Virtual Open Forum

 

Racism Thrives

We have often written about different racist incidents that have prevailed in our Town government. The most recent is with Greenburgh Police Officer Brad DiCairano. Apparently he posted a picture on Facebook that showed a photo of blacks on a minivan protesting last summers Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri, next to one of baboons jumping all over a white woman's car. The post drew criticism from fellow officers and we understand was then shown to GPD Chief Christopher McNerney a day or so later. But, by the time Chief McNerney learned of the Facebook page, using the name 'B-rad Di', it had been taken down. Chief McNerney had placed DiCairano on modified duty upon his return from vacation. Officers are permitted to express their personal views as long as it does not, among other things, “negatively affect the public perception of the Department” according to the department's social media policy.

The rest of Officer DiCairano’s troubles can be discussed at a future date. The fundamental questions seem to be whether or not he overstepped the department's protocol and were his first amendment rights being upheld or not? Should a police officer, or any municipal employee be held to a different standard and does this violate his free speech rights? As horrible to some and perhaps entertaining to others as this act may be, should this officer lose his job over this or just be reprimanded? And, does he deserve a second chance if he apologizes and shows remorse?

ABG learned that Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner condemned the Facebook post once he learned of it and said he was confident McNerney was taking it "extremely seriously." “Law enforcement people have to interact with all aspects of the community and it's totally inappropriate for them to be encouraging, even privately, any forms of hate or racism,” Feiner said. How interesting that he would only single out law enforcement and not other Town employees. 

Then Mr Feiner sent out an email blast about this incident to several thousand people in the Town, stating:

An unpleasant note…a police officer was suspended today and relieved of his duties for the posting of a racially insensitive posting and comments on facebook[sic]. The internal investigation is continuing. The officer faces discipline up to and including termination of employment. I have asked our newly formed Human Rights Committee to review the town’s policies regarding town employees who make racially offensive comments and to come up with policies that would apply to all employees who work for the  town.

PAUL FEINER

In a March 10th Town Board meeting several years ago, Councilwoman Sonya Brown publicly “dressed down” Mr Feiner explaining that he had told her and other candidates running for re-election to not bother campaigning in Fairview because those voters were unintelligent! It seems from what Ms Brown was saying that he was alluding to the minority community there. So, how can Mr Feiner continue to claim to be against racism when he condones it repeatedly? 

In our article entitled “Selective Racism Condoned By Supervisor” on April 8th, 2014, we quoted Mr Feiner as saying, “We cannot, as elected officials, allow discrimination to rear its ugly head.” Yet he sent emails endorsing Superintendent Ross after allegations of racism were made against him and has since been fired from Greenburgh Central School System. His racist remarks were proven to be made over an extended period of time.

Mr Feiner and the Town Board chose to ignore the use of the “N-word” in Town Hall by Tax Assessor Edye McCarthy in a meeting with department employees present. We posted an excerpt of a letter (below) of complaint from the offended party in that same article. The complaint was summarily ignored by the Town. Why was Mr Feiner absent after a complaint of racism was filed against Town Assessor Edye McCarthy? Perhaps Mr Feiner waved it off saying, “It’s not that big a deal.”

Below is an excerpt from the complaint letter addressed to Town Assessor Edye McCarthy and carbon-copied to the Union President and Supervisor Paul Feiner on October 27, 2008. We have omitted the names and body of the letter to protect the privacy of the victim.  

We forewarn you that the content may be considered disturbing.
Here’s an excerpt from that complaint:

We’re surrounded by double-standards: Recently, Mr Feiner himself was found guilty of discrimination and violating the civil rights of the Fortress Bible Church of Mt Vernon after they sought Town approvals to build a new church and school on Dobbs Ferry Road. Mr Feiner did not want them building in the backyard of his friend, then County Legislator and now NYS Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti and tried to scuttle the Church's application. It was proven in court that Mr Feiner openly practiced discrimination against the Fortress Bible Church when the Church purchased property and sought to construct a new church and school on it just off of Dobbs Ferry Road.

