Pandering With Feel Good Laws

Our County government is redundant in any direction you might look. There isn’t much we need or must have from it that warrants keeping it. We have federal, state and local laws passed to “protect” various constituencies. One must question if these levels of government really protect us, or are they simply another level of intrusion into our lives, pandering to special interests? Recently, Planned Parenthood pushed County Legislators to introduce County-level legislation to ban anti-abortion protesters from being within 200 feet of an abortion clinic, or making contact with a girl seeking an abortion. Before getting too excited, whether you are pro-abortion or pro-life, that’s not what this post is about. It’s about needs. Why would the County legislators feel the need to create and/or pass legislation such as this? They’re pandering for votes, similar to trolling for fish, in their districts hoping to get a “bite”.

Federal and New York State laws already exist limiting how close anti-abortionists can get to an abortion clinic. It’s 200 feet. You may be aware of the Planned Parenthood facility on Rt 119, directly across from the Greenburgh Police Station parking lot on Rt 119 that is mostly used when court is in session. Nestled back from the roadway, its not widely realized that it is there – unless you are seeking an abortion or to protest. On occasion, you will see protestors on the same side of the street as the facility, east of the I-287 bridge exit ramp with protest signs. So abortion, as well as anti-abortion, does exist here Greenburgh.

The point is, the anti-abortion protesters are following the laws that exist and staying 200 ft away from the abortion clinic. Why does the County need another law, duplicating what already exists? Because County Legislators can get publicity from it and add the number to their “look what I’ve done” scorecard. They are pandering to the pro-abortionists with another law we simply don’t need. Protagonists insist it closes a gap in the law at a County level. What gap? If nothing else, it highlights that a County legislator missed the opportunity to take a NY State law, use their word processing program to do a Search & Replace with the words “State” with “County” and introduce this as their County bill, pandering to the pro-abortion groups. By the way, County Executive Astorino vetoed this bill because it was redundant to existing laws.

We found the County passing several other “feel good” laws within the last two years or so. The intent of the laws may be valid but the result is more non-enforcable legislation that will dies a quick death and becomes forgotten legislation until election time, when we start receiving the cavalcade of mailings, robo-calls and lawn signs, espousing the “great” job the politico’s have done for us. The only time we ever really hear from our elected officials is when they want to get re-elected. Cha-ching!

This past year found the County government jumping on the “anti-texting” bandwagon by creating a law that is against texting while driving. Did it stop texting? No. Did it reduce texting? No. Going forward, will a ticket ever be written for texting while driving? Maybe. Once an accident has occurred, the police can look at a phone and see if it was being used for texting and issue a ticket. At that point, what’s the point? The accident has already happened and the lesson was better learned by example. We just hope nobody gets seriously injured or killed. Actually, most traffic regulations already prohibit distracted driving. So, whether you are texting, drinking a beverage, doing your makeup, shaving, tuning your radio or having a hands-free phone conversation, you are already breaking the law. That’s right. There are already laws on the books about distracted driving. Why introduce another law for the same thing? It’s not about the need for a new law, it’s about pandering to a new group of voters, of course.

Last year the County entered the environmental brouhaha by creating and passing a law prohibiting vehicular idling for more than three (3) minutes. Pandering in its purist form. Tickets written? None. Most vehicles that pull up to a drive-through window, will wait longer than three minutes to pickup their order from the takeout window. In fact, in Fulton Park, the former deli, now closed for over two years, has petitioned the Town for numerous variances, increasing the impervious space and actually asking for an endorsement to violate of the three-minute idle law. The Town Zoning Board of Appeals is poised to grant it. Stopping vehicles from idling past 3 minutes may be a lofty goal but it is not a realistic one. When a driver pulls up to a store to “run in” and purchase a lottery ticket, their car is left idling longer than three minutes. That’s what the law might seek to limit. Forget about someone stealing the car that was left running with the keys in it.

Most diesel vehicles used to have a more difficult time starting after they were turned off, which explains why many are left running while the driver makes a delivery or “runs in” to buy a lottery ticket. So who and what exactly was this law written for? Certainly not the delivery people, such as the bread, soda or snack vendor making a delivery. School buses? Possibly. When there is an school event at the County Center, a litany of school buses can be seen in the County Center parking lots, on the side streets such as Old Kensico and County Center Roads. These buses may or may not be idling. But who is issuing tickets? Greenburgh Police say its White Plains Police’s territory, White Plains Police say its Greenburgh Police’s territory and the County, who wrote the law always says there are no officers available to investigate. Mostly because they’re getting time-and-a-half overtime directing traffic in front of the County Center. One ABG staffer questioned the three minute idle, concerned that when the school buses are getting warmed up in the morning to go make their runs picking up students they run even longer. Does this count? Nope, after all, we do it for the kids.

After the Columbine and Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, legislators jumped on the bandwagon to create more gun control laws in hopes of never experiencing more unnecessary school violence such as these two shootings. We only highlight these two shootings, knowing there have been more. Was this a knee-jerk reaction to a horrific event than a rational, well thought-out and planned objective? Obviously, no one wants to see anyone killed or injured by shootings, especially children. But taxing everything to be more expensive is not the answer. All that accomplishes is penalizing law abiding citizens. We don’t outlaw or raise taxes on gasoline because car accidents kill people. Having “gun-free” zones in school neighborhoods may feel good, but it just tells a shooter they will meet no resistance. So all the laws enacted under the heavy-handed guise of improving things rarely works. But it feels good.

We have enough laws, regulations, fees, mandates, controls and over-saturation at local, county, state and federal levels. Writing more laws to fill a small, albeit minuscule gap that may exist will give a politicians a feel good moment they will take advantage of during their next re-election campaign. It will also allow them to provide a mailing update (campaign), highlighting the great work they are doing for us, even though the law may never be enforced. What would be more advantageous for all of us would be for politicians to follow the laws already on the books. And, if they fail to do so, find themselves being investigated and removed from office. Greenburgh might be a good place for that to start. Then will might begin to see A Better Greenburgh.

Learn from The Boy Scouts

This is a different and smaller than usual post. With all the Albany and Washington fatigue residents are feeling, heightened by the media hype between Rob Astorino and Noam Bramson, we decided to veer away from Greenburgh and check out the new Health Care situation by visiting the New York State website and see “what’s what”. Interestingly, we could not access the website and received an error when attempting to do so. The site was down because there were too many “hits” to the server. For those who might be interested, the site we attempted to access is:
http://info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov/

The other hype is that the federal government was to shut down because Washington legislators couldn’t reach an agreement to keep the government running. Interesting, again, we have not had a passed budget for several years now and all of our collective politicians have been doing everything but their jobs! They continue to kick every can down the road and ignore the will of the people. Pass a budget. It’s grotesque to think that not only do they not do their jobs and increase the political divide through partisanship, but its equally insulting to taxpayers when they campaign about their ability to “work across the isle” and then do just the opposite! What’s also insulting in the “willful ignorance” most voters maintain about all issues and then simply re-elect these same legislators. The government shuts down every weekend. Maybe this shut down won’t be that bad. We’ll never know because the hyperbole from these same politicians and endorsed by the media will never give us a clear picture.

Locally, we’ve witnessed Mr Feiner, recently found guilty (again) of having unfairly said and printed lies about his Democratic Primary opponent, Bob Bernstein. His behavior in general is abominable between the lies he continually makes, the back room deals he partakes in along with secret meetings. Then, as though nothing is amiss, he’ll lie about Greenburgh’s open government. His most recent scramble to get in front of a screw up was when a resident found information left out on a table in the main auditorium detailing approximately $22M in outstanding taxes to the Town. Conversely, Mr Feiner has cost the Town approximately the same amount of money in lawsuits, guilty verdicts and bad and/or illegal actions on his part. So, in a mad scramble to cover this up, Mr Feiner announced a tax amnesty program. See our previous post for more information.

