A Zone Free Greenburgh – Will Anything Change?

It’s no secret that Mr Feiner has ruled against the Edgemont incorporation petition. It was also no secret that he was against the incorporation from the get-go. For all intents and purposes, the petition was correctly filled out, filed and met the standards of the law. Now, many are asking what’s next?

Comments made at many of the meetings were what we expected to hear as elections are coming up soon, we should run another candidate, someone should run, we’ll vote him out and more. The problem is that no one will vote him out. The master of the campaign, Mr Feiner continues to get 7-9,000 votes when running unopposed. Should a viable candidate appear and even contemplate running against him, it will need to be an independent candidate, not a Democrat or Republican. In fact, the Greenburgh Republican party has written Greenburgh off as unwinnable and will not “waste” Republican resources in Greenburgh.

Several years ago Edgemont resident Bob Bernstein challenged Mr Feiner in the supervisor race. A progressive democrat, Mr Bernstein's candidacy forced a primary runoff, pitting he and Mr Feiner against each other for the democratic nomination. While Mr Bernstein met with community groups, went to events and reached out as much as he could, Mr Feiner used the then-personally controlled GBList (Town email list) to rally his troops. Subsequently, several things happened.

First and foremost, Mr Feiner won the primary. Second, he and his “team” attempted to disqualify Mr Bernstein’s petition signatures, this time not using private investigators and a retired judge. Third, he sat back and utilized his 24+ years of contacts, favors, connections and paybacks to defeat Mr Bernstein. While the numbers always amaze many people, only a small fraction of residents even bother to vote. So the argument about voting him out of office is more than likely, moot!

So?

We’ve written previously that what affects the Town in one community will eventually do the same thing in another. Examples? An easy one the Brightview Assisted Living Center at Benedict Avenue and Rt 119. The G10 fought most of what the proposal encompassed alongside the small group of residents that live in the Glenville section of unincorporated Greenburgh. Therein is the rub. The residents in Glenville went out of their way to try to work with the builder, believing the Town would have their back. They played by what they thought were the rules and were summarily dismissed - and ultimately screwed - getting an oversized behemoth structure smack dab in the middle of their small single-family homes neighborhood. Other neighborhoods got screwed as well.

How?

The attorneys for Brightview wrote the zoning bill that Mr Feiner and his Town Board adopted into law for assisted living facilities in the Town. It did nothing if not address and eliminate every issue Brightview faced with their proposed project. Subsequently, the bill was adopted and pushed through the various Boards with almost record setting speed. With no resistance left against the Brightview projects, residents and the G10 repeatedly argued that they were setting a terrible precedent for the Town with future assisted living facilities. That precedent has come full circle.

When?

In a 4 to 3 vote, the Greenburgh Zoning Board of Appeals voted to allow a 3,000% variance as well as to waive the 4-year old assisted living zoning code’s mandate of a minimum 4-acre requirement. It is not unusual to see developers ask for and receive variances. A setback variance example from a required 8-foot setback to a 6-foot setback would be considered reasonable in some instances and probably granted. Invariably, most people would not have an objection to that. If a developer were to ask to change a 50-foot setback to a 10-foot setback with a four to five story building in a residential neighborhood, many, if not all in the neighborhood, would probably object. This is exactly what happened in Glenville when Brightview agreed to slightly turn their building instead of reducing its size to try to make it more palatable to the residents it was about to overwhelm.

So, now that the developers know what they can get away in the zone free Town of Greenburgh, they are proceeding with every ridiculous proposal they can come up with, including the 3,000% variance Shelbourne knows Mr Feiner will vote against but instruct his Board to pass. Why have zoning laws or even a Comprehensive Plan if all the administration will do is kowtow to every developer that comes before the Town with a proposal?

In a sadly veiled attempt to justify their votes favoring the Shelbourne project, Feiner appointees Daniel Martin, Rohan Harrison, William Losapio and Louis Crichlow ensured a back-door for Mr Feiner and his Board to escape another lawsuit initiated by Shelbourne after we believe Mr Feiner instructed his Board to rescind the negative declaration for the project, claiming the project would not have a negative impact on the environment. They also ignored the Fire District’s request for a study of the impact the facility will have on the emergency services they provide. All examples provided by Shelbourne have thus far been inadequate or not on a par with the size of the district, staffing, size of facility, amount of patients/residents, etc.

