Blaming Others For Administrations Failures

Isn’t it interesting that when there’s something that Mr Feiner fancies, finger-pointing becomes his latest exercise regimen? In a recent email, it is hard to keep track as he sends so many, he complained that there aren’t enough bicycle lanes and walking areas on West Hartsdale Avenue. So, in an interview with News12 reporter Sarah Toland, Mr Feiner again decided to pick and choose the latest controversy: this lack of sidewalks on West Hartsdale Avenue - not everywhere else in the Town that he is responsible for, just West Hartsdale Avenue.

The reason for Mr Feiner to highlight this “issue” is, ahem, pedestrian safety for those walking on West Hartsdale Avenue, which falls under the onus of NY State, is so he can afford to be critical knowing it will be of no consequence and yet garner positive publicity for himself. While pedestrian safety on most of our roadways is a serious issue, most roadways that are Town-owned lack the proper sidewalks required to maintain a modicum of pedestrian safety. Clearly, with 24 years at the helm, Mr Feiner has had ample time to address the sidewalk deficit throughout the Town yet has chosen not to. But, as is so aptly quoted in the hallways on Hillside Avenue, “Why fix it when we can talk about it!” Or, the other saying is, “We seem to care.”

And talk about it he has! In fact, while the Town has passed a law that all developers must create a sidewalk in front of a property they are developing, no laws have passed mandating sidewalks in any other part of Town. This is why there are often so many “sidewalks to nowhere.” One claim by Mr Feiner is that there is no money for sidewalks in the budget. Perhaps that is true. But before the 2% Tax Cap limit gave him the excuse he now uses to say, "No!" to residents’ requests, it could be because he was found guilty of discrimination in Federal court for violating the rights of the Fortress Bible Church from developing their property for a church and school. Found guilty of lying under oath, destroying evidence and several other counts, he single-handedly is costing the Unincorporated Town of Greenburgh residents $6.5 million in fines! While he told taxpayers not to worry because the insurance policy the Town had would cover the fine, he was wrong again*. Apparently, when you lie under oath and are found guilty in Federal court, the insurance company does not have to pay the entire amount. We do.

While always branding himself as the “Problem Solver”, it seems he only solves problems that he has had a hand in creating and knows he can undo (or blame someone else for). Anytime any individual, group, student association or Brownie troupe can elicit a sympathetic ear, the current Town Board remains affable, congenial and yet provides little beyond an empathetic sounding board. As always, they would love to meet with the party(s) after the meeting to further discuss their concerns. And while we can never positively know, we wonder if this seasoned Board already knows Mr Feiner's signal or buzzword to refuse them, adjourn or move to the next issue. We're sure you're familiar with the signal in The Sting where the con artists rub their nose with their pointer finger. Et tu?

Where else would sidewalks be a significant safety addition to the Town? Several years ago a group of Westchester Community College students spoke at a Town Board meeting requesting sidewalks along Knollwood Road and Grassland Road to be able to safely walk to the bus stops or the Valhalla train station while attending the college. They even had a sign that stayed propped up in the lobby of Town Hall - that is until it had served out it's media life for Mr Feiner - that drew sympathy for the student's sidewalk cause. The result of all of the fawning over these few college students? They probably went on to graduate or transferred to a college with safer walking conditions - but no sidewalks ever materialized or were built by Mr Feiner and crew. Safety isn't really a priority in Greenburgh, as witnessed by the lack of police patrols in most neighborhoods.

The Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations (CGCA), along with the Fulton Park Civic Association, Broadview Civic Association and others has requested sidewalks on Old Kensico Speedway, Hillside Avenue, Knollwood Road and other numerous well-trafficked pedestrian thoroughfares. And regardless of how needed these could be for those forced to walk, especially at sunrise, dusk and nighttime, their safety only accounts for a few votes that are expendable if lost. After all, Mr Feiner and his Board's real donations and political influence come from the bigger bankrolls, usually those who have homes, cars and donate.

But still no sidewalks. Instead of coming up with a, ahem, comprehensive plan for sidewalk development throughout the Town, Mr Feiner would prefer to point fingers at the untouchable and immovable State Department of Transportation. They won't do anything for the same reason he won't: it requires real effort and money. And there is money out there for sidewalk development. It's just that Mr Feiner and his minions choose not to apply for it. For if they applied for it, they would have to do something with it should they get awarded the funds. That too would muck everything up and require valuable resources that are needed to pay guilty verdicts and fines. Imagine how many sidewalks could be built with $6.5 million?