We need to be better prepared with honest politicians, whether we vote them into office or they coast back into the position unchallenged. Government can learn from the Boy Scouts, whose saying says it best, “Be Prepared.” Political change needs to start at the local level and then progress up to County, State, and the Federal levels. These are not the actions of leaders! The public must be engaged and willing to lose good representatives by instituting term limits. ABG believes Greenburgh will be a perfect place to start. If we do this as a long term project, we will get A Better Greenburgh = A Better County = A Better State = A Better Federal government, truly representative of the people!

“Campaign Mailing” and Beautification

Mr Feiner recently sent out another campaign mailing under the guise of touting action that is needed to improve the former WestHelp property on the Westchester Community College campus in the Valhalla portion of the Town of Greenburgh. Had Mr Feiner simply renewed the contract with the County for the WestHelp facility when former County Executive Andrew Spano requested it, the Town would still be reaping $1.2 million per year. But Mr Feiner decided not to renew the contract to gain favor (re: purchase votes) from the Valhalla residents in this election and several key Republican politicians. He knew he would be running against someone in the upcoming election, but couldn’t know who. His formidable opponent this year is Mr Robert “Bob” Bernstein, a resident of Edgemont, an attorney and civic leader who has beaten Mr Feiner in other venues.

Mr Feiner sounded nervous during his acceptance speech at the Democratic Nominating meeting held for free at the Greenburgh Town Hall. In accepting the nomination, he proceeded to state that he welcomed the competition and that this was democracy in action and he looked forward to the campaign with Mr Bernstein.

Separately, this is not the first time democrats have been allowed to utilize Town Hall as Mr Feiner’s personal resources at no charge, but never availed to the republicans at no charge. This all-democratic administration obviously has its perks! Another perk he does enjoy is that of being able to lie to the public and have the mainstream media regurgitate it verbatim.

Almost immediately afterwards, during the campaign ballot signature acquisition period, he challenged the signatures submitted by Mr Bernstein for Supervisor, Mr Sheehan for Town Council and Ms Fantauzzi’s for Town Clerk as fraudulent, as well as Mr Sheehan’s residency as fraudulent. The case was thrown out of court after three day of courtroom melodrama by Mr Feiner and his counsel Assemblyman Abinanti, Mr Feiner shrugged off the loss stating he was looking forward to the competition. If he were looking forward to the competition, why the court action?

Mr Feiner’s flawed decision to not renew the County’s WestHelp contract for $1.2 million per year, which would have guaranteed the Town 10-years worth of income for little if any effort, affects more than just our bottom line. The 100+ units of housing that was championed by our now-Governor and then-HUD Housing Chairman Andrew Cuomo(D), was slated to transform from affordable/subsidized housing for the homeless into affordable/subsidized housing for seniors.

Regardless of whether it was subsidized housing or not, the need for it and its usefulness has never diminished. Mr Feiner determined that the Town should not renew the contract. Not the Board, not the Greenburgh Housing Authority, not the County and certainly not the State. And now that the State has finally said “No” to Mr Feiner’s folly to sell the County property the Town doesn’t own to the Ferncliff School of Yonkers, Mr Feiner awarded the property through a falsified bid to an upstart company named MRH. Then he attempted to accuse the public, especially the G10, of bid-rigging. Bid-rigging cannot happen from the public or Mr Feiner’s critics. It will usually have to happen between politicians who set the parameters of the bid and bidders.

Mr Feiner’s letter claims the fire department’s recommendations to increase the paved space to make access of emergency (fire) vehicles more effective is going to ruin the look of the facility. He also claims these are expensive changes. What will the cost be is conveniently not mentioned. Would it be under $1.2 million? Apparently the lives of seniors in their sunset years are not as important as trying to save them in the event of an emergency. His claim that implementing these changes will make the housing less desirable because of the removal of the grass in this “stunning environment” is absurd. The fire department proposal setting senior residents’ safety as paramount should take preference over the look of the facility. His argument to keep the good-looking facility the way it is is amazingly short-sighted, risky to the lives of those living there, and contrary to his actions taken with almost every other project. How so you ask?

When Westhab purchased the property at 22 Tarrytown Road with county, state and federal funding, they requested variances for the setback, seeking to build literally from the curb to the respective edges of the property. To ensure approval of this variance, they promised a green roof in place of the resulting less porous area. Mr Feiner could not approve their request fast enough! Residents clamored about the safety of a recreational green roof, the increased impervious space and flood water runoff. Mr Feiner did not flinch and illogically supported their proposal. When Brightview Assisted Living sought to do the same thing, again Mr Feiner was first in line. The list continues as Mr Feiner chooses whichever side will garner him more votes. It must stop!

WestHelp will eventually begin to change as MRH moves to begin implementing the contract with the Town that they got by lying on their bid application to the Town. Lying seems to be a hallmark of the Feiner Administration. The lies that germinate from the Town’s administration changes as quickly as the headlines do. The public never seems to remember and whatever the Supervisor says must be true. This behavior is finally catching up with the Mr Feiner.

“Would you prefer to live in a campus environment-with beautiful gardens and lawns? Or, would you want to live in an apartment complex that is paved over? We want the parking placed a short distance from the current WESTHELP campus.” Generally, so do we. But we refuse to stay with the status quo while risking the lives of the residents there! If the alternative is being homeless, we’re pretty sure most people will be happy to walk across the paved lot and enjoy the view of the woods some 50 feet away. Drop this facade Mr Feiner and work on undoing the damage done by you and your administration.

While Mr Feiner continues to show interest in green space, solar energy, shutting down Indian Point, saving the TZ bridge, biking to Timbuktu and the like, he should be spending his time administering the Town’s government. He has spent 22-years not doing that and it is why we find ourselves with convoluted regulations, fees and fines against businesses that are increasing the For Sale and For Rent signs throughout the Town. Our businesses need a business-friendly environment. Once we have this, the exodus from Greenburgh will ebb. We need real tax relief for our residents to slow and stop their exodus. We need our infrastructure updated and modernized. We need flooding addressed Town-wide. The list goes on. Speaking of exoduses, it’s time for the Democratic portion of the electorate to make an important decision regarding an exodus on September 10. Please come out and vote. We need A Better Greenburgh.

Fear of Flooding Makes Fighting HUD Difficult

The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lawsuit and settlement by former County Executive Andy Spano, has two, maybe three distinct camps whose feelings are absolute. One camp has people vehemently against the settlement, stating it’s a matter of economics that has segregated our neighborhoods; the other camp is in agreement with the settlement and feel there is housing discrimination against certain people of the lower income scale. Finally, there are those who have no clue about the settlement and insist on keeping their proverbial heads in the sand regardless of how it may affect them. Even though this group is a significant one, they are rarely involved and are easy and unwitting prey for the likes of politicians such as Mr Feiner and their schemes, lies and trickery.

This post is not about those groups of people. Rather, its about a splinter group which maintains the land usage in their community is “maxed” out, with no appreciable land onto which they could even build affordable housing. Per the HUD settlement between then Democratic County Executive Andrew Spano and the federal government, Westchester County agreed to participate in the building of 750 affordable housing units in what has been referred to as “white” communities. ABG believes the color is wrong. They should be referred to as “green” communities – segregated only by the ability to afford the housing prices and more importantly the ever-growing taxes in those communities. Simply because someone wants to live somewhere but cannot afford to do so does not constitute discrimination.