In time, Fortress Bible Church filed suit against the Town after being pushed once too often. It’s believed that Mr Feiner tried to “convince” them into donating a fire truck to the Fairview Fire Department in return for permit approvals. It’s widely believed he did this to the Westchester Meadows (aka Hebrew Home) in Valhalla. They capitulated and amazingly the Fairview FD received a brand new Rescue truck and the Westchester Meadows was able to continue construction. But the Church wasn’t going to be coerced into agreeing to Mr Feiner's alleged demands and questionable behavior. The Church went to court and was victorious. Their victory is the Unincorporated Town’s loss as we will be forced to cover Mr Feiner’s illegal actions to the tune of $6.5 million!

Racism should not be welcome anywhere. Yet it seems to have found a home in Greenburgh, well-known to be a sanctuary Town for issues Mr Feiner decides are acceptable. But due to condoning racism himself, he should recuse himself from any and all conversations surrounding it. He should also not be an adjudicator if Greenburgh Police Officer Brad DiCairano should face disciplinary actions for his post on Facebook via the Town Board. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

Greenburgh School Superintendent Finally Terminated

After earning a salary of $235,266 per year, the Greenburgh Board of Education has finally voted to fire School Superintendent Ronald O. Ross immediately. He had been on administrative leave for approximately four months after accusations were made by the school administrators and staff of discrimination and creating a hostile work environment. Interestingly, Mr Feiner never complained that Mr Ross' salary was more than his as he will do when he goes after someone he doesn't like.

Accused of discrimination and creating a hostile work environment in a lawsuit in May 2014, the lawsuit finally forced the school board to place an interim school superintendent in the position during the investigation. As reported by ABG in our article posted on Friday, May 9, 2014, Hypocritical Supervisor – Anti-Jewish: Bad, Racist: Best of The Best
Ross was sidelined in May. 

The lawsuit allegations indicated he was verbally abusive to employees, called them names, humiliating them in public and made it impossible to do their jobs. Our original article detailed some of what he was alleged to have said to employees. We also posted two photographs of Ross. The one that is used as part of the "publicity package" and more current one of him. Both are seen here:

Below is a copy of two emails sent by Mr Feiner to select School Board members when this began, asking the School Board members to not seek to replace Superintendent Ross. He closes the email with the sentence, “If I did not think that Ron was the best of the best – I would not write this note.” The second email (bottom) again finds Mr Feiner is disappointed to learn of an effort to replace Superintendent Ronald Ross, claiming Ross is hard working, and he really cares about “our” children. Mr Feiner does not have children who attend the Greenburgh schools, so “our children” seems a bit contrived. In closing with the second email, he says, “I would be happy to meet with you to discuss why I think it’s important to keep Ron Ross working for our community.” Mr Feiner has a knack of turning opinions when going one-on-one with people.
 
 

On September 19th another lawsuit was filed alleging similar unacceptable behavior by Mr Ross by a teacher formerly working in the Middle School. ABG finds it sad that Mr Feiner, who himself was found guilty of discrimination in Federal Court against the Fortress Bible Church, would endorse Mr Ross and his discriminatory behavior. Ironically, ABG also posted an article discussing discrimination complaints made by a Town Hall employee who was in a meeting and forced during this meeting to listen to a rant by Greenburgh Town Assessor Edye McCarthy. A complaint was filedand subsequently ignored by Mr Feiner and the Town Board, ultimately being swept under the rug by them, even after it was repeatedly brought up at Town Board meetings by the public.
Here’s an excerpt of those comments from that letter:

This letter was submitted and cc’d to Mr Feiner. But instead of addressing Ms McCarthy’s racist comments at Town Hall, Mr Feiner probably felt if he ignored it, he could sweep it away. His previous statement was proven hollow and obviously nothing more than posturing based on the inaction we've witnessed. He previously said, “We cannot, as elected officials, allow discrimination to rear its ugly head” is not only disingenuous, but self-serving and insulting to those who do the right thing on a daily basis. Again, why wasn’t Ms McCarthy disciplined or terminated from her position? 

