Bronx River Cleanup Scheduled for Nov 1

 

Westchester Parks Foundation is looking for volunteers to help with its citizen science project—the Clean River Project—to address the issue of floatable trash, which is one of the three major water quality issues on the Bronx River. Volunteers will wear waders in the river and help count the bottles, cans, straws, and more found in the trash boom. The information collected helps find the sources of this trash and stops it from entering the river in the first place. The project engages volunteers by promoting outreach to local businesses whose products end up in and along the river, and it unites messaging around the harm to local waterways caused by non-biodegradable products.

What to know:
Dress for the weather; check the forecast before leaving
Please read special instructions on where to meet so we can begin promptly!
Wear closed-toe shoes, socks, and items that can get dirty
Bring your own reusable water bottle
Waders, gloves, trash bags, and all instruction will be provided
Please read special instructions listed with the location information to ensure you are in the right place and we can start on time.

Weather/cancellation policy:
Volunteers will work in most weather, including cold, heat, and light precipitation, so please dress accordingly! Westchester Parks Foundation will cancel the project if the weather seems like it may affect the safety of its volunteers.
In the case of inclement weather, the project may be cancelled up to an hour before the project start time. If you do not receive a cancellation email from Westchester Parks Foundation or Volunteer New York! before then, the project is still taking place.

The Futility of Do-Nothing Elected Officials

Following the Memorial Day Parade, which honors our fallen war heroes, we had occasion to run into Assemblyman Democrat Tom Abinanti, who was doing the politician’s dance, Pressing The Flesh. In passing he made a comment about how he contributed to getting the Saw Mill River corridor cleaned out, aiding the homes and businesses that get flooded from storms every year. And, we challenged him that he has done nothing to aid the residents and businesses along the Bronx River corridor. His response was the usual, “I introduced a bill mandating the County be responsible for maintaining the river." It's a page right out of Mr Feiner’s playbook. Appear concerned, promise to "look into it" and then write a letter to another higher-up elected official and he has completed his obligation to do something.

When pushed, Abinanti tried to flip the conversation as to why we weren’t at some non-existent firematic event in Mt Pleasant the previous weekend, we countered this query with a response, "It wasn’t our district." His response was predictably, "Exactly.” He explained that the Bronx River corridor isn’t under his district. Oddly, it is! So why lie about it? Probably because he knew he’d been exposed. Then he claimed he couldn't talk because he was already late, mostly, we believe, for the pictures with local officials (re: media exposure – especially in a desperate election year).

Not surprisingly, Mr Feiner also panders to the media while excelling at pandering to residents. When residents along the Bronx River corridor were über-flooded by storms Irene and Ida, Mr Feiner once again promised action, which turned into a letter to Representatives Stewart-Cousins, Abinanti, A. Williams, Shimsky and probably a few others that wouldn’t be significant other than to reference a number of people he reached out to. The disingenuousness of this action was after he wrote the letter, not only was he done with his responsibility of helping his constituents, but he went to Fulton Park and promised residents there that FEMA (similar to another four-letter word) would purchase their homes from them, eliminating their nightmare. Never happened, plus FEMA explained there were numerous benchmarks the Town must meet before that would happen. Mr Feiner conveniently left that out.

Back to the campaigning, Abinanti claims he submitted the bill to the County, which passed and then he left for the State Assembly. He maintains it was then up to newly elected Shimsky to pick up that mantle and run with it. Maybe. The reality is it was up to Williams as “the Bronx River corridor falls in her jurisdiction” - to use Abinanti's words. The bigger issue that feel-good politicians like Abinanti utilize is pretending to address an issue through introducing legislation but not including funding for it. Yes, Abinanti drafted the plan but never drafted funding for it -- a waste of time!
“The Board of Legislators has done nothing on it since,” Abinanti said. “This is not a state function. My opponent is just trying to deflect from the failures of the Board of Legislators.” Shimsky countered with, “County government will need support at the state and federal levels on a year-over-year basis. Given the degree to which the problem is going to become more pervasive and severe, county government can’t do it alone.” Sounds good, but did they do anything about it? You know the answer.

His supporters claim he has co-sponsored over 500 bills, which passed both houses and he has been the prime sponsor of over 100 bills alone. One such “co-sponsored bill” was for fire department ambulance billing for fire departments that operate ambulance service to their community. What he doesn’t mention was that he only got on board as a co-sponsor after it left committee and it was assured of passage and being signed by the Governor. By the way, this bill has been introduced over 10 years ago and only got traction after the former Governor resigned. So, while Abinanti has been in office for 14 years, he again played it safe and sat on the sidelines. Just like with his impotent County flood responsibility bill.

I in a recent debate and discussions of housing and the high cost of living, Shimsky underscored that much of the county needs significantly subsidized and affordable housing.
“We have to make sure we get more affordable housing units built and think about where housing for a broader array of income levels can be built where it would not be as expensive,” Shimsky said. The obvious answer, never to even be whispered, would be upstate. Abinanti's solution? He said he and fellow state legislators have worked to control the high cost of living by eliminating taxes on gasoline, cutting taxes for the middle class, finding alternative resources for local governments to cut property taxes and allowing Westchester to increase its sales tax. For Abinanti’s 40 or so years as an elected official, he has helped increase all of these same taxes without regard to how expensive he has caused the area to get. “We’ve got to decrease the cost of living for people at this very expensive time,” Abinanti said. An expensive "time" that he is culpably responsible for creating as a 40-year career politician.

On an upcoming Tuesday near you, the Democratic primary will be held. Between early voting and other contrivances that have been added to the existing system, It promises nothing new. We’ll be saddled with the same old faces, clichés, hollow promises and ultimately less action with more finger-pointing and blame. The Democrat stalwarts will come out and either decide more of the same with Abinanti is ok or they’ll decide he should be pastured and give Shimsky a shot. Either way, the people whose homes and businesses flood will be forced to endure more of the same as well as the deck gets shuffled yet again.

Problem Creator Seeks Problem Solver

In a recent front page article in the only daily newspaper left in the region, Mr Feiner was front page, below the fold, patronizing the youngster writing the article entitled, Crisis For Every Downtown Area. His photo is in front of a vacant store front in the Hartsdale Four-Corners (4-C). While disingenuous at best, Mr Feiner feigns lamenting  about this “hub” for small business. In his almost thirty years as Supervisor, he never gave this hub a second thought. Then, with the advent of the Hartsdale Neighbors Association, and a groundswell of support for the Edgemont Incorporation, and even talk of a Hartsdale Incorporation, he knew he had to do something.

Mr Feiner’s playbook for action includes a litany of faux-action points: write a letter to another politician telling them they must act on this on behalf of their constituents, pit neighbors against each other, ignore and say nothing, hoping the issue either resolves itself, goes away, the complainant moves or dies, and/or he appoints a citizen committee or student intern group to address it. The latter usually being his most effective after completing the letter writing grandstanding. After all, who wants to pick on high school kids? 

He’s quoted as saying, “It’s very upsetting and aggravating.” We’re not sure if he meant the vacancies or the action taken by others to remedy the Four Corners’ issues, making him appear to be doing nothing. Specifically, there is a business in that area that did a study bemoaning what's wrong with the area and presented it to Mr Feiner and the Hartsdale Neighbors Association. So to again feign concern, Mr Feiner had his Board vote to spend $400,000 to purchase two uninhabitable houses on West Hartsdale Avenue behind the Dairy Del deli. The excuse proffered was to develop it into a parking lot which would be monitored and maintained by the Hartsdale Parking Authority.

Even with the wasted expenditure of $400,000 and the additional cost involved in the destruction of the two homes, construction of anything within the Four Corners immediate proximity must first be approved by the New York State Department of Transportation. The reason is that Central Park Avenue and Hartsdale Avenue, east and west, are DOT governed roadways. Regardless of the ownership, Mr Feiner is bereft of any plausible or workable ideas for the area as he has been these past 30 years during his unprecedented and mostly inept tenure. You can start to see why term limits are so necessary.