This project has been favored by Mr Feiner from its inception. Consequently, Mr Feiner’s Board is also in favor of it. Residents be damned, but this project has legs and has begun to run, regardless of what the neighborhoods want, the fire district says or the laws that are being swept aside. Mr Feiner was able to slow the Edgemont incorporation attempt by finding the petition insufficient. Pro-incorporation proponents are taking a step back and regrouping. Mr Feiner is ensuring several things will happen by those pro-incorporation residents. First, a new petition being crafted. Second, a larger boundary being created for the proposed village. Third, another lawsuit (or more). Fourth, people on the fence or wondering about incorporation have now been convinced to change their position, favoring incorporation. Finally, people who may have been in Mr Feiner's camp are jumping ship. His plan is backfiring!

The behavior of Mr Feiner and his Board are disappointing to people in the know. People not in the know usually find out after the bad decisions have been implemented, groundbreaking has taken place and the done-deal signed, sealed and delivered to the developer. This has to stop. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Reassessment: Open and Transparent – Not in Greenburgh

The Town’s revaluation project, provided by Tyler Technologies, has resulted in many upset residents. Broken into the rule of “thirds”, one group that is extremely upset is the one third who will see their taxes increase! The most vociferous has been from the Edgemont area of the Town. Championed by Bob Bernstein, who challenged Mr Feiner for the Town Supervisor’s position, he has stated that the revaluations performed by Tyler appear to be extremely lopsided. He and others have asked the Town to provide the criteria by which Tyler was doing the revaluations. The Town has not provided the information.
 
The other two-thirds of the Town’s residents will see their taxes either remain the same or be lowered. Those people have, for the most part, remained quiet. Although not fun by any means, they’re probably breathing a sigh of relief and thankful to keep Mr Feiner’s hands out of their pockets and off their wallets! The bigger question is what could have been done to avoid this, and in fact, could it have been avoided at all? Based in Texas, Tyler Technologies has completed the contracted assessment of the Town. Or, have they? Many people we speak with claim they never saw a Tyler representative during the reassessment period and received a mailing from them that their revaluation was completed nevertheless!
 
It has been said there are approximately 6,000 property owners (24% of residents), the unfortunate one-third, who will see an increase in their property taxes. Mr Bernstein uses his home as just one example of the wide fluctuations to six or so other very similar homes on his street, built by the same builder with the same amount of property. He’s found wildly different evaluations of these parcels. In the Tarrytown area, on the other side of Town, we were told by several homeowners that their property taxes will be going up about 28%! While not directly stumping for Tarrytown, this is the struggle many are crying “foul” over. It appears that they were paying undervalued amounts of taxes while the other two-thirds of the Town were over-paying their taxes. The reassessment is designed to remedy that.
 
Never one to address any problem straight on with honesty, reason, due diligence, and following the processes in place, Mr Feiner and his Board have sought feverishly for a scapegoat. Tyler might just be that scapegoat. However, he hired Tyler. Now he’s blaming them for not being available to deal with residents’ complaints. He chose an unproven management company for WestHelp, who wound up going belly-up, still losing money for the Town due to that debacle. Come to think of it, he also chose GameOn 365 for a commercial development in a residential neighborhood. It was he who also chose to discriminate against, destroy evidence, lie under oath and committing perjury in the Fortress Bible Church law suit. After being handed a Massage Parlor bill written, ironically, by Mr Bernstein – at no charge – that the Town could simply enact, Town Attorney Tim Lewis stopped it. He watered it down and changed it from what was offered, and Mr Feiner unnecessarily dragged out the process for way too long. Bad decisions seem to be a hallmark of this administration!

Seemingly, the Town appeared to be getting closer to a more equitable level of taxation once the revaluation stopped getting talked about and was actually slated to begin. Then, in characteristically and non-transparent fashion, bordering on what might be considered a “video slight-of-hand” from out of left field, Mr Feiner and his Town Board voted during a work session to not enact the Homestead Tax option, a financial benefit for Mr Feiner! In fact, if you weren't paying close attention, you might have easily missed it completely. Mr Feiner has stated that he and his Board, “...all believe that reassessment is necessary for the long term health of the Town.” However, if they were genuinely looking for tax equity, they would have put the Homestead Tax option on the Town’s regular agenda and let the people speak about it. But no, this is Greenburgh where we only talk about open and transparent government before slamming the door to go into a private, executive session.
 
Instead of being open and transparent, Mr Feiner and his Board are now trying to enact a graduated, five-year implementation plan so that the increases to the approximately 6,000 homeowners is spread out over 5-years, easing them “up to speed”. How are they going to pull this one off? By utilizing a section of the New York State Real Property Tax Law that’s called a Transition Assessment. In order for this to be undertaken, the Town must adopt it within thirty days of filing the tentative assessment roll in May. ABG believes this will happen today at their work session this morning at 9:30. It would then take effect on June 1. The flip side of this plan is that those getting a reduction would also get their reduction phased in over five years. Effectually, Mr Feiner wants the less affluent, lower-taxed people to continue to pay more in taxes than they should, carrying those who got socked with an increase. Equitable tax structure indeed!
 