Greenburgh is a widely diverse Town - its part of what makes our Town so rich. Why has Mr Feiner not addressed the racism within his own administration and with his appointed Department Head? Why has he personally practiced and been found guilty of racism during his 22 years in office and not been disbarred and removed from office? We need honest leadership in Greenburgh. We need change in Greenburgh and a fresh start from what has become a stale and unwelcome status quo. Mr Ross' departure is a fitting start. We need more. Only then can we have A Better Greenburgh.

Hypocritical Supervisor – Anti-Jewish: Bad, Racist: Best of The Best

Lawsuits are a dime a dozen nowadays, especially in Greenburgh. Mr Feiner certainly knows about that! In fact, controversy is a common feature regarding just about everything Mr Feiner touches. He sort of has the Midas Touch, only in reverse. This time however, we find that another community leader is under attack, and without Mr Feiner’s instigation – but he is involved. You’ll recall Mr Feiner needed to get attention away from his mismanagement of Town finances and decided to take advantage of a comment made by a disgruntled former Fairview firefighter under oath.

This time it seems Greenburgh Schools Superintendent Ronald O. Ross (seen earlier, left) and members of the Board of Education, individually, are on the receiving end of a lawsuit filed by a number of Greenburgh Central School District employees. While the charges in the lawsuit have not been substantiated, this is Greenburgh and a little detail like that isn’t really necessary! Plaintiffs in this action are one of the schools principals, the human resources director, two guidance counselors and four teachers, all of whom are suing the Superintendent for having created what they claim is a hostile workplace rife with harassment and filled with racial, religious and sexual slurs. They have included the School Board in the lawsuit as they also claim that they knew of the situation but did nothing to address it. Damages have not been specified so we’ll have to wait and see how this all shakes out.

According to court papers, Ross (more currently, left) has used numerous variations of slurs to refer to colleagues and subordinates. Some of these include: “White Bitch,” “Whining White Bitch,” “Black Bitch,” “Old Black Bitch,” “Old Fat Black Bitch,” “Nazi Bitch,” “Jew Bitch,” “Midget Bitch,” “Old Black Bitch,” “Old Fat Black Bitch,” “Nosey Jew Bitch,” “F—–g White Bitch,” “Fat White D–e Bitch,” “White D–e Bitch,” “Deaf White Bitch,” and even “Racist White Bitch” and “Racist Brazilian Bitch.” Other derisive monikers where the word bitch was not included are: “Aunt Jemima,” “Clarence Thomas,” “White Uncle Tom,” “White Devil,” “sell out,” “crackers,” “trailer trash,” or “Oreo.” Clearly there is enough here that this should not be easily dismissed with a wave of the hand as one off-color (no pun) remark made in confidence or privacy.

Below is a copy of two emails sent by Mr Feiner to select School Board members. Both emails are shown below. In the first email (top), he asks the School Board members to not seek to replace Superintendent Ross. He closes the email with the sentence, “If I did not think that Ron was the best of the best – I would not write this note.” The second email (bottom) again finds Mr Feiner is disappointed to learn of an effort to replace Superintendent Ronald Ross, claiming Ross is hard working, and he really cares about “our” children. Mr Feiner does not have children who attend the Greenburgh schools, so “our children” seems a bit contrived. In closing with the second email, he says, “I would be happy to meet with you to discuss why I think it’s important to keep Ron Ross working for our community.”