With a recently completed and presented study of the area, a small company who would benefit from several of their suggestions is Inspired Places. While we can debate the merits of it, the study has provided Mr Feiner with talking points that will eventually prove useless. In the article, Greenburgh officials claim to have already been worried about For Lease and For Rent signs before the Covid 19 pandemic. Really? We find it hard to believe as they only seemed to became interested when rumors of a Hartsdale incorporation began to circulate.

What’s also interesting is that Town officials parrot the same canned responses that the internet killed retail. Yet when we talk to business owners, specifically ones in retail, the successful ones are offering a higher level of customer support and interaction with the same goods and services that they've always offered and even increased. Luke Tancredi, the owner of Crank Cycles on North Central Avenue, discussed how he opened his store on March 1st and that bikes “Were flying out the door.” We’re extremely happy for him and our community to have a bike shop that’s thriving. When we went in to purchase a bike with a neighbor, we learned that all of the bikes in his store were only there for repairs. He had run out of new bicycles to sell. Nor did he have any used bikes for sale. We wish him continued success.

When Public Sector officials try to rationalize retail and the private sector and tell the public what’s wrong in the private sector, the words fall on deaf ears. Ultimately, retail space suffers for several reasons that our elected politicians refuse to acknowledge. Instead, in typical Feiner-fashion, he’s proposing to waste more money by increasing personnel and hire an Economic Development Coordinator (EDC), enlisting residents and Generation Z-ers to find ways to “brand” their shops and restaurants. The glaring omission in this “logic” is that this does nothing to fill the vacancies that exist throughout the Town, not only the Four Corners. 

Yes, someone can assist a business owner in applying for funds but those organizations giving those funds will also work with the applicant for their success. Yet we believe the current crop of business owners who are “making it work” are already ahead of that curve. And after they apply, what then for this EDC, their salary and benefits? We might favor this position if the EDC’s remuneration for instance, were tied to successfully filling vacant spaces for 2 years. 2 years? Yes, two, as most businesses fail in the first year.

The are several real issues that are typically ignored by the Public Sector know-it-alls as to what ails businesses and specifically retail. One is antiquated zoning, permits fees (a bonanza Greenburgh’s Building Dept. currently enjoys), registration fees, insurance bonds, etc., and that's before anyone even moves in. Sky-high rents and regulations abound. But why are they sky-high? Taxes. Last year saw Mr Feiner being embarrassed into a one year moratorium on tax increases after Supervisor candidate and challenger Lucas Cioffi promised a two-year moratorium on raising taxes! This year, however taxes have increased. Those increases are passed on to the renter (store owner) through their rent and are ultimately paid for by their customers. Lowing taxes could assist in breaking this cycle.

Another issue negatively and severely impacting this Hartsdale 4-C area is flooding. There is a Flood Committee for the County, chaired by County Legislator Alfreda Williams and the Town’s own Victor Carosi. Amazingly, they’ve never met after the committee was initially formed some four years ago and done nothing for their constituents! This entire time while we did not have any crippling water events would have been the perfect time to act. Politicians such as Mr Feiner love to come out during the storms and promise anything and everything to solve all of these issues “moving forward,” simply leave after the cameras are turned off. The issue in Hartsdale permeates the entire length of the Bronx River corridor and all of the residents along its way repeatedly get flooded. FEMA, a four letter word, only exacerbates the issue by offering extremely expensive and in some cases unaffordable flood insurance for those residents in the corridor with miserly claims payout and ridiculous deductibles. 

These areas never used to flood like they do now and many of these people had never got flooded even during severe storms. It’s only after all of the communities along the corridor began building and creating more and more impervious spaces that people began to get flooded. Why? Because the politicians approved all of the developments (some say over development) and channeled storm water into the Bronx River. The explosive rate of building coupled with a lack of storm water management and infrastructure improvement has proven a recipe for disaster. But what can be done?

First, our representatives must actually act and not spew the useless rhetoric of the past. Second, the different communities must commit resources in a partnership to dredge, clean out and maybe even widen the river to improve water flow. Third, after that they need to provide routine maintenance to keep it clear of debris and flowing freely. Fourth, the County, who has most of the immediate ownership of the property, must assume its responsibility and work to get the river cleaned out as a partner with the river-bound communities. They can no longer sit back, collect their ridiculously high salaries while working families are struggling with sky-high taxes, and do nothing. The time to act is now, before the hurricanes, floods and other assorted storms depend upon us. 

Perhaps Mr Feiner, instead of writing a letter to the County Executive, could actually spearhead an environmental impact crusade to save the Bronx River corridor and help to alleviate those people’s pain?! And perhaps Ms Williams can intercede and get County execution to clear the hurdles of County government’s inaction?! People who get flooded are less concerned with politicians pushing bike lanes in densely trafficked areas and want real help.

After flooding is addressed, there needs to be an honest discussion and action by the Town on zoning that will control how land is use and/or be preserved, along with the integrity of our communities. Village and Town Boards must not capitulate to developers because they seek tax monies. Many of these developers are utilizing grants and low interest loans with little of their own monies invested. This undercuts the community they seek to build in strictly for their bottom line, compromising our neighborhoods. Yes, they should be allowed to build within the constricts of our zoning laws, but not at our neighbood’s expense. Zoning laws are in place for numerous reasons to help communities thrive, not just developers. This abuse has to stop. Finally, Mr Feiner needs to sit down with the DOT and develop a workable plan for improving numerous failures of our combined roadways. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Maplewood Walk-Through Provides No Answers For Neighbors - Only Developer

Yes, it was a beautiful day. Sadly, the people that were in attendance truly believed that they were being part of an honest appraisal of the property sought to be purchased by the developers. They went there honestly thinking that they were going to experience an open dialogue with the Planning Board and the developer for the Maplewood assisted living facility. What they learned however, was that this was probably a well coordinated effort between the developer and the planning board to benefit the developer by learning, before a hearing, what the issues were of the surrounding community. You see, these residents have not had to deal with Town Hall or a developer before, so they went there with open and honest questions, but did not receive the same in return.

What they did receive was an opening salvo letter from Walter Simon, the chair of the planning board, prior to the meeting, instructing them of what they could and could not do during the walk-through. Equally disappointing was that not all of the Planning Board members were in attendance with this event being scheduled specifically for them. It begs the question why were they not there?* And what would be the purpose of having a walk-through with the public if the walk-through was for the benefit of the Planning Board and not the public? Could it be that this was simply smoke and mirrors and designed specifically for the Planning Board to provide the developer a way of finding out what all the neighbors’ issues are and have prepared answers before they make their pitch to the Planning Board or the Town Board?

Putting traffic aside momentarily, and it's difficult to ignore traffic because it is such a rampant problem throughout our town, another issue that is significant throughout the town is flooding. We’re now seeing flooding even during normal rain events. Claims that we are starting to see 500 year storms on a regular basis are being proven out more and more throughout the Town and yet the flooding issue is routinely ignored by the Town. This has a significant impact on how every roadway, general and rush-hour travel and traffic flow are affected. When the Bronx River corridor experiences flooding, it backs up into many of our neighborhoods as well as effecting Central Avenue. In fact Mr. Feiner and his Town Board recently purchased and demolished two houses for a cost of $400,000 to try to increase the space near the four corners and create a right hand turning lane to alleviate a little bit of the increased traffic congestion going from West Hartsdale Avenue onto Central Park Avenue southbound.

So if we can put traffic and flooding aside, what other issues will impact this neighborhood with this project? The Maplewood property where the assisted living facility will be placed must be excavated and leveled so that the building, which we were told will be three stories, can be built. This includes blasting and multiple pieces of construction equipment and worker vehicles for that and grading of the site. Many of the homes in the area are extremely old, some having been built in the mid 1800’s. Those homeowners are concerned that blasting will not only disrupt their lives but damage their homes. Mr Simon referenced the Town’s blasting laws to allay any concerns. However, we know from experience that these laws and the insurance company’s resistance to pay from technicalities will leave these homeowners in the lurch should their homes incur damage just as has happened throughout the Town in the past.

This project reminds us of an individual who goes house shopping looking for a new home. As you start look at homes, you find something you like about one and dislike about another. As you go around and you see what you do like you slowly begin to make your decision as to what to purchase. If you believe there is something about a particular home that you disliked and can't change it, you have to weigh the pros and cons and make a decision about whether to proceed or not. Sometimes it means walking away. This project is dependent on getting approvals from the town and all of its boards, and once they get those, the sale transaction will be made. This project, as almost all of the assisted living facilities in the Town, is too big for the property and the surrounding area and should be denied!