Finally, Mr Feiner is famous for throwing out unsubstantiated numbers like spaghetti on a wall and waiting to see what sticks. Here again he claims thousands could bike and walk to the Hartsdale train station if these sidewalks were built. We seriously doubt its thousands. But then he says if they don't have the money for sidewalks, they should extend the shoulders - in effect building a sidewalk. If they don't have the money for one, why would they have it for another? It's just political doublespeak. And, it's a shame the News12 reporter bought into this lie. But she's only doing this as a stepping stone and told to cover these types of events. Besides, Mr Feiner is a master at media manipulation and she won't be here long enough to learn this. It's time for a change. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

* One million dollars was all that was paid by the insurance company.

Traffic Nightmare Scheduled

Many residents who don’t travel on Payne Street in the north Elmsford part of Town may be unaware of the impact that halfway-point roadway may soon have on the Town. Traveling east and west through the Town has limited thoroughfares available to you. There is also a limited amount of “cut through” side streets that can be used but still empty to them. It exemplifies a lack of planning from Town leaders back when the Town was slowly beginning its growth and up until now. But what is it that Payne Street residents need to know about? Well simply, it will be affected because of the Sprain Brook Parkway.

When the Sprain Brook Parkway was built, an overpass was created at Payne Street, as well as other areas. What many people don’t know is that the Sprain Brook Parkway runs parallel to the Catskill aqueduct for a limited distance. Additionally, there is a tremendous amount of daily traffic that crosses that overpass mostly during the day that adds to the amount of emergency services responses for every community that the roadway passes through. In fact, monitoring a scanner of area police and fire departments between Yonkers to Hawthorne promises at least one emergency call, if not more, per day on that roadway. More importantly, when there is an accident and traffic halts, the exits and area roadways quickly fill up with additional traffic as motorists seeks alternate routes to escape the parking lot syndrome.

Several months ago a piece of the Sprain Brook Parkway roadway fell, collapsing over the Payne Street overpass that has been there since the late 1970s. No one was injured. Emergency repairs were quickly performed and the traveling public was not inconvenienced too much. Below the overpass however is a somewhat different story. Shoring was installed as a temporary fix which you can see as you drive under the affected area on Payne Street.

At the March 8^th Town Board meeting (https://youtu.be/1udMPWGHs7s), a permanent repairs plan to this now-temporarily repaired bridge was unveiled by two representatives from the New York State Department of Transportation out of Poughkeepsie, NY. Most of the presentation was made by Paul Tirums whose title is Regional Structures Engineer. His presentation included discussing what happened, what the current temporary fix was and what they plan to do this spring/summer to permanently repair the bridge. They had prepared and showed how Payne Street and those residents would be minimally affected during the repairs. Many questions were raised by residents, but mostly about traffic, traffic delays and accessibility during construction.

Residents continued to question not only how traffic would impact their quality of life with the three month disruption, but where would school, camp and private buses turn around, do pickups and drop offs safely and effect their lifestyles? While the engineers who spoke gave their answers, many in the audience were not satisfied. As always, Mr Feiner side-stepped away from his responsibility and asked the Payne Street Civic Association if they would be the conduit between the neighborhood and the construction company doing the work. Our belief is that is exactly the job of the Town administration, specifically Mr Feiner and his Board. While we appreciate the relationship between a community and their respective civic associations, it’s the responsibility of government to look out for and help its constituents. Mr Feiner should be in contact with the residents as well as the civic association. It is the perfect scenario for him to campaign through email blasts and snail-mailings under the guise of keeping the neighborhood informed. We also believe the civic association will receive more accurate information from the residents due to a level of trust that doesn’t exist with this administration.

The main complaint about traffic still needs to be addressed. What wasn’t thoroughly discussed was the impact to the surrounding area once the construction starts. The residents are concerned, and rightly so, about the impact on themselves. But, once traffic on Payne Street is stopped during construction, it will back up even more on Rt 9A in both directions dramatically. Then, with a bit less traffic, Knollwood Road will begin to back up. As this road backs up in both directions, it will impact the exits on I-287 at several exits. Next to get backed up will be Grasslands Road, which parallels Rt 119, the final piece of the backed up puzzle. We should also see an increase in motor vehicle accidents.

