Greenburgh Central School District Vote Passes and Disappoints

In reviewing the numbers after an election of any kind held in Greenburgh, the apathy and blasé attitude of voters has reflected poorly on the vast majority. It seems that particular causes may unite a certain part of the citizenry, and there are groups in our community doing the same things at the local level.

The School Board elections and the School District’s budget vote took place after being delayed by NYS and rescheduled from May to June with a mail-in vote as opposed to an in-person vote at the polls. Good or bad, the numbers were somewhat the same as many more people had the opportunity to vote but again, did not bother to vote. It seems the only time we see a spike in voting is when there is a project(s) in a certain neighborhood that literally affects them in their backyard. Hence the term we’ve coined called OIMBY: Only In My Back Yard.

There are roughly 90,000 residents in all of the Town of Greenburgh. There are six Villages including an seventh possible new one with the Edgemont incorporation looming near. The Villages in the Town are Elmsford, Ardsley, Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown. Interestingly, they have their own elections yet are also allowed to vote in Town elections, which many feel is just seems wrong. But because of this, Mr Feiner and his Board play the Villages like a fine instrument to ensure no matter how much they touch that turns to crap for Unincorporated Greenburgh, Mr Feiner, et al, will get their votes to remain in office and not be held accountable or culpable for their misgivings, lies and illegal actions.

So, while we know there are 90,000 residents, we also know that not all can vote. Greenburgh School enrollment is about 1800 kids. So roughly speaking, without fact-checking the dual-parent vs single-parent households status, there could be up to 3600+ voters participating in a school vote. According to information provided by School District Clerk Ivy Krauss, the actual count of ballots that were distributed to registered voters was 16,563. The amount that was returned of votes cast was 3,594. So 78.3% of the voting population did not participate. Those voting for the budget approved it, 1,968 to 978, roughly a two-to-one victory. Or was it?

Out of those numbers there were 619 votes that were disqualified because the voters didn't read the instructions, understand the instructions or thought their votes would be counted regardless of what they did or didn’t do correctly. So 3.74% of the voters who thought they voted weren’t counted. A breakdown is as follows:
401: oath envelope not signed; 190: oath envelope not provided; 15: oath envelope contained extrinsic papers (ie more than one ballot); 9: ballot torn and/or defaced; 1: signature did not match that of the voter; 2: ballot was blank; 1: oath envelope did not contain any ballot. Apparently, everyone is okay with these amounts being dismissed. Why? Probably because the budget passed.

What we are struggling with is that out of 16,563 people who could vote, only 3,594 did vote - a slight increase from the usual amount. We’d have thought that those who don’t usually come out to vote would have thought this mail-in style voting would prove more convenient and garnered more votes – but that doesn’t appeared to be the case. In fact, statistics show that senior citizens typically vote against school budgets for a host of reasons. And, when the School District and the Administration pushed the ill-fated consolidation bond proposal, a two to one defeat was confirmed to be in part due to the senior citizens vote. And, knowing Mr Feiner has injected himself as the caped crusader of poor mail delivery, how much of the votes cast never made it beyond the mailbox they dropped it in? We may never know.

There was also a proposition to move money from one part of the budget to a reserve fund for maintenance and repairs. That passed with 2519 votes for and 445 against. Previous Boards have failed to adequately fund the repair budgets for years causing much disrepair of our school buildings and an excuse to consolidate. Still, the taxpaying public saw past the incorrect information provided and shot the consolidation down. The several proponents of the consolidation were Superintendent Chase, who appears to be trying to develop herself as a brand; Trustees David Warner and Terry Williams. In fact, both of these gentlemen have been on the School Board for years and hold responsibility for the lack of repair funding which has led to the degradation of the buildings. Could this have been a covert plan all along?

Two School Board members were running for re-election, Tracy Mairs and Ashley Pineda*. Ivy Kraus, the School District Clerk, shared the totals for their re-elections: 2441 and 2391 respectively. We have no problem with either candidate seeking a second term of office and believe they can make a difference in that period of time although we prefer term limits. We’ve seen Ms Mairs openly participate in school district related conversations but hardly ever witness Mr Pineda getting involved in the discussions. Granted this was his first year in the position and may taking some time to get up to speed and comfortable. As such, we believe he needs to step up his game.