They claim the staff-to-patient ratio is 1 to 8 and there would be 26 to 28 staff on duty for a day shift. They claim that some of the staff might live in the neighborhood. While that's doubtful, anything is possible. They state there would be 15 to 20 people on the night shift and 12 people on the overnight shift. The traffic argument from the developer is that these people will not all be driving cars, will be using public transportation and shuttles to get to and from work – not affecting traffic much at all. They’ll also say that the residents won’t drive but they won’t mention their families and friends coming to visit them. Again, exacerbating the impact on traffic. The flooding issue will be addressed with water basin collectors. They don’t say what happens to the rest of the water when these basins are full. But, we know. DOT hasn’t weighed in on anything with Central Avenue and probably won’t. So traffic, water, right hand turns and everything else affecting this project will go unchallenged.

We believe Mr Feiner has already met with the developer as he does with all developers. He would have given them a few lame conditions to meet with the public and indicated that this project would get his approval once the Town Board becomes the lead agency. We also believe this to be a done deal, especially if the residents don’t get more vociferous with their protests and highlighted by the fact that he wasn’t at the walk-through. By the way, a requirement to build a sidewalk in front of the property will be enforced and Mr. Feiner will take credit for having a sidewalk (to nowhere) built on West Hartsdale Avenue. 

It’s these kinds of contradictions and lack of support from the town for its existing residents and taxpayers that make projects like this so frustrating and ultimately unwelcome. Greenburgh is changing as we become the assisted living capital of NY, where current Greenburgh residents cannot afford to move into the facilities once constructed. These projects, forcibly shoehorned onto inappropriately small pieces of properties need to stop. It’ll make for A Better Greenburgh.
* Planning Board member Hugh Schwartz was recovering from surgery.

Hartsdale 4-Corners Needs Change

A presentation to the Town Board at their weekly work session by the owners of Inspired Places touched on a good number of items that could potentially change the Hartsdale 4-corners (4-C) area. However, for this area to change, some radical thinking, fresh ideas, money and most importantly zoning changes will be required. Whether or not these changes can happen must begin with the Town Board. To that end, Mr Feiner asked for a report in two weeks on how to make this process move forward. Cooler heads prevailed, however, and it was decided that Garrett Duquesne would work with the women and notify the Board when the information required would be ready for the next step.

Much was said as to what might be required to transform the 4-corners area from what it currently is now to what it might become. There were six topics of discussion: zoning, mobility, infrastructure, environmental, aesthetics and community well-being. Zoning, the first and probably foremost catalyst to a 4-C change, rests solely in the lap of Mr Feiner and his Board. Since we know they are more than willing to change zoning codes for any developer faster than a hooker asking if you’re looking to party, we don’t see much resistance here. However, while his Board’s zeal to please their master aside, it will be up to residents to ensure the zoning changes are correct, qualified, and will not be used by others elsewhere. An example is that the apartment buildings on Hartsdale Avenue in Hartsdale are zoned M-174. Mr Feiner pushed for the Westhab building in Fulton Park to also be M-174. Fortunately, after much community opposition, Westhab acquiesced from a 7-story building to a 4-story one with an assurance from them and Mr Feiner’s Board that they would never build “up” in perpetuity.

So with no cohesive zoning plan for the Town, Mr Feiner routinely offers zoning changes to developers for what zoning we do have and then informs the public that the Town will benefit from the changes and reap millions in taxes, permits and fees – even though those numbers rarely, if ever, materialize. Or, if they do materialize, those funds are used to pay off guilty verdict fines such as the Fortress Bible Church discrimination case for $6.5 million. Given Mr Feiner and his Board’s willingness, if not eagerness, to spot-zone, the Town needs to have a vehicle to control this wanton disregard for the early Town planner’s vision for the Town. This could have happened when the Town spent, or rather wasted, 8-years and $600,000 developing a Town Comprehensive Plan that effectively does nothing to address zoning, future growth and/or growth limitations for the Town. Nor does it reign in control of the Supervisor and his Board from spot zoning as they please. This too is one of the costs of not having term limits. After some 25-years in office, most residents are hungry for a leadership change. Sadly, both the Democrats and Republicans will offer none.

Based on the recent and very protracted Edgemont Incorporation Council’s (EIC) attempt to have the Edgemont Unincorporated section of Town seek to incorporate and become a village within the Town, we believe Mr Feiner will appear to make every attempt to placate Hartsdale residents. This is primarily because since Mr Feiner has tried numerous ways to thwart the EIC attempts, the rumor mill began churning of Hartsdale incorporation talk ­– which must scare the hell out of Mr Feiner and his Board! They don’t need to be dealing with incorporation on two fronts.

With Inspired Places, LLC, presentation, represented by Hartsdale residents Patrice Ingrassia and Christine Broda, they highlighted some of the issues that have plagued the 4-C intersection. Basically, the retail environment has suffered due to high permit fees and length of time to acquire them, inadequate parking, flooding, heavily congested roadways with bottlenecks, internet purchasing, a lack of foot or pedestrian traffic and so on. These problems have all been talked about before, lamented by the Town administration and later ignored as they move to the newest shiny object that they can publicize and politicize.

Other issues also factor in to the equation, such as an abhorrent area of uncoordinated signage, strings of overhead wiring, old and outdated building facades and that there is little if any pervious space. The entire area is taken up by the various buildings’ footprints, concrete and asphalt. As pointed out during the presentation, the 4-C area is mainly regarded as an intersection of two major roadways. Central Park Avenue and Hartsdale Avenue, providing the lion’s share  of east-west and north-south automotive connectivity. What is seriously lacking is a safe and easy manner for pedestrians to park and frequent the businesses that have staked a claim in the 4-C area.

We are happy to see this study undertaken and endorsed by many. And while it would prove interesting to see how well it progresses, it is but the tip of the iceberg. First, traffic congestion and flow needs to be addressed beyond saying everyone should use mass transit or we should have more buses. We have witnessed repeated issues with the Bee-Line bus system cutting routes and frequencies of buses due to declining ridership, limited schedules (including holiday schedules), availability to key areas and cost to operate. Several years in a row have seen the Express Bus System in jeopardy as well as other routes abandoned as not being cost-effective where they were.

Second, flooding must be addressed as a Town and County-wide issue if we are to truly make any inroads in controlling flooding, assisting our taxpaying residents and businesses, and helping everyone in the Town flourish. The Bronx and Saw Mill rivers are the two major pathways for flood and runoff water to exit our area. Both of these rivers must be cleaned, dredged, widened and then maintained so our residents can live safely and dryly. The County, Towns and Villages must also limit new construction and upgrade existing infrastructure to help with all of this.

Third, zoning must be changed in a way that will not allow it to be bastardized by a developer and then agreed to by any elected officials. The pseudo-Comprehensive Plan could have addressed this and put forth a zoning plan that assisted in the Town’s future growth. But they did not. Instead, they chose to politicize the effort and create a document that discusses global warming and such. Want to address global warming? Create a document that does what the residents told you they wanted: less impervious space, smaller buildings, more green space, bike and walking paths to name a few and leave the political statements for another time.

Finally, with or without a Comprehensive Plan that is viable, we need to have a direction that the public requests and that politicians can join in to have a focus to improve the Town (and County) resident’s lives. The Hartsdale 4-Corners project could be the first step in the right direction. Let’s hope so. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Storm Highlights Frustrations

It seems that every politician is trying to grab more and more headlines during the two most recent storms. Newly elected County Executive George Latimer has had numerous television clips showing him basically yelling into the phone at ConEd executives. Anyone who has gone to and had to deal with the Town Board at a meeting will certainly empathize with his level of frustration. These first 100-year storms and now 500-year storms seem to be happening every year, often several times in one year. But why? There is no easy answer to this unless you are a politician. Of course, it’s climate change – or is it?

