Selective Racism Condoned By Supervisor

In our last post, the ABG team had decided it would be our last about the Fairview FD anti-semitism case. Good, bad, or indifferent, we felt it time to move on. According to the Greenburgh Update Facebook site, the Journal News screwed up with their information, saying they “erred”. The fact that they “erred” should warrant an apology to Chief LoGuidice for the pain, embarrassment and suffering he has had to unnecessarily endure! Instead, they buried a one sentence admission of their error in another article.

The allegations of anti-semitic slurs became publicized when the Journal News reported that retired firefighter Darryl Leak had testified in an unrelated age discrimination suit against the Fairview Fire District that Chief LoGiudice had made anti-Semitic comments toward Mr Feiner. However, we had taken issue with Deputy Chief Howard Reiss, himself Jewish, and his actions or inactions regarding anti-Semitism in the Department. Having based our information on the public information we had at the time, and subsequently learning that it was incorrect, we offer our apologies to Deputy Chief Reiss for assuming (we know and we did) that that information was correct. We know Deputy Chief Reiss to be a man of character and a stalwart public servant.

Allegations relating to the deposition that Fairview Fire Chief Anthony LoGiudice made “anti-Semitic slurs” against Town Supervisor Paul Feiner gave the appearance that Chief LoGiudice had lied under oath. He did not lie, especially under oath because he was never asked about any comments made about Mr Feiner. In speaking with the Chief, he admits he made comments in the past and has apologized for them to Mr Feiner in person and in a written statement. Mr Feiner, himself a Federally convicted liar and non-credible witness based on his guilty verdict in the Fortress Bible Church discrimination case, has been repeatedly quoted as saying the Chief’s apology is “a good first step.”

A good first step would be for Mr Feiner to practice what he preaches and show similar outrage in real cases of discrimination, anti-Semitism, hate speech and other violations of people’s rights. In an article of April 4th in the Scarsdale Inquirer, Mr Feiner is quoted as saying, “We cannot, as elected officials, allow discrimination to rear its ugly head.” Yet he 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. We understand that this refusal to the church would have directly benefitted his friend, now NYS Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti, who lived nearby.

In the April 8th edition of the Journal News, Mr Feiner’s quoted as saying, “This is the first time in my life I have ever personally experienced any form of anti-Semitism,” the 58-year-old Feiner said. “I just think we have to get people to reflect on how hurtful and wrong these types of comments are. It’s not acceptable for anyone to be saying things like this.” This is a bit difficult to stomach given his being found guilty of seven counts in the Fortress Bible Church guilty verdict.  He certainly knows how to say the right things, he’s just not capable of doing the right thing. Documents recently acquired by ABG indicate Mr Feiner has known about racism in Town Hall and chose to ignore it!

Below is an excerpt of a 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 also will forewarn you that the content may be considered disturbing. The letter of complaint was made against Greenburgh Town Assessor Edye McCarthy, and apparently ignored by Mr Feiner and ultimately swept under the rug by he and the Town Board, even after it was repeatedly brought up at Town Board meetings by others.

Here’s a portion of those comments from that letter:

This letter was submitted and cc’d to Mr Feiner. He chose to do nothing about the accusations to this day, even as he continues his double-standard attack against Chief LoGuidice. Instead of addressing Ms McCarthy’s racist comments at Town Hall, Mr Feiner must have believed if he ignored it, it would go away. His statement, quoted above, “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. Once he learned of this, why wasn’t Ms McCarthy disciplined or terminated from her position? Where was Mr Feiner’s outrage then and to some degree, now? Why didn’t he reach out to the ADL or the NAACP? Why wasn’t there the same public outcry and dare we say, mob mentality from Town Hall? Why has our Town Board remained silent?

Adding to this insulting behavior by Mr Feiner was another letter circulated during the Democratic Primary election this past year when Mr Feiner ran against Edgemont resident Robert Bernstein. The letter writer, Ms Doris Sassower, a White Plains resident and co-founder of the Center for Judicial Accountability of White Plains, was forced to go to court to challenge her City of White Plains tax assessment under White Plains Tax Assessor Edye McCarthy. The lawsuit she initiated went to the Supreme Court in White Plains where they rendered a decision in favor of Ms Sassower, finding that she had been discriminated against by Ms McCarthy!

Here is a copy of her letter that was written by Ms Sassower and distributed during the Democratic Primary:

ABG has maintained, as have others, that Mr Feiner’s continued attack of and refusal to accept Chief LoGuidice’s apology is purposely being perpetuated for Mr Feiner’s own political gain. There is a well-known double standard in effect in the Town of Greenburgh and it rears it’s ugly head time and again. Mr Feiner had an opportunity to address Ms McCarthy’s racism and bad behavior but chose not to. Why? Because there was no political cache in it for him. His latest use of the Greenburgh email list has been to deflect attention away from his failing administration and point the bloodhounds of misinformation away from himself. This time he chose to attack the Fire District, Fire Department and its people because he has no say over what they do and can hurl attacks unimpeded.

Greenburgh is a widely diverse Town. Why has Mr Feiner not addressed the racism within his own administration and with his appointed Department Head? 22 years IS enough. Only when Mr Feiner and his schemers and plotters are gone can we have A Better Greenburgh.