Watching Your Rights Zoom Away

During the C-19 pandemic, more and more organizations have resorted to using conferencing applications such as GoToMeeting, WebEx, Skype, HangOuts, FaceTime or Zoom. Regardless of which one you’ve been forced to utilize whether for work, an organization you belong to or hanging out with friends and loved ones, the first broadcast usually starts with the moderator saying something akin to, “This is a new experience for most of us as we try to maintain some normalcy.”

The question that has arisen is to what extent should we, or could we, use these meetings (we’ll use Zoom as the defacto app) and how legal and binding are any decisions made during their use? Keep in mind we are not talking about family members or friends speaking amongst themselves. Fraternal organizations that hold Zoom meetings are able to discuss pertinent or time sensitive issues such as paying bills or taking actions that assist others in the community, such as checking up on elderly members, delivery of food and/or supplies to home-bound members.

But what of the Town Board or the School Board (or any official governmental Boards) using Zoom to make decisions. How binding are those decisions that are being rendered given the lack of community participation via online participation? While it’s certainly seductive for these conference call neophytes to use a new and unproven tool, is this really reliable or secure? For instance, in the part of Greenburgh that is referred to as North Elmsford, the Town Board is routinely green-lighting the desires of developers seeking to build a new ShopRite on the former Grand Union/Masters/UA Cinema location. They’ve already given enough of a nod to the developer to have them force all the tenants to vacate the shopping center space.

Still the bigger issue is that meetings held via Zoom, tremendously limits public participation in the requisite approval/disapproval process. Make no mistake, the Town Board has already decided to allow the project under threat from the developer that they will walk if they don’t get what they want! What? We are the residents, taxpayers and community. And, while we welcome a ShopRite in the community, we welcome it within the parameters that we want, what the community wants. At hand is the insistence by ShopRite to create/open an entrance off of Old Country Road, which parallels Orchard Lane, for tractor-trailer and smaller truck deliveries. This curb cut and traffic increase will definitively alter the traffic flow, congestion and quality of life for the residents already negatively impacted by 9A traffic at all hours of the day and night.

The issue warrants everyone who a) has an opinion about this significant change and b) would want to be heard regarding this, to be summarily disregarded, dismissed and disenfranchised by Mr Feiner and his Board as they choose to move the project forward via computer users only. This is illegal if the current laws mandate that the public participate with a Public Hearing which must be held for this proposal for everyone. Holding a Zoom public meeting illegally limits the decision to a handful of people who have computers and may know about this shifty and suspect move. We already know that Mr Feiner and his rubber stamp Board are always looking for ways to remove the residents from participation in Town events, but this gives them and entirely new and unencumbered way to do so!

The Town Board has already moved the ShopRite proposal forward, certified by the Town Board having already voted to approve a SEQRA Negative Declaration that indicates the ShopRite proposal will not have a negative environmental impact. Proof positive this is a done deal. The Sam’s Club fueling stations request is meeting a modicum amount of resistance. These two projects should be evaluated in tandem with each other as they flank both sides of 9A at a most congested area and promise to do more damage to an F-rated traffic zone!

Holding Zoom meetings or utilizing any other conferencing program during this pandemic can serve a purpose in the short-term. Taking advantage of a difficult situation to achieve an agenda does not. These actions to move Mr Feiner’s friends projects forward should not happen. But it will because this is Greenburgh. It’s time to get back to normal, but until we can, moratoriums should be placed on all projects whether underway or not. Salaries for all politicians should be reduced to $0, and not resumed until the public is back to work, at which point they be resumed, and not retroactively. We need the politicians to try to do the right thing by their constituents no matter how contemptuously they're being treated by them. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Instructions And Forms Concerning Taxes Due April 30th

County provided hardship chart

The Town has posted instructions and forms concerning the Town taxes which are due April 30th.
Within this article are 3 application forms which you can download or print for submission to the Town Tax Department seeking tax payment delays.

