Latimer With Regards To County Property Taxes

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

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

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

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

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

Steer Clear Of The Old and New Tappan Zee Bridge This Morning

Tragedy On The Hudson

At approximately 5AM, one worker was killed and two crew members went missing when a tugboat transporting a crane on a barge from the Albany area to Jersey City, New Jersey, collided with a barge in the construction space of the new Tappan Zee Bridge. The two workers are still missing and presumed dead. The one victim was currently removed from the water was identified as Paul Amon, 63, of Bayville, New Jersey.

The NY State Police put divers in the water to search for the two other victims. The County Police, who keep a boat on the Hudson in the area, assisted with the search. At one point the Governor toured the area. In fact, several politicians could be seen in the area campaigning among the first responders. Sadly, they were not kept out of the scene. We refuse to name them because it was the wrong time and place for campaigning.

The tugboat sank into the depths of the Hudson River after the collision. People on scene said the tugboat pilot had been heard on the radio saying, “Steer left, steer left.” Apparently, he could see there was some kind of obstruction he could see and was trying to avoid it. This, of course, is assuming those accounts are correct. The County’s all-volunteer Hazardous Materials Response Team responded to provide decontamination of the divers when they returned to the Tarrytown shore. The all-volunteer Tarrytown Fire Department was an integral part of this operation overall.

Our hearts and prayers go out to those affected by this horrific event.

Beware: Six Constitutional Amendments in November 5th Election

There are six (6) constitutional amendments being presented to New York State voters in the upcoming November 5th elections. Many people we speak to are unaware that there are any constitutional amendments being offered for a vote, let alone six of them. These are not referendums as often referred to by Mr Feiner regarding the 715 Dobbs Ferry Road property that are conveniently worded for a predestined outcome. These are literal changes that will be made to the NYS Constitution and as such, we hope that voters and the electorate in general take these very seriously. They are listed below.

1) Whether to allow up to seven casinos to be built in New York. Currently, non-Native American casinos are unconstitutional, and this amendment would permit the Legislature to approve up to seven new casinos. Currently, the NYS Constitution prohibits gambling, except for (1) parimutuel wagering and horse racing; (2) State lotteries; (3) bingo conducted by certain charitable, non-profit and religious organizations; and (4) games of chance conducted by these same charitable, non-profit, and religious organizations. This proposal would amend the constitution to authorize casino gambling within the state, allowing for no more than seven casinos.

Pros: Upstate economic infusion of jobs, tourism, taxes, limit of 7 casinos in the amendment.
Cons: Increased crime/prostitution/flimflams/loan sharking/drugs, gambling addiction, police costs, little or no real estate improvements as witnessed in the decline of Atlantic City’s blight. There is no legislation, proposals or information other than what the casino industry has presented. There are no details of what would be done and where. The dollar amounts of revenue being proposed include Indian casinos revenue. Nor are the costs to develop these casinos included which would reduce the income projections.

2) Additional Civil Service Credit for Veterans with Disabilities Certified Post-Appointment. The proposed amendment basically allows veterans who serve in civil service positions additional civil service credit for subsequent appointments or promotions.

Pros: It would benefit individuals who, through no fault of their own, were not classified as a veteran with disabilities at the time of their first civil service appointment.
Cons: While we appreciate our veterans, this will increase the cost to taxpayers in civil service salaries. It retroactively removes restrictions to apply for special credits that may have expired or not been applied for.

3) Exclusion of Indebtedness Contracted for Sewage Facilities. The proposed amendment to Article 8, section 5 of the Constitution would extend for ten years, until January 1, 2024, the authority of counties, cities, towns, and villages to exclude from their constitutional debt limits indebtedness contracted for the construction or reconstruction of sewage facilities. Basically, it allows counties, cities, towns, and villages the ability to exclude sewage facility work from being counted as debt.

Pros: The concerns expressed in 1963 when this was initiated with a ten-year cap are still the same today.
Cons: Continue to allow politicians to kick the can down the road for another 10 years, as they have done for the last 40 years. The concerns may be the same but perhaps 40 years was enough time to deal with it.

4) Settling Disputed Title in the Forest Preserve. The proposed amendment to section 1 of article J4 of the Constitution would authorize the Legislature to settle longstanding disputes between the State and private entities over certain parcels of land within the forest preserve in the town of Long Lake, Hamilton County.