Voting during this primary coincided with the School District/Board elections were fraught with problems. The voter sites that were trimmed back seemingly experienced problems that caused hours-long delays in voting. Some have claimed this falls in Mr Feiner’s lap. While we never hesitate being critical of Mr Feiner, it does not. But he did say he would write a letter or two to the appropriate parties involved. Translation: send a letter and out of his hands and done. Move on to his next contrived issue.

This election was rushed by the School District per the mandates of Albany and the Governor. While we're sure everyone involved tried their best, it still seemed unorganized to some extent. If this is the precursor to the November elections, we’re not hopeful that we’ll be seeing results on election night. This has to change and get better. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

* A one-year incumbent filling the balance of a term of a Board member who resigned and needed to run for the position.

Edgemont Victorious Against Town For Referendum

The New York Supreme Court has ruled that the Edgemont Incorporation petition is legally valid and overruled Supervisor Feiner's decision to deny the petition. This is the second time that the Edgemont group has been forced to sue Mr Feiner, a Democrat, because he allowed his own prejudice to get in the way of making a simple decision: did their petition meet the rule of law standards? We believe it did.

The court ordered an election to be held within 40 days. However, this is the same thing that occurred over a year ago when Edgemont prevailed in the courts initially to subsequently lose on appeal by the Town. We are not alone believing that the Town will appeal the decision again. This is a strategy that worked for them before so we're sure, sadly, it will be done again.

While we wish to see the law upheld and support Edgemont's right of self-destiny, we are also concerned should the incorporation pass for several reasons. First, everyone against the incorporation has said that the canyon this will leave in the Town budget could be as much as $17 million dollars. Second, the Edgemont leadership has stated that they wish to contract services such as police, sanitation and highway maintenance with the Town. This would provide needed revenue and avoid the laying off of Town employees. Mr Feiner, Mr Jones, a Democrat, and possibly the rest of Mr Feiner's Board, all Democrats, have vehemently and repeatedly claimed that they have no desire to contract these services with them. This is an obvious and egregious display of a lack of concern for the rest of the Greenburgh Unincorporated residents!

Time will tell how this will all play out. We're unsure of what was different between the first and this latest petition submission and the court cases. All we know is that when Mr Feiner and his Board, all Democrats, try to restrict the public's exercising of law, it's time for them to go. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Dying A Slow Death Until They Die In Office

The governor has sent “tax relief” checks to property owners in the guise of helping the beleaguered NY taxpayer. The Town has not. What may have helped the governor would have been to announce that instead of trying to buy your vote, he’s announcing an infrastructure overhaul that has been needed for the last hundred years or so to address the cacophony of issues plaguing New York: failing roadways, flooding, failing railways, crumbling bridges, ruptured water mains, outdated airports, traffic congestion and more. Instead, this move highlights the kick-the-issues-down-the-road practice all politicians subscribe to because it’s not sexy stuff. They profess these issues will be addressed but later become someone else’s problem if they ever leave office. But in New York, as in Greenburgh, you have to die in office to officially leave. It’s killing us.

The twin “Honda” bridges (aka New Tappan Zee) across the Hudson River exacerbates the ineffectiveness of what is transpiring with our government’s stale and feeble thinking. We recently saw two tractor-trailers jackknifed on the bridge, stalling traffic for over an hour. No one was surprised. Let’s face it, with the volume of traffic travelling that roadway, we know we can expect more. So, when the planning stages produced two bridges with a new rubberized surface much slicker in the wet weather than the previous concrete, no rail, no real HOV lanes, a bike path, viewing areas, eagles’ nests, and other millennial contrivances, traffic volume and flow appeared to have been a glaringly absent topic.

We experience daily this thinking at local, state and federal levels as project after project transform into boondoggle after boondoggle. The difference locally and in our Town is the failure to “play the game” and think outside the box is destroying what was once a dynamic Town! And, at the same time, every NY politician – mostly all democrats – have remained in office for far too long. Regardless of New York’s issues and us specifically, we have the same archaic, stale and ineffective thinking bombarding us daily. An example would be any project will have 10% low-income, ground floor retail (which over and over again stay vacant) and apartments above the retail for Millennials and of course with no parking as we’re continually told Millennials don’t drive or own cars. Yet, when you look at Hartsdale Avenue going into the center of Hartsdale, there is not nearly enough parking for those people living in those apartment buildings! When it rains and there is flooding, they must (re)move their cars to higher ground. Some thought a recently passed weak Comprehensive Plan would help the residents. It was so watered down it became a laughingly simple political document that won’t protect the integrity or longevity of the Town.