In Mr Feiner’s most recent email blast, he says:
“I'm very aggravated. Thought and hoped that everyone would have their power back yesterday as Con Ed promised earlier in the week. Was wrong. Although many residents did contact me--delighted that their power was restored sometime yesterday, others are still out. As of 9 AM there were 338 homes in Greenburgh out of power, down from over 1000 at some points yesterday. Last week there were over 4,000 outages. Con Ed has not been notifying local officials from anywhere in the county what streets they are going to next. We can yell, scream, beg them to help. We can highlight hard luck stories. Sometimes they listen. They also have not always responded to some of our requests. Every municipal official I speak with from other communities has shared similar stories. And some communities are worst off --have more outages.” Now he is starting to know how residents feel whenever we’re trying to get answers from him and his Board!

Mr Feiner has also gone to great lengths to highlight some of those without power or the resources to be able to leave for a stay with relatives, friends or simply a hotel. We truly sympathize with those people without power and with damage to their homes. Oddly, the hotels in our area are all rather expensive, now including a new 3% room tax that Mr Feiner and his Board, along with Assemblyman Abinanti and Senator Stewart-Cousins could not wait to impose on guests. Their claim was that this would not cost residents because they, ahem, don’t rent rooms in Greenburgh. How’s that working out now? Karma.

After the storm always seems to be a political free-for-all to see who can beat up the big bad utilities for not doing something right, not doing anything at all or not doing enough. One way or the other the news media will jump at each one of their attempts to point fingers and replay it incessantly. The utilities are Public Service organizations, regulated by what must seem like billions of regulations put in place by, yes, politicians. This seems to be a sort of Catch-22. One thing the politicians never do is to blame themselves!

Mr Latimer, while new in the County Executive position was a County Legislator, Assemblyman and Senator before assuming this new position. So none of this is new to him, and he has not done much in his previous positions to alleviate any of these difficulties. He remains culpable to a degree and should not get a pass because he’s in a new position. Mr Feiner on the other hand, has been in office even longer and actually exacerbated the problem.

After Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, the Fulton Park Civic Association leaders met with Commissioner Victor Carosi and Richard Fon about trying to get the trees in the area trimmed to prevent further trees from coming down and taking out wires. To their credit, and the efforts of many, a good number of problematic trees were taken down. Because of that effort, no trees have come down onto wires, causing any power outages in that corridor. This type of maintenance needs to happen regularly. Mr Feiner, while always happy to talk about issues, is also very unwilling to take action – unless of course he can get publicity from it. Instead of focusing on the 2% tax cap – which isn’t really followed anyway, Mr Feiner should focus on spending some money on maintenance for the taxpayers well being, instead of $6.5 million fines from guilty verdicts as with the Fortress Bible Discrimination case.

Indirectly, however, Mr Feiner has had trees removed by authorizing all of the overdevelopment throughout the Town. Yes, hundreds and maybe even thousands of trees and pervious space have been removed or will be removed to permit zone-busting, oversized and inappropriate buildings wherever a developer asks for it. The latest will be the former Elmwood Country Club, which succumbed to a falling membership and sold the property to a developer seeking to alter the property’s zoning to create 175 townhouses.

Each time we create more impervious space through these types of construction projects, the remaining permeable spaces wind up getting abnormally inundated with water. As the area saturates more and more, to the point of over-saturation, the soil’s stability is undermined and the trees, usually the older, taller and heavier ones come down. Maintenance of the large trees, as well as a reduction of these over-sized projects and a stricter adherence to our zoning and building codes would surely help.

Several years ago, after Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, Mr Feiner lied to a flood ravaged resident on Old Kensico Road that F.E.M.A. would purchase their home to help them get “out from under”, that resident learned an inconvenient truth: Mr Feiner will say anything without regard to whether it is true or not! Regardless, yesterday Mr Feiner sent out another Feiner email blast that Town employees had finished clearing the trees off of all roadways. Yesterday. Why is that important? Because the utility workers were often unable to access their power equipment until the Town cleared a way for them to get in and operate safely. So, while we feel bad for those residents who have been suffering without power, there is plenty of blame to go around, starting with Mr Feiner’s and his administration.

We will continue to get more severe storms such as this. Mother Nature, while full of surprises, can afford some predictability that will allow us to be better prepared. First, we must dredge the Bronx and Saw Mill Rivers to help storm water flow unencumbered. Second, we must have a tree trimming initiative that operates all of the time, not just when it’s convenient for a TV sound byte. Third, any new construction should mandate underground wiring. Fourth, Mr Feiner needs to operate during storms at the County’s Emergency Command Facility in Hawthorne. That’s where government leaders, utility leaders, police, fire and other heads of organizations operate from during an emergency. Why does this make sense? Because Mr Feiner could simply turn to the head of ConEd and ask direct questions and get direct answers.

There are other things that need improvement such as our sorely neglected infrastructure. How this Town operates is woefully inefficient and it shows up painfully for the abused and beleaguered taxpayers time and time again, especially highlighted during storms. This has to change. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Believability

Is believability for a politician necessary to govern successfully? We think it should be. That’s why we were a bit dismayed when our local daily paper had an article about “Tackling The Flood.” It went on to discuss the efforts of three communities, Scarsdale, Eastchester and New Rochelle, and how they’ve begun to execute a plan to alleviate flooding along the Hutchinson River in their respective communities. Each signed an agreement, entitled the Hutchinson River Flood Mitigation Project, to try to do something about flooding in their communities. Will they accomplish their goal? We’re not sure, but we believe they will try. Welcome to hurricane season.

The same issue has been brought up at countless meetings for the town of Greenburgh, by different people as well as different organizations. Sadly, with all of the talk about flooding in Greenburgh, nothing has ever been done nor changed to improve the situation during 24-years of the Feiner administration. Taxpayers, both commercial and residential, continue to get flooded. The continued flooding actively forces people to seek higher ground, ultimately with the driest solution being to move out of our town. After all, if Mr. Feiner continues to do nothing but provide lip service what other recourse is there?

Several years ago Mr. Feiner asked to create a task force to address flooding. A task force was formed. Greenburgh Commissioner Victor Carosi and the White Plains Public Works Commissioner were named co-chairs for this committee. County Legislator Alfreda Williams, is also on this commission. There may be several other people on this task force that are also of no consequence and contribute nothing to the flooding problem still being experienced by residents and businesses. Why have they not done anything after having an initial meeting, offering no subsequent plan for relief for these beleaguered taxpayers? And, now it’s hurricane season again with no solutions.

It’s easier to talk about flooding than it is to do something about it, such as coming up with a plan of attack similar to what we see with this Hutchinson River flood mitigation project. The dormant task force has not met in over two years since they were founded. We’re sure if they had they would have said there is no money or there are too many boundaries to try work with to clean the river spaces out, or to dredge them, or to somehow open them up to get a better flow of water. It’s easier to talk about it, to listen to us complain about it, than it is to fix it. After all, these elected officials and subsequent appointed officials know they will be reelected, typically without any opposition, and will reappoint their favorites once again. Losing a couple of hundred collective votes is nothing for Mr Feiner when he receives 7,000 votes running unopposed!

Whenever there is media focus either on a politician visiting the scene of a flood, or the media interviewing the flooded residents, the politicians all say that something must be done and then they point fingers at other politicians either uninvolved, not from the area, or are totally inappropriate for the problem at hand. Previously, Mr. Feiner has passed the buck to County legislators, State legislators or FEMA and the federal government. In fact he told one resident from Old Kensico Road that he would reach out to FEMA on their behalf to see about purchasing their flooded property. He knew that was a lie because the municipality must first perform a number of steps before FEMA will even entertain involvement. It made for great TV sound bytes but little else. Finally, after receiving no help for assistance of any kind from Mr. Feiner, specifically the Town, the County, State, or Federal government, especially FEMA, those same residents sold their house at a loss and moved to another area!

