Abinanti Legislation Removes Greenburgh Residents Right To Vote - Again

There is no shame in politics. Mr Feiner proves that regularly. Now his Albany cohort and co-conspirator has re-introduced legislation hastily requested by Mr Feiner to remove the right of Greenburgh residents to vote should they desire to secede from the Town and incorporate as a village. This was brought about as Mr Feiner desperately tried to stop the Edgemont Incorporation Council (EIC) from succeeding.

At first, Mr Feiner played down the movement, believing it would never gain any traction. But this was big news and the lifetime supervisor was caught off guard as momentum and interest swelled. Mr Feiner wasn’t the only one against the incorporation. His Town board was most likely instructed by him to be against it as well, however Ken Jones was the only one who would speak openly against it.

When pushed at several community meetings as to why the Town leaders were not sitting down with the incorporation leaders to discuss contingency plans and the possible charging for services as presented by the incorporation proponents, Mr Feiner continued to say he didn’t believe the referendum would go through, should it come to that. He was convinced there would be no incorporation!

Next he took it upon himself to illegally hire a judge to be his scapegoat under the guise of providing advice on the ballot petition signatures to the tune of an unauthorized $50,000! His Town Board would later push through another $50,000 for the judge. On behalf of Mr Feiner, the judge engaged private investigators to go out into the Edgemont neighborhood with a new petition to get the incorporation petition signatories to sign which would unknowingly invalidate their original incorporation petition signatures! You can’t even find these kind of corruption twists in Hollywood!

Once exposed by a pro-incorporation resident’s home security/nanny-cam system, and the defecation began hitting the ventilation, Mr Feiner realized he could really lose this and decided to double-down. That’s when he reached out to his career politician friend, Assemblyman Abinanti* and asked him to push through legislation in Albany that would help him stop the incorporation. Probably a bit concerned about what he was being asked to do and his political future, Mr Abinanti was no doubt aware that former Town Councilwoman Sonya Brown had publicly stated at a Town Board meeting that Mr Feiner had told his running mates (her included) not to bother campaigning in Fairview because those residents were not intelligent. Could this come back to bite him? We’re sure if this did take place Mr Feiner instructed him not to worry and just do it.

So, once word on the street reached the Edgemont Incorporation Council (EIC), they decided to take a road trip to Albany. Once in Albany, they sought out Mr Abinanti who refused to meet with them! Phone calls and emails to other legislators were enough to slow the out-of-control Abinanti freight train from submitting the bill for a vote at one of the infamous 3AM votes. That bill, essentially the same as what’s being offered now, was to negatively affect Town of Greenburgh residents by taking away their right to vote for incorporation! Pressure mounted and the bill was withdrawn.

Like most diabolical plots hatched from the corner office, bad ideas and/or proposals don’t go away. Rather, they return repackaged as something different with the more objectionable portions sanitized and made to seem like a benefit to those about to get screwed. Such was the case with Mr Abinanti’s previous bill. First, while his original bill was Town of Greenburgh specific, the second one is for all Towns in New York State – with a voluntary “opt-in” by any Town government. Now, while most Towns throughout the state will not care about this, Mr Feiner will and will instruct his Town Board to opt-IN. So with a little massaging, one hurdle was eliminated. As an aside, no other legislator was willing to vote for the first iteration as most believe they shouldn’t be voting on what is considered Greenburgh’s home rule. Mr Abinanti obviously does not care about constituents, his own or those of other jurisdictions.

Next up in Mr Abinanti’s Eliminating Voter Right’s legislation are numerous roadblocks that force residents seeking to incorporate to perform numerous studies, which ironically the EIC had provided, among other requirements. But if one requirement is good, then two is better, and three is, well, you get the idea. The new bill is essentially the core of the hastily authored original bill. Although Mr Abinanti claims he is not attempting to affect the petition process or invalidate the Edgemont Incorporation Council petition, those in the trenches who have been following this entire process know this is too convoluted to believe. He has increased the number of steps, designed to wear-down those seeking incorporation, by putting numerous hurdles in the way.

Several requirement’s in the new bill are designed to make incorporation incredibly difficult and cumbersome for those seeking to incorporate. In the earlier version the Town Board would have had approval to authorize an incorporation referendum, under the guise of whether or not incorporation would have “significant impacts on the rest of the area.” This is blatantly specific to Edgemont! How do we know? It’s the  argument Mr Feiner has been making all along about Edgemont's incorporation. Huh? Still don’t see the setup? We believe Mr Feiner concocted the elements of Mr Abinanti’s bill that he would need and began the argument before the introduction of the bill so when the bill passes at 3AM in Albany, he’ll be able to continue his argument against it and say, “No!” to the EIC. 

This is similar to the sidewalk to no-where when the Stop and Shop on Rt 119 near the Marriott Hotel was proposed. No one understood why he was letting them build a sidewalk there, instead in front of the supermarket. Two years after the supermarket was built, he and his Board approved the Brightview Assisted Living facility to be built immediately behind the sidewalk. Who knew? Only Mr Feiner and his Boards...

Another requirement is that this updated version will change New York State law to include “group think,” providing the rest of a given town the ability to vote against a community’s incorporation. This is one of the key points Mr Feiner so desperately needs to thwart the Edgemont incorporation. Just like the referendum for the GameOn 365 “deal” that promised to hurt the Worthington Woodlands neighborhood should the referendum pass, Mr Feiner knew he could get his faithful followers to approve it – and they did.

So Mr Abinanti, well along into his professional career as a politician, also knows to mention certain buzzwords for those not in the know to think his concerns are genuine. He uses words like “fairest approach” and “require community impact statement.” This legal change, should it happen by June as he has planned is anything but fair. It takes away voting rights of some and allows them to be controlled by others. It heightens the argument in the book 1984. What’s next, meet us in the Ministry of Love’s Room 101? 

This legislation is nothing but a blatant attempt by Messrs Feiner and Abinanti to help Mr Feiner get his way and stop the Edgemont incorporation. It is wrong. Both of these politicians are proof of why term limits are so necessary. It’s time for them to go. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

* Mr Abinanti had lived near the Fortress Bible Church property that was purchased by the church with hopes of building a school and church for their congregation. We believe once Mr Feiner was found guilty of discrimination against the church, lying under oath and destroying evidence in a Federal trial among other charges, Mr Abinanti tried to distance himself from this by relocating his home to Pleasantville and office in Tarrytown.