Project after project gets approved by a reticent Town Board incapable of breaking free of the servitude that grips them to their master. As long as they are instructed to vote in favor of a project, pass a code change or waive the craftily enacted standards that favor developers, they will remain on his Board. Falter from that narrative and be jettisoned in the blink of an eye, commonly referred to as being “Sonya’d.” After Town Board member Sonya Brown publicly exposed Mr Feiner’s racial bias against the minority community in the Fairview section of town, she was shunned by the Town Board, ignored by many in Town Hall (also fearful for their jobs) and dropped from the re-election ticket for now-Councilman Ken Jones. Mr Jones learned quickly that to get along he must go along. Sadly, we had been hopeful that he would exhibit a modicum of independence only to have the electorate be disappointed yet again as he tows the Feiner -line.

The Elmwood Country Club was sold to a developer who has an arsenal of attorneys at their beck and call who know how to play the approval game in Greenburgh. We’re told they met secretly with Mr Feiner and probably his Town Board as Mr Feiner laid out the groundwork they needed to follow to ensure successful completion of their yet to be proposed project. First, meet with his arch-enemy, the President of the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association and get a buy-in from their President and ultimately their members. You’ll recall that they were the ones who successfully stopped Mr Feiner’s GameOn 365 from erecting (really inflating) an 83 ft tall “sports bubble” at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road where the former Frank’s Nursery had been. Stung by this embarrassing defeat after several residents exposed Mr Feiner and GameOn 365’s collusion, Mr Feiner has worked tirelessly to find any way possible to get the flawed and failing GameOn 365 project to reach fruition. Why follow this same path of failing ideas? Do as I say, not as I do.

The Hartsdale Neighbors Association sparked a debate about their 4-Corners (4C) and it’s need of renovation and uplifting, citing that it’s been a revolving door of failed businesses and desolate retail spaces due to the Town’s permit process, zoning, lack of parking and bereft planning processes. In light of the Edgemont Incorporation effort, word got back to the Town Board about new talks of a Hartsdale Incorporation based on what happens to the Unincorporated Town (which includes Hartsdale) should the Edgemont incorporation succeed. Concerns festered over what would happen to the Hartsdale community and the town budget, town services and staff. Mr Feiner and his Board were rapt as Inspired Spaces made a presentation of solutions for the failed and ignored area. They certainly embody their motto, “We seem to care.” But since the only real beneficiaries of remodeling of the 4C area is the landlords, we doubt these plans will get much traction.

But now that the Edgemont incorporation has been successfully stalled, Town politicians needed a new crisis to divert attention from what is really going on with finances, personnel, insider developer approvals and more. Thankfully, whenever in need and there is no apparent cause to latch onto, play the race card. This time it was espoused by Town Clerk Judith Beville, an African-American woman who charged in a series of emails that she, as an African-American woman, was being targeted by all of the members of the Town Board, but not her meal ticket Mr Feiner, that had racial overtones. She made sure to not bite the hand that feeds her so to speak.

Racism is no stranger at our Town Hall, at least during the Feiner Administration(s). And while these episodes have always been craftily ignored, swept under the rug or simply ignored, racism is alive and well at 177 Hillside Avenue. Regardless of previous events, Ms Beville sent a series of emails alluding to racism and then actually charging that this was done to her specifically because she was an African-American woman in a high-profile position in the Town. Whether or not it was true almost seemed inconsequential as she began to play to her base who showed up to the Town Board meeting on her behalf. There were other statements made about the Deputy Town Clerk that appeared to cross the line regarding HIPAA requirements, legal requirements and of course common courtesy. In fact, toward the end of the Town Clerk discussion portion of the last Town Board meeting, all of the Council members as well as Town Attorney Tim Lewis were repeatedly asking her to stop talking as she was probably violating HIPAA laws by discussing the medical problems of the former Deputy Town Clerk! Punishment for these transgressions? Not in Greenburgh.

