Section 8, where the low wage worker/resident pays up to 30% of their income toward housing and then the balance is subsidized again by DSS (welfare), continues to perpetuate dependencies and never-getting-out-from-under government assistance syndrome.

But the argument that there is no room to build in a community, this time easily exemplified by Scarsdale’s own actions, makes it difficult to say, “No” to HUD and be convincing. Other communities are suffering from the same lack of room problem as well as other issues. In northern Westchester, ABG is told that much of the land which readily appears available is actually considered watershed property that is part of the ecosystem that supplies water to the New York City region. Simply saying there is developable land there just isn’t so. Current County Executive Rob Astorino has been fighting the HUD monitor tooth and nail. We think some of his arguments may be a bit extreme and are election scare tactics. However, it is good that someone is standing up to the schoolyard bully known as HUD, even if for the wrong reasons.

Residents To Lose To Outside Developers

There was a new organized proposal about two Town Board meetings ago that had an immediate buy-in from The Paul from Homes for Westchester, a consortium of six affordable housing groups that work toward “streamlining” the affordable housing projects process in Westchester. Their aim is to speed up the approval process and get their affordable housing projects sped through the system. Their claim is that it takes much too long for them. They cite not-for-profit as well as for-profit companies having to spend so much time time for approvals that it can make affordable housing unaffordable. Really?

The process in the Town is extremely convoluted sometimes but more complicated than other communities. In Greenburgh for instance, to re-roof your home doesn’t require a permit. But if you use more than one sheet of plywood during the renovation, a permit is required. Approvals for homeowners require plans and their submission, attendance at zoning and planning board meetings, etc. The process can go for as long as a year and may be more. And, there’s no guarantee that your project will get the green light from the Town. There are some good things that come from this process from a safety perspective.

Tony Hoeltzel, the “front man” for this consortium, along with Joan Arnold, gave examples of the supposedly difficult process he’s been a part of in numerous communities. In Greenburgh, The Paul and his go-along Stepford Board will rush affordable housing projects through the system in the blink of an eye. Planning Commissioner Thomas “Can’t Say No” Madden will even meet with and assist developers with their planning. Residents don’t get this same hand-holding. In fact, if they miss something on their submission applications, they are denied, told the application is not correct and sent to the back of the line to start all over again. This doesn’t often happen with affordable housing proponents. Residents are seeking changes to their largest investments while the outside developers are simply coming in to make a buck!

Hoeltzel claimed of one project that took thirty three meetings to get approved, thus his comment about the unaffordability of affordable housing. ABG is sure this project was not in Greenburgh. Perhaps he should seek another line of work if he doesn’t like having to participate in the same processes the residents and taxpayers must to protect and cultivate their Towns and Villages. In particular, in our Town where The Paul will rubber stamp all projects from a select group of developers as affordable, ABG doubts this service really needed? The Paul with his complicit Board, along with Thomas “Can’t Say No” Madden and in concert with Building Inspector John Locido, approve every project, no matter how inappropriate, as long as the developer mentions a few buzzwords: affordable, low-income, workforce, municipal workers and of course veterans and senior citizens.

This effort is nothing more than a special interest group seeking to circumvent the rules and regulations of the Town for their own gain. They are playing the “not for profit” card like its some sort of panacea for housing. Its not. These “not for profit” owners garner extremely attractive salaries. Many of their more senior employees, such as their attorneys, engineers and designers also make very enviable salaries while living under the “not for profit” moniker. So, at the end of the year, when their well-paid accountants are preparing their books to show “no profit”, their balance sheets may not show a profit but everyone was handsomely compensated. That is the only significant difference between them and a “for profit” developer. Well, that and the various tax breaks afforded to them that the “for profit” developer doesn’t receive, increasing the playing field to be even more disproportionate.

The Paul favors this action. Why wouldn’t he? Its right in line with his continued “ghettoization” of the Fairview section of Greenburgh which is currently running on all cylinders. While the Town did not have to participate in the Westchester County HUD Housing Settlement because there was, to quote The Paul, “An over abundance of affordable housing in Greenburgh,” the reality is he’s over-saturated this one area while protecting votes in others. It’s time for the residents to be heard! We do not need special interest groups with their own agendas having a special line that allows them to get their own dispensation for their projects while the owners of the Town, the resident taxpayers, are forced to wait on longer and slower moving lines. This must be stopped! We can only hope.

WestHelp Fiasco Has Gone On Far Too Long

ABG has previously posted the arguments as well as the illegal actions of The Paul toward the WestHelp facility as he tries to buy votes from the Mt. Pleasant/Valhalla N.I.M.B.Y. crowd. The Paul and his Board has purposefully allowed viable, structurally sound apartments that he in part, authorized, endorsed and even helped build while a County Legislator, fall into disrepair. Now, as Town Supervisor, he has changed his tune with affordable housing, claiming we have a glut of affordable housing in Greenburgh, and is doing a 180° reversal, insisting we tear down this affordable housing!

At a forum meeting sponsored by the N.A.A.C.P. last week, he showed his true colors by making racist remarks and insulting the members in attendance and the work they did years ago to get these apartments built! Visibly stunned after being held to task for making his comments, he stammered to come up with a tolerable answer. The audience wasn’t buying. You can read more on previous ABG posts, “Feiner Insults N.A.A.C.P.” in two parts.

There was a “Contacts” sheet provided at the meeting and we’ve had requests from our loyal readers for that information so they could reach out to our elected officials regarding this travesty that has gone on for far too long. ABG is happy to oblige.

Here is the contact information:

Town of Greenburgh:
Greenburgh Town Hall, 177 Hillside Ave., White Plains, NY 10603

Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner: pfeiner@greenburghny.com; 914-993-1540

Town Council members (914-993-1544 + Ext.):
Kevin Morgan: kmorgan@greenburghny.com; 914-993-1544 x 3
Diana Juettner: djuettner@greenburghny.com; 914-993-1544 x 2
Francis Sheehan: fsheehan@greenburghny.com; 914-993-1544 x 4
(Note: Sheehan repeatedly & openly states at meetings he does not read emails)
Kenneth Jones: kjones@greenburghny.com 914-993-1544 x1

Westchester County

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, 148 Martine A ve. White Plains, NY10601
914-995-2900

Westchester County Board of Legislators
800 Michaelian Office Building 148 Martine Avenue, 8th Floor White Plains, New York 10601
Main Tel: (914)995-2800;

Chairman Ken Jenkins
995-2829

John Testa, Peekskill
995-2828

Peter Harckham, Bedford, Majority Leader
995-2810

Michael Smith, Greenburgh
995-2847

Michael Kaplowitz, Somers
995-2848

David Gelfarb, Rye
995-2834

Bill Ryan, White Plains
995-2827

Judith Myers, Mamaroneck
995-2802

Alfreda Williams, Greenburgh
995-2833

Catherine Borgia, Ossining
995-2812

Sheila Marcotte, Eastchester
995-2817

Jim Maisano, Minority Leader, New Rochelle
995-2826

Mary Jane Shimsky, Greenburgh
995-2821


Lyndon Williams, Mount Vernon
995-2837

Bernice Spreckman, Yonkers
995-2815

Gordon Burrows, Yonkers
995-2830

Ken Jenkins, Yonkers, Chariman
995-2829

Virginia Perez, Yonkers
995-2846

New York State
NY State Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
(518) 474-8390

Representing Greenburgh in Albany:
State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins,
28 Wells Avenue Building 3

Yonkers, NY 10701
914-423-4031

Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti
303 South Broadway Suite 229 

Tarrytown, NY 10591
914-631-1605