There’s no doubt that the charges leveled against Mr Ross are significant even if they haven’t been substantiated. Fortunately, he has Mr Feiner’s support and endorsement. The people who have initiated this lawsuit are not rank-and-file workers with a beef against their boss or received a bad review. So there might just be something to this lawsuit after all. These also don’t appear to be disgruntled employees trying to get “even” with their boss as former Fairview firefighter Darryl Leake seems to have done against Fairview Fire Chief Anthony LoGiudice. Mr Feiner couldn’t move fast enough to crucify Chief LoGiudice in email-blasted court of public opinion over an anti-Jewish statement the Chief made years prior. When an apology was requested by Mr Feiner, the Chief apologized in person and in writing. But that wasn’t enough for Mr Feiner. Now that he had the media blitz in full swing, he needed more, so he resurrected his phony consolidation plans with faulty information, open lies, and a task force of bitter retirees in hopes of fanning his fire of desperation.

In our article entitled “Selective Racism Condoned By Supervisor” on April 8th, we quoted Mr Feiner as saying, “We cannot, as elected officials, allow discrimination to rear its ugly head.” Yet he endorses Superintendent Ross, openly practiced discrimination himself against the Fortress Bible Church when the Church purchased property and sought to construct a new church and school on it just off of Dobbs Ferry Road. He and the Town Board have ignored the use of the “N-word” in Town Hall by Tax Assessor Edye McCarthy with other employees present. We posted an excerpt of a letter of complaint from the offended party in that same article. The complaint was summarily ignored by the Town.

More importantly, why is it acceptable for Mr Feiner to be offended about a comment made years ago and seek to destroy one mans career while it is acceptable for Mr Feiner to be endorsing the bad and reprehensible behavior of another? Of course, the charges need to be substantiated. Especially disturbing is to hear of this in our learning institutions. Why does Mr Feiner’s administration allow the insulting use of the “N-word” within the offices of Town Hall but do nothing about it when complaints are made? Why can the Town Comptroller withhold funds to the taxing entities, knowingly breaking the law, and have no punishment, retribution or consequences for his illegal behavior? And, if Mr Feiner is his boss, why are they both not thrown out on their ears? Why can Mr Feiner offer an illegal lease to a private company without the Town having a clear title and pay no consequence for it? Finally, since Mr Feiner is concerned with the Fairview Fire Chief’s $200,000-plus salary, why has he remained silent about Mr Ross’ equally high $200,000-plus salary? Regardless of what is transpiring with the fire chief and the superintendent, both of whom are trained for their positions, they’ve never criticized Mr Feiner for the ratio of work-to-pay that he is paid.

The Fortress Bible Church discrimination case against Mr Feiner and the Town speaks volumes regarding their illegal activities and how they treat “some” people, while treating "others" much differently? Why does the populace, our willfully ignorant, not demand more from our elected officials? Why does the public tolerate Mr Feiner and the Town Board turning a blind eye toward discrimination and even practicing it? We’ve seen Mr Feiner and his Town Board selectively pick and choose which outrage they will focus on. Its a shame they will not simply do the right thing and unequivocally stand for what’s right. If and when they do, we’ll begin to see A Better Greenburgh.

Feiner To Use AAA Bond Rating - Mum As Costly Decision For Taxpayers Is Levied!

Many residents had repeatedly questioned Mr Feiner and his Town Board at their public meetings as to when they would inform taxpayers how much the fines for Mr Feiner’s Civil Rights violations of the Fortress Bible Church would be and would be made public? As usual, Mr Feiner issued the order of the day for his Board: remain silent. It’s this contempt that has caused many residents to throw up their hands in disgust and utter, “Why bother?” Why bother indeed. As you can see by reading the documents below, lying and dishonesty was in abundance as evident in their omission by silence. The taxpayers have a right to know what their elected officials are doing. These Greenburgh representatives seemed to have forgotten this fundamental point. That’s transparency.