The Village of Scarsdale is already congested with existing buildings and claims little to no developable space throughout the village. Regardless of the amount of units mandated by HUD for the Village to construct, the rallying cry has always been, “We have no room to build any affordable housing units.” Whether the assumption of this statement is correct or not, whether the residents who would move into these apartments could afford to live in Scarsdale or not, and whether their children would be ostracized in school for not being able to “keep up with the Jones” or not seems immaterial to the federal government.

The federal monitor only wants units built. The federal government wants Westchester County to supersede local zoning to be able to force localities to build where they see fit. New York State is a home rule state which allows individual communities to determine their destiny. But the federal monitor doesn’t care as these communities took HUD monies and now they want payback. They will probably win by shear size in another case of “might makes right”. And you thought you finally outgrew the school yard bullying syndrome?

Scarsdale is not the only community making the “no room” argument. Yet, Scarsdale with the others, continue to entertain new buildings proposals, new designs and ultimately new buildings to be built. The Town of Greenburgh, ghettoized by Paul Feiner during his 22-year reign, was allowed to be exempted from having to add more affordable housing units. One down side to Mr Feiner’s affordable housing ghettoization that is witnessed in the Fairview area is that businesses are not able to be supported by the residents, close their doors and leave or are driven out by continued crime either directly or from the surrounding area. In the Manhattan Avenue area of Fairview for instance, Caldor’s closed their doors, the A&P closed theirs and this past week Lash Kia across the street closed as well. The deli one block away had a murder committed in it a while back and the apartment buildings have gangs, guns, prostitution and drug activity. Not very inviting and to the general public, a good place to stay far away from. But’s it’s acceptable according to Mr Feiner because he’s been able to control it to one area of the Town and keep it out of the others. That’s what wrong with the settlement’s “pass” for Greenburgh.

Back in Scarsdale, the KOS Building Group, is working with others to gain a six-lot subdivision in an 8-acre site at Cushman, Garden and Woodland roads. The Church of St. Pius X in a bid to renovate classrooms and create a new sanctuary entrance with other expansions, sought and received site plan approval for a house at 2 Brittany Close, a lot created as a result of a cluster subdivision. Two existing houses, at 119 Cushman and 1 Woodland, are slated for demolition. A subsequent subdivision will create four new lots and result in a net gain of two houses. Another two-lot subdivision that would create four new lots at 2 Ogden Road was on the agenda but removed and held over. Two more lots are adjacent to area wetlands were the property buffers the wetlands into the neighborhood. The argument of no space in Scarsdale doesn’t really hold water (pun intended). And that seems to be the various Scarsdale neighborhood’s argument against the increased housing: flooding. Just as is seen in the Fulton Park area with the Bronx River and the Saw Mill River area throughout the opposite side of Greenburgh, nothing is being done to alleviate the flooding for those people while Mr Feiner routinely “green lights” every developer’s proposal.

ABG is not saying Scarsdale (or any other community) should be required to build affordable housing. Greenburgh has mandated 10% of all new housing be required to include affordable housing, we’re just not sure this as a viable solution toward increasing housing options throughout any of our communities. Just having affordable housing, utilizing either DSS (welfare) to pay for the housing or Section 8, where the low wage worker/resident pays up to 30% of their income toward housing and then the balance is subsidized again by DSS (welfare), continues to perpetuate dependencies and never-getting-out-from-under government assistance syndrome.

But the argument that there is no room to build in a community, this time easily exemplified by Scarsdale’s own actions, makes it difficult to say, “No” to HUD and be convincing. Other communities are suffering from the same lack of room problem as well as other issues. In northern Westchester, ABG is told that much of the land which readily appears available is actually considered watershed property that is part of the ecosystem that supplies water to the New York City region. Simply saying there is developable land there just isn’t so. Current County Executive Rob Astorino has been fighting the HUD monitor tooth and nail. We think some of his arguments may be a bit extreme and are election scare tactics. However, it is good that someone is standing up to the schoolyard bully known as HUD, even if for the wrong reasons.

Greenburgh News Blackout

We reported the official announcement of Robert “Bob” Bernstein’s candidacy for Greenburgh Town Supervisor in our previous post. There were numerous members of the press in attendance. Amazingly, in our 24-7-365, internet enabled, nobody sleeps society, ABG was the only one to report this. And, we did it last night, almost immediately after his announcement. Why haven’t the other media outlets reported this?

It is well understood that the media is not only friendly to Mr Feiner, but they couldn’t offer him better coverage if he was their owner and publisher! The Journal News, a daily newspaper with the corresponding Lohud.com website, usually posts breaking news and follows it with a story in the paper. Greg Shillinglaw, a reporter from the Journal News, was at the announcement. So were reporters from the Scarsdale Inquirer and the Greenburgh Daily Voice, neither of which published the announcement. In all fairness to the Scarsdale Inquirer, they are a weekly newspaper that goes to press on Wednesday, is delivered on Thursday. So, we understand they may not have a published story. But they do have a minor presence with a shell of a website that could have had a small story posted.

Another interesting point that we touched on was the need to have a police presence at the abandoned site. With about a hundred or so people in attendance, most car pooled and parked next door in the lot that divides the former Franks parking lot and the driving range’s parking lot. When Mr Feiner held his press-conference there a week earlier, he had no issue with unlocking the gate, letting people in and utilizing the police for protection. Quite the double-standard!

It is also well known that Mr Feiner will not get much, if any, negative press for anything he does that’s wrong – except from Mr Dave Wilson of Tax Watch fame, a writer with the Journal News. Wilson has gone after Mr Feiner’s lease-busting, racist deal with County Legislator Michael Smith, formerly the President of the Valhalla School Board, who fought to secede from Greenburgh rather than allow the 108 affordable apartments be built on the Westchester Community College campus. While Mr Astorino, Mr McCormack, Mr Smith and others have supported Mr Feiner’s efforts to tear down the sight, and eliminate low income housing, the state saw fit to keep it as intended: for housing.

Bob Bernstein is a former President of the Edgemont Community Council and, maintains in part, the ECC website. We are not affiliated although we share a number of common goals. Regardless of whether the news blackout is legitimate or simply that several reporters banged in sick last night, we’re disappointed they chose to go down this road. We also realize that like the Town Board who refuses to answer questions raised by residents, they are just as guilty by omission. We will keep the information flowing to our loyal readers.

What do we want in our Town? You’ll have a chance to decide.

No Smoke, No Mirrors, No Breaks

We’ve been treated poorly. Yet, we’ve waited. We’ve hoped. We’ve cajoled, complained and practically begged – all to no avail. We’ve hoped to learn what the criteria was as the Town Board routinely stated they were doing the “due diligence” regarding the WestHelp property that had provided a $1.2M annual “gift” to the Town. The Paul made a non-public decision to not renew the lease. Then he insisted it was the former Westchester County Executive’s decision, not his. Several phony emails later, it was shown to be The Paul who in fact refused to renew the lease, not the County Executive.

