During the C-19 pandemic, more and more organizations have resorted to using conferencing applications such as GoToMeeting, WebEx, Skype, HangOuts, FaceTime or Zoom. Regardless of which one you’ve been forced to utilize whether for work, an organization you belong to or hanging out with friends and loved ones, the first broadcast usually starts with the moderator saying something akin to, “This is a new experience for most of us as we try to maintain some normalcy.”
The question that has arisen is to what extent should we, or could we, use these meetings (we’ll use Zoom as the defacto app) and how legal and binding are any decisions made during their use? Keep in mind we are not talking about family members or friends speaking amongst themselves. Fraternal organizations that hold Zoom meetings are able to discuss pertinent or time sensitive issues such as paying bills or taking actions that assist others in the community, such as checking up on elderly members, delivery of food and/or supplies to home-bound members.
But what of the Town Board or the School Board (or any official governmental Boards) using Zoom to make decisions. How binding are those decisions that are being rendered given the lack of community participation via online participation? While it’s certainly seductive for these conference call neophytes to use a new and unproven tool, is this really reliable or secure? For instance, in the part of Greenburgh that is referred to as North Elmsford, the Town Board is routinely green-lighting the desires of developers seeking to build a new ShopRite on the former Grand Union/Masters/UA Cinema location. They’ve already given enough of a nod to the developer to have them force all the tenants to vacate the shopping center space.
Still the bigger issue is that meetings held via Zoom, tremendously limits public participation in the requisite approval/disapproval process. Make no mistake, the Town Board has already decided to allow the project under threat from the developer that they will walk if they don’t get what they want! What? We are the residents, taxpayers and community. And, while we welcome a ShopRite in the community, we welcome it within the parameters that we want, what the community wants. At hand is the insistence by ShopRite to create/open an entrance off of Old Country Road, which parallels Orchard Lane, for tractor-trailer and smaller truck deliveries. This curb cut and traffic increase will definitively alter the traffic flow, congestion and quality of life for the residents already negatively impacted by 9A traffic at all hours of the day and night.
The issue warrants everyone who a) has an opinion about this significant change and b) would want to be heard regarding this, to be summarily disregarded, dismissed and disenfranchised by Mr Feiner and his Board as they choose to move the project forward via computer users only. This is illegal if the current laws mandate that the public participate with a Public Hearing which must be held for this proposal for everyone. Holding a Zoom public meeting illegally limits the decision to a handful of people who have computers and may know about this shifty and suspect move. We already know that Mr Feiner and his rubber stamp Board are always looking for ways to remove the residents from participation in Town events, but this gives them and entirely new and unencumbered way to do so!
The Town Board has already moved the ShopRite proposal forward, certified by the Town Board having already voted to approve a SEQRA Negative Declaration that indicates the ShopRite proposal will not have a negative environmental impact. Proof positive this is a done deal. The Sam’s Club fueling stations request is meeting a modicum amount of resistance. These two projects should be evaluated in tandem with each other as they flank both sides of 9A at a most congested area and promise to do more damage to an F-rated traffic zone!
Holding Zoom meetings or utilizing any other conferencing program during this pandemic can serve a purpose in the short-term. Taking advantage of a difficult situation to achieve an agenda does not. These actions to move Mr Feiner’s friends projects forward should not happen. But it will because this is Greenburgh. It’s time to get back to normal, but until we can, moratoriums should be placed on all projects whether underway or not. Salaries for all politicians should be reduced to $0, and not resumed until the public is back to work, at which point they be resumed, and not retroactively. We need the politicians to try to do the right thing by their constituents no matter how contemptuously they're being treated by them. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.