Each time the public asked what was being done about the settlement and how much the Town would be forced to pay, Mr Feiner would matter-of-factly dismiss the questioning taxpayer by saying, “I’m not worried, the Town insurance will cover it.” When that statement was challenged, he would start espousing the Town’s AAA Bond Rating or ramble on about the benefits of mulching leaves, until Councilman Sheehan would interrupt and try to get their meeting back on their track. Mr Sheehan is less actively helping Mr Feiner keep his feet out of his mouth since being attacked by Mr Feiner during this past Democratic Primary.

On this Monday’s agenda will be the resolution to address the guilty verdicts by Mr Feiner and another of his previous Town Boards and paying the fines for them. The total is $6,500,000! Yes, $6.5 million. Taking a look online, you’ll find these two agenda items. If you click on the links we’ve provided, they should take you to the two documents listed under each agenda item. Or you can simply read them here.

A few key highlights in italics from the first document are:

“the Defendants had violated Section 2(a)(2) of RLUIPA, the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution, the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, the Free Exercise Clause of the New York Constitution, the Equal Protection Clause of the New York Constitution, and New York CPLR Article 78...” 

This is primarily the gist of the lawsuit that found Mr Feiner and a different one of his Town Boards guilty of violating the Constitutional rights of the Church and its members. The Fortress Bible Church is a church based in Mt Vernon, NY. Given this verdict, we can’t help but also think of the statement made by former Town Councilwoman Sonya Brown during her last March Town Board meeting. You may recall she said to Mr Feiner, on the record, that he instructed her and the other candidates running on his ticket not to campaign in the Fairview section of the Town because those voters were unintelligent and they’d be wasting their time campaigning there. It’s also when Mr Feiner decided she would be jettisoned from the Board, hence the term, “Sonya’d”. Then there’s the WestHelp debacle caused by Mr Feiner to remove the affordable housing from the Westchester Community College campus for Valhalla votes. Apparently, Mr Feiner is all for affordable housing as long as he can cluster it in Fairview and not Boulder Ridge, the gated community he lives in. These are compelling reasons to see Mr Feiner as he truly is, a racist!

“WHEREAS, the issues of damages and costs having not yet been determined, the parties to the lawsuit have been litigating the issues of damages and costs; and...”

Each time Mr Feiner and his Board were asked about any discussions regarding the guilty verdict fines, he shrugged them off. He even went so far as to say they haven’t had any discussions. ABG finds it difficult to accept since we have caught Mr Feiner in numerous lies  before. When Mr Lewis was asked the same question, his “attorney statement” was usually the same, “I can’t discuss an ongoing case.” While that would sort of make sense, each time it was brought up during a public meeting, the conditioned response from one of the Board members was to make a motion to adjourn to Executive Session to discuss personnel issues. Its amazing how open government works in Greenburgh.

“WHEREAS, after extensive settlement discussions,...”

So, each time the public queried Mr Feiner and his Town Board, and the public was given the “no answer answer”, Mr Feiner and his Board could have simply said we are meeting with the Church, courts, and our attorneys to work out an arrangement. Unfortunately, Mr Feiner was also found to not be a credible witness who could not be believed by the courts. Really? We’ve known this for years and it explains why we study everything he says and continue to endorse the G10.

“...all outstanding issues (damages, costs, and attorney fees) in the case for the payment of $6,500,000 (Six million, five hundred thousand dollars), with payment to be made in the following manner: (1) $1,000,000 to be paid by the Town’s principal insurance company before the end of December, 2013; (2) a payment by the Town of $2,250,000 on or before January 10, 2014; and (3) a payment by the Town of $3,250,000 by August 31, 2014, which will be made upon the receipt of the proceeds from the sale of bonds that the Town will be selling, in calendar year 2014, as part of its regular projected borrowing; and...”