The implementation of the covert WestHelp plan from The Paul, aka “Mr. Open Government” with his media buddies, was underway. He had “someone” leave doors and windows of the facility kept open to allow the site to be pillaged of appliances, piping and other components. It also increased the likelihood that mold, animal infestation and weather would further degrade the facility. But for what reason? Once WestHelp ceased to use the facility, The Paul lost the  $1.2M annual golden goose and knew he needed to replace it. Money woes in the Town continue spiraling out of control for The Paul. On top of the lost WestHelp $1.2M annual payments, there was the Fortress Bible Church guilty decision, reaffirmed by an appeals court that could cost The Town upwards of $8M. There was the $4M water department deficit, the “windfall” of returned monies from the Valhalla School District for illegal payments The Paul and his Board made yearly are a drop in the proverbial bucket. And where was his complicit Stepford Board? Nowhere to be found unless they were rubber-stamping all of The Paul’s actions!

The latest move by The Paul and his Board is during almost every meeting, someone will make a motion to adjourn to “Executive Session” so they can collude unimpeded and get out from under the scrutiny of the public eye. The G10 performs the watchdog function long ago abandoned by the media as its members attend various meetings held at different times and locations throughout each day. As they report back we can’t always learn of the misaligned decisions the Board has made due to secrecy. They seemingly violate laws as well as the public trust, and we’re made aware only after it appears on a Town agenda. For a Town administration that espouses open government, there surely seems to be an inordinate amount of secret meetings and decisions taking place.

One decision that was asked about over and over again was the criteria being used in seeking investors for the former Frank’s Nursery property, the WestHelp property, the Brightview Assisted Living property, the Eastview (former Union Carbide) property and others. We’ve received shrugged shoulders and silence to our questions. Franks’s Nursery’s property is contaminated with numerous pollutants, oil and debris (underground). The Paul tried to illegally lease the property to GameOn 365. When the project met resistance from residents, he “offered” it for a referendum at the upcoming election. The referendum passed. A lawsuit followed because the referendum was illegal and he withdrew the lease. Legally, the Town must sell the property. To bolster his desire to give the property to his favored vendor, GameOn 365, he had an appraisal done by a firm that does other work for the Town. The appraisal came in at the exact amount of money GameOn 365 had proposed to pay for the property! Ironically, Elm Street Sports, which operates the House of Sports in Ardsley, has offered roughly double for the property. The Paul is doing whatever he can to stall the higher bid as it does not include GameOn 365.

The property at Eastview has been undergoing constant expansion in the last several years. During all of this expansion there has been no attention paid to the flooding this will cause south of the site. The Rt 9A corridor floods with any steady or significant rain storms now as the Saw Mill River quickly overflows it’s boundaries. It wreaks havoc on the residents and businesses that parallel the river. The Paul made a big deal of cleaning out the river once a Village of Elmsford trustee mades arrangements to do so. The Paul has been asked to do the same thing for the Greenburgh residents along the Bronx River. As with most Fairview needs and no news crews present, The Paul does nothing.

The WestHelp income of $1.2M annually is forever gone for the Town. The Paul had a plan to buy the votes of the Valhalla people by removing those pesky low-income, single, female parents with children that lived there, endearing himself with those voters. He proposed putting a self-contained developmentally disabled school in the space. Funded by New York State, the state said, “No!” A side benefit for The Paul would be to charm the county’s Republicans Rob Astorino, Michael Smith, Ned McCormack and others. This would be a win-win for The Paul. Shady operations? Racism? Sure, but The Paul knows he’s guaranteed to win re-election as there are no democrats strong enough to challenge him from within the party and the republicans have written off the Town of Greenburgh as forever blue!

This morning’s work session promises to raise the Town-wide use of Tums for many residents. Slated to begin at 9:30AM, we’re sure a 10AM start is more realistic. Today is the day The Paul has promised to pick a developer for the WestHelp property. There are several deals being offered and what we don’t know are the deals being made behind closed doors. Town Attorney Tim “Remediation” Lewis has claimed it wasn’t fair for the Board to disclose information to the public because these were sensitive negotiations that required secrecy. There were no contracts signed, just proposals. So they could have shared information but chose to remain silent – again. The Paul said they would keep information from the public because a resident spoke with one of the developers, a childhood friend of The Paul. His company subsequently withdrew their offer. Was The Paul’s “deal” so fragile that one conversation would cause its collapse? ABG thinks a more likely scenario was that once the bidder learned of all the misplays, misdirection and illegal activities that The Paul and his Board were doing with this property, they thought it better to exit post haste!

ABG is not convinced a decision will be made this morning. If one is, it will be interesting to see which one they accept. ABG also believes the Board will jump into executive session after exhausting themselves with one decision to hide the rest of their meeting from the public. ABG has also predicted that The Paul will award the sale of Frank’s Nursery to GameOn 365 with some babbling excuse as to why they should get it. Fortress Bible’s financial determination is about to land in the Town’s lap. The Saw Mill River and Bronx River neighborhoods are still flooding. Aging infrastructure collapses can’t keep up with the speed of The Paul’s decisions. More and more bad decisions seems to be the norm from this Town Board. The Paul’s further insulating the public from a truly open government through Executive Sessions and closed door meetings with developers. It has to end. We can only hope.

Bluff and Blink

The latest go-’round with the WestHelp property and the proposed Ferncliff takeover has reached a new low in bluffing. It’s like the card game that has two players vying for the pot waiting for the other to blink.

The Paul began this house of cards-like scheme around 2009 when he decided to not renew the WestHelp lease with the County for the WestHelp property. Whether his Town Board was complicit is of no consequence as they would have gone along with anything he told them to go along with. We can only speculate of his decision to why he wanted to do this? ABG maintains the primary reason would be votes in the upcoming election. He’d remove the homeless from not only WestHelp, but Valhalla, and return this bucolic hamlet into the enclave it had been prior to the now-Governor’s housing initiative was ever built. Might another reason be The Paul was approached by the County Executive himself or a representative or even a County Legislator requesting an alliance of sorts in a tit-for-tat arrangement to be determined at a later date?

What good would all of this be if the County Board of Legislators didn’t buy in to The Paul’s diversion and deflection? After all, he is the master of deflection. Amazingly, no County Legislative oversight committee, the County DSS system or body of inspectors was monitoring the WestHelp property. This transpired for over roughly two years while the County continued to ignore The Paul’s (vis–à–vis Greenburgh’s) contractual violations to not continue to house low and no income people and ignore the maintenance of the facility. Why? Could it be that the County Executive garnered enough bipartisan support to “break” the contract the County has with the Town? Or, could it simply be that a number of County Legislators are from the Yonkers area, and Ferncliff, a for-profit business, is Yonkers based and they are stepping up for their constituent?

This deal ultimately playing out well for the Ferncliff School still seems like a long shot. They essentially have no money to purchase or do the demolition work to destroy the 108 viable apartments others could be using. They then must rely on state funds for construction and then rent! The majority of their residents are from NYC, even though they claim that these children are coming from what is considered low income families. It seems justifying why they should be allowed to move to the WestHelp site is a different kind of bluff. The Ferncliff School has offered to pay $500K a year in rent to Greenburgh yet have no money to secure, demolish and rebuild and are solely dependent on state funding to proceed, if they can proceed at all. It’s been nothing if not a bluff perpetrated by The Paul this entire time and causing unnecessary pain and suffering for everyone!

Until the County Board of Legislators can get County Executive candidate and Chairman Ken Jenkins, Greenburgh County Legislators Alfreda Williams and Mary Jane Shimsky to concede, the County Community Services Committee has introduced items for discussion and a vote by their committee. Another part of the bluff. Ironically, the Chair for this committee is Alfreda Williams, who has been against this move by The Paul. Also on the committee and against this change is MaryJane Shimsky. But the other side includes Legislator Michael Smith of Valhalla. The rest of the Republican legislators will stand side-by-partisan-side with Astorino and Smith. The several Yonkers Democrats who favor of the Ferncliff deal will continue to push for The Paul’s rouse. ABG wonders what will be offered to these Jenkins, Williams and Shimsky to get them to go along?