Showing posts with label North Elmsford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label North Elmsford. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Friday, August 3, 2018
Community & Friends Day in North Elmsford
You, your family and friends are invited to the North Elmsford Civic Association Inc. 2nd Annual Community & Friends Day. This event will be held on Saturday August 05, 2017 from 12:00 pm til 7:30 pm at Massaro Park on Payne street. Live Entertainment will be provided by, Jazz sounds by Kenny Lee and the All stars, The Renaissance Youth musical group, and African Drummers. The Association has also planned a full day of fun and activities including; Basketball Tournament, Bouncing Castle, Face Painting, Free swimming, and Sprinkler, Tennis, and Free Zumba. Other events also include Vendors/Foods, arts & crafts, clothes/accessories, and more.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
“Deflection Mode” Media Blitz Underway
In classic style, Mr Feiner has spent the last week or so bemoaning the need for sidewalks in our Town. Never one to let a “good” crisis go by without comment, he has engaged a complicit media with email and snail mail press releases about the death of Mount Vernon resident Herbert Wesley, age 57, on Grasslands Road in Valhalla, on November 17th. It’s been reported that Mt Pleasant police received several phone calls of an intoxicated man, who turned out to be Wesley, who could be seen walking along Grasslands Road. He was struck and killed by an SUV at about 7 p.m. The driver of the SUV was not identified by police and is not facing charges but did remain at the scene.
After this happened, Mr Feiner sent out numerous letters to the editors of area newspapers. In them, he states, “The pedestrian death... highlights the need for sidewalks to be built on streets leading to the community college.” What he failed to mention was that this accident might not have happened had he not postured several years ago and acted in earnest on the request made about two or three years ago by a young college student from Westchester Community College. He appeared before the Town Board meeting holding a hand-made sign asking for sidewalks from the college on both Grasslands and Knollwood Roads, citing the hazardous walking conditions along the sides of each road compounded by a high volume of traffic.
As usual, the Town Board bristled, as here before them was a novice, young, idealistic voice of a new constituency, untainted and unmarred by Greenburgh’s demagoguery. Mr Feiner engaged him in a conversation, giving Mr Lewis the “secret signal” to allow the exchange. You see, when things get prickly for Mr Feiner, Mr Lewis is right there to stop the exchange and has even fallen on the sword when necessary to spare his boss self-inflicted embarrassment. At the end of this exchange and even with a brief interview by a news reporter, several long-time residents eventually informed him that nothing would come of his pitch to them and the exchange that followed. That’s politics kid!
On November 14, 2015, ABG wrote about another pedestrian struck by a car that went unreported by other news media. Here’s an excerpt:
“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.” What we had learned at the time from a police officer was that Mr Feiner called the Police Chief and asked him to withhold the information from the press. You see, many newspapers, including the Journal News, will call daily all of the Westchester police departments and ask if they have any news to report. We believe that is what he asked him to withhold.
Looking back through the ABG archives, we found another story from Friday, February 8, 2013 about a pedestrian struck on Knollwood Road. Here’s that excerpt:
“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.”
ABG has followed numerous requests for sidewalks for years from the North Elmsford, Fulton Park, Worthington Woodlands, and the Broadview Civic Associations to name a few. No responses or action have taken place by the Town to those requests. Although Broadview has been pushing the argument that the Town dropped the ball by not enforcing the agreement that the Greenburgh Health Center, owned by the Mount Vernon Health Center, and the condominium next to it have failed to honor their agreement to build sidewalks in front of their respective property. Our research also found two additional pedestrian deaths on Rt 9A in 2008.
The only response for sidewalks made thus far has been to the Edgemont Community Council’s request for sidewalks at Seely Place, where there is a school. ABG believes the only reason Mr Feiner worked towards getting them sidewalks is the looming secession they have held over him. Should Edgemont secede, the Town and Mr Feiner would lose a tremendous portion of income for his budgets, pulling back the magic curtain and exposing the shell game Mr Feiner has run for years. Let’s not forget the money lost by his breaking the contract with Westchester County for WestHelp to the loss of $1.2 million per year. Let’s also not forget the guilty verdict by a Federal Court against Mr Feiner, Ms Juettner and the Town for $6.5 million of which the taxpayers must pay $5.5 million!