Note that the insurance portion of the coverage Mr Feiner typically said would cover the fines actually will not. Ironically, then Supervisor challenger and Primary Candidate Robert Bernstein said while campaigning that the Town’s insurance would not cover the verdict’s fines. Mr Feiner claimed Mr Bernstein was lying. While Mr Bernstein lost the primary and subsequently could not run against Mr Feiner, it was he who was the candidate telling the truth, not Mr Feiner! So the Town insurance will pay roughly one sixth of the fines against the Town. Taxpayers will be forced to pay the rest for Mr Feiner’s racism. The good news is that the bonds the Town must now issue to cover the payments will be using the lowest interest rates possible because of the Towns AAA Bond Rating. Does everyone else feel that special tingle too?

AT 1 - 12/16/13
Resolution authorizing the Town Supervisor to enter into a settlement agreement with Fortress Bible Church, at a cost not to exceed $6,500,000

AT 2 - 12/16/13
Resolution authorizing the continued retention of Landman Corsi Ballaine & Ford, as counsel for insurance coverage issues related to the Fortress Bible Church matter, at a cost not to exceed an additional $15,000 without further authorization from the Town Board

ABG is sure Mr Feiner’s next Deflection Mode spin will be something akin to, “I’m proud of the Town’s great, triple-A bond rating. Because of it we’re able to issues bonds for these fines. I still believe the judge disliked me, which is why the Town is being forced into this judgement. Again, I’m just glad I didn’t get cau... Wait a minute, I did get caught. Umm, you know, the Town has maintained a triple-A bond rating for many years and was voted the 80th best place to live. Isn’t it great that so many people are mulching their leaves?”

It’s time for the Feiner devotees to seek a new leader, one with integrity, honesty and that believes in term limits and stop their blind endorsement of him and his illegal shenanigans. Then we will start to see A Better Greenburgh.

NAACP Continues Fight Against Feiner, Sends WestHelp Support Letter to Cuomo

Steeped in controversy, the housing facility known as WestHelp languishes while people in need of a home wallow in despair. There was controversy when the facility was proposed and ultimately built, as there still is now, many years later. Back in the day, it was so bad that the racist NIMBY’s in Valhalla fought the low income housing tooth and nail. It got so bad that residents in the Mayfair area of the Town threatened to secede from the Town of Greenburgh, and form their own village. And while the residents fought hard to stop the facility, then HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, now our governor, persevered and succeeded in getting the housing built. Tough love aside, the facility was erected on the campus of the Westchester Community College campus. 108 new apartments were then made available to people within the DSS system. Some were single women and others had kids. In the end, 108 families were living in their own apartments thanks to Andrew Cuomo (and others)! To keep Valhalla residents safe from the hoards of roaming single women from entering other neighborhoods, The Paul had a chain link fence installed, topped with barbed wire to contain them. Perhaps The Paul used the same company that installs fencing at our corrections facilities?

Between New York State and Westchester County, the housing was built and then the Town was assigned to collect rent from the County to the tune of $1.2 million dollars per year. Greenburgh has the Greenburgh Housing Authority whose function is to work with and maintain existing housing as well as those in need of housing. They currently maintain an active list of about 250 people in need of shelter.

Imagine everyone’s dismay once The Paul decided to not renew the housing contract with the County and cost the Town $1.2M per year! Many, including the G10, went to Town Board meetings and asked The Paul and his Town Board why he would not renew the lease. The Paul stated it was County Executive Andrew Spano’s fault. He said that Spano never sent a lease for him to sign. Residents quickly proved this was a lie! ABG has learned two Lease requests were sent to The Paul. Spano’s office claimed it was The Paul who didn’t respond. In a desperate attempt to cover his butt, The Paul then fabricated fake emails he claimed were sent to the County Executive requesting a lease. It’s shameful that not only would The Paul lie to everyone, but that he would fabricate emails to compound his lie.