Pros: The “Forever Wild” clause of the NYS Constitution forbids the lease, sale, exchange or taking of any forest preserve land. The proposed amendment would allow the legislature to settle 100-year-old disputes between the State and private parties over ownership of certain parcels of land located in the forest preserve, in the town of Long Lake, Hamilton County, by giving up the State's claim to disputed parcels. In exchange for giving up its claim to disputed parcels, the State would get land to be incorporated into the forest preserves that would benefit the forest preserve more than the disputed parcels currently do.
Cons: The statewide vote is violating Home Rule for Long Lake, Hamilton County, by having the entire state decide the fate of one region. We question whether this needs to be a constitutional change or can be addressed by a law from the legislature or a decision from the judicial system.

5) In Relation to a Land Exchange in the State Forest Preserve with NYCO Minerals. Inc. The proposed amendment to section 1 of article 14 of the Constitution would authorize the Legislature to convey forest preserve land located in the town of Lewis, Essex County, to NYCO Minerals, a private company that plans on mining the land. In exchange, the NYCO Minerals would give the State at least the same amount of land of at least the same value, with a minimum assessed value of $1 million to be added to the forest preserve. When NYCO Minerals finishes mining. it would restore the condition of the land and return it to the forest preserve. The back story here is that NYCO Minerals is a producer and supplier of wollastonite (calcium metasilicate), which is a rare, white mineral having commercial application as a reinforcement or additive in ceramics, paints, plastics, friction products and various building products. The Lewis mine produces 60,000 tons of wollastonite annually. NYCO Minerals has indicated that its mine is approaching the end of its pit life because the remainder of the wollastonite vein extends onto adjacent forest preserve land.

Pros: The land swap would preserve jobs in, and preserve a large company/employer in Essex County; provide new access to mountain peaks and trout streams; allow the state to acquire a higher quality of land than it would be trading to NYCO Minerals.
Cons: It is not vital to NYCO Minerals survival; it would diminish the “Forever Wild” clause of the NYS Constitution; it would be giving up forest preserve land to a commercial company. There are also no contracts and only talk of a 1500 acre parcel swap.

6) Increasing Age until which Certain State Judges Can Serve. The proposed amendment to the Constitution, amending sections 2 and 25 of article 6, would increase the maximum age until which certain state judges may serve as follows: (a) a Justice of the Supreme Court would be eligible for five additional two-year terms after the present retirement age of 70, instead of the three such terms currently authorized; and (b) a Judge of the Court of Appeals who reaches the age of 70 in order to complete the term to which that Judge was appointed. Basically, a judge could sit on the bench until age 80 depending on their competency.

Pros: The State Judiciary system would benefit from the experienced judges otherwise lost to mandatory retirement; longer and healthier lifespans enable us to have older and equally capable performance from older judges. The retirement age was adopted when living longer wasn’t as viable.
Cons: Keeping older judges blocks newer judges from moving into those positions at the higher levels. Not passing this forces retirement under the guise of enhancing diversity. Age should not be a penalizing factor of employment for judgeships.

ABG is not telling you how to vote but will detail our thoughts for each issue. 1) At first glance the construction of casinos upstate may seem like a good thing and we’re pretty sure it will pass. However, there are too many questions and bad examples of what happens to casino-laden areas. And, this is New York – predestined to experience the worst of what can go wrong with any project. While many will say it doesn’t affect us because its an upstate issue, we know from experience that it will affect us financially if no other way. We suggest voting no. 2) Additional civil service credits may be a reasonable idea, however, we cannot complain about increased spending and out of control salaries and and pensions and then say yes to this. We suggest voting no. 3) Exclusion of indebtedness is part of what’s wrong with how we as an electorate, and our representatives with our blessing (votes), continue to kick the can down the road. It’s time to stop doing this. Forty years should have been enough time to address any water issues we may have. We suggest voting no. 4 & 5) While we disagree with the state cavalierly making constitutional changes to address land use and land use rights, we particularly disagree with constitutional changes to benefit a commercial entity. We suggest voting no. 6) We believe in and appreciate our seniors, their abilities and knowledge and think it may be wasteful to force their retirement. This change to extend the age limit makes sense and we can support it assuming measures are put in place to evaluate the competency of aging judges.

In the end, our votes will all add up. As we have seen in Town of Greenburgh’s Democratic Primary election, turnout is typically low and voters tend to vote with whomever has the loudest voice. The loudest voice is not necessarily the most honest or sincerest voice. Mr Feiner has proven this to us time and again. But since most voters only read the headline and not the entire story, or tend to believe what they hear, these changes will probably go through. It would be nice if we had representatives who held regular town hall meetings and explained in detail the pros and cons of an issue and listened to our input. New York state doesn’t have that. We used to have three men in a room, which has grown to four men in a room, whose personal interests trump the public’s interests.