Mr. Feiner went to great lengths to appear on News 12 to bemoan the lack of action by other politicians for his valued constituents. These so-called valued constituents quickly realized that they were mere pawns in Mr. Feiner’s attempt to gain more publicity for himself. While he was successful in beating the drum getting publicity for himself, he threw a small portion of his constituency, literally, down the river along with many of their prized, ruined or irreplaceable possessions. Now that hurricane season is upon us the proverbial barn door has already been closed as the flooding begins once again. With all the development that has taken place in the region there are only two outlets for rainwater to go. The first on the west side of Greenburgh is the Saw Mill River. The second is on the east side of Greenburgh and that is the Bronx River. After the flooding caused by hurricane and tropical storm Irene, the Village of Elmsford mounted a campaign to clean out the Saw Mill River after a resident videotaped the debris blocking the waters flow causing some of the flooding in the area. Mr Feiner jumped on that bandwagon and received all kinds of publicity, but actually did nothing while the flooding continues.

During all the hype that Mr. Feiner and others utilized for their advantage, they ignored the Bronx River corridor and the residents that live near it. They too were severely flooded during Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Sandy. At no point beyond the TV cameras did Mr. Feiner or other politicians offer to do anything to remediate the problems in the Bronx River corridor and the flow of water, especially during even minor storms. Mr. Feiner remains dry and aloof in his gated community in Boulder Ridge. Other politicians also remain dry during storms and bad weather. The role of government is to protect its people – all of its people! That hasn’t happened for those that live along the two corridors that parallel the only two rivers out of the Town and County. Both the Bronx River and the Saw Mill River need attention and residents need relief!

Every community that has the river passing through it needs to take ownership and responsibility for keeping the river clear. Individuals must participate as well. One simple thing individuals can do is simply don’t litter – it clogs our storm drains and ultimately our rivers. By collectively doing this it will help to allow the flow of water to better reach the sound shore waterways and other outlets and not back up into our neighborhoods, homes, and businesses.  By investing in our infrastructure and maintaining all of our wetland areas, we will be helping everyone enjoy a better quality of living in our towns and villages. This needs to happen sooner rather than later so we can have A Better Greenburgh.

Inaction and Incompetence Guarantees More Damage

While the rest of us wait for the next drop of precipitation that will eventually build into the latest flood for our neighborhoods, our Town Board keeps busy by focusing on everything except properly running our Town. They certainly are ignoring real storm and disaster preparation. Countless people throughout the Town have complained to Mr Feiner and his Town Board, to our County Legislators, State leaders and the media about the need for flood mitigation. All of them have ignored these appeals for preparation to help the ever-increasing list of neighborhoods now flooding.

First, Mr Feiner seems to only be interested in flooding if there is a press conference or press release that can get his name in the media, or, if there is a flood and he can be interviewed with the destroyed beachfront property behind him, saying how terrible this is and he will contact every other elected leader to do something. He won’t actually do anything himself except stave off those nagging residents with copies of emails sent to others. Politics: why fix it when we can talk about it?

Second, in a meeting held with several Greenburgh Civic Associations, county Legislator Alfreda Williams stated the County’s Flood Mitigation Committee (we’re sure there’s a more formal name) hasn’t met for almost a year. So while the weather has been conducive to cleaning out the rivers, removing debris, and helping improve the flow of water, nothing has been done. Several residents at that meeting gave numerous ideas to improve the status quo to help mitigate some of the future flooding. In fact, our own Victor Carosi, Greenburgh’s Commissioner of Public Works, is a co-chair of the committee. And, even after he has seen the devastation caused by the flooding, he and others remain impassively disconnected to residents’ plight.

Third, some say it’s the homeowners problem that they bought a home in a flood zone. While this may be true to a miniscule degree for a very few of these homes and businesses, there are many areas that now flood that never flooded before or when residents purchased their homes years ago. In fact, in canvassing different neighborhood residents and discussing water issues with them, most said its only in the last 15 years that they had experienced some water in their basements, crawlspaces or businesses. The common thread has been while nothing has changed to expedite the flow of the two rivers that parallel both sides of the Town, Mr Feiner’s non-stop over-development in our Town has all of these new projects emptying their storm and other drainage into either the Saw Mill River or the Bronx River. With nothing being done to accommodate the runoff water that would have been absorbed into the ground, the surrounding low-lying areas flood. Many are anxious to see what happens to the 9A corridor after the new construction in Eastview is completed.

A study published in Nature Climate Change warned that the annual costs from flooding in the world’s largest coastal cities could grow from about $6 billion to $1 trillion  by 2050. Granted, 2050 may be some time away, but its that kind of thinking and lack of planning that has currently landed us in this morass of finger-pointing and lack of action. Sure, many politicians will say this is going to cost money and take a lot of time. They've been saying that about the 9A corridor for the last 50 years - maybe longer. The current National Flood Insurance Program is $24 billion in debt! This deficit will not be washed away (pun intended) without reform of the system. It’s also a bonafide indicator that increased investment in mitigation efforts prior to an event is imperative before we are hit with the costs of the next disaster which promise to be overwhelming.

True story: One neighborhood is a “A” rated flood zone (worst) neighborhood. A young couple with a young child from the Bronx purchased their first home here. They never knew that Mr Feiner held a press conference in their driveway after Hurricane Irene. They didn’t know he promised the couple living there to have FEMA purchase their home from them so they could leave. They didn’t know Mr Feiner was lying when he told them that. The young couple’s sale went through without much fanfare - although for them it was a pretty exhilarating moment. At the closing, however, they learned that the bank holding the mortgage requires them to have flood insurance. The sellers might have neglected to mention that. Regardless, while their checkbook was out, they wrote a $2,000 check to the bank for flood insurance. Closings are like that. Bring your checkbook, be prepared to empty it on fees and payments that would shame an IRS agent.

The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) underwrites the National Flood Insurance Program. Yes, the Federal government. As mentioned earlier, they are $24 billion in debt. These are the same people who run Social Security, who don’t have enough money to pay retirees; the Veterans Administration, who can’t take care of our heroes; the Post Office, who has its own $8 billion deficit; Medicare and Medicaid, which both do everything not to pay benefits and are rife with corruption; Education, which many believe amounts to indoctrination – or just day care, and many more but you get the point. Back to FEMA. They charge homeowners thousands to pay back hundreds when you place a claim. By the way, there’s a mandatory $5,000 deductible. Government at its best?

We just had elections. Mr Feiner wasn’t running. It doesn't matter - he’ll get re-elected next year. Job performance in Greenburgh doesn’t matter. What does matter is we keep the same people in office so we can get more proclamations, plaques with our names on them and “atta boys” from Mr Feiner and his ilk. Ms Williams is content to coast along for her base salary of $49, 200 and various stipends. And what of Mr Abinanti, handily re-elected as our “environmentally concerned” NYS Assemblyman? He remains AWOL during all of this. Why tackle something he’s impotent to fix? In fact, he used to live in Greenburgh until Mr Feiner started making too many bad decisions and moved to a safer area to distance himself from real issues. We keep electing the same people who do nothing but pander to us.

The young couple who only last year bought their new dream home? Here it is a year later and they now know who Senator Chuck Schumer is. He co-sponsored a bill that increased the cost of flood insurance. You see, after having to pay out claims for Hurricane/Tropical Storms Irene and Sandy, the program went broke. Naturally, the politicians did what they do best: they raised taxes, in the form of flood insurance premiums, but only to the people who get flooded. So they hammer the people suffering the most, again.

And what of our new homeowners formerly of the Bronx and now living in the A-rated flood prone Greenburgh? Their flood insurance went up a whopping $20,000! The Town needs to address the flooding issue they created with over-development, poor planning and developer carte blanche. It may be part of the solution to cause the Federal government to readjust the flood maps and reduce the young couple’s flood premiums. Although it’s not likely because we continue to fail ourselves by electing the same people over and over again and they always seek the latest tragedy for publicity. This guarantees them that publicity. This has to change. Only then might we get A Better Greenburgh.

When It Rains We Flood

A few months ago, the Fulton Park Civic Association met with our new Police Chief Chris McNerney and County Legislator Alfreda Williams about projected increases in parking and traffic from County Center events in this tiny and already heavily traffic-congested neighborhood. The Chief said he would meet with residents to find an acceptable method to control parking and try to keep the streets as open as possible for the neighbors. He sent a traffic officer to survey the area and discuss what could be done to help alleviate the congested neighborhoods already horrendus traffic congestion by limiting parking. Suggested temporary "No Parking" signs by the Chief were dismissed by the traffic officer as they can be ripped down by those parking their cars with the claim there was no signage there when the parked. So what does a neighborhood do?