Things were going well for Greenburgh while the County kept using WestHelp. But once they claimed to not need it as temporary low/no income housing facility, The Paul decided to break the lease and hatch a plan to get Valhalla votes. Whether this was done with or without a complicit Town Board is moot, as they went along and continue to go along with the charade. As mentioned earlier, the Greenburgh Housing Authority has clients that could have moved right in after the apartments had been vacated by the previously homeless women tenants. It would have almost halved their client list in need of a home! But this wasn’t part of The Paul’s grand vote-getting scheme. He wouldn’t be collecting any where near the rent he was getting from the County he needs to offset the year and a half loss relying on the Greenburgh Housing Authority.

There were two meetings hosted by the White Plains Chapter of the NAACP to discuss the WestHelp property and it’s fate with legislators and concerned citizens. We’ve written about this previously and won’t rehash what we’ve said before.  NAACP President Lena Anderson, has just sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo asking him to maintain the apartments. ABG has posted a copy of her letter below:

When everything is said and done, this is still a landlord/tenant issue. The fact that The Paul’s racism has been exposed, along with Rob Astorino, Michael Smith, Ned McCormack, Matt Richter, and media sap Phil Reisman (of the Journal News), doesn’t come as a surprise. The fact that so many other “leaders” would go along with it all, does surprise us. Actually, it disappoints us more than surprises us. ABG understands that the electorate has short memories. The Paul and the other politicians realize this too. They are assuming when the next election comes around that this will all be forgotten and they’ll get re-elected. Since that is what has happened for the last twenty years for The Paul, he figures he has a lock on being re-elected. ABG hopes not. Then again, we can only hope.

The 3R’s: Racism, Republicans, Reisman

There has been a synchronal campaign created and executed by The Paul before this upcoming election season. It focuses on vote-getting and re-electing several incumbents, namely The Paul (D), County Executive Rob Astorino (R), his Director of Communications political payback appointee Ned McCormack (R), County Legislator Michael Smith (R). In a minor power struggle are this year’s Greenburgh Town Board candidates, Diana “Sleepy” Juettner (D) and Francis “Back Pocket” Sheehan (R then D). And, in for a penny, in for an untold amount, is the Journal News as well as their featured columnist/employee/front man, Phil “Angry Man” Reisman. Another Astorino appointee to a “do nothing” position serving the FAS* Koolaid is Matt Richter (R), who will post the Ferncliff cause on Facebook and elsewhere. At least this is a non-partisan racist attack.

Once a week the listening public gets to hear the “Angry Man” from the Journal News, columnist Phil Reisman, on his WVOX low-intensity talk show. He received the “Angry Man” moniker from the Journal News years ago when the paper was trying to create some buzz about his column. His written words are usually more entertaining than his vocal ones, with monotone droning-on with topics of minor interest, proving why he is a better columnist than talk show host. This show was a discussion with two Ferncliff School representatives, a mother and daughter combination who apparently run, or are involved in teaching at the Ferncliff School.

Reisman has written several “columns” supporting The Paul’s racist and this long range, Valhalla vote-getting scheme. ABG believes The Paul purposely did not renew the WestHelp lease and intentionally let the 108 affordable housing units degrade. His plan is to destroy them by leaving windows and doors open in hopes of developing mold and mildew, animal damage and theft. So far, his strategy is working. The Paul is hoping to hand the County owned property over to Ferncliff in a coup for Valhalla votes. It’s a skewed plan as he thinks as the lessee he can turn the WestHelp property over to Ferncliff for use as they wish. While this plan may seem flawless in The Paul’s own warped mind, more rational Greenburgh residents know otherwise. Fortunately, they have fought this illegal and immoral attempt by The Paul. But the conspirator and his cohorts plot on.

Reisman spoke with the two women representing Ferncliff, Pat and her daughter Kristen, and collectively tried to paint their current circumstances as bleak, bordering on desperate with no hope in site. No hope except for the only one plot in Westchester County - WestHelp’s! They came upon the WestHelp site from a recommendation of an acquaintance. They again explained their facility is too small, too old and needs to be vacated post haste! Reisman at one point had the audacity to say that he was asking questions and trying to remain impartial. Could it be he’s taking lessons in lying from The Paul? He is anything but impartial or objective about this issue. He, under the wink and nod of his masters at the Journal News, supports and has written multiple “advertorials” on behalf of the Ferncliff School.