There has been much ballyhoo about who is more deserving of the property and are homeless people more important than developmental disabled? The answer is simple: it is not a competition and both are in need of our attention and assistance. The issue for ABG and many others, including the Westchester N.A.A.C.P., who helped get the apartments built, is that The Paul took it upon himself to not renew the lease while we still need affordable housing in our area. He chose to violate the tenets of an enforceable contract which his Town Board condoned (naturally) and subsequently endorsed, and remain in violation of that contract for the last 18 months. Again, why hasn’t the County taken action against The Paul and The Town’s contractual violations?

Below are two pages showing the actions of the Community Services Committee meeting. ABG believes it is a bluff because we know they believe if they profess it enough and act as though this were really happening for Ferncliff School, it will. It seems like the old “beg forgiveness rather than ask permission” routine. There are several reasons they should not be doing this. One, it’s unfair to taunt the Ferncliff School like this. Two, Chairman Ken Jenkins, has worked to try to find a suitable location other than the WestHelp site even though County government is not obliged to do so! In fact, there is additional space near WestHelp on the Westchester Community College campus that has been suggested/offered as suitable. Remarkably, we haven’t heard a peep from anyone about this parcel. Three, while ABG believes it will be next to impossible for the County to bring an action against the Town because not only do Astorino, Smith and McCormack live in the Valhalla area, Astorino appointed County Attorney Robert Meehan, lives nearby! Finally, when the lawsuits do start, don’t you think those “aiding and abetting” will be named as well?

The Ferncliff School does great work for a small portion of the population. But their portion of the population should be treated as equally as the others. They need help finding a new location and we wonder why The Paul has never offered them 715 Dobbs Ferry Road, the old Frank’s Nursery property? He could have sold the property to the Ferncliff School for $1 if he truly cared about them, had the Town do the site remediation and kill two birds with one stone. 

Others have been helping them in their quest and will continue to do so. We truly wish them success. At the same time, the one property they seek as ideal is committed to another equally important purpose. While we wish we could snap our fingers and find a solution for the Ferncliff School, their needs will be better served if they abandon The Paul’s bluff and look in earnest for another location that is actually attainable. We can only hope that the Ferncliff School is successful in their relocation and that WestHelp gets renovated as soon as possible and it’s 108 apartments be put to good use again. We want to see people in desperate need of housing move into their new homes. Again, we can only hope.

NAACP Continues Fight Against Feiner, Sends WestHelp Support Letter to Cuomo

Steeped in controversy, the housing facility known as WestHelp languishes while people in need of a home wallow in despair. There was controversy when the facility was proposed and ultimately built, as there still is now, many years later. Back in the day, it was so bad that the racist NIMBY’s in Valhalla fought the low income housing tooth and nail. It got so bad that residents in the Mayfair area of the Town threatened to secede from the Town of Greenburgh, and form their own village. And while the residents fought hard to stop the facility, then HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, now our governor, persevered and succeeded in getting the housing built. Tough love aside, the facility was erected on the campus of the Westchester Community College campus. 108 new apartments were then made available to people within the DSS system. Some were single women and others had kids. In the end, 108 families were living in their own apartments thanks to Andrew Cuomo (and others)! To keep Valhalla residents safe from the hoards of roaming single women from entering other neighborhoods, The Paul had a chain link fence installed, topped with barbed wire to contain them. Perhaps The Paul used the same company that installs fencing at our corrections facilities?

Between New York State and Westchester County, the housing was built and then the Town was assigned to collect rent from the County to the tune of $1.2 million dollars per year. Greenburgh has the Greenburgh Housing Authority whose function is to work with and maintain existing housing as well as those in need of housing. They currently maintain an active list of about 250 people in need of shelter.

Imagine everyone’s dismay once The Paul decided to not renew the housing contract with the County and cost the Town $1.2M per year! Many, including the G10, went to Town Board meetings and asked The Paul and his Town Board why he would not renew the lease. The Paul stated it was County Executive Andrew Spano’s fault. He said that Spano never sent a lease for him to sign. Residents quickly proved this was a lie! ABG has learned two Lease requests were sent to The Paul. Spano’s office claimed it was The Paul who didn’t respond. In a desperate attempt to cover his butt, The Paul then fabricated fake emails he claimed were sent to the County Executive requesting a lease. It’s shameful that not only would The Paul lie to everyone, but that he would fabricate emails to compound his lie.

Things were going well for Greenburgh while the County kept using WestHelp. But once they claimed to not need it as temporary low/no income housing facility, The Paul decided to break the lease and hatch a plan to get Valhalla votes. Whether this was done with or without a complicit Town Board is moot, as they went along and continue to go along with the charade. As mentioned earlier, the Greenburgh Housing Authority has clients that could have moved right in after the apartments had been vacated by the previously homeless women tenants. It would have almost halved their client list in need of a home! But this wasn’t part of The Paul’s grand vote-getting scheme. He wouldn’t be collecting any where near the rent he was getting from the County he needs to offset the year and a half loss relying on the Greenburgh Housing Authority.

There were two meetings hosted by the White Plains Chapter of the NAACP to discuss the WestHelp property and it’s fate with legislators and concerned citizens. We’ve written about this previously and won’t rehash what we’ve said before.  NAACP President Lena Anderson, has just sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo asking him to maintain the apartments. ABG has posted a copy of her letter below:

When everything is said and done, this is still a landlord/tenant issue. The fact that The Paul’s racism has been exposed, along with Rob Astorino, Michael Smith, Ned McCormack, Matt Richter, and media sap Phil Reisman (of the Journal News), doesn’t come as a surprise. The fact that so many other “leaders” would go along with it all, does surprise us. Actually, it disappoints us more than surprises us. ABG understands that the electorate has short memories. The Paul and the other politicians realize this too. They are assuming when the next election comes around that this will all be forgotten and they’ll get re-elected. Since that is what has happened for the last twenty years for The Paul, he figures he has a lock on being re-elected. ABG hopes not. Then again, we can only hope.

The 3R’s: Racism, Republicans, Reisman

There has been a synchronal campaign created and executed by The Paul before this upcoming election season. It focuses on vote-getting and re-electing several incumbents, namely The Paul (D), County Executive Rob Astorino (R), his Director of Communications political payback appointee Ned McCormack (R), County Legislator Michael Smith (R). In a minor power struggle are this year’s Greenburgh Town Board candidates, Diana “Sleepy” Juettner (D) and Francis “Back Pocket” Sheehan (R then D). And, in for a penny, in for an untold amount, is the Journal News as well as their featured columnist/employee/front man, Phil “Angry Man” Reisman. Another Astorino appointee to a “do nothing” position serving the FAS* Koolaid is Matt Richter (R), who will post the Ferncliff cause on Facebook and elsewhere. At least this is a non-partisan racist attack.

Once a week the listening public gets to hear the “Angry Man” from the Journal News, columnist Phil Reisman, on his WVOX low-intensity talk show. He received the “Angry Man” moniker from the Journal News years ago when the paper was trying to create some buzz about his column. His written words are usually more entertaining than his vocal ones, with monotone droning-on with topics of minor interest, proving why he is a better columnist than talk show host. This show was a discussion with two Ferncliff School representatives, a mother and daughter combination who apparently run, or are involved in teaching at the Ferncliff School.