In a subsequent conversation with the police chief, he said he would discuss this matter with the officer to attempt a resolution. Since the NY Knicks basketball team's minor league franchise is playing out of the County Center this coming basketball season, in addition to other events held each weekend at the same location, Fulton Park needs real relief. The Town Board, Planning Board, Zoning Board and Building Departments continue to approve and encourage increased development in the surrounding area, choking these residents off from access and egress from their own neighborhood. Let's hope the Police Chief truly can help them. You may also recall at several Town Board meetings during the Westhab debacle Mr Feiner repeatedly professed that he was going to prove to Fulton Park just how much he cared about them and that they were going to change their opinion of him. Not only has he proved how much he cares about Fulton Park, but the residents there anticipate more abandonment from Town Hall and specifically The Problem Solver.

Questions posed to Ms Williams were regarding any progress that might be made on the flooding issue by the County, specific to the Fulton Park neighborhood, but more importantly throughout the length of the Bronx River? She said that major progress had been made cleaning out the Saw Mill River on the other side of Town, but the Stormwater Advisory Committee appointed to address flooding had not even met during the last year. In fact, in a recent article published in the Journal News by Legislators George Latimer and Shelley Mayer, they're quoted as saying, "Unfortunately, to date, little has materialized." Its obvious.

No politician will get much news "cred" holding a press conference saying they were proactive about a problem that is plaguing more and more neighborhoods. Nope. But they will get a lot of press when they are out during and after a storm providing sound bytes, saying what's happening is terrible and we must reach out to blah, blah, blah. It sounds like Mr Feiner writes their press releases. The reality is that all of the Fulton Parks, mostly lower income and commonly ignored communities can forget about getting much help from local, county and state government officials.

This past winter found us experiencing some pretty severe cold and quite a bit of snow. Through it all however, most homes that typically flood made out well with minimum amounts of water in their basements and crawlspaces. So, while the weather has been most cooperative, our elected officials have not. Now would be the time for them to push for remediation throughout the lengths of both the Saw Mill and especially the Bronx River regions. One suggestion furnished to Ms Williams was for the County to begin dredging and clearing the Bronx River of debris, whether man-made or natural, from the south and work north. That way when the river is actually "opened up" at the north end, it won't overwhelm the southern parts as they await the same work. Good suggestion or not, it doesn't really matter. Nothing is happening. Why fix it when we can talk about it? Why fix it when they can ask you to vote for them (again?) so they can help you?

It is incumbent on our Town officials to push for remediation of the river areas since they continue to approve all kinds of developments throughout the Town, paving or filling what had been open space that would normally absorb rain and storm runoff. All of that formerly absorbed water is only being directed into these two overburdened rivers on each side of Town. It's also incumbent on our local representatives, such as our Town Board, to ensure that County, State and Federal representatives stop using member item funds for small-pet-project-vote-getting-purchases and devote their time, energy and resources toward fixing the problems they've help to create. Only then will be see A Better Greenburgh.

Taking Care of Their Own

It was recently reported that the communities throughout Westchester County are being reimbursed by the federal government for cleanup and repair costs from the damage of Superstore Sandy. In case you might not be aware, today is the one year anniversary of Sandy and the devastation it caused. Sandy was less of an issue in Westchester County than Long Island and Rockland County.

Reopening 93 roads in Nyack to restoring their devastated marina, municipalities in the Lower Hudson Valley rightly footed the bill for the recovery effort after Superstorm Sandy blasted this area. The federal government will continue to send money to these localities if they haven’t already received payments. You may recall when Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene hammered our area, numerous homes and businesses were ravaged by flooding, debris, lack of power and more. Our media savvy Supervisor remained home, ensconced in the comfort and safety of his gated Boulder Ridge community sending emails saying Greenburgh was without power, had flooding and roads were closed. Duh! While residents were left to fend for themselves, Mr Feiner waited days until he began visiting the devastated areas throughout the Town.

Once it was deemed safe to travel, Mr Feiner went where the news cameras were. He made sure to take advantage of the free press as he promised flooded residents a FEMA buyout for their homes. When push came to shove and it was detailed what the Town would have to do for buyouts to take place, he quickly clammed up and moved on! He then pointed fingers at other legislators in various levels of government that they needed to do something. He later held a meeting at Town Hall to discuss the power outage outrage because it took so long to restore power. He made sure his pandering went unchallenged and did not invite ConEd or any other utility representatives to that gripe session. When challenged by one resident why he was not at the Emergency Operations Center in Hawthorne where most leaders for all the major players were, he remained silent, probably thinking, “Damn! How did that guy slip in to this meeting? Where’s Hochberg with a body-block when I need him?”

Westchester and Rockland counties have received $49 million in public assistance grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the year since the storm made landfall, federal officials announced on Monday. But individual residents, with FEMA Flood Insurance, that carries a minimum $5k deductible, couldn’t get reimbursed for their damage and were left to fend for themselves. Where are Nita Lowey and Chuck Schumer for them? Rockland had more damage from Sandy than Westchester and yet Westchester benefited from nearly $38 million, while Rockland collected about $11 million, with Putnam communities received $1.3 million. And, they are still applying for additional funding, with more expected to be awarded in the coming months! The residents? Tossed aside.

U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, “One year ago, Sandy made landfall and devastated our region, taking lives and damaging homes and businesses,” Lowey said Monday at a White Plains event marking the one-year anniversary of the storm. “Federal assistance has been absolutely essential in helping the communities ... get back on their feet.” But they didn’t really help residents get back on their feet, did they? They helped government get back to the business of taxation but hung the residents out to dry. Literally.

We’ve experienced a relatively dry hurricane season this year. We’ve also experienced a relatively dry response from our leaders regarding fixing any of the flooding issues that remain dormant to plague our area again. The first thing that needs to happen is a plan to dredge and maybe even widen both the Bronx River and the Saw Mill River from start to finish to ensure water can properly drain from all neighborhoods into these only two waterways’ exits. The next thing needs to be making sure debris and natural obstructions that might get into the rivers are quickly removed. We also need to question this unending development of any open space and replacing natural absorption with impervious space. Just because its undeveloped doesn’t mean we need to put a building on it. Alas, nothing will be done.

Our political leaders cannot wait to beat their chests and say look what I did when things are bad or good. Things are not good right now for residential and business taxpayers, they are just on hold until the next storm. Paul Feiner and Rob Astorino both brag about their respective bond ratings but refuse to take advantage of it by investing in their constituents and our infrastructure. Mr Feiner prefers to lead by press release and not from the front. He could be holding everyone’s feet to the fire but knows its better to not make any waves and complain about things like the Tappan Zee bridge, closing Indian Point, or brag having solar powered trash receptacles in the Town. If he was a true leader, instead of taking care of his own, he’d be helping our residents to make A Better Greenburgh.

Silence of the Lambs

Sheep following the proverbial herd. Unanimous voting decisions 98% of the time. Kumbayah moments. Presentations and accolades are hoisted upon convicted felons appointed to Deputy positions. The remaining 2% of the votes, not to be confused with the phony tax cap that Mr Feiner disingenuously insists we adhere to, may possibly find, on occasion, one nay vote out of five. Sadly, the resultant outcomes for residents are all but guaranteed. Most decisions are habitually skewed, tax-laden, poor and/or costly decisions, culminating in undesirable execution. These decisions result in greater expense for both homeowner and business residents alike. Can this Town Board, previously referred to here as the “Stepfords”, ever break away and lead the Town in a better direction? ABG sincerely doubts it. It’s almost the silence of the lambs!

Democratic Primary
In the Democratic Primary campaign, Mr Feiner repeatedly stated that he welcomed the competition and this was democracy in action. While stating that from one side of his mouth, out of the other side he was quietly challenging Supervisor Candidate Bob Bernstein’s ballot petition signatures to get him thrown off the ballot! Concurrently, Mr Feiner challenged his fellow Town Board Councilman Francis Sheehan, who previously rode shotgun for most Mr Feiner’s wishes, voting through a wide range of issues brought before the Town Board. Occasionally, Mr Sheehan would find it necessary to appear to be an independent thinker. Knowing the rest of the Board would be supporting the Feiner mandate, ABG believes he (or another) would get Mr Feiner’s blessing to object publicly and vote against the proposal, purporting the appearance of independent thinking and voting. Ms Juettner, a co-defendant in the Fortress Bible Church guilty verdict with Mr Feiner, will often do the same.