Regardless of where you stand on this issue, and what is happening with your taxes, Town Tax Assessor Edye McCarthy claims a five-year phase-in transition will not happen. How does she know and what isn’t she sharing with us? The bigger issues at play are many. First, Tyler dropped the ball and did not visit every home in the Town, cheating on what they were hired to do. The Town allowed that to happen which has easily skewed the results and rests squarely on Mr Feiner and his Board’s shoulders. This is costing our residents a lot of money. Second, the criteria for revaluation was never disclosed and still remains a secret to only Tyler and the Town. Third, most people are unaware that Mr Feiner with his Board is now seeking to change the revaluation results in hopes of not upsetting their political (read: re-election) apple cart. It is often said that revaluation is political suicide. Maybe so. Finally, the five-year transition plan has apparently never been used and this would be the first time in NY State history. Actually, Mr Feiner is bragging about this. What he fails to mention is that while the Town Board “... all believe the reassessment is necessary for the long term health of the Town.” They would be setting the revaluation effort back by five years if they do this!
 
We are sympathetic with those 6,000 residents who are going to pay more than a small increase. Separately, those who have voted for Mr Feiner and his Board election after election have endorsed his 24 years of not doing any revaluations and indirectly helped create this situation. Yet, their bad decisions should not cost them exorbitant amounts of money with increased taxes. Too many factors indicate another scheme by Mr Feiner that was not well thought out, planned well or executed properly. Perhaps a one-year delay may be prudent. Tyler can actually do reassessments of homes they originally missed, give every one time to challenge the assessment if they are believed to be incorrect, and finally, have the Town put all of the options “on the table” and perhaps offer a referendum on how to proceed. Maybe next time Mr Feiner and his Board will listen to those of us who attend meetings, email him and try to discuss issues with him. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Town Continues Video Cover-Up!

In our post on Thursday, June 26, 2014, entitled Town Edits-Out Incriminating News From Official Town Board Video Record, we detailed what transpired with the official video recording of the Town Board meeting. During Edgemont resident Robert Bernstein's time at the podium, the former candidate for Supervisor against Mr Feiner shared information about the Toll Brothers high-end development called Ardsley Chase, the known shooting range adjacent to it and donations to Mr Feiner's campaign war chest while Toll Brothers had applications before the Town. To the uninitiated, this is business as usual in the 80th Best Place To Live. To the regulars and developers, its just another day in Gotham.

If you listen carefully to the video on our previous post of Mr Bernstein, what he said in the live meeting was deleted in the officially posted video. On the officially posted Town video you can only hear him say, “...was one of the largest financial con...Toll Brothers application was pending.” The gap in the video was created to remove the reference that Mr Bernstein made about Mr Feiner receiving campaign contributions from Toll Brothers while they had applications before the Town! Faces in the audience showed shock and dismay. Many of those residents were "first-timers" to the Town Board meeting and were unaware of Mr Feiner's unethical behavior. They were stunned as they learned Mr Feiner accepted money from a developer while they had applications pending with the Town.

During his 3-minute time at the microphone, Mr Bernstein actually stated that, “Toll Brothers knew they were building adjacent to a gun range. And, what many might not be aware of is that Toll Brothers was one the largest campaign contributors to Mr Feiner while their application was pending.” Those in attendance heard Mr Bernstein loud and clear. In fact, since most developers working in the Town knew this was acceptable and possibly even encouraged, it got so bad that the Ethics Committee was tasked to address it. Watching the video tape afterwards provided an unsettling realization that our elected leaders could not be trusted. Did "they" doctor the video again? Once might be a mistake, but twice is more than a coincidence.

You may recall the meeting with the Town Board and Theodore Young Community Center Commissioner William Young, where he detailed the TYCC's budgetary needs. During the course of discussion he made a comment about the Lanza Foundation and how the Town would not want to upset the Golden Goose. A day later that fifteen-minute section of the video tape mysteriously disappeared from the official video record of the meeting. How could that be? Upon questioning at the following Town Board meeting, Town Clerk Judith Beville said they would investigate what might have happened. The final excuse offered was that an intern deleted that section of the video. That lie was provided as they could not, or would not, disclose the real cause for the deleted section. The video is streamed over the internet live and during the live stream, the signal is sent/picked up by SwagIt, the video company that segments the video and supplies it online for the Town. An intern would be unable to alter the streaming video SwagIt receives.