There are limited roadway options to travel north and south through the Elmsford and northern Unincorporated Greenburgh area: Rt 9A, Knollwood Road and a few local “cut through” streets, that again still empty to both these roads. East and west has Rt 119 (Elmsford’s Main Street), Payne Street, and Grasslands Road, again with a few local “cut through” streets. An improved and better flow through of traffic on a few of these roads has been talked about for the last 50 years and yet we have not seen any solutions from any of our legislators or local politicians. Now that these repairs must be made, their lack of solutions and inaction will highlight their ineffectiveness as leaders. So while these “leaders” hold rallies advocating defiance of immigration laws or their hatred of our president, our neighborhoods, taxpayers and residents continue to suffer. This needs to end. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh. 

Why Fix It When We Can Talk About It

Making sure he appears concerned with what residents of Edgemont want, Mr Feiner placated them by sending out a GBList email stating the Town Board will vote on a resolution on a sidewalk feasibility study near the Edgemont Schools. This move on his part is ludicrous, while the need for sidewalks and safety is paramount. We're concerned of the many areas throughout the town where children, as well as adults, are forced to walk in our streets and put themselves at increased risk. Why only have a pinpointed effort for such a vital and necessary safety issue?

Having the Greenburgh Town Board vote on Wednesday evening on a resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Works to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for a traffic study to determine whether sidewalks should be built along portions of Seely Place, Ardsley Road and Fort Hill Road is a waste of time. It's a waste because the need exists and this is another deflection by the Supervisor. Because these streets lead to schools is no reason to segregate the rest of the Town from any study, let alone this one! Once again ABG believes Mr Feiner is reacting for his fear of the wrath of Edgemont and their stated desire to incorporate as a Village. Please don't misinterpret what we are saying. We endorse sidewalks near the schools but there are many other areas that need them as well throughout the Town.

Mr Feiner claims, "over the years a number of parents have called for sidewalks at these locations so children can walk more safely to school." Again, another unsubstantiated "factoid" from the corner office. "In addition to this action step the town has been in contact with federal and state officials to review grant opportunities. Recently, the village of Ardsley built a sidewalk on Heatherdell Road -leading to the Ardsley High School using federal dollars." What Mr Feiner fails to mention is that only Ardsley's elected officials secured the funds without Mr Feiner or the Town's involvement and built their sidewalks in record time. Mr Feiner has never "stepped up" to secure funds for sidewalks in any portion of the Town. Why the sudden interest? Edgemont spoke and Mr Feiner cannot afford to have them incorporate and secede from the Town as a Village.

"If other neighborhoods near schools are interested in having the town review the feasibility of building sidewalks near schools please advise. This can be an ongoing initiative for the town." This is pandering at its best, by the best. He will ask for anybody to submit their request for sidewalks and depending on whether they are an affluent or poor neighborhood will determine the level of participation by the Town. Ultimately, we don't believe other neighborhoods in need of sidewalks will ever see them, money will not be secured for Edgemont but will be diverted from other budget needs to deliver a bone to Edgemont. 

"This is a link to an organization promoting safe routes to schools. http://saferoutesinfo.org/funding-portal/federal-funding-101" Mr Feiner can certainly provide all the links and informational resources he wants. This is just more deflection by the master. There is no intent to fulfill any neighborhood's request for a safer environment for our kids and our neighbors. Otherwise we would have already seen sidewalks on Old Kensico Road, Hillside Avenue, Knollwood Road by the Community College and Knollwood Road by the Mount Vernon Health Center doing business as the Greenburgh Health Center. We'd have seen sidewalks on 9A where two pedestrian deaths have already taken place. We'd have already seen sidewalks on Dobbs Ferry Road as well as 9A from Ardsley to Elmsford, and from Elmsford north to the Eastview area.

This is nothing more than a campaign effort to fool people into believing something is being done in the name of safety and "the children." Sadly, if someone gets hit by a car, he'll be able to say they were trying to address it. It's another open-ended empty promise. The reality is this is simply more of the same rhetoric from Town Hall and Mr Feiner. When the willfully ignorant taxpaying residents start paying attention, they'll see it's time for a change. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

Good News? Pedestrian Struck On Knollwood Road

It has often been said that only good news emanates from Town Hall emails, press leases and interviews. Bad news is mysteriously shuffled to some place inside Town Hall, rarely exposed unless residents uncover it and publicize it. This is such a story.