Now that Mr Sheehan has been “thrown under the bus” by Mr Feiner with the intentional efforts to discredit him, we’ve witnessed a small glint of independence from Mr Sheehan, who portends to be more openly critical of Mr Feiner’s machinations. Still a bit gun-shy to go after Mr Feiner, he’s now offering some resistance, just not a full court press. After all, he doesn’t want to be “Sonya’d”*! Speaking of press, while all of this was going on behind the scenes between Messrs. Feiner, Bernstein and Sheehan, Mr Feiner kept telling the lamestream media that he welcomed the competition, that this was the American way and this is (was) democracy in action. These statements were nothing more than lies.

* To be attacked and dismissed from the “Feiner Team” as was done to former Councilwoman Sonya Brown when she publicly attacked Mr Feiner.

We have a few more examples to share for the uninitiated and/or willfully ignorant. Read on...

Westhab
Sometime twenty years ago, Mr Feiner met with the Fulton Park neighborhood as residents continued protesting the additional homeless and transitional (from jail) people being placed in what was then known as the King’s Inn Motel. Earlier, Mr Feiner told the neighborhood residents he would support a senior living facility there if the County were to ever close the motel or cease using it for the homeless. Then, some sixteen years and nine or so elections later, he reneged on that promise and claimed he never said that. Another Feiner lie. When challenged, he insisted the residents produce the letter showing that he had said that. He subsequently sat down with neighborhood leaders, claiming he never said that but suggested to Councilman Morgan, “We may have to move this to another location.” When that statement was made, the leaders believed he would find another location for the subsidized housing. They soon learned it was another lie as Mr Feiner often does when confronted by facts. Mr Morgan repeatedly promised that no decision had been made with the project and “they haven’t voted on anything.” They believed him as well, only to learn that it too was a lie.

The Town Board quickly became the lead agency, offering Westhab “carte blanche”, approving everything that was requested for their 7-story apartment building to be built on .7 acres of land. Residents painfully learned Mr Feiner would lie about various aspects and features of the project, the residents would investigate his claim and through the residents’ due diligence, instead of just saying they would do due diligence as Mr Feiner has typically drones on about, they proved he was lying. Ultimately, Westhab utilized Mr Feiner’s bias against the neighborhood and the Town’s outdated and faulty zoning maps to push the project forward even after they twice lost their funding. Any homeowner and/or taxpayer would never have gotten this kind of consideration!

Deli Delicious
After watching the Westhab developer’s train scream through the station, Deli Delicious’ owner, Ernie Tartaglione petitioned the Town to create a drive-through window added to his small deli building. His claim was that he was losing $4K a month as his competitors flourished (without drive through windows). His plan then was being pushed by Irvington contractor Chuck Pateman, Sr. Fulton Park protested after they got wind of Tartaglione’s plans because it promised to congest their already over-crowded local street and one exit from their neighborhood. Earlier, Tartaglione had tried to make a deal with Westhab to purchase his property but they refused. Then he tried purchasing and distributing outdoor plants and shrubbery to several Fulton Park residents who protested his proposal to win them over. That ploy also didn’t work.

He enlisted Mr Feiner to reach out to all his media-friendly outlets and touted this construction renovation as vital to local business. Mr Feiner did just that, intentionally berating and abandoning the Fulton Park neighborhood taxpayers and residents. Nobody believed Mr Feiner because he cries wolf so often. That strategy simply didn’t work. Soon after, Tartaglione boarded up the windows and entry doors and put up illegal signage as well as spray painting in red paint the words “closed”. He continues to use the building and the basement office today, sells Christmas..., oops, “Holiday” trees during the winter.

Now Tartaglione is back again trying to build a drive-through window so he can flip the building and have the drive-through “grandfathered” to the new owner. While the previous Zoning Board of Appeals turned down his request, we’re not sure this will happen a second time as Mr Feiner has been appointing more “Feiner friendly” board members. If the zoning change were to not carry over or be “grandfathered” to the next tenant Mr Tartaglione sells the property to, ABG believes if won’t be easily flipped. Since this is a project Mr Feiner wants, ABG predicts it will go through even though there are more holes in this proposal than a pound of the deli’s Swiss cheese.

Stop and Shop
The Stop and Shop grocery chain decided to close their longtime location at Tarrytown Rd and Rt 9. It has had several iterations as a supermarket. It was a First National, then Finast and finally Stop and Shop supermarket. A somewhat small store by today’s comparison, it was considered a mega-store in it’s day. The new store was planned at the location of the old Premier Theatre location on Rt 119, opposite Benedict Avenue. The Glenville neighborhood complained to the Town that the already high volume of traffic on Rt 199 would be exacerbated with more construction. There would be more noise, truck idling at all hours of the day and night, flooding and a degradation of the quality of life for the residents there. Mr Feiner didn’t care. He told of laws that prevent truck idling, noise control and so on. They were never enforced by the police – even when complaints were made. More of Mr Feiner’s lies.

Dromore Road
S&R Developer Estates purchased property at 1 Dromore Road in 2006 for $1.4 million, and proposed building apartment buildings at that location. The property had a single-family home on it and S&R proposed to build a four-story, multi-family (37 unit) apartment complex. The developers believed the parcel of land was located in a multi-family CA-1 zone. The zoning maps showed the land to be zoned multi-family. The following year the Town informed S&R that there had been an error on the zoning map and the land was actually located in an R-20 single-family zone. More faulty and outdated Town zoning maps! The town corrected this zoning map to show that the property was situated in an R-20 zone, which is zoning for single-family residences on a minimum of a half-acre lot. Court actions took place and finally covenants requiring permission to build were discovered and have brought much of this to a temporary halt. Now, 7 years later, S&R knows all too well what homeowners go through for much simpler projects and renovations. The property is no closer to fruition with any kind of plans and the Town has been in court and dragging its feet for the entire period of time.

GameOn 365

This debacle is currently one of the fiasco du jour as Mr Feiner connives creative new ways to “gift” the property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road to a startup venture named GameOn 365. The property is the former Frank’s Nursery site which has contamination throughout and was foreclosed upon, is how the Town acquired the property. ABG has often stated that if there’s a law Mr Feiner doesn’t like he ignores it. Such was the case with GameOn 365 when Mr Feiner tried to lease the property to the corporation instead of doing a sale as required by County and State law. When a neighborhood lawsuit and concerted effort was made by HelpBurstTheBubble.com and the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association, threatening Mr Feiner with another court visit, he capitulated and said their would be a sale.

At about that time, Ardsley-based House of Sports doubled the offer for the property and said they would remediate the contamination with no conditions as long as the Town would detail the zoning that would be applied to the property. Since the nursery’s abandonment and the foreclosure, the property reverts to its original residential zoning. This was a monkey wrench in Mr Feiner’s scheme forcing Mr Feiner into Feiner Deflection Mode and said the House Of Sports offer was not legitimate. Following suit, the Town Board picked up on the phrase and began postulating their own versions of with ever-so-slight personalizations. Not gaining the traction for which he had hoped, Mr Feiner did what he always does and simply made up his own “facts” about House of Sports and their offer. Mr Bernstein publicized the House of Sports offer and constantly urged Mr Feiner to accept the offer and that would show how legitimate it was. Mr Feiner countered that Mr Bernstein and others were “bid-rigging” and trying to sabotage the deal. He even spouted the same lies at the Hastings-on-Hudson debate between himself and Mr Bernstein!

Mr Feiner was in quite the quandary. He was now running against Bob Bernstein for the Democratic endorsement for the Town Supervisor position and he didn’t need Bernstein and his pesky facts getting in the way now that he was so close with getting this latest fraud over on the public. But Bernstein kept pushing. With push coming to shove, Mr Feiner begrudgingly took the advice of one of his G10 arch rival’s, Mr Hal Samis and announced the Town would offer an auction for the property and the bidding would start at $3.5M. Mr Samis is retired from the real estate industry and often suggests to Mr Feiner and the Board how to go about proceeding with various projects involving real estate. Unfortunately, they rarely take his advice insisting on distancing themselves from him. Consequently, they continue to bungle project after project without the best outcome for the Town or its taxpayers.