- Individual Taxpayer (Residential & Self Employed):

- Rental Property Taxpayer (Owner):

- Business Entity Taxpayer (Owner):

Completed forms must be mailed or emailed to the Tax office to Receiver@greenburghny.com or Tax Department, Town of Greenburgh, 177 Hillside Ave., Greenburgh, NY 10607

If you need assistance filling out the forms, please leave a message at 914-989-1550 or email us at receiver@greenburghny.com and someone will get back to you to assist you.

- Anne Povella, Receiver of Taxes

ABG is by no means endorsing, advocating or suggesting anything to any resident, business owner or taxpayer regarding payment or non-payment of taxes by offering this information.

Update of Information on Taxes Due April 30th

Hardship Conditions Will Enable Some Residents to Pay Taxes Late Without Penalty

The Governor signed an executive order allowing late payments without penalties till July 15 under certain circumstances (hardships, escrow account payments still must be paid, people have to qualify for STAR)

To have the fee waived, the resident or business must certify economic hardship caused by COVID-19. The threshold for the certification requires in part that a resident must have qualified for the STAR exemption, is not paying property taxes through an escrow account and can assert that they have suffered loss of substantial employment income as a result of COVID-19.

***Forms will be posted on town website.***

Reduced Penalties for All Residents
Town Board of the Town of Greenburgh hereby authorizes the Town Tax Receiver to accept payment of county and county district taxes, and town and town district taxes with late penalty fees reduced to .5% through May 30, 2020 and 1% through July 15, 2020 for those tax payers who do not meet criteria established by the Westchester County Executive for determining hardship due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Latimer With Regards To County Property Taxes

New York State Executive Order Allows Westchester County Executive George Latimer To Remove Property Tax Late Fees For County Residents And Businesses. Residents and businesses must demonstrate economic hardship caused by COVID-19, threshold will be set by the County and vetted by the towns and cities.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer received permission from Governor Andrew Cuomo to go forward with his plan to remove late fees for County residents and business for the late payment of their property taxes (New York State Executive Order No. 202.22). 

Latimer said: “I want to thank Gov. Cuomo for recognizing the need to help Westchester residents and businesses. I am concerned about the financial pressures that the residents of this County are under. We can, we should - and now, we are - offering them some financial relief by waiving the late payments for the County taxes now due. This is the right thing to do for our constituents.”

To provide assistance to the cities and towns that collect these taxes, the Executive Order allows for the County Executive to accept less than 60% of the taxes (along with special ad valorem levies and special assessments) due on May 25 from towns and cities, as long as the municipalities waive residents’ late fees for the late payment of property taxes up to July 15, 2020.

To have the fee waived, the resident or business must certify economic hardship caused by COVID-19. The threshold for the certification requires in part that a resident must have qualified for the STAR exemption, is not paying property taxes through an escrow account and can assert that they have suffered loss of substantial employment income as a result of COVID-19.

Late Tax Payments Carry Reduced Penalties

The County Board of Legislators approved legislation that will authorize towns to reduce the penalties they collect for taxes. These include town, county, fire district taxes (paid districts) due on April 30th. 

Isn't it interesting that the same government that shuts down our livelihoods by forcing businesses to close and people to stay home then still insists we pay our taxes on time? And if we don't, they're "willing" to reduce the penalties for not doing so! How magnanimous of them! Most people are not working because the government shut us down. Our taxes should be pro-rated during this time of quarantine and resumed without penalty when we are able to return to work with no penalties attached or catch-up payments necessary.

The Westchester County Board of Legislators approved that if you pay your taxes by April 30th there is no penalty. If you pay May 1 to May 31 the penalty is 0.5%, not 2%. It reduces late-payment penalties for taxes paid from June 1 to July 15 to 1% from 5%.. This was a compromise that the Board of Legislators and Westchester Town Supervisors Association agreed to. Towns are required by law to pay the county 100% of the taxes we collect whether we collect them or not. And, the law requires the towns to pay the taxes the entire tax bill owed by certain dates. 