One such piece of good news was when Mr Feiner announced that the former Cooke’s Florist facility on Knollwood Road had been sold after entertaining ruin for years when the owner passed away. It was purchased by the Mount Vernon Health Organization that does business in Greenburgh as the Greenburgh Health Center (GHC). Let’s not concern ourselves with pesky details such as the 1986 law that was passed mandating the property revert back to residential zoning should it ever be sold. No bother. Good news everyone! The Greenburgh Health Center is finally moving to Knollwood Road from Rt 119!

But wait, there’s more good news. People will no longer be crossing Rt 119 trying to get across the street for a White Plains bound bus. That’s right, no more playing Frogger on Rt 119. The new facility will be bigger and better able to handle more people. Let’s not concern ourselves with pesky details such as the size of the building on the non-reverted residential to commercial to residential back to commercial piece of property. Or it’s size, or it’s stadium-like lighting, or its lack of shrubbery.

But wait, there’s more good news. The Health Center will be building a sidewalk on their side of Knollwood Road. And, since that is one-busy stretch of road, think of how much safer the young mothers with strollers and kids in tow will be walking from the bus stop to the facility. What’s that? There are no bus stops there? Well, uh, wait a minute. Good news! There’s a state initiative to get money to build sidewalks in different communities. The only flaw is that your Town actually has to apply for the money, not just talk about. More good news! The Town is embarking on a new slogan: “Why fix it when we can talk about it?”

But wait, there’s more good news. The condominiums next to the location of the new GHC was required to build sidewalks in front of their property, practically extending the safe zone from Rt 119, where there wasn’t a bus stop to the A&P shopping center. However, the Town is not enforcing that tidbit and are allowing the condominium to get away with breaching their agreement. So if a young mother pushing her stroller and dragging her kids gets tired or needs to eat or even needs diapers while seeking a bus stop, they can walk in the northbound lane of Knollwood Road to go to the A&P, CVS, P&B, or DD. Although, if they are getting services from the GHC, they might not have enough money to shop there. But wait, there’s more good news. The state is raising the minimum wage, so all is well.

Okay enough! There is no good news on Knollwood Road. In fact, according to Police Chief McNerney, “On November 24th, at approximately 6:55pm, a pedestrian was struck on Joan Avenue at the intersection of Knollwood Road. The pedestrian was crossing Joan Avenue, from the north side to the south side and was struck by a vehicle that was traveling south on Knollwood Road, making a right onto Joan. According to the report, the pedestrian suffered minor injuries.” This piece of information was unreported to the media. Just so you know, the Journal News has someone call all police departments every day to see if there is anything they can report about crime in their next edition.

Whether or not we had sidewalks at this location, a stones throw from the GHC, may not have mattered for this person as they were on the opposite side and crossing a sidestreet and not directly on Knollwood Road. Or were they? This pedestrian was more than likely walking south (toward Dobbs Ferry Road) on the rough-to-navigate shoulder of Knollwood Road. There is no sidewalk there. So it just so happened that the pedestrian was crossing Joan Avenue while walking on Knollwood when they were struck by a car. Why is this important?

We spoke to a few people about the accident and were told by a Town employee that when Mr Feiner found out the accident took place on Knollwood Road near the GHC, he instructed the police not to release this information. They didn’t until a resident asked. Hmm, why would he do that? It doesn’t matter now, but it’s this kind of control over the Town’s independently operated fire districts and fire departments that Mr Feiner doesn’t have but seeks with the election of his hand-picked candidates.

The Broadview Civic Association has been lobbying the Town at countless meetings and with letters to have the sidewalks not only ADA compliant, but constructed per the plans and agreements made for them to get approval to first build the condominiums and then the GHC. It really depends on what Mr Feiner wants and the Town Departments will fall in lockstep. Sidewalks have been a missing safety ingredient throughout the Town and discussed often. The time to install them is obviously during construction. In fact, we recall when Mr Feiner coerced the developer of Stop and Shop on Rt 119 near Benedict Avenue to build a sidewalk by the apartments across two streets from them to receive building permit approvals. And now Brightview is building their facility nearby. Hmm, what did Mr Feiner know way-back-when that he wasn’t sharing?