Now that the Democratic Primary election has concluded and Mr Feiner is the winner, Mr Feiner has decided not to do a real auction and to go back to a sealed bid – but still call it an auction. Ironically, while an auction would be the way to go and offer the most transparency, it could cost Mr Feiner and his GameOn 365 friends the property because Mr Feiner would not be able to control the outcome of an auction. Doing an auction could actually shut GameOn 365 out of the process! They simply cannot compete against the House of Sports’ cash resources or another offer from another bidder for more. Mr Feiner claims two other companies have expressed interest in the property but refuses to say who they might be openly. ABG believes there are currently no other bidders at this point for the property.

Auction, RFP, sealed guess, it really doesn’t matter. At the last Town Board Work Session meeting, the 715 Dobbs Ferry Road property was brought up again as Mr Morgan struggled to find wording to offer a motion for Mr Feiner’s folly. Since Mr Feiner threw Mr Sheehan under the proverbial Primary Bus, Mr Sheehan has been questioning Mr Feiner’s deals in modicum amounts. It seems a little too little, too late. Since no one is running against this goresome-foursome (Feiner, Juettner, Sheehan, Beville) and Paul has thrown Mr Sheehan under the bus, we hope Mr Sheehan will begin using his conscience a little bit more and not just continuing to go along to get along.

Brightview Assisted Living
ABG supports assisted living in Greenburgh. That said, the problem that always seems to be at issue is the over-sized nature of these proposals. In the Glenview section of the Town, roughly where Benedict Avenue meets Rt 119 across from the Marriott Hotel, is the Brightview Assisted Living center that Mr Feiner has mandated his Board to bless whatever the variances and conditions requested. It is to be built at the top of a hill in a small neighborhood overlooking the area on a ridiculously small parcel of land. To build it “to be cost effective” for the developer, they claimed they needed 90 units. They would also need zoning changes and variances to pull this off. Our Town Board agreed to the condition that Medicare patients would not be eligible to live there. Why? They are the low end of the financial spectrum and unable to afford the rents charged in facilities like this. Because they do not offer profitability for a company such as Brightview, they want to exclude them – a form of segregation and discrimination that is condoned by our Town Board. This falls in line and is borne out with our Town’s previous racist actions against the Fortress Bible Church and the subsequent guilty verdict rendered by the courts.

The issue of size for this facility is controversial. When the neighborhood complained about the size and the fact that the building was within 10-feet of the neighboring properties, the developer turned the building to change the encroachment to other areas. Still not happy, Brightview “squished” the building in and forcing it to go up another story. But specific zoning for Assisted Living didn’t exist. What did exist is zoning for Nursing Homes. While playing semantics, Brightview cried foul and requested an assisted living zoning change specific to Assisted Living facilities. Our Town’s legal department seems capable enough but never sticks their head even near the chopping block and stepped back into the shadows on this one. What happened was that Brightview’s legal team wrote the zoning change, with benefits for the developer more than the Town. Even with the requisite public hearings and many points of contention brought up by Glenview residents and the G10, Mr Feiner’s “zoning change train” was racing into the station, never slowed down and his Board passed the Town-wide change, indelibly affecting all Greenburgh neighborhoods with small pieces of property with four story buildings simply called Assisted Living Facilities.

Fortress Bible Church
Many years ago, long before ABG existed, a Mount Vernon, NY church purchased property near the intersection of the Sprain Brook Parkway and Dobbs Ferry Road. The proposed neighborhood where the Fortress Bible Church planned to build is residential. One well-known resident was then County Legislator and now State Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti. His friend and cohort, Supervisor Paul Feiner, frantically worked to keep the church from proceeding with the property’s development in Mr Abinanti’s back yard. Abinanti is an attorney by trade who can afford to move just about anywhere he wants, leaving behind residents that cannot and are stuck when these same representatives decide to assault their neighborhoods with unwanted and non-conforming projects. Abinanti hightailed it out of the neighborhood once Feiner was brought to court and found guilty of seven counts, including discrimination and violation of the Church’s Constitutional rights. The average citizen is powerless to act upon transgressions like these. Ultimately, most taxpayers are stuck with these developments as they witness their largest investment dwindle. Now, as the Fortress Bible Church decision and subsequent appeal upheld the guilty verdicts, the Unincorporated portions of the Town will be forced to pay the guilty verdict fines and attorney’s fees to the tune of about $8 million! Mr Feiner insists our insurance will cover the expense. According to Mr Bernstein when he was debating Mr Feiner, this is not true.
So, we pay in court fees, loss of tax revenue, guilty verdicts and they will be able to build with the Town’s money.

Flooding
Hurricanes, tropical storms, 100-Year Storms, 200-Year Storms, Armageddon, Locust, lions and tigers and bears - oh my! It seems as everything continues to degrade along with our infrastructure, and yet the only thing Mr Feiner and his Town Board want to address is our AAA Bond Rating! We’ve discussed this before and will just say having a AAA Bond Rating is nice but doesn’t help us if we don’t take advantage of it. Mr Feiner seems fixated on the rating but that’s as far as he intends to go with that.

Each time it rains, residential and business taxpayers cringe in anticipation of the subsequent flooding they know will take place. The two well known locations are the Saw Mill River and Bronx River sides of Town along the 9A corridor and the Bronx River Parkway corridors. During the Hurricane Irene assault, both sides were literally underwater. Mr Feiner and other politicians took every opportunity to get all the media coverage they could garner but offered no solutions or spent any more time doing anything but talk about it. Mr Feiner took initiative and began to point to every other politician and say they should do something to help their constituents. He didn’t say help our or my constituents. Why not? Probably because he doesn’t really care about the people he claims to represent.
When then-Elmsford Trustee William Zimkin organized a Saw Mill River cleanup, spurred by the 9A business community, Mr Feiner was there for the media-fest and then “poof!”, he was gone.

This past year has been a relatively dry season, and all the politicos could have been dredging both rivers, cleaning out the debris, improving the surrounding areas for all the residents, they’ve done nothing – led by Mr Feiner. It’s time to change the politicians who do nothing but pander for real leaders. The change will give us A Better Greenburgh!

Fulton Park Street Picnic & Barbecue

It’s Saturday. There’s a threat of rain. Heat. Humidity. Sunshine. Clouds. Vacations. Holiday weekend. Politics. Campaigns. No shows. These were just a few of the issues the Fulton Park Civic Association had to contend with as they planned their first neighborhood street-closing picnic and barbecue. Under the deftly executed control of President Maria Gomez and help from Vice-President Tom Bock, the first of what is hoped to become an annual street festival was successfully enjoyed by about fifty or so residents and their friends.

Fulton Park neighbors visit with each other
during the neighborhood picnic

With music playing and the smells of a summer barbecue wafting through the neighborhood, curious residents as well as invited guests began to arrive at 4PM. Neighbors brought everything required to have a good time. There was music, barbecued food, salads, soda and bottled water to quench every appetite and thirst. Several families had their kids with them and for a small donation of only $5 per family, they were invited to consume as much as they wanted. Many left very satisfied after eating both store-bought food and an assortment of home-made dishes. Later, the deserts table was quickly left made bare.

50/50 raffle tickets were sold during the event and the drawing was held at the end of the event. A woman named Donna from Hastings, visiting a Fulton Park friend, was the lucky winner of $64. In a noble gesture, she asked the group there to accept her winnings as a donation to the Civic Association, saying she thoroughly enjoyed herself and wanted to help their future efforts. Many residents in attendance personally thanked her for her generosity. What a great way to end an event.

Greenburgh Town Supervisor candidate
Bob Bernstein stopped by for a hot dog,
cold water and conversation.

Speaking with many of the residents elicited the same response. They all wanted to do this again! It was a great way to meet more of their neighbors, enjoy some good food and spend some time with friends and family without the hustle of having to travel to another location. Fulton Park Civic Association President Maria Gomez says now they know what they can do differently or better for next year’s event. That sounds great – count us in!

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.