Much speculation was made at that time as to what might have happened. Could the Town videographer, George Malone, have made the change? No, he was out of town on vacation. Could it have been the intern? Doubtful, as they cannot edit the streaming video that goes to SwagIt. Could Judith Beville, who is the overseer and manager of the video department have made the changes? Possibly, but no one was able to confirm her knowledge of the software used by the video department. Ultimately, something happened to cause Mr Carter's portion of the official video recording of the meeting to be deleted and now Mr Bernstein's portion has been deleted. The Town contacted SwagIt who was able to supply the Town a corrected version for the Bill Carter incident. Will they be able to do the same thing again and replace Mr Bernstein's deleted comments? As of this posting, the deleted official Town video record of the meeting is still missing from the Town's website. Why?

There are many critics of the Town. In fact, the G10 are suspect of many of Mr Feiner and his Town Board's actions based on their past history of "skirting" the fine line between right and wrong. They have also blatantly fallen on the wrong side of many issues. The Fortress Bible Church decision is one that originates from 2007 and is costing Unincorporated Greenburgh $6.5M - money we simply don't have. How much money has the Town lost through the actions, inactions and questionable actions of this group of elected officials? Its time for a change. It's time to get elected officials willing to clearly and steadfastly act on behalf of the taxpayers first and everyone else second. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just More Lies

A short while back, Mr Feiner was stopped by a community lawsuit from illegally leasing the former Frank’s Nursery property to his preferred developer (reasons still secretly unknown). Because of the lawsuit, Mr Feiner then said he would sell the property to them. Then he said the Town would issue a new RFP (Request For Proposal) for the property. Seeming to now be resigned to follow the law with foreclosed upon property, Mr Feiner said the right things during his Democratic Primary campaign against Bob Bernstein. The law requires any municipality that acquire property through foreclosure to sell it or keep and develop it for Town use, such as a park, a library, a court or police station. Mr Bernstein was the chosen Democratic District leader’s over-whelming endorsed candidate for the November elections. But now that the Democratic Primary has past, Mr Feiner has again changed his tune.

You may recall that Mr Feiner was “gifting away” the property through rent credits, tax credits and so on, to GameOn 365, after announcing they would build an 83 ft/8-story tall sports bubble and would pay the Town $5M over the course of 15 years. Please do that very simple math and ABG believes you will see that after every credit and tax break is rendered, school taxes paid, etc., there won’t be but a couple of thousand dollars left for the Town yearly. This was not a good deal for the Town.

Mr Feiner later claimed that there was a second company, House of Sports from Ardsley, NY, interested in purchasing the property but he didn’t think their offer to purchase the property was sincere. The House of Sports owners emphatically stated time and again that their offer of double the amount for the property was sincere and that they are always serious when it comes to money. Mr Feiner stated that whomever the Town sold the property to, the other would sue the Town and Mr Feiner didn’t wish this to end up in litigation. Having been found guilty in the Fortress Bible Church lawsuit and then having that verdict upheld in the Appeals Court, coupled with the guilty verdicts that he engaged in unfair campaign practices during the Democratic Primary campaign, illegally made payments to the Valhalla School Board, Mr Feiner is wise to try to stay out of court. This is not good for the Town.

Mr Feiner continues to state that he wants the property to be environmentally sanitized by the new owners and at the new owners expense. The Greenburgh taxpayers have been responsible for paying the school district and other various taxes (fire, county and town) since acquiring the property through foreclosure. Mr Feiner says (we believe incorrectly) that it is his personal opinion to make the Dobbs Ferry Road corridor a “recreation corridor”. ABG has repeatedly pointed out that Mr Feiner’s personal opinion simply “can’t be” since he is always the supervisor and cannot simply stop being the Supervisor to render a personal opinion. Every time he speaks, like it or not, he is speaking as the Supervisor. As such, he has often said this property should be developed for recreational use. Fine. Just don’t try to sell it to a private, for-profit business as a loss-leader under the guise of offering the Town residents another sports field. The only way residents will use any of this facility’s resources is by paying for them! This is not good for the Town.

This summer found Mr Feiner changing his spin once Bob Bernstein’s fact-laden campaign began exposing his litany of lies. He insisted the Town would do another RFP, put a new sign up advertising the property and have all bidders meet with the environmental consultants to generate maximum interest and revenue for the property. Simply, this was classic Feiner-spin fabricated in the moment. This is something Mr Feiner does often, without regard for the truth, strictly to benefit himself at any given moment. This is not good for the Town.