Reduced penalties for late tax payments approved by County Board of Legislators

Heroes Work Here

In an effort to acknowledge the extraordinary effort that our healthcare workers in the County are making, the emergency services community paid a visit to the Westchester County Medical Center on Tuesday evening with apparatus, signs and masks!



Almost all of the participating rigs were staffed to capacity as they staged at the County Police Headquarters on Dana Road in Valhalla. With participation by many fire, police departments and ambulance corps, the mood was upbeat and almost jubilant as everyone prepared to begin one of the largest parades Westchester County has ever seen. 



So for about an hour or so, everyone on the front lines escaped the daily reality of the Coronavirus, social distancing, wearing masks, missing our friends, work colleagues, restaurants and favorite hangouts to pay tribute to the real heroes in all of this while driving under the American flag hoisted high by the Hawthorne and Elmsford Fire Departments’ aerial ladders.

County Warehouses Covid19-Positive Homeless With Healthcare Workers In Elmsford

We all know that the County Executive has said that keeping our healthcare workers safe keeps all County residents safe as they put their lives on the line to treat patients during the coronavirus pandemic. He also said, “I am proud of these efforts by the Westchester County Office of Tourism & Film and the Westchester Hotel Association to support those on the front lines.”

While it’s great to have housing for these workers provided for at area hotels, an alarming trend has developed. While the County is supplying housing for medical staff, they are also housing just-released homeless patients confirmed positive with Covid19! In fact, an entire wing of the Days Inn Hotel on Valley Avenue has been designated for only those just released. One nurse staying there was in disbelief when she learned of this.

The Village of Elmsford’s all-volunteer Fire Department operates the ambulance service for the Village. While standard precautions are always taken when dealing with infectious patients, it’s unfair to subject these valued first responders to the unnecessarily dangerous situation such as this. While everyone is entitled assistance when needed, the County should be contracting and staffing an ambulance service that can be used specifically for these patients.

Next, the County should remove all healthcare workers from this and any other hotel being used for Covid19-positive patients. In fact, we’ve learned that some of the cleaning staff are reluctant to enter these rooms, which will increase the intensity of contamination and chance of exposure and spread to others.

The County has set up five huge tents that are being built with rooms inside. We presume it is for Covid19 infected patients but have been unable to confirm this. If the tents are completed, why aren’t they being put there? Surely not every tent is still under construction and is ready to be used.

Happy Easter

Happy Quarantine Birthday to You, from the Elmsford Fire Department

APRIL 10, 2020 BY EXAMINER MEDIA

A party during a quarantine might sound like a bummer but birthday boys and girls in Elmsford are in for a treat.

Debuting tomorrow, Sat., Apr. 11 at 11 a.m., the Elmsford Fire Department will be spreading a little delight around the village.

“In thinking of bringing happiness to kids and families during this tough time, we’ve decided to bring joyful moments and celebrate kids’ birthdays,” Chief Nelson Diaz explained. “Residents in the village and fire district that signed up will be visited by the department and we will sing happy birthday to them.”

The special treat will continue every Saturday through April and into May. Lucky kids will also receive a small gift from the local heroes.

“We have several families that signed up,” Diaz explained. “…The department will drive by these family homes and bring them happiness…Please join us if you can participate.”

Celebrating Good Friday

Happy Passover

Passing Of Marianne Malone

Marianne Malone, a White Plains and Greenburgh resident, passed away on April 6, 2020 at the age of 65. She was born July 13, 1954 in White Plains to the late Muriel and Michael A. Kennedy Jr.

On March 8, 1980 she married Eugene J. Malone III at St. John the Evangelist Church in White Plains, NY.

Marianne was a housewife, mother and grandmother. She worked in Food Services at Westchester CC and was an Oversea Operator and motor pool clerk for AT&T in White Plains, NY. She was Past President and current Treasurer of the American Legion Auxilliary Post # 135, White Plains, NY.