Regardless of how you vote, get the facts, read, learn, listen and be critical of what’s presented before you go to your polling location and vote in our 1800’s-style “progressive” voting booth – another example of NYS control gone bad. Please, at least go vote!

Elmsford School Board Recommendations

We’ve posted previously that we don’t usually endorse candidates. There are five candidates running for two open seats. ABG joined them at an open forum event at the Village of Elmsford Village Hall. It was sponsored by the Elmsford Author’s Fund as part of their “Meet the Candidates” Forum. Those candidates are incumbent Matthew RC Evans, and four newcomers, Justin Datino, Tilsa Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Christopher F. Sia and Theodore Thomas.

Each candidate gave an opening statement. That was followed by direct questions to each candidate from the Forum’s moderator. As with any event of this nature, time is always the enemy and limits a candidates answer. It also works to everyone’s advantage as it mandates concise, pointed answers. Mr Thomas seemed most able to be brief but effective. Several audience questions were specific to existing programs that were answered best by Mr Evans – only because he has a more intimate familiarity with policies as the incumbent. 

During the exchanges, there were never any personal attacks nor were the candidates critical of each other or their ideas. The four newcomers offer a wide diversity of backgrounds that may all bring something different to the “table”. 

Mr Justin Datino, an Assistant to the Scarsdale Village Administrator, with a background in Government Administration focused heavily and pointedly on Transportation costs, acknowledging there are unchangeable fixed costs for personnel, pensions, and operating expenses while saying he is still willing to look at them and see what might be able to done to save the district more. 

Ms Rodriguez-Gonzalez, is an educator in the Bronx. She detailed her background as being two-fold. One part of what she does is as a teacher of Health and Physical Education. The second part of what she does is to study informational data to better assist her colleagues in the school improve how they teach to reach students better. ABG apologizes for not having gotten the title of that position. She was asked why her three children attended private schools? She stated it was a personal reason and still explained some of her reasons. ABG found her answer acceptable. One statement ABG did not find acceptable was a comment she made about the position she was seeking, saying, “After all, it is a volunteer position.” While this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker for her, and we found her qualified, we were dismayed to hear that comment.

Mr Sia, who works for the County of Westchester at the Archive & Records office on 9A, made an enlightening comment. He stated as a somewhat recent graduate of Alexander Hamilton High School, he felt ill-prepared for college. He felt his poor experience in high school, and his deficiencies in math, computer knowledge and English made college more difficult for him. He said he would look to help the students be better prepared for their next educational journey after high school.

Mr Thomas, recently retired from the Elmsford Police Department and previously from the insurance industry offered an interesting proposition if he were to be elected. He would invite Governor Cuomo, several elected leaders, local PTA members, School Board members and a few students to lunch trying to help bridge the gap from his small community to the larger state entity. He would also work toward acquiring funds through grants from various sources to help offset the costs of education already saddling our taxpayers. As a retiree, he is willing to go to Albany and/or Washington DC as often as necessary to help the Elmsford School District and community. 

The Forum was an enlightening event. It was a meeting chocked full of good questions and good answers. School taxes are the bulk of all taxpayers’ overall tax bill. Given it’s significance, you would think everyone would come out and vote. The public is faced with five choices in this Tuesday’s School Board election. There are no bad choices in this upcoming election. Based on what we heard this afternoon, ABG believes the two strongest contenders are Mr Justin Datino and Mr Theodore (Ted) Thomas. There’s a saying in politics, GOTV: get out the vote. So go. If you haven’t followed the candidates or aren’t sure or just need to be pushed along, vote for these two candidates we just mentioned. Just go vote!

Bluff and Blink

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can You Smell A Rat?

Whenever things get uncomfortable in Town Hall, The Paul switches to deflection mode and changes the subject. The media, sycophants all, play right along as if his blather reflects their personal “skin in the game.” When the buzz was that the President cleared away hurdles for a new Tappan Zee bridge, it gave The Paul a plethora of topics to expound upon. We imagine him saying “Wow! Judith, do you realize the publicity they just handed me?” to his vociferous, yet irrelevant, Town Clerk. We also can imagine the clerks office staff, the real brains of that department, rolling their eyes in disbelief,  mumbling, “Oh crap! Here we go again.”