Reisman has written several “columns” supporting The Paul’s racist and this long range, Valhalla vote-getting scheme. ABG believes The Paul purposely did not renew the WestHelp lease and intentionally let the 108 affordable housing units degrade. His plan is to destroy them by leaving windows and doors open in hopes of developing mold and mildew, animal damage and theft. So far, his strategy is working. The Paul is hoping to hand the County owned property over to Ferncliff in a coup for Valhalla votes. It’s a skewed plan as he thinks as the lessee he can turn the WestHelp property over to Ferncliff for use as they wish. While this plan may seem flawless in The Paul’s own warped mind, more rational Greenburgh residents know otherwise. Fortunately, they have fought this illegal and immoral attempt by The Paul. But the conspirator and his cohorts plot on.

Reisman spoke with the two women representing Ferncliff, Pat and her daughter Kristen, and collectively tried to paint their current circumstances as bleak, bordering on desperate with no hope in site. No hope except for the only one plot in Westchester County - WestHelp’s! They came upon the WestHelp site from a recommendation of an acquaintance. They again explained their facility is too small, too old and needs to be vacated post haste! Reisman at one point had the audacity to say that he was asking questions and trying to remain impartial. Could it be he’s taking lessons in lying from The Paul? He is anything but impartial or objective about this issue. He, under the wink and nod of his masters at the Journal News, supports and has written multiple “advertorials” on behalf of the Ferncliff School.

Two or three callers dialed into the one hour long show after the half hour break. Naturally, they were all unfamiliar with the property, The Paul, but knew that Ferncliff needs the WestHelp property. One even referred to the property as in Elmsford and another said he didn’t know where it was situated as he was from New Rochelle. Whether regular callers, “plants”, or concerned citizens, these calls seemed too contrived and sounded like a setup! Regardless, the smokescreen that The Paul and his commiserating crew have concocted is being believed by many.

Finally, the money-maker phone call got through: County Legislator Michael Smith (R), whose connection with the Mayfair-Knollwood School Board and their illegal use of illegal payments from The Paul have become somewhat of a bit of political lore in Greenburgh and now Westchester County.
As if nothing has transpired, Smith began his onslaught as to why Ferncliff should get this property. ABG won’t list the entirety of his call, but he did state that the existing housing was full of mold and mildew and uninhabitable. As such, the apartments need to be torn down. Simply, this is a lie. What he did not state was that The Paul’s recent RFP request for the property garnered six proposals. One was from Ferncliff. The other five were plausible senior and/or assisted living proposals that would combine some smaller apartments into larger units. Smith stated these units were all very small and couldn’t understand using them as apartments as they were the size of a dorm room. Obviously, Smith has never been homeless or even worked with homeless people. If he had, he would recognize that living and sleeping in a small single room apartment (even dorm) with a bathroom is much more preferable to a cot in a shelter or even a cardboard box outdoors. Although it is possible Smith has hurried by a box on a sidewalk no realizing there might have been a homeless person inside. Add in the responsibility of a child or two and his position becomes even more incomprehensible!

While speaking on behalf of Ferncliff, Smith, stated that “we can no longer bury these children away.” Nobody is saying we should bury anybody anywhere. However, it’s exactly what he and his cohorts are trying to do to the seniors and veterans in need of this existing housing. Smith, Astorino, McCormack, Reisman, Richter et al, are trying to disguise their racism while pretending to be helping another “less fortunate” group. Both groups are worthy of support and help. But pitting one against the other is morally reprehensible! The issue is that The Paul violated and broke the contract the Town had with the County. For that reason and that reason alone, the County must terminate the contract with the Town of Greenburgh and utilize the facility as intended - for low income housing!

It would be nice to pick and choose who moves next door to you, but you can’t. It would be nice if we had representatives who represented the neighborhoods and their interests. We don’t. Yet, Valhalla has a small group of NIMBY, racist politicians looking to do just that. They were unsuccessful in their attempts to block WestHelp when the HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo had them built – over a mile away from any other Valhalla homes or neighborhoods. They were able to ostracize these single mothers with children on an island-like campus with no ability to “escape”. Then The Paul had the Town pay to install a metal fence with a barbed wire topping, to “keep them in”. Unbelievable!

If The Paul, Astorino, Smith, The Journal News, Reisman and Richter wish to continue their illegal and immoral behavior, so be it. There are many others who are also interested in the outcome of this facility and helping the Ferncliff School find a location while maintaining the apartments for low income housing. In fact, County Executive candidate Ken Jones said that the County Board of Legislators is trying to help Ferncliff find another location even though they are a for-profit business.

The County has offered numerous sites to Ferncliff at numerous locations, which Ferncliff refused. There is also additional property on the Westchester Community College Campus that ABG is told can accommodate Ferncliff. Let’s see what Ferncliff’s answer will be. It seems like this is another Greenburgh fiasco induced by The Paul that will unfortunately end up in court. ABG would rather see it get worked out without going to court. Maybe we can offer sensitivity instruction to The Paul, Astorino, Smith, Richter and Reisman and hope it sinks in. We can only hope.

* Feiner-Astorino-Smith

Floating Dollars & Bronx River Flooding

ABG offices sit high atop Greenburgh overlooking the beautiful landscape covered in the proverbial blanket of white as Town vehicles appear to be about the only ones on the road. There seems to be a calm enveloping the area. Our copy of the daily newspaper may have been delivered but promises to remain undiscovered for weeks. We had received our copy of The White Plains Examiner before the storm which featured an article about the County’s move to address flooding with the Bronx River within the Town of Greenburgh. It a topic ABG has often posted about.

We’ve heard and seen the posturing before, so it remains to be seen if this time will be any different. County Executive Astorino announced the County is ready, “with an $800,000 capital project to restore over three acres of wetlands and riverbanks just north of Fisher Lane and east of the Bronx River Parkway in Greenburgh.” Translation? The County will throw a pittance toward an issue that needs addressing from at least the Kensico Dam southward into the Bronx, where the water continues it’s final exit. This will be nothing more than “photo ops” and press conference “attaboys” garnered to get political points, press coverage and accomplish little else.  This was exemplified by County Executive Rob Astorino, who said in a prepared statement, “It is important that we target achievable projects in problem areas in order to reduce and prevent future flooding.” Translation? As an “achievable” project, they mean they know they won’t fix the problem, but will be able to say upon the project’s completion that they completed the project. Government double-speak? You decide.

Last year the Astorino administration chose this site in Greenburgh as just one of the seven capital projects as part of a $9 million effort to address chronic flooding along the Bronx River and Sound Shore. The bond act has been sent to the Board of Legislators for approval. And while we assume the bond will be passed, the effort may all be moot if the entire river corridor is not attacked as a global entity. An inspection of the river from the Greenburgh area into the Bronx shows too numerous an amount of blockage to document. 

An effort made in Westchester that will contribute to creating a better and/or increased water flow, without participation from all points south of Westchester County, renders the money spent, the effort of little consequence and tantamount to floating dollars down the river. The people who suffered from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene have finally given up any hope of receiving funds from FEMA even though they are mandated to pay flood insurance to them; all the while new applicants hammered by Hurricane Sandy are just learning this lesson.

What’s needed is a consolidation of bipartisan leaders who run the length of the Bronx River to establish a plan with a concerted effort to tackle this vexing problem. We also need leaders which are willing to begin upgrading everyone’s aging infrastructures to help increase water flow created by all the development from the last twenty or thirty years. It’s not an easy task but one that will reap huge rewards for every community. We can only hope.