Two or three callers dialed into the one hour long show after the half hour break. Naturally, they were all unfamiliar with the property, The Paul, but knew that Ferncliff needs the WestHelp property. One even referred to the property as in Elmsford and another said he didn’t know where it was situated as he was from New Rochelle. Whether regular callers, “plants”, or concerned citizens, these calls seemed too contrived and sounded like a setup! Regardless, the smokescreen that The Paul and his commiserating crew have concocted is being believed by many.

Finally, the money-maker phone call got through: County Legislator Michael Smith (R), whose connection with the Mayfair-Knollwood School Board and their illegal use of illegal payments from The Paul have become somewhat of a bit of political lore in Greenburgh and now Westchester County.
As if nothing has transpired, Smith began his onslaught as to why Ferncliff should get this property. ABG won’t list the entirety of his call, but he did state that the existing housing was full of mold and mildew and uninhabitable. As such, the apartments need to be torn down. Simply, this is a lie. What he did not state was that The Paul’s recent RFP request for the property garnered six proposals. One was from Ferncliff. The other five were plausible senior and/or assisted living proposals that would combine some smaller apartments into larger units. Smith stated these units were all very small and couldn’t understand using them as apartments as they were the size of a dorm room. Obviously, Smith has never been homeless or even worked with homeless people. If he had, he would recognize that living and sleeping in a small single room apartment (even dorm) with a bathroom is much more preferable to a cot in a shelter or even a cardboard box outdoors. Although it is possible Smith has hurried by a box on a sidewalk no realizing there might have been a homeless person inside. Add in the responsibility of a child or two and his position becomes even more incomprehensible!

While speaking on behalf of Ferncliff, Smith, stated that “we can no longer bury these children away.” Nobody is saying we should bury anybody anywhere. However, it’s exactly what he and his cohorts are trying to do to the seniors and veterans in need of this existing housing. Smith, Astorino, McCormack, Reisman, Richter et al, are trying to disguise their racism while pretending to be helping another “less fortunate” group. Both groups are worthy of support and help. But pitting one against the other is morally reprehensible! The issue is that The Paul violated and broke the contract the Town had with the County. For that reason and that reason alone, the County must terminate the contract with the Town of Greenburgh and utilize the facility as intended - for low income housing!

It would be nice to pick and choose who moves next door to you, but you can’t. It would be nice if we had representatives who represented the neighborhoods and their interests. We don’t. Yet, Valhalla has a small group of NIMBY, racist politicians looking to do just that. They were unsuccessful in their attempts to block WestHelp when the HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo had them built – over a mile away from any other Valhalla homes or neighborhoods. They were able to ostracize these single mothers with children on an island-like campus with no ability to “escape”. Then The Paul had the Town pay to install a metal fence with a barbed wire topping, to “keep them in”. Unbelievable!

If The Paul, Astorino, Smith, The Journal News, Reisman and Richter wish to continue their illegal and immoral behavior, so be it. There are many others who are also interested in the outcome of this facility and helping the Ferncliff School find a location while maintaining the apartments for low income housing. In fact, County Executive candidate Ken Jones said that the County Board of Legislators is trying to help Ferncliff find another location even though they are a for-profit business.

The County has offered numerous sites to Ferncliff at numerous locations, which Ferncliff refused. There is also additional property on the Westchester Community College Campus that ABG is told can accommodate Ferncliff. Let’s see what Ferncliff’s answer will be. It seems like this is another Greenburgh fiasco induced by The Paul that will unfortunately end up in court. ABG would rather see it get worked out without going to court. Maybe we can offer sensitivity instruction to The Paul, Astorino, Smith, Richter and Reisman and hope it sinks in. We can only hope.

* Feiner-Astorino-Smith