The next phase of the deflection was to offer something so unrealistic and undoable that it would guarantee media coverage. But what could provide an unending source of coverage, and how absurd would it need to be? The Paul wrestled with this and then, realizing he was giving away untold tracts of land to developers, it hit him. Land use. A park. No, wait! Not just a park, a high-line park - whatever that is. “Judith, find me a park anywhere that was made from a bridge.” Then he found out that NYC had a high-line park and he was off! “Why not turn the old Tappan Zee bridge into a high-line park, just like NYC did several years ago?

The media jumped on this like a NYC dog walker works a pooper-scooper. His spew started and the media was all over it, buying into it without reservation. Then it spread from the local opinion and press release papers like the Westchester Guardian, the White Plains Examiner and of course The Paul’s personal media machine, the Journal News. Ultimately, it would almost go viral, but didn’t. They touted his ramblings as visionary and the stench of “Paul Poo” spread to the major media outlets in NYC. He was in pooper-scooper media heaven. Finally, when one of the major media pundits asked our presidential candidate/governor what he thought about the park idea. “Huh, high-line park? What’s that?” He originally poo-pooed (pun intended) the idea. Ever the politician, as he saw the idea gain the approval of the environmental and others fringe groups that our politicos are so used to pandering to, he did an immediate about-face! Suddenly, the idea merited consideration. Fortunately, with a record heat-wave this summer, The “Paul Poo” began to reek and the governor reversed course and abandoned the idea. What now for The Paul?

Some time around June, The Paul found himself needing another deflection as his transgressions within the Town were catching up to him and getting increased media coverage - just not the kind he was used to. Sure, the Journal News would report on some of it but it buried it on the inside squeezed between a Sleepy’s and Atlantic City casino ad, and never on the front page. After all, that just wouldn’t do. The Paul and his Town Boards were found guilty on seven counts in the Fortress Bible Church decision, he was found guilty of the WestHelp payoff to the Valhalla school districts, which is costing the Town a minimum loss of $100k per month which should have been a guaranteed income. Now that other politicians had co-opted his high-line park idea, he was no longer in the favored limelight.

He decided to to revisit the Tappan Zee bridge, an old stand-by for him, but with a different twist. His ability to generate media buzz is his greatest talent. “This time I’ll be against the bridge!” he thought, “but what can my reason be? Hmmm...it has to involve mass transit so I’ll appear green! They’re such suckers!” With the new twist determined, he landed on the all-or-nothing side of a mass transit component for the new bridge. He went public touting he was now against the Tappan Zee bridge and began writing letters to editors, knowing they would all be published, aired or talked about. He was right. Because the talk had been about building the new bridge without a mass transit component, The Paul announced he was against building the bridge if there would not be a mass transit portion built into it, and like that, he was back in the news. Governor Cuomo already said the bridge would not be able to have the mass transit portion included as it was a) too costly and would b) slow the progress he felt we were making. He never mentioned that we’re coming up to an election year and they need these bridge jobs as a key campaign issue for all the politicians to be a part of and to use.

Once The Paul started to get traction with his “Don’t Build The Bridge” campaign, and the media coverage he wantonly craves, he got another visit, although this one unwelcome. It was from a rat! The union rat, to be specific. The unions that would be involved in building the new Tappan Zee bridge wanted the project to move forward. The Paul was spearheading it’s demise. Now that he infuriated the parent union bosses, and is already extremely disliked by the Town’s CSEA members, it was time for payback. During July, the union planted their inflatable rat outside of Greenburgh Town Hall, aimed at The Paul, who by default with his new position is against the union and in this case union jobs! We’re sure you didn’t see this in the Journal News or the other papers.

About a week and a half ago, the same rat showed up outside of The Paul’s expensive Boulder Ridge housing development. In fact, we were informed the residents were instructed to stay indoors for their safety. Ironic that The Paul would have a significant police presence at the open forum he held at the former Frank’s Nursery for GameOn 365, but not offer Boulder Ridge residents the same protection. We know the union members at Boulder Ridge were not a threat to anybody’s safety. It was a “cheap shot” to tell the residents there to stay inside for their safety, as well as unnecessary. We tried to get a flyer they were handing out but were unable. Our union contacts inform us they have a plan for the rat and to continue protesting The Paul and his anti-bridge position.

While ABG wonders if the rat will accomplish much for the union’s cause, we do support the union and the jobs that will be created for everyone with this project. Stay tuned, as we learn more, you’ll learn more.

As always, we hope our readers will forward information they may learn or receive regarding this and any other news within Greenburgh’s borders to us at ABetterGreenburgh@gmail.com.