While Ms Beville was unwilling to remain silent after the Board pleaded with her, Councilman Sheehan stated that the entire episode was not a racial matter and that the Deputy said she was going to quit because she had to keep training new people as well as continuing to do her own job as well. Because of the seemingly endless stream of trainings and her workload, she said she had had enough. Apparently, it was either Mr Feiner or the Town Board (or both) who decided to create and fill a new position at roughly $70+k per year with benefits without approval, a budget item or candidate search. THIS sounds like our Town Board. They also stated that the Town Clerk’s office would still have the same number of staffers working there, but training could now be done by Ms Beville. And yet Mr Feiner seems compelled to complain about the Fire Districts personnel issues. Those who live in glass houses should not cast any stones.

Word in the Town Hall hallways is that the Town Board doesn’t have faith that Ms Beville can adequately train those new people and that’s why they wanted to keep the former Deputy, even if it was in a different position. Maybe so. This isn’t the way to run a Town. It’s also proof of why we need term limits, even though those in office will never agree to relinquish their power until they've padded their coffers enough and are ready themselves to step down. When the Democratic electorate finally wises up, maybe we will see a change and get some new blood, new ideas and better thinking. Complacency is also alive and well in Greenburgh. It needs to change. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Edgemont Incorporation On Hold Due To Ruling

This story has been updated.

The Decision:

MATTER OF BERNSTEIN v FEINER

In a hybrid proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 to review a determination of Paul Feiner, Supervisor of the Town of Greenburgh, dated May 5, 2017, which, after a hearing, determined that a petition for the incorporation of the proposed Village of Edgemont does not comply with the requirements of Village Law article 2, and action, inter alia, for a judgment declaring that the petition for the incorporation of the proposed Village of Edgemont complies with the requirements of Village Law article 2, Paul Feiner appeals, Nancy Blank, Thomas Blank, Robert P. Cerrato, Lloyd Cort, Mona Fraitag, Joan Gardner, Glenroy Gordon, Tracy C. Mairs, John M. Martin, Edward Massena, Martin Payson, Helene M. Orce, Sylvia Simon, Donald Siegel, Joanne F. Siegel, William Stanton, Alice Strauss, and Steven J. Willard separately appeal, and Janet Linn and Hugh Schwartz separately appeal, from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Susan Cacace, J.), dated February 1, 2018. The judgment granted the petition, annulled the determination, declared that the petition for the incorporation of the proposed Village of Edgemont complies with the requirements of Village Law article 2, and directed the Town Clerk of the Town of Greenburgh to take all necessary actions to schedule an election to determine the matter of incorporation of the proposed Village of Edgemont.

ORDERED that the judgment is reversed, on the law, with one bill of costs payable to the appellants appearing separately and filing separate briefs, the petition is denied, the proceeding is dismissed, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Westchester County, for the entry of an appropriate amended judgment, inter alia, declaring that the petition for the incorporation of the proposed Village of Edgemont does not comply with the requirements of Village Law article 2.

In this hybrid proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 and action for declaratory relief, the Supreme Court granted the petition pursuant to CPLR article 78 to annul a determination of the Supervisor of the Town of Greenburgh, which determined that a petition for the incorporation of the proposed Village of Edgemont does not comply with the requirements of Village Law article 2, and declared that the petition for incorporation complies with the requirements of Village Law article 2. The Town Supervisor found that the petition for incorporation failed to include a description of the territory to be incorporated that was “sufficient to identify the location and extent of such territory with common certainty,” as is required by Village Law § 2-202(1)(c)(1). That finding was not illegal, based on insufficient evidence, or contrary to the weight of the evidence (see Matter of Barnard v St. Lawrence, 44 AD3d 1037, 1038; Matter of Incorporation of Vil. of Viola Hills, 129 AD2d 579, 580).

The Town Supervisor also found that the petition for incorporation did not include an accurate list of the regular inhabitants of the proposed village, as is required by Village Law § 202-2(1)(c)(2). That finding also was not illegal, based on insufficient evidence, or contrary to the weight of the evidence (see Matter of Bernard v St. Lawrence, 44 AD3d at 1038; Matter of Baker v Heaney, 15 AD3d 577, 578; Matter of Elevitch v Colello, 168 AD2d 681, 682; Matter of Luria v Conklin, 139 AD2d 650; Matter of Incorporation of Vil. of Viola Hills, 129 AD2d at 580).

