Town Edits-Out Incriminating News From Official Town Board Video Record

The schedule had been changed from the traditional Wednesday night Town Board meeting to Monday night. Yet, this Town Board meeting was uncharacteristically filled with residents from Unincorporated Greenburgh. In fact, the Town Board, fearing a loss of votes from the same residents, decided to change the agenda and jump right into the 3-minute public comment portion to placate them. ABG staffers had watched the meeting online while it was underway as well as conferred with attendees. Imagine our surprise when we went to the Town website to review the video – which is the official record of the Town’s meeting – only to find it had been altered and then removed! Why? Read on.

The first portion of the meeting was solely outraged resident after outraged resident complaining about a shooting range next to the new Toll Brothers’ Ardsley Chase development, which consists of about two dozen million dollar-plus new homes. In fact, there is a police investigation currently underway because a resident was apparently “hit” by a stray bullet fragment that is alleged to have originated from the firing range. The police investigation is underway and should provide all of the facts.

Frankly, as lifelong residents, no one in the ABG offices were even aware that there was a shooting range in Westchester beyond the Yonkers shooting range on McLean Avenue and at the Westchester County Police facility in Hawthorne. Ironically, one shooting range that has existed for years was mentioned under the chapel at Archbishop Stepinac HS. It has been dormant for years.

These residents were at the Town Board meeting to complain that this shooting range, supposedly a mile away, according to the Toll Brothers prospectus, was is in fact much closer. Back before the project was moving forward at full steam, Toll Brothers illegally removed the forest of poplar trees on their site for their project. They were fined, subsequently paid the fine, and then sold the same trees to a lumber mill for a significant profit, much more than the fines cost them. Those trees, along with other forest and shrubbery, provided a natural barrier between the shooting range and the rest of the then-uninterested world. Consolidated Edison, the property owner and landlord of the shooting range, also removed many trees in the area from their property. This reduced the sound and protective barrier that had existed for years.

During the Town Board Public Comment session, after many of the residents had spoken, former Town Supervisor candidate Robert Bernstein took to the podium. During his 3-minute time at the microphone, he stated that, “Toll Brothers knew they were building adjacent to a gun range. And, what many might not be aware of is that Toll Brothers was one the largest campaign contributors to Mr Feiner while their application was pending.” If you listen to the video below of Mr Bernstein, what he said in the live meeting was changed when he says, “...was one of the largest financial con...Toll Brothers application was pending.” The gap in the video was altered to remove the reference that Mr Bernstein made about Mr Feiner receiving campaign contributions from Toll Brothers while having applications before the Town!

Some might consider Mr Feiner’s financial acceptance of money from a developer to be a bribe or at the very least an unethical way to purchase approvals for various requests for their multi-million dollar development. They would be considered wrong, because this is Greenburgh, and its just part of “doing business” in our Town. Most developers know this. Most residents do not. Mr Feiner taking Toll Brother money while their application was pending is a matter of public record. Ironically, this is not the first time the Town’s public record has been altered for to cover up bad information. A fifteen-minute section of video with Theodore Young Community Center leader Bill Carter was removed and later restored after the G10 went on the offensive with the Town.

Mr Feiner accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Toll Brothers when the developer sought approval to build ttwo dozen luxury homes in what is now called Ardsley Chase. Its a subdivision next door to a live outdoor shooting range on Ardsley Road. Sadly, Mr Feiner pandered to this crowd and told him he would contact everyone ELSE and do everything he could to close or at least regulate this gun range, which has been here for about 41 years. He has just done about everything he will do for them. And, Toll Brothers got their approvals, Mr Feiner got his contributions for his campaign fund and the text of what Mr Bernstein said has not seen the light of day.

It’s a long time overdue for this Town Board and Supervisor to go. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.