She is survived by her husband Gene of White Plains, NY, her children; Eugene J. Malone IV of White Plains, Cathleen E. Schelling (Kevin) of White Plains and Patricia M. Malone (Dion Wilkerson) of Elmsford, her grandchildren; Michael, James and Brianna Schelling and Isaiah Wilkerson. Also surviving are her two sisters Patricia Nyikos (John) of Naples, Fl. And Diane Coldrick (David) of White Plains and 3 nephews and 1 niece.

Marianne was always a gracious and caring person to her family and friends. Marianne loved to help people in need, especially the senior citizens and underprivileged children. Also, never forgetting the Veterans of this Great Nation by helping and supporting their causes in many ways. Marianne will always be remembered as a True and Loyal friend, and her laughter and enjoyment of life will be missed.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Marianne’s memory to Wreaths across America, www.wreathsacrossamerica.org

Lies and Misdirection Continue From GCSD

Our Greenburgh Central School District just can’t seem to help itself. Between misdirection with maintenance of our schools, unnecessary evacuations of the mansion, investigations of Superintendent Chase, the firing of the old engineering firm and the hiring of a new one, promised dates missed for reports, attempted consolidation, a 3.96% tax increase to the 2020-21 budget, the Coronavirus cancellation of school and a waste of $300k to evacuate the Mansion, it’ll be a miracle if the public ever sees our dysfunctional school district function properly and actually educate our kids. Let’s dive in.

Consolidation

We’ve written about this extensively. About a year ago the Greenburgh Central School District (GCSD) Administration put forth a bond referendum in order to consolidate the multiple Greenburgh schools onto one campus. Effectually, they wanted to jettison the Highview School (Central Park Avenue behind Presser Park/Webb Field) and the RJ Bailey School on Hillside Avenue. The administration went to extremes to prove how dilapidated these structures were. Admittedly, there was some lack of maintenance and neglect with these buildings because we were told the Board made a conscious decision to allow the buildings to be neglected in order to not lay off teachers. 

When we began to dig into the numbers, based on the facts and figures we were fed, the numbers simply didn’t add up. We learned that we were being lied to by the administration when we pressed them to explain what the bond principle plus the interest would be. They continued to maintain it was only $114 million dollars even though the NYS Board of Education information showed the interest to be almost as great as the principle. The real figure would have exceeded $200 million dollars! The school administration planned to sell the two schools to offset the loan amount. They gave an inflated approximation of what each school should fetch in the open market. A commercial real estate broker even said at a meeting that these buildings, at best, might fetch up to $3 million dollars each – a far cry from the $10-12 million we were being told they were worth.

Maintenance

We’ve already mentioned the Board made a conscious decision to allow the buildings to be neglected to not lay off teachers. Perhaps we can give them the benefit of the doubt for trying to save jobs? However, money was always included in the budget for maintenance and repairs – just not enough for the serious work that needed to be done. Responsibility for the failure to accomplish the necessary repairs falls right into the lap of the long time Board of Education members specifically and the Board as a whole. Was their goal to allow the schools to degrade to such a point that they became uninhabitable? Yes, we know it was.

The community Bond referendum meetings were preceded with slick mailers and superfluous information from the District to all of the Unincorporated resident taxpayers. The first two meetings brought out many residents. There were also a large number of administration members and teachers with their children present who spoke in support of the consolidation. Then taxpayers starting asking hardball questions. When Superintendent Chase was unable to provide them good answers, she reverted back to, “Don’t we want the best for our kids?” Of course we do. That’s why we pay Dr. Chase a $250k salary plus benefits. While not an issue until now, many of us are now being hamstrung by the Coronavirus. Many residents have lost their jobs and are now faced with paying annual federal and state income, Town, fire AND school taxes. Thankfully they are not dealing with the huge tax increase that would have resulted from passing the bond!