Accordingly, the Supreme Court should have denied the petition pursuant to CPLR article 78, dismissed the proceeding, and declared that the petition for incorporation does not comply with the requirements of Village Law article 2 (see Village Law § 2-210[1]; Matter of Bernard v St. Lawrence, 44 AD3d at 1038; Matter of Baker v Heaney, 15 AD3d at 578; Matter of Elevitch v Colello, 168 AD2d at 682; Matter of Luria v Conklin, 139 AD2d at 650; Matter of Incorporation of Vil. of Viola Hills, 129 AD2d at 580). Since this is, in part, a declaratory judgment action, we remit the matter to the Supreme Court, Westchester County, for the entry of an appropriate amended judgment, inter alia, declaring that the petition for the incorporation of the proposed Village of Edgemont does not comply with the requirements of Village Law article 2 (see Lanza v Wagner, 11 NY2d 317, 334).

RIVERA, J.P., CHAMBERS, BARROS and BRATHWAITE NELSON, JJ., concur. ENTER:

Aprilanne Agostino Clerk of the Court

Clerk of the Court

Hartsdale Neighbors Association Update

Hello Hartsdale Neighbors,

We are excited to inform you about our next meeting.

Please join us at our next meeting of the Hartsdale Neighbors Association on Wed 10/17 at 7:30pm at Highview Elementary, 200 N. Central Avenue Hartsdale NY.

We will be featuring a Q&A Round table discussion with local real estate agents from Westchester Choice Realty, MJ Pastor Realty, and Grand Lux Realty. Please join us for a conversation about the local real estate market, industry trends and get the opportunity to ask questions.

We will also be giving updates on a bunch of important topics including 4 Corners, Edgemont Incorporation and Others.

Questions on any of the above? Something in the neighborhood you think we should be aware of? We can be reached info@hartsdaleneighbors.org. Or send us a message on Facebook. Check out our web page www.hartsdaleneighbors.org

Hartsdale Neighbors Association


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Abinanti Legislation Removes Greenburgh Residents Right To Vote - Again

There is no shame in politics. Mr Feiner proves that regularly. Now his Albany cohort and co-conspirator has re-introduced legislation hastily requested by Mr Feiner to remove the right of Greenburgh residents to vote should they desire to secede from the Town and incorporate as a village. This was brought about as Mr Feiner desperately tried to stop the Edgemont Incorporation Council (EIC) from succeeding.

At first, Mr Feiner played down the movement, believing it would never gain any traction. But this was big news and the lifetime supervisor was caught off guard as momentum and interest swelled. Mr Feiner wasn’t the only one against the incorporation. His Town board was most likely instructed by him to be against it as well, however Ken Jones was the only one who would speak openly against it.

When pushed at several community meetings as to why the Town leaders were not sitting down with the incorporation leaders to discuss contingency plans and the possible charging for services as presented by the incorporation proponents, Mr Feiner continued to say he didn’t believe the referendum would go through, should it come to that. He was convinced there would be no incorporation!

Next he took it upon himself to illegally hire a judge to be his scapegoat under the guise of providing advice on the ballot petition signatures to the tune of an unauthorized $50,000! His Town Board would later push through another $50,000 for the judge. On behalf of Mr Feiner, the judge engaged private investigators to go out into the Edgemont neighborhood with a new petition to get the incorporation petition signatories to sign which would unknowingly invalidate their original incorporation petition signatures! You can’t even find these kind of corruption twists in Hollywood!

Once exposed by a pro-incorporation resident’s home security/nanny-cam system, and the defecation began hitting the ventilation, Mr Feiner realized he could really lose this and decided to double-down. That’s when he reached out to his career politician friend, Assemblyman Abinanti* and asked him to push through legislation in Albany that would help him stop the incorporation. Probably a bit concerned about what he was being asked to do and his political future, Mr Abinanti was no doubt aware that former Town Councilwoman Sonya Brown had publicly stated at a Town Board meeting that Mr Feiner had told his running mates (her included) not to bother campaigning in Fairview because those residents were not intelligent. Could this come back to bite him? We’re sure if this did take place Mr Feiner instructed him not to worry and just do it.