Doing another RFP would actually shut GameOn 365 out of the process because they cannot compete against the House of Sports’ cash resources or an offer for double the amount. House of Sports offered to willingly do the environmental cleanup at their expense as long as they knew the assigned zoning usage for the property. GameOn 365 could not. That alone would have been good enough reason to “seal the deal”. Next, putting a sign out on front of the property is as absurd as Mr Feiner’s claim that he posted the sale on his blog, thinking this would result in a sale. Finally, House of Sports’ only condition for purchase was to know what the zoning use for the property would be by the Town. They also wanted the full environmental report from the Town so they could estimate how and what work would need to be done should they purchase it. The Town never replied to the House of Sports request. These two requests were then transformed by Mr Feiner into “too many conditions” from the House of Sports as a serious purchaser.

House of Sports is a proven winner with their highly successful and well-run facility in Ardsley. This should have been a no-brainer for our Town leaders. An easy $3.5M with little-to-no effort. But our Town Board only plays ball under Mr Feiner’s direction and are subsequently aligned with his chosen purchaser. Instead of making the maximum interest and maximum revenue for the property his goal, as Mr Feiner stated earlier, our Town Board co-opted for politics as usual, and towed the line as instructed. This is not good for the Town.

Many have asked when the Town-wide Comprehensive Planning Committee will unveil their five-years-in-the-making Town Comprehensive Plan. Mr Feiner really doesn’t want it because once implemented, it will severely limit his ability to spot-zone properties for his numerous developer friends. So each time the Committee gets close to completing the plan, Mr Feiner tasks them with another issue to address. The last time was reviewing and correcting the Town’s existing zoning maps. This monumental task has finally been completed by the committee. Mr Feiner maintains this plan will be ready by the end of this year. That’s factually impossible given the amount of public review, revisits, rewrites and changes that will need to be made to it and then the ultimate adoption of it. Another Feiner fabrication. 

Mr Feiner continues to make unsubstantiated claims that other developers besides GameOn 365 and House of Sports are interested in the former Frank’s Nursery property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road. When pushed for an answer as to who these mysterious developers are,  Mr Feiner refuses to answer. GameOn 365 appears to be moving forward with erecting their 83 ft/8-story tall inflatable bubble on the golf driving range property adjacent to the former Franks plot. This seems to be another Feiner-like deflection from the fact that they don’t have the money or investors to compete against House of Sports’ (or any other) bid for the property. But they have to appear committed to building a sports bubble, no matter how improbable it may be. Their intent now seems to be that they will erect their bubble literally in the backyard of the Westchester View Lane residents and seek the Frank’s property for parking. Subterfuge, lies, posturing, empty bank accounts, non-existent investors. These are just some of what Mr Feiner endorses with this charade. Mr Feiner has stated over and over again that he wants an RFP for this property. Normally, in any place other than Bizarro Greenburgh, it would be the correct way to proceed. But if an RFP took place, he won’t be able to stack the deck as easily to assist GameOn 365 in getting the property. This is not good for the Town.

Mr Feiner announced at the last Work Session that he has now decided to auction the property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road to the highest bidder without any conditions and for a minimum of $3.5M. At face value this seems perfectly viable but what happened to the RFP he promised? The Democratic Primary is over – back to business as usual. But an auction provides a way out for Mr Feiner and GameOn 365. Here’s what ABG believes will happen. 

GameOn 365 will bid whatever amount they do (its really immaterial). House of Sports will bid $3.5M. Any other bidders who participate are mere icing on the cake. The bids will either be too low, have too many conditions or will simply not happen because the Town will not be forthcoming with the zoning information for the property or the requisite cleanup of it. Knowing how the property is intended to be zoned and used mandates what must be done for hazardous remediation to the property. This is what was holding back House of Sports with proceeding with their offer into a sale. Mr Feiner also knew they would not proceed if he didn’t provide the information. Common sense tells us that no CEO or company in their right mind would purchase property not knowing this. Mr Feiner is banking on this and its his ace in the hole to be able to make sure GameOn 365 gets this property for “a song” with the Town on the hook for everything! This is not good for the Town.

Regardless of how many people or organizations bid on this property, Mr Feiner will have some reason for them to be disqualified or have the secret bid, under the guise of an auction, declared null and void. Not surprisingly, Mr Feiner will announce no one bid properly or the required amount, or had conditions and didn’t meet the criteria. With his normal media blitz, he’ll announce he’s made a decision to sell the property, awarding the sale to GameOn 365. He will say we need to move this process forward because the Town is losing so much money, knowing full well it was what he had intended to do now that he’s forced to follow the law he had previously tried to ignore. The amount of the sale will be the lesser amount he originally tried to gift to GameOn 365 with the illegal lease. Either way, can you say, “Done Deal?” This is not good for the Town.