Mt Vernon Meeting Tonight Against Shelter

The County issued a press release regarding this contractual move with a church, the Friendship Worship Center. Here is one portion quoted from it: “The drop-in site is simply a humane response that allows the homeless to get out of the cold and into a clean bed for the night. It protects some of the most vulnerable in our society from freezing outdoors and does so in a cost-effective way. Westchester County has a long history of taking care of the less fortunate and providing shelter for the homeless.” What the press release neglects to discuss is the humane approach to our children that is of the utmost importance.

In the never-ending saga of politically correctness, but ignoring common sense, the Astorino administration has moved forward with putting this homeless facility, aka warming center, in a daily-use area for children on Mount Vernon’s Lincoln Avenue. Documents received by ABG and posted here show the blatant disregard for Mount Vernon’s youth with a communication from County Legislator Lyndon Williams. While nothing may ever happen between the kids and the homeless adults, ABG doesn’t believe Astorino and his administration should take that chance.


It’s well known that many of today’s homeless population have mental challenges and pose risks to themselves and others when left to fend for themselves. And while we recognize the need to address the homeless population being outdoors with this frigid weather of late, ABG also recognizes the harsh realities that come with not addressing these people’s needs properly. Legislators have passed laws to treat the mentally challenged population more humanely and like they are normal. We’ve seen their actions force the closure of psychiatric facilities and clinics that would normally help them.

After witnessing the carnage in Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School, our heightened concern for school children questions just how prudent it is to place the homeless population in immediate proximity to the four surrounding schools’ children? The school’s church opens to receive the homeless only at night (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.) and during colder months until mid-April, releasing them into the neighborhood that has the children coming to school each morning. The Mount Vernon YMCA used to provide this service for the homeless until they were forced to close their doors. Even though a church may be a good spot to help the homeless population, it needs to be a church that can be utilized away from children. 

A statement from community leader Donna Jackson sums up the issue rather well. “I'm against the placement of this shelter in this facility, considering that it would be placed smack dab in the middle of a residential zone surrounded by 4 schools (one of which exists in the same building of the propsed shelter).  Mount Vernon's mental health, medical and social services have been slashed and dismantled thanks to Astorino (so how would our community service these people from the COUNTY?), if there was a real genuine, heartfelt need to "save a shelter" or expand a shelter, the county should have (a) not closed the Greenburgh facility or (b) if there was funding available, they could have helped Mount Vernon invest in and shore up the homeless shelter at the YMCA.  The placement of this shelter at Friendship, without appropriate social service supports, and without advanced public input is a slap in the face to Legislator Lyndon Williams, and this portion of taxpaying voters of Westchester County.”

ABG was disturbed to find a link between Greenburgh, Mount Vernon, The Paul and Astorino. Bishop Edwers, is a County Transportation Board member. His wife works with the County Youth Bureau, where Astorino recently appointed faithful Republican and County Legislative candidate Iris Pagan, to a commissioner position. ABG understands there have been other interactions that Astorino has had with Edwers, showing him other favors in the past. The church is a big building and Rev. Edwers needs to pay a mortgage, heating and electric bills, and so on. This seems like another done-deal the County walked “winked” toward with an old friend, angling another pawn in this strategic Greenburgh/Feiner/Astorino chess game of collusion and compromise. We need politicians with a moral, ethical and legal compass. Just skirting the boundaries of the law must stop. We can only hope. 

County Gifts Day Off to Select Group of Employees

ABG has previously posted about this waste of County resources. What it amounts to is nothing more than a paid day off for County employees. It was started under former County Executive Andrew Spano and perpetuated by current County Executive Robert Astorino. Astorino touts himself as a reformer when its convenient but apparently is more interested in paying back the unions with this day off for the workers who participate.

Billed as the Westchester Educational Safety Training for police, emergency services and public works employees. It billed as running between 8:30AM until 2:00PM. This ensures an entire paid day off for anyone chosen to participate AND be billed as the requisite safety training employees must receive. Most public employees start at 8AM and finish at 4PM. This gives them plenty of time to “punch in”, hop in a County owned truck or vehicle and hightail it over to the County Center. Once the event shuts down, and they get back to their respective offices, it’s just in time to “punch out”.

Here’s two copies of the flyers being circulating through the entire County system. Note that they have different topics but the same basic format and information. ABG wonders how many more of these exist that we haven’t seen?

 

When these supposed forums began years ago, it was known as the County Fleet Day. The very few “old timers” still on the job for the County still refer to it as such. Back then, the special workers chosen for this payoff simply drove their rigs to the County Center, pulled them inside and had breakfast and lunch on the County’s dime. That still happens and we pay for it all as an event under the guise of “training”. It’s not training. Not only has Astorino and everyone in his administration has turned a blind eye toward this blatant ripoff of the taxpayers dollars, but the longer they let this travesty continue and the longer he and his administration condone it, the more of our valuable tax dollars is wasted.

ABG supports legitimate safety training. Having eight uniform vendors participate in this “trade show-like” environment is nothing more than the County administrators trying to substantiate and even validate this waste of time and dollars. It must end! If Astorino has finished padding his administration with Republican faithfuls and foot soldiers, it’s time for him to really start trimming waste, spending and the highest taxes in the nation. Playing the game of proposing the elimination of jobs compared to such waste such as this is where we can start saving the battered taxpayers real dollars. ABG implores County Executive Astorino to stop playing games with the public’s money. We can only hope.

WestHelp Fiasco Has Gone On Far Too Long

ABG has previously posted the arguments as well as the illegal actions of The Paul toward the WestHelp facility as he tries to buy votes from the Mt. Pleasant/Valhalla N.I.M.B.Y. crowd. The Paul and his Board has purposefully allowed viable, structurally sound apartments that he in part, authorized, endorsed and even helped build while a County Legislator, fall into disrepair. Now, as Town Supervisor, he has changed his tune with affordable housing, claiming we have a glut of affordable housing in Greenburgh, and is doing a 180° reversal, insisting we tear down this affordable housing!

At a forum meeting sponsored by the N.A.A.C.P. last week, he showed his true colors by making racist remarks and insulting the members in attendance and the work they did years ago to get these apartments built! Visibly stunned after being held to task for making his comments, he stammered to come up with a tolerable answer. The audience wasn’t buying. You can read more on previous ABG posts, “Feiner Insults N.A.A.C.P.” in two parts.

There was a “Contacts” sheet provided at the meeting and we’ve had requests from our loyal readers for that information so they could reach out to our elected officials regarding this travesty that has gone on for far too long. ABG is happy to oblige.