So, once word on the street reached the Edgemont Incorporation Council (EIC), they decided to take a road trip to Albany. Once in Albany, they sought out Mr Abinanti who refused to meet with them! Phone calls and emails to other legislators were enough to slow the out-of-control Abinanti freight train from submitting the bill for a vote at one of the infamous 3AM votes. That bill, essentially the same as what’s being offered now, was to negatively affect Town of Greenburgh residents by taking away their right to vote for incorporation! Pressure mounted and the bill was withdrawn.

Like most diabolical plots hatched from the corner office, bad ideas and/or proposals don’t go away. Rather, they return repackaged as something different with the more objectionable portions sanitized and made to seem like a benefit to those about to get screwed. Such was the case with Mr Abinanti’s previous bill. First, while his original bill was Town of Greenburgh specific, the second one is for all Towns in New York State – with a voluntary “opt-in” by any Town government. Now, while most Towns throughout the state will not care about this, Mr Feiner will and will instruct his Town Board to opt-IN. So with a little massaging, one hurdle was eliminated. As an aside, no other legislator was willing to vote for the first iteration as most believe they shouldn’t be voting on what is considered Greenburgh’s home rule. Mr Abinanti obviously does not care about constituents, his own or those of other jurisdictions.

Next up in Mr Abinanti’s Eliminating Voter Right’s legislation are numerous roadblocks that force residents seeking to incorporate to perform numerous studies, which ironically the EIC had provided, among other requirements. But if one requirement is good, then two is better, and three is, well, you get the idea. The new bill is essentially the core of the hastily authored original bill. Although Mr Abinanti claims he is not attempting to affect the petition process or invalidate the Edgemont Incorporation Council petition, those in the trenches who have been following this entire process know this is too convoluted to believe. He has increased the number of steps, designed to wear-down those seeking incorporation, by putting numerous hurdles in the way.

Several requirement’s in the new bill are designed to make incorporation incredibly difficult and cumbersome for those seeking to incorporate. In the earlier version the Town Board would have had approval to authorize an incorporation referendum, under the guise of whether or not incorporation would have “significant impacts on the rest of the area.” This is blatantly specific to Edgemont! How do we know? It’s the  argument Mr Feiner has been making all along about Edgemont's incorporation. Huh? Still don’t see the setup? We believe Mr Feiner concocted the elements of Mr Abinanti’s bill that he would need and began the argument before the introduction of the bill so when the bill passes at 3AM in Albany, he’ll be able to continue his argument against it and say, “No!” to the EIC. 

This is similar to the sidewalk to no-where when the Stop and Shop on Rt 119 near the Marriott Hotel was proposed. No one understood why he was letting them build a sidewalk there, instead in front of the supermarket. Two years after the supermarket was built, he and his Board approved the Brightview Assisted Living facility to be built immediately behind the sidewalk. Who knew? Only Mr Feiner and his Boards...

Another requirement is that this updated version will change New York State law to include “group think,” providing the rest of a given town the ability to vote against a community’s incorporation. This is one of the key points Mr Feiner so desperately needs to thwart the Edgemont incorporation. Just like the referendum for the GameOn 365 “deal” that promised to hurt the Worthington Woodlands neighborhood should the referendum pass, Mr Feiner knew he could get his faithful followers to approve it – and they did.

So Mr Abinanti, well along into his professional career as a politician, also knows to mention certain buzzwords for those not in the know to think his concerns are genuine. He uses words like “fairest approach” and “require community impact statement.” This legal change, should it happen by June as he has planned is anything but fair. It takes away voting rights of some and allows them to be controlled by others. It heightens the argument in the book 1984. What’s next, meet us in the Ministry of Love’s Room 101? 

This legislation is nothing but a blatant attempt by Messrs Feiner and Abinanti to help Mr Feiner get his way and stop the Edgemont incorporation. It is wrong. Both of these politicians are proof of why term limits are so necessary. It’s time for them to go. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

* Mr Abinanti had lived near the Fortress Bible Church property that was purchased by the church with hopes of building a school and church for their congregation. We believe once Mr Feiner was found guilty of discrimination against the church, lying under oath and destroying evidence in a Federal trial among other charges, Mr Abinanti tried to distance himself from this by relocating his home to Pleasantville and office in Tarrytown.