This saga has gone on for way too long and unfortunately will go on longer because of the  earlier mentioned subterfuge, lies, posturing, empty bank accounts, non-existant investors and the like. It needs to end. This is not good for the Town. Greenburgh taxpayers deserve A Better Greenburgh.

Move This Forward

Each series of meetings finds new catch phrases germinating from our Supervisor. ABG believes Mr Feiner hopes that others on the Board will grab them and use them in tandem with him, providing an appearance of faux-diligence. But since throwing Mr Sheehan under the bus by challenging his ballot petition signatures, challenging his character, and accusing him of lying about where he resides, the Board members appeared a bit chilly toward him at the first work session after the Democratic Primary election. It was at that Work Session that his newest catch phrase was concocted, “I just want to move this forward.” and, “I just want to appear to be moving forward.”

Even though his latest challenger for Town Supervisor lost the Democratic Primary election, Bob Bernstein appears to have damaged Mr Feiner’s thought-to-be-bulletproof armor, showing how many missteps, screw-ups and mistakes Mr Feiner has made while the two were out campaigning. Mr Feiner made multiple character attacks against Mr Bernstein that were out and out lies. Conversely, Mr Bernstein cited project after project and the illegal actions Mr Feiner perpetrated against the Town and the media let it lie dormant because they are “in the tank” for their fellow progressive.

Previous catch phrases from Mr Feiner that would be cast about were ones such as, “This is nothing more than bid rigging.” And, “We want to do our due diligence.”  Or how about, “ Um, you know, this is just my opinion, it’s only my personal opinion.” As ABG has stated previously, Mr Feiner is always the Supervisor and when he sits on the Town dais it is as the Supervisor. He should never state that any of his comments are a “personal” one. By saying its his personal opinion and believing that that absolves him of responsibility as Supervisor is ludicrous. This behavior simply reinforces why term limits would be a good thing. ABG knows it will never happen, but Mr Feiner and this Board should offer a referendum for term limits.

Another interesting issue that arose at this meeting is that Mr Harris of Group MRH (we don’t believe there really is a “group”) was at this same work session requesting to renegotiate their/his contract with the Town, which has still yet to be signed, because of increased costs that weren’t anticipated by them in their original bid. At roughly the 47:00 minute-point of the meeting, Mr Feiner’s handpicked, questionably chosen, inexperienced choice and favored bidder for the WestHelp property management, bemoaned his plight of staying within the bid. Mr Feiner responded, “I understand you didn’t anticipate these additional costs during the bidding”. Really? He understands? How nice. He caused the problems and created the deal with Group MRH. Now, bidders benefitting from Mr Feiner’s bid rigging, similar in nature to the GameOn 365 sweetheart deal are saying they cannot adhere to the bid because they didn’t really know how bad the property was. Perhaps they should have toured the property with the Journal News’ Dave McKay Wilson – oh, wait a minute, he was denied access to the site.

The other bidders all bid more realistic amounts because they have the experience necessary to participate in these types of projects. Group MRH does not. What should happen now is the Town should dismiss Group MRH as the high bidder for the property management and award the bid to the next highest bidder on the list. But this is “Bizarro” Greenburgh where bad deals just get swept under the carpet. The whole idea of a bid is to get the lowest fixed price for a set amount of money and work, designed to eliminate any collusion between the parties (bid rigging). It’s one of the glaring things wrong with this administration. We’re reminded of Mr Feiner’s repeated statement that the Town must, “Do our due diligence.” Apparently, Group MRH and he should have done a bit more due diligence.

Now that the Democratic Primary election is over and Mr Feiner is the official “candidate” even though he is running unopposed and no longer a “real” candidate, he again got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. About three weeks ago, a resident found paperwork left in the Town Hall auditorium that indicated the Town has approximately $22M dollars outstanding in unpaid taxes. When ABG first learned of the revelation, we asked if we could get a copy but were unable to do so. At the September 17^th Work Session, several outside accountants were presenting a report on the Town’s financial condition. Mr Feiner asked about tax amnesty and what was their experience in doing a tax amnesty program? They told him they had none. When Mr Feiner pushed them to find out if he could do a tax amnesty program, they refused to offer an opinion. Smart move as Mr Feiner must have realized the slip up.

