We also recently wrote about the decision that Judge Susan Cacace rendered regarding the EIC petitions that Mr Feiner invalidated, forcing the EIC to sue the Town. This lawsuit was warranted as the residents’ rights were being violated by Mr Feiner and his Board. Had Mr Feiner not tried to politicize the EIC’s incorporation petition and done his job, or due diligence if you will, the taxpayers would not be saddled with additional court fees on top of the already unauthorized $50,000+ fees used to hire the retired judge. But this is Greenburgh, where the king can simple tax his serfs and announce, “Good news! The Town has a Aaa bond rating!” A face-value statement that plays well with the uninformed but really doesn’t much matter for the Town.
Now the latest political football to be dished out by Mr Feiner is that of class warfare between the EIC and what Mr Feiner claims is their bias against the Theodore D. Young Community Center (TDYCC). Having attended just about every EIC public meeting, ABG can attest to several facts: they have always been open to questions and provided answers when asked; have always said that they wish to continue supporting the TDYCC should incorporation go through; that they prefer to control their locales zoning destiny and that they are seeking to self-govern. In fact, the poor behavior Mr Feiner has exhibited during all of this has highlighted exactly why they seek to jettison their community from the Town and become a Village.
In an interview with Dave McKay Wilson, Mr Feiner said “…that some Edgemont residents, whom he declines to name, have complained to him for decades about paying property taxes to support the Town’s Theodore D. Young Community Center.” This is a typical ploy used by Mr Feiner when frankly, he’s got nothing to back his arguments. Another tactic is to throw out numbers that haven’t been calculated, vetted or studied with proof to back them.
The TDYCC is located in Fairview and provides social services and recreational and arts programs. The Finneran law was passed specifically for Greenburgh and requires that recreational programs be funded by property taxes from the town’s unincorporated area and user fees. The biggest problem with this is that the village residents can use them while Unincorporated residents cannot avail themselves of Village programs.
Mr Feiner also said, “One of the underlying reasons they want to incorporate is that Edgemont doesn’t want to pay what they’ve been paying for the Theodore Young Center,” Feiner told Tax Watch. “I’ve talked to people in Edgemont over the years. It has come up hundreds of times. And I think it’s a class issue."
Edgemont Incorporation Committee leader Jeff Sherwin said Feiner’s allegations were without merit. “He’s making baseless allegations, but referring to unknown people,” said Sherwin. “He did it to cover up a policy of more than 30 years that supports the very allegation he is making against us. It’s deplorable he'd make those allegations against his own residents without any data to support it.”
Couple this with Mr Feiner’s stranglehold over Democratic State Assemblyman Tom Abinanti, who is once again seeking to introduce legislation (along with State Senator Stewart-Cousins in the Senate) to steal Greenburgh residents rights to vote to help out his friend. In one of his classic moves, Abinanti tried introducing legislation at 3AM before the Albany break, to make the Town of Greenburgh Board the ONLY municipality in New York State with the power to reject the incorporation petition based on the adverse effect a new village might have on the Town.
You’ll recall Mr Abinanti asked Mr Feiner to not approve the Fortress Bible Church land use development in his backyard when he lived next to their recently purchased property. Mr “Not-In-My-Back-Yard” Abinanti subsequently moved to the Village of Tarrytown to enjoy the protections afforded that villages residents. Mr Feiner was subsequently sued and found guilty in federal court of lying under oath, destroying evidence and discrimination against a church! The fine for Mr Feiner accommodating Mr Abinanti was $6.5 million. Here’s a class issue if ever there were one! (Ironically, a total lack of class).
What Mr Feiner never mentions, except to say, “No!” is what can be done to offset the budget “crisis” that an Edgemont incorporation might bring. The EIC has consistently said they wish to contract services from the Town. Mr Feiner said, “No!” Residents have asked if the Board has come up with any contingencies should incorporation go through? “No!” At a Town Board meeting residents asked specific questions to see if the Board had sat down with the EIC? “No!” Asked why, Mr Jones parroted Mr Feiner saying the EIC is a non-legal entity and that’s why. Why not just stick out their tongues and say, “Na, na,na-na na!”
The Theodore D Young Community Center, perhaps a recreational center, perhaps not, has a $4 million budget. A successful Edgemont incorporation might affect its ability to operate as it currently does. Unfortunately, Mr Feiner is making it a political football as he did with the Greenburgh Town library. You’ll recall he withheld money to use as leverage over the library Board forcing its closure on weekends – the time when most kids who would need the library are available to go to it.
What Mr Feiner never mentions, except to say, “No!” is what can be done to offset the budget “crisis” that an Edgemont incorporation might bring. The EIC has consistently said they wish to contract services from the Town. Mr Feiner said, “No!” Residents have asked if the Board has come up with any contingencies should incorporation go through? “No!” At a Town Board meeting residents asked specific questions to see if the Board had sat down with the EIC? “No!” Asked why, Mr Jones parroted Mr Feiner saying the EIC is a non-legal entity and that’s why. Why not just stick out their tongues and say, “Na, na,na-na na!”
The Theodore D Young Community Center, perhaps a recreational center, perhaps not, has a $4 million budget. A successful Edgemont incorporation might affect its ability to operate as it currently does. Unfortunately, Mr Feiner is making it a political football as he did with the Greenburgh Town library. You’ll recall he withheld money to use as leverage over the library Board forcing its closure on weekends – the time when most kids who would need the library are available to go to it.
He’s doing that again with the TDYCC and trying to create a class war that isn’t real between two communities. Shame on him! We too are concerned about the negative effects on Unincorporated Greenburgh should the EIC prevail. Yet, we envy Edgemont’s ability to try to get out from under the horrible management of this administration. Edgemont is the first real crack in the Feiner infrastructure while Rome is burning. It needs to change town-wide, only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.
Your credibility is waning. The court has ruled in an unappealed decision the TDYCC is a recreation (and thus a Finneran facility). It is also a regional facility and should be funded in part by either Westchester County or NYS. It is flat out wrong to ask local property taxpayers to solve alleged social ills like cultural deprivation, a somewhat racist construct that claims that if you only have one 55 inch TV you are suffering (ok a bit of an exageration). And why does Greenburgh (or should we call it Redburgh) have two parks and rec departments? When ABG asks the hard questions and does some legwork and finds out what the TDYCC has accomplished in 50 years and why it needs its own department, then we will get a better ABG on our way to a better Greenburgh. In fact, a better Greenburgh is a smaller Greenburgh of accountable actors, not the comedy act we see on the clown board.
ReplyDeleteThey owned the land. Feiner illegally stalled the project leading to violation of their constitutional and other rights: result 5.5 Million dollars in damages paid by the taxpayers. The Judge found Feiner had a problem with telling the truth under oath. Was this racist? Perhaps not - this church was predominantly black but its denomination was opposed by mainstream black churches in the area. This is why we have a Constitution - to protect minority religions. This is an everlasting shame on the careers of Feiner and Juettner.
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