Appeal of Court Decision No Surprise

It’s been apparent from the beginning that Mr Feiner has always been against the Edgemont Incorporation Committee (EIC) proponents to incorporate and become a Village within the Town. Election after election has emboldened him to care less and less about what his constituents think, feel or want. And yet, despite this cavalier attitude he has toward them, the electorate has a similar one, reelecting him by the thousands even though he runs unopposed for a position he has held for 14 terms!

Mr Feiner set himself up for the current legal battle which had been anticipated by the EIC leadership for refusing to allow their petitioned referendum. But this is Mr Feiner’s modus operandi to garner attention, media exposure through controversy and more email addresses he can use later for campaigning purposes down the road. – regardless of whether he should need them or not. Again, Mr Feiner ran unopposed in the last as well as a good number of past elections and  “won.”

While Mr Feiner decided to refuse to allow the EIC petition to follow it’s natural course, he also plotted against these residents. And, while he plotted against them, he concurrently plotted against the rest of the Unincorporated Greenburgh residents. He used unauthorized Town funds to hire a judge whom in turn hired a private security firm who in turn sought to get a new petition signed by those residents who supported incorporation by signing the EIC petition. Once the sham was exposed, Mr Feiner pointed fingers at his newly-hired judge. Some say the judge was bought and paid for by Mr Feiner using illegally gotten funds. No matter, the judge was there to do exactly what Mr Feiner had orchestrated!

Once Mr Feiner began the charade of not wanting the Edgemont incorporation, he was stuck. Regardless of the arguments, rationale or answers provided, he was forced to continue down the fruitless path he created. It’s like the kid that lies and has to keep the lie going with more lies no matter how many times he is caught. It should always be remembered that the EIC frequently reached out to Mr Feiner and his Board asking to meet to discuss the possible Village of Edgemont utilizing Town services contractually should they incorporate. Mr Feiner refused. So did Councilman Jones. Their public reasoning was that the EIC was not an official or recognizable legal entity and incapable of entering into a legal or binding arrangement. Why wouldn’t they meet with Town residents/taxpayers/constituents on general principle and discuss any of it with them? No contracts needed to be signed, no official attorneys were needed simply to have a conversation.

The EIC and others followed Mr Feiner’s advice, “If you don’t like what I’m doing, sue me!” They did. After some legal back and forth maneuvers that were nothing more than additional stall tactics by Mr Feiner, Judge Susan Cacace finally ruled that Mr Feiner was wrong and the petitions were valid. She also mandated a limited timeframe for Mr Feiner to hold the referendum. Not one to admit defeat in the face of it, Mr Feiner announced that he would appeal Judge Cacace’s decision dragging this out even longer. The EIC paid the Town $6,000 to file the petition seeking the referendum. That money is to be used to pay for the special election.

$6,000 already paid to the Town sits unused because of Mr Feiner pig-headed behavior. $50,000 of unauthorized Town funds was urinated away by Mr Feiner and his Board to rent a judge as a scapegoat. But that wasn’t enough! At a Special Town Board Meeting, on February 13, 2018, a resolution was passed to give Judge Spolzino another $50,000 to review and evaluate the EIC petition*. Unknown court fees were also flushed down the toilet because of Mr Feiner’s arrogance coupled with other unknown expenses. If Mr Feiner truly cared about the well-being of the Town he would resign! Since that’s unlikely, we urge him to start the dialog with the EIC proponents to ensure that they ultimately do contract with the Town for services instead of turning to either another municipality or a private entity for their village. That would begin to show a modicum of concern for the Unincorporated taxpayers, whom he has saddled with a $6.5 million judgement with the Fortress Bible Church discrimination guilty verdict.

Mr Feiner would also do well to stop trying to drive a wedge between the community by using the Theodore D. Young Community Center (TDYCC) as a political football – something else Mr Feiner is well-skilled at doing. A court decision a number of years ago already mandates that the TDYCC must be paid for by the Unincorporated taxpayers whether they like it or not. The EIC has expressed interest in supporting the TDYCC should their incorporation come to fruition. This is a bit different from the other Villages whose residents don’t want to pay for the operation of the TYDCC even though they are allowed to use it.