Mr Feiner has stated he’s willing to give up the interest in exchange for the cold cash that would come in by the time the amnesty program ends on Dec. 31. That’s assuming people have the money to pay the back taxes regardless of amnesty or not. The problem with an amnesty program is that it’s a crapshoot and if people haven’t paid their taxes it’s mostly because they cannot. As Mr Feiner brags about the Town’s AAA Bond rating, he neglects to discuss the $22M outstanding, unpaid, owed back taxes throughout the Town that has been increasing yearly under his administration!

Another issue slowly percolating because of the back tax issue is that the Town stands to acquire a windfall of properties through foreclosure. We’ve witnessed for the last two years how incapable this administration is with one property they acquired through foreclosure, the former Frank’s Nursery at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road. Mr Feiner and his Board tried to illegally lease the property to another upstart, GameOn 365. When the neighbors intervened with a lawsuit, he proposed an ill-conceived Referendum in the last election. That easily passed with a majority of the voters who voted, but was left languishing, as the Democratic nominations for the upcoming elections got nearer and nearer and his opponent, Bob Bernstein, was slowly pulling the curtain back, exposing more and more of Mr Feiner’s dirty closet.

At the same time, details of Mr Feiner’s “gift” to GameOn 365, along with the property’s contamination and a surprise offer by Ardsley’s House of Sports for double the amount threw a monkey wrench into Mr Feiner’s schemes. Now instead of doing their, “Due diligence,” Mr Feiner accused the public of, “Bid rigging the process to where nobody will want to bid on Town projects.” ABG doesn’t believe it’s possible for the public to rig the bid, only the elected officials and participants of the bids can do that. If people choose to not bid on Greenburgh projects, they would do well to look elsewhere unless their has been a pre-anointed “nod” from Mr Feiner.

So while Mr Feiner has said, “It’s more important for us to get as much money in the bank,” he said. “We’ll be better off financially if we are able to collect back taxes.” He’s right. We have roughly the same amount of money being lost for the Town by Mr Feiner with bad decisions, cronyism, lost lawsuits and guilty verdicts. Greenburgh’s house of cards can no longer be sustained with his “Aw-shucks” demeanor. 400 Greenburgh property owners are delinquent on their taxes. The foreclosure process will begin for those property owners who haven’t paid their property taxes. It is estimated that at least 320 property owners will receive foreclosure notices. Can we really afford to go through 320 Frank’s Nursery scenarios?

Greenburgh needs help. ABG believes its why Bob Bernstein brought up hiring an outside Town Administrator who is not beholden to political paybacks, the politics of Mr Feiner and his complicit Board and a willfully ignorant populace. A Town Administrator is the right thing now that there is little hope for any change at Town Hall. Greenburgh residents and businesses deserve more. We deserve a better Greenburgh.

Indifference And Insensitivity

September 11, 2001. It’s known as the Second Day of Infamy. The cowardly murders perpetrated upon us under the guise of a few skewed religious zealots affected many, many lives, families, friends and acquaintances throughout our Town and our country. Many Towns and Villages had September 11th services to remember and honor those taken away from us so swiftly. There were numerous events during the day around the County. In fact the County had a service held during the day at the Kensico Dam Plaza’s The Rising Memorial Statue. While the County rarely does anything at the Dam in the evening when most people can attend (except fireworks), it was a nice tribute to those fallen Westchester residents, our relatives, friends and others.

Totaling ignoring the solemnity of the day and casually acting as though nothing happened was our Town Board. They held the regularly scheduled Town Board meeting, with nothing more than a moment of silence for those victims of the September 11th attacks hastily reminded by Mr Sheehan. This callous and even impenitent action for such a horrific event can only be rationalized with distain for this Board. This is the same Board that will shamelessly campaign at each Town Board meeting, cut residents off from speaking and do whatever they please without regard for legality or ethics. Obviously, their bad behavior is an effective strategy given the results of this past Democratic primary.

The meeting was attended by a few Hartsdale residents seeking more garbage cans in their “downtown” area and some plants near the train station. Several of these people engaged in conversations back and forth from their audience seats, never once being asked by the Board to go to the microphone as they so often do to members of the G10 or anyone else who is critical of them. Playing (?) dumb, Mr Feiner kept his microphone off so neither exchange could easily be heard. One of the G10 stalwarts, Mr Hal Samis was in attendance. When he went to the podium, he asked a number of questions. In a surprising turnaround, Mr Feiner answered several until Mr Samis re-asked questions that were not answered. After not being satisfied and pushing back for answers, Mr Samis was finally told they would answer his questions once he sat down. This is a perfect example of the duplicity of our Town Board. They’re back.