Budget and Tax Increase

It’s becoming apparent that trying to sustain the $73 million expense to educate fewer than 1,600 K-12 students is becoming more and more unrealistic. The budget that was presented on February 27th called for a budget increase of 3.96% ($2,801,301). Funding this amount calls for a 4.25% tax increase. So, while Mr Feiner is bragging about having no tax increase this year for the Town residents, that success will be eliminated by the School budget if this proposed budget should pass. During these fiscally uncertain times, it’s imperative that the School Board reduce this year’s budget (through attrition and perhaps a hiring freeze), repair our buildings and make sure there is NO tax increase for residents. After all, with students scoring 35% in both English and Math skills, something is beyond amiss in the GCSD. 

The Sky Is Falling

After a 3-month summer hiatus and literally days before school was scheduled to start in September, Dr Chase ambushed us with the news that the Mansion was uninhabitable. She called for the immediate evacuation of the facility which houses the administration, maintenance, three Early Childhood Programs and a Special Needs classroom. The ECP and special needs classes were relocated to the Jackson School. A month later the administration employees were moved out. Not moved out were the maintenance people. Why would they be allowed to continue to work there if the building was unsafe? 

The School Board appeared to sit on their hands until January, finally bringing in a company to do an evaluation of the building (another expense). While we were told the damage was caused by roof leakage, no provisions were made to seal those areas with tarps or anything else. The Board finally hired BBS Architects, Landscape Architects and Engineers (BBS) to evaluate the Mansion and the groundskeeper’s residence. At the last Board meeting we learned the building was not in danger of collapse and with $869,000 of repairs, it would be safe to return. It turns out while moving the kids in order to be safe could be appropriate, moving everyone else for the cost of $300,000 was not. That money, which could have been used for maintenance and repairs, is gone. After wasting all that money, time and effort building a new suite for Superintendent Chase in the Woodlands High School can she and her staff actually be going back to the Mansion to work?

Where We Are Now

The Mansion will require $869,000 for repairs not including the roof. The roof will cost about $1.5 million. However, $1.3 million dollars had been set aside and already authorized to be expended for those repairs. We’d like to know what is causing the holdup? By the way, $1.3 million plus $300,000 dollars equals $1.6 million dollars. The $300,000 spent to move out of the mansion would have made up the necessary shortfall to repair the roof.

Currently there’s talk that after spending close to $300k to move everyone from the Mansion to the other schools on the Warburg Campus they didn’t actually all need to move. There’s also talk that the Administrative staff and Superintendent will move back into the Mansion as there was no risk of collapse as we had been told by Superintendent Chase. These are the kinds of actions and frankly lies that make the public distrust the Superintendent, the Administration and the Board. The kids in the classrooms will remain where they are currently located and Principle Matt Smith will get his office back from Dr Chase. Where was the Board during this knee-jerk reaction and why weren’t they controlling the narrative instead of the Superintendent? She works for them!

The Board is also required by law to hold public hearings for the budget. How and what will transpire with the budget approval process? Will hearing dates be allowed to change to accommodate its public hearing requirement and vote?

Another issue were the online accusations made against Superintendent Chase and Principal Smith. Several months ago, unidentified persons writing under the email monikers of Watchdog For Greenburgh, Greenburgh Free Press, and several others wrote to a group of residents and ABG alleging questionable or illegal activity by the Superintendent and Principal, (referencing several topics that we will not post as we could not verify or corroborate them). Our understanding is that an investigation took place by the School Board utilizing an outside agency that will not be shared because they are a “personnel matters”. Convenient.

With Coronavirus blanketing our neighborhoods, schools everywhere are closed. Budgets may not be voted upon or passed for various reasons and contingency budgets may need to be adopted. Our guess is that schools may not reopen this year. If they do, it will not be for the entire in-school season. Should this prediction come to fruition, repair work for the mansion should begin as soon as possible as it could take several months and the repairs can be done through the summer. If that’s not possible, repair what can be repaired and get these buildings back in good operational shape.

We’ll see you at the budget hearings – eventually.