Here is the contact information:

Town of Greenburgh:
Greenburgh Town Hall, 177 Hillside Ave., White Plains, NY 10603

Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner: pfeiner@greenburghny.com; 914-993-1540

Town Council members (914-993-1544 + Ext.):
Kevin Morgan: kmorgan@greenburghny.com; 914-993-1544 x 3
Diana Juettner: djuettner@greenburghny.com; 914-993-1544 x 2
Francis Sheehan: fsheehan@greenburghny.com; 914-993-1544 x 4
(Note: Sheehan repeatedly & openly states at meetings he does not read emails)
Kenneth Jones: kjones@greenburghny.com 914-993-1544 x1

Westchester County

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, 148 Martine A ve. White Plains, NY10601
914-995-2900

Westchester County Board of Legislators
800 Michaelian Office Building 148 Martine Avenue, 8th Floor White Plains, New York 10601
Main Tel: (914)995-2800;

Chairman Ken Jenkins
995-2829

John Testa, Peekskill
995-2828

Peter Harckham, Bedford, Majority Leader
995-2810

Michael Smith, Greenburgh
995-2847

Michael Kaplowitz, Somers
995-2848

David Gelfarb, Rye
995-2834

Bill Ryan, White Plains
995-2827

Judith Myers, Mamaroneck
995-2802

Alfreda Williams, Greenburgh
995-2833

Catherine Borgia, Ossining
995-2812

Sheila Marcotte, Eastchester
995-2817

Jim Maisano, Minority Leader, New Rochelle
995-2826

Mary Jane Shimsky, Greenburgh
995-2821


Lyndon Williams, Mount Vernon
995-2837

Bernice Spreckman, Yonkers
995-2815

Gordon Burrows, Yonkers
995-2830

Ken Jenkins, Yonkers, Chariman
995-2829

Virginia Perez, Yonkers
995-2846

New York State
NY State Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
(518) 474-8390

Representing Greenburgh in Albany:
State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins,
28 Wells Avenue Building 3

Yonkers, NY 10701
914-423-4031

Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti
303 South Broadway Suite 229 

Tarrytown, NY 10591
914-631-1605

Ruining WestHelp to Secure Votes

The Town’s largest source of rental income will invariably continue to stand abandoned and empty, and continue to deteriorate throughout 2013. Regrettably, because of intentional and designed neglect, it will need to be torn down when all is said and finally done. This bill will wind up being paid for by the Town’s Unincorporated residents, victims of The Paul’s lack of management skills and overall incompetence. Of course, we all know this facility as WestHELP, the 108-apartment low/no income housing complex off of Knollwood Road on the Westchester Community College campus.

The Paul had craftily ignored requests from the Spano Administration over three years ago to renew the $1.2 million lease back when Spano was still the county executive. There was obviously an ulterior motive behind his refusal to renew: more votes for himself and even his “opposition”. He knew if he didn’t renew the lease, he could intentionally let the units fall into disrepair, vandalism and destruction and then say despondently, “These units need too much money invested in them to save, they must be destroyed as they are uninhabitable!”

The scheme was hatched. He informed his Stepford Board that they must sing the same song or risk expulsion from The Paul’s Circle of Trust, invoking the Sonya Brown clause. They concurred with the requisite, “Yes, m’Lord.” Seated to the right of The Paul was Kevin “The Henchman” Morgan, who scorned, “You will comply.” Newcomer Jones tendered temporary resistance by abstaining from attendance when a vote was necessary to move the plan forward. One demerit earned.

The Paul, ever adept with diversion, deflection and deceit, then formulated the next part of his plan. He found a likely subject that might be interested in occupying the property once the units were destroyed in the Ferncliff School. We imagine Sheehan might have asked The Paul, “But what of the County rental contract with the Town? Even as a non-practicing attorney you know it’s a breach on contract if we don’t rent these affordable units to people in need of homes?” And with a quick and surprising follow-up, Diana “Sleepy” Juettner might have asked “How about our own Greenburgh Housing Authority list of over two hundred and fifty people in need of homes? Can’t we put them in there?” Enraged, we can almost hear The Paul yell at them, “ENOUGH! IT’S NOT ABOUT HOUSING! IT’S ABOUT GETTING VOTES IN THE NEXT ELECTION! Pay attention people. If we get rid of housing the homeless in Valhalla and get rid of WestHelp, we’ll get more votes from that part of Greenburgh. Don’t you get it?”

Ken Jones, may have asked The Paul, “Can you win a fight with the County Legislators or can you get them to go along with this?” The Paul responded confidently, “The only one who will be a problem is Alfreda Williams. She’s still mad because when she wouldn’t play along, I threw her off the Board and put Beville in her place. Astorino is a slam-dunk, he’s in my pocket on this, his guy McCormack and the new legislator, whats-his-name Smith. They’ll all go along because they’ll get the votes too once the homeless are gone. Hell, this was going to be the best payoff ever! It was all working until Bernstein and Rosenberg got in the way. I’m telling you it was foolproof!”

On Monday, December 3, the Town will receive bids for the use of the WestHELP property. It appears that Ferncliff is in the lead as the preferred candidate. While it looks sincere, it’s all moot as The Paul will continue his “tear it down” mantra and insist the Town enter a long-term lease for the property with Ferncliff. Plus, it’s not up to The Paul to decide what can be done with this property. Ferncliff is a for-profit school for developmentally disabled children. They seek to build a new residential school and facility to replace a Yonkers facility which they will be forced to leave. Why wouldn’t The Paul offer the old Frank’s Nursery property on Dobbs Ferry Road. According to The Paul the Ferncliff deal is worth more than the GameOn 365 deal. The operative word here seems to be “deal”.

The Ferncliff proposal was turned down by the County Board of Legislators because the Town's contractual rights to the WestHELP property mandate the 20-year old county-owned apartments be used for low and moderate income housing. After allowing the contractual lapse, a SUNY Purchase representative looked at the facility in hopes of using it for student housing, as it is currently on SUNY property (the WCC campus is a SUNY facility). He found that with the disrepair and now mold conditions, the apartments would require about $20k each for renovation to make them livable by students. Given the state’s fiscal troubles, ABG doesn’t see SUNY or the state stepping up to take these over anytime soon. Although, this would be a great usage for them.

The Paul has made alliances with an overwhelming majority of residents from the Mayfair Knollwood community who have opposed this housing since it’s inception. They claim it’s too close to their homes. Ironically, these “NIMBY-ers” are a mile away from the facility and the housing is secured on the Westchester Community College campus in a fenced-in area that the Town erected. So, by knowingly choosing to not spend any town money to maintain the 108 apartments from September 2011, when the contract expired, The Paul guaranteed the apartments to be uninhabitable and gifted their destruction to the Mayfair Knollwood community!

While the Town has lost the $1.2 million dollars annually by not renewing the contract, The Paul is claiming that if the Ferncliff deal had been approved, “the town would have received about $530,000 a year in rent.” Of course, without New York State agreeing to fund it, the Town gets nothing! The Paul is pushing to keep the property from being used for low and moderate income housing regardless of whether the deal happens or not. THAT’s how all the politicians will get their votes.

The Paul and his Board have not posted financial resources in this year’s 2013 town budget for any repairs or maintenance of the facility. This indicates that The Paul isn’t planning on doing anything with this property except tear it down. ABG believes he will continue to bemoan the Westchester County Board of Legislators as resisting his plans to raze the facility and lease it to Ferncliff. The County Board of Legislators threatened to take the WestHELP property away from the Town for violating the terms of its lease and maintained it must be used for low and moderate income housing. ABG believes they should do just that! He’s even challenged them to attend a meeting as a publicity stunt we hope they won’t dignify by attending.

It’s a shame that this has been allowed to intentionally happen right before everybody’s eyes and no one, especially the County landlord, has acted to stop it. ABG believes the County Legislators, the County Legal Department and yes, the County Executive need to get off their vote-purchasing bandwagon and do the right thing! They should initiate an action against The Paul and his Board forcing the Town to renovate the facility to habitable status and either put people in it who are homeless, abuse victims, veterans or students and start utilizing the 108 apartments as intended and collecting rent. If the Town will not do so, the County should immediately take the property back, begin renovations and get it into a ready-to-use condition. By letting this valuable asset decay, nobody but a few politicians, and most importantly The Paul can come out ahead. It's time for everyone to stop playing games with this existing and vital housing, fix it up and get people living there. We can only hope.