Students from Westchester Communit College (WCC) petitioned Mr Feiner during a Town Board meeting to construct sidewalks from the college down Grasslands Road to the bottom of the hill. They came in with signs and enthusiasm that we’re sure are long forgotten now that they’ve either graduated or been struck by a car on the way to school and are in physical therapy. One speaker even commented to them that it was nice to bring this up but it would never happen. Good news! For a while, the sign the young man carried was left on display in the Town Hall lobby. It’s since been relegated to the same place bad news goes to at Town Hall. Mr Feiner got his publicity and nothing has happened for the walking safety of students at WCC.

Recently, there was a meeting in Edgemont about sidewalks at the Seely Place School in Edgemont. The long and short of it is Mr Feiner did his usual rope-a-dope that sidewalks here would be good but committed to nothing. While we have no issue with Police Chief McNerney suggesting they do a three season survey to assess the safety concerns, the simply goal of one sidewalk morphed into a much larger project that would require all areas in the Town with schools to be reviewed. Translation? Death. At the following day’s work session, Mr Feiner and the Town Board quickly changed the topic from sidewalks to something else.  Civic leaders in different parts of the Town have repeatedly requested sidewalks.

Death of a sidewalk, death of a student, death of a pedestrian crossing the street. Regardless how many people get hit and don’t die, government always installs what was needed after somebody gets killed. Ardsley just got a sidewalk installed because the Mayor and Village Board applied for state and federal grants. That’s the only flaw in the process with Mr Feiner and his Board. They actually have to apply for the money that’s there to get it. Why fix it when we can talk about it. The time to talk is over. The time to act is now. Only then will we have A Better Greenburgh.

Pedestrian Struck on Knollwood Road

Sure, there’s a snowstorm happening as we post this and we expect accidents to happen. As we sit in our offices looking over the Town, our police scanner is busy with all the usual calls plus those created by the weather. Numerous police and fire departments along with ambulances have been scrambling about the County as well as the Town to accidents of various degrees of severity.

The Broadway Civic Association has long complained that the Town is shirking its responsibility by not insisting to install sidewalks in numerous places, but specifically leading to the newly built and just-opened Greenburgh Health Center on Knollwood Road. In fact, the Town Planning Board approved a sidewalk at 275 Knollwood Rd, the location of The Knolls at Pinewood, a 15-unit luxury condominium, of which 13 are complete. But ‘The Knolls’ doesn’t want sidewalks built – neither does The Paul! And, of course, since The Paul doesn’t want it, his Town Board doesn’t want them either.

Interestingly, when The Paul, his Town Board, County Executive Rob Astorino, his aide Ned McCormack and County Legislator Michael Smith were all pushing to destroy WestHelp for Valhalla votes, Kevin “Henchman” Morgan suggested the need to build sidewalks on Knollwood Road from WestHelp’s property toward Rt 119 because it would be unsafe for Ferncliff residents to walk on Knollwood Road without them. The irony is that the Ferncliff residents and day students would never be walking anywhere. They would have a van transporting them wherever they might be going. The Henchman must have misspoke.

The point? At about 2PM today, Friday, a pedestrian was struck by a car walking on Knollwood Road at the entrance to the Westchester Community College. There is no sidewalk. At the other end of Knollwood Road, the new Greenburgh Health Center has opened. It’s only a matter of time that a pedestrian gets hit by a car at this new address. The old Community Health Center on Rt 119 across from the former A&P in the Crossroads Shopping Center, found many of it’s clients crossing Rt 119 with kids, strollers and shopping bags, etc., in all kinds of weather and traffic. The dangerous situation that existed at one area has been shifted to another. Even though it is a different area, the same risk still exists for the health center’s clientele, just at their new home. There is no sidewalk.

The Paul had championed the illegal sale of the old Cooke’s Florist property to the Mount Vernon Medical Group that runs the medical center doing business as the Greenburgh Health Center. He spot-zoned the property and has trumpeted not installing sidewalks for this location. While we hope no one ever gets hurt coming or going to this new location, the amount of traffic that frequents the area almost guarantees it. Many will recall how The Paul continually bragged about the Town’s AAA Bond Rating some months ago. Perhaps if we utilized some of it by borrowing the necessary funds and building sidewalks throughout the busy streets in our Town, we can save people from being involved in an unnecessary accidents and injuries. We can only hope.