For Mr Feiner to say that he wants people to talk to him so he can address why they didn’t vote for him in the recent Democratic primary election, to engage new or dare we say unobtrusive residents with minor issues and then to put off someone else during the same exchange highlights just one of the glaring problems found in our Town government. Perhaps if Mr Samis had asked for another garbage receptacle anywhere else in the Town, he might have received more of an exchange from our chatty Board this night. This also highlights one of the serious campaign issues brought up by Mr Feiner’s challenger, Robert “Bob” Bernstein, that of a Town Board which is aloof, condescending and unresponsive to its engaged and experienced residents – no matter how many times they insist otherwise.

Back to our original assertion, which was about disrespectful way this Board regards the victims, families and friends of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Ceremonies that were happening throughout the Town in Villages were respectfully attended by many, a fact that is easily recognized given the lack of participation of the public this night. We’re sure there were others who decided not to attend because they were disappointed in the Democratic primary results, which is totally understandable. Yet this same Board will delay and cancel Town Board meetings on a whim. They will delay the start of these meetings when issues of substance requiring public hearings need more time than they will allow. They delay meeting after meeting to allow poetry recitals, musical performances, magic shows, and other illusional distractions. The Board will delay the meeting to present certificates of appreciation, watch movies made by kids and they will dress up in period costumes in a counterfeit attempt to entertain their detached cohorts. But why won’t they cancel a meeting to observe a national day of reflection? After all, Mr Feiner released one press release after another to announce the building of and the later renovation of our Town Memorial on Central Avenue. Why not do have a ceremony there?

It has been suggested on more than one occasion that this Town Board will cancel meetings during the summer months for several reasons. One is that there is less to do during the summer. Really? Does government stop during warmer months? Hardly. In fact, it appears there is more going on throughout the Town that should be addressed by our detached and elitist Town Board. But, the most recurring reason that always comes up is if there is a primary or an election that year, Mr Feiner and his Board will need a way to limit his or his Board members’ exposure and their opponents exposure. By canceling the Town Board meetings they’re assured to limit their opponents free exposure on the cable access/Verizon channels and aid their campaign. This year Mr Feiner needed to limit Mr Bernstein and Ms Brunson Fantauzzi’s exposure. It worked. Its amazing how the system is stacked against a challenger and for the incumbent.

Every move Mr Feiner makes has a personal motive. Sometimes, as in the WestHelp debacle where the Town has already lost $2.4 million and counting, it may take two or more years to see why he did what he did. Of course, deflection. He went against the Fortress Bible Church years ago to help protect the neighborhood of his buddy, Tom Abinanti, then a County Legislator and now State Assemblyman. He met with GameOn 365 approximately one year before the Town acquired the property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road, the former Frank’s Nursery, secretly offering to gift it to them with an illegal lease and way below market value. He assisted Westhab with acquiring funds and then the property at 22 Tarrytown Road long before he informed the Fulton Park neighborhood that they were about to be assaulted again with low income, subsidized Section 8 housing. Studies have shown that crime follows Section 8 housing and Fulton Park is living proof of it. Ever since the building has begun occupancy, break-ins to cars and homes in the neighborhood has returned. “I’m going to prove to the resident’s of Fulton park how I feel about them. You’re going to change your opinion of me,” said Mr Feiner after doing nothing after Hurricane Irene wiped out so many residents. It was another lie from Mr Feiner. So, yes, they’ve changed their opinion of him.

So what can we do about a bereft Town Board interested in only their own agenda and not the peoples’  issues? Apparently, very little without a united Town. The Republicans have dismissed Greenburgh. According to the Greenburgh Republican Leader and the Westchester Republican Party leader, they will not waste their time and energy to fight a battle in Greenburgh. The Democratic leaders handily supported Mr Bernstein over Mr Feiner in their nominating meeting as the endorsed candidate. Does this mean Mr Feiner is bulletproof? Of course not. Looking at the numbers, Mr Feiner received 3,801 to Mr Bernsteins 2,121 votes out of the 42,000 registered democratic voters in Greenburgh! Just under 6k Democrats voted in another typically low-turnout primary event. This is hardly a justifiable representation when Mr Feiner only received 1,680 more votes than Mr Bernstein out of 42,000 possible votes.

We hope that next year, the showmen and women that sit on the Town Board will observe and celebrate the Second Day of Infamy with more than a simple, afterthought moment of silence. In spite of this indifference and insensitivity exhibited by the Town Board, we refuse to acquiesce. While we observe and respect those whose lives were lost on September 11, 2001, we can only hope our Town Board will do the same next year. In spite of them, ABG believes we can still have A Better Greenburgh.