Let’s hope that this appeal is expedited (or better, dropped) and we can move on with the referendum and see how things flush out. This has festered as another ugly blemish inflicted on our Town by Mr Feiner and it’s time for it all to end. A decision via a referendum is long past due. Either way this goes, it will make for A Better Greenburgh.

*AT 3 - 2/13/18
Resolution authorizing the continued retention of Robert A. Spolzino, Esq. of Smith Buss & Jacobs, LLP in connection with the review and evaluation of a petition for village incorporation submitted by residents of the Edgemont section of the Town, for an amount not to exceed $50,000

Play The Race Card When All Else Fails

We’re no longer surprised at the depths Mr Feiner is willing to succumb to get what he wants. You’ve read here that he has gone out of his way to thwart the Edgemont residents and their attempt at an incorporation bid. You’ve also read that the 14-term incumbent – a fact that in and of itself is a political tragedy – has stooped to new lows by hiring a retired judge to use as a deflection scapegoat once he decided to refuse the Edgemont Incorporation Committee's (EIC) petition requesting a referendum for incorporation. The judge in turn hired a private investigation company to try to invalidate the petition signatures of Edgemont residents who signed the petitions.

We also recently wrote about the decision that Judge Susan Cacace rendered regarding the EIC petitions that Mr Feiner invalidated, forcing the EIC to sue the Town. This lawsuit was warranted as the residents’ rights were being violated by Mr Feiner and his Board. Had Mr Feiner not tried to politicize the EIC’s incorporation petition and done his job, or due diligence if you will, the taxpayers would not be saddled with additional court fees on top of the already unauthorized $50,000+ fees used to hire the retired judge. But this is Greenburgh, where the king can simple tax his serfs and announce, “Good news! The Town has a Aaa bond rating!” A face-value statement that plays well with the uninformed but really doesn’t much matter for the Town.

Now the latest political football to be dished out by Mr Feiner is that of class warfare between the EIC and what Mr Feiner claims is their bias against the Theodore D. Young Community Center (TDYCC). Having attended just about every EIC public meeting, ABG can attest to several facts: they have always been open to questions and provided answers when asked; have always said that they wish to continue supporting the TDYCC should incorporation go through; that they prefer to control their locales zoning destiny and that they are seeking to self-govern. In fact, the poor behavior Mr Feiner has exhibited during all of this has highlighted exactly why they seek to jettison their community from the Town and become a Village.

In an interview with Dave McKay Wilson, Mr Feiner said “…that some Edgemont residents, whom he declines to name, have complained to him for decades about paying property taxes to support the Town’s Theodore D. Young Community Center.” This is a typical ploy used by Mr Feiner when frankly, he’s got nothing to back his arguments. Another tactic is to throw out numbers that haven’t been calculated, vetted or studied with proof to back them.

The TDYCC is located in Fairview and provides social services and recreational and arts programs. The Finneran law was passed specifically for Greenburgh and requires that recreational programs be funded by property taxes from the town’s unincorporated area and user fees. The biggest problem with this is that the village residents can use them while Unincorporated residents cannot avail themselves of Village programs.

Mr Feiner also said, “One of the underlying reasons they want to incorporate is that Edgemont doesn’t want to pay what they’ve been paying for the Theodore Young Center,” Feiner told Tax Watch. “I’ve talked to people in Edgemont over the years. It has come up hundreds of times. And I think it’s a class issue."

Edgemont Incorporation Committee leader Jeff Sherwin said Feiner’s allegations were without merit. “He’s making baseless allegations, but referring to unknown people,” said Sherwin. “He did it to cover up a policy of more than 30 years that supports the very allegation he is making against us. It’s deplorable he'd make those allegations against his own residents without any data to support it.”

Couple this with Mr Feiner’s stranglehold over Democratic State Assemblyman Tom Abinanti, who is once again seeking to introduce legislation (along with State Senator Stewart-Cousins in the Senate) to steal Greenburgh residents rights to vote to help out his friend. In one of his classic moves, Abinanti tried introducing legislation at 3AM before the Albany break, to make the Town of Greenburgh Board the ONLY municipality in New York State with the power to reject the incorporation petition based on the adverse effect a new village might have on the Town. 

You’ll recall Mr Abinanti asked Mr Feiner to not approve the Fortress Bible Church land use development in his backyard