Last year, 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. ABG has learned that each time the State has had funds available for sidewalks, Mr Feiner has never “stepped up” to try to secure those funds for sidewalks in any portion of the Town! If only Unincorporated Greenburgh residents had a Mayor like Ardsley things might be different.
What Mr Feiner typically does is act like the Town Crier (no pun intended) and then say that other politicians should pay for what he says we need. It’s the classic bait-and-switch scheme that frankly, has gotten old and worn out under this administration. It’s time for real leadership in Greenburgh. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.
After this happened, Mr Feiner sent out numerous letters to the editors of area newspapers. In them, he states, “The pedestrian death... highlights the need for sidewalks to be built on streets leading to the community college.” What he failed to mention was that this accident might not have happened had he not postured several years ago and acted in earnest on the request made about two or three years ago by a young college student from Westchester Community College. He appeared before the Town Board meeting holding a hand-made sign asking for sidewalks from the college on both Grasslands and Knollwood Roads, citing the hazardous walking conditions along the sides of each road compounded by a high volume of traffic.
As usual, the Town Board bristled, as here before them was a novice, young, idealistic voice of a new constituency, untainted and unmarred by Greenburgh’s demagoguery. Mr Feiner engaged him in a conversation, giving Mr Lewis the “secret signal” to allow the exchange. You see, when things get prickly for Mr Feiner, Mr Lewis is right there to stop the exchange and has even fallen on the sword when necessary to spare his boss self-inflicted embarrassment. At the end of this exchange and even with a brief interview by a news reporter, several long-time residents eventually informed him that nothing would come of his pitch to them and the exchange that followed. That’s politics kid!
On November 14, 2015, ABG wrote about another pedestrian struck by a car that went unreported by other news media. Here’s an excerpt:
“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.” What we had learned at the time from a police officer was that Mr Feiner called the Police Chief and asked him to withhold the information from the press. You see, many newspapers, including the Journal News, will call daily all of the Westchester police departments and ask if they have any news to report. We believe that is what he asked him to withhold.
Looking back through the ABG archives, we found another story from Friday, February 8, 2013 about a pedestrian struck on Knollwood Road. Here’s that excerpt:
“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.”
ABG has followed numerous requests for sidewalks for years from the North Elmsford, Fulton Park, Worthington Woodlands, and the Broadview Civic Associations to name a few. No responses or action have taken place by the Town to those requests. Although Broadview has been pushing the argument that the Town dropped the ball by not enforcing the agreement that the Greenburgh Health Center, owned by the Mount Vernon Health Center, and the condominium next to it have failed to honor their agreement to build sidewalks in front of their respective property. Our research also found two additional pedestrian deaths on Rt 9A in 2008.
The only response for sidewalks made thus far has been to the Edgemont Community Council’s request for sidewalks at Seely Place, where there is a school. ABG believes the only reason Mr Feiner worked towards getting them sidewalks is the looming secession they have held over him. Should Edgemont secede, the Town and Mr Feiner would lose a tremendous portion of income for his budgets, pulling back the magic curtain and exposing the shell game Mr Feiner has run for years. Let’s not forget the money lost by his breaking the contract with Westchester County for WestHelp to the loss of $1.2 million per year. Let’s also not forget the guilty verdict by a Federal Court against Mr Feiner, Ms Juettner and the Town for $6.5 million of which the taxpayers must pay $5.5 million!
Last year, 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. ABG has learned that each time the State has had funds available for sidewalks, Mr Feiner has never “stepped up” to try to secure those funds for sidewalks in any portion of the Town! If only Unincorporated Greenburgh residents had a Mayor like Ardsley things might be different.
What Mr Feiner typically does is act like the Town Crier (no pun intended) and then say that other politicians should pay for what he says we need. It’s the classic bait-and-switch scheme that frankly, has gotten old and worn out under this administration. It’s time for real leadership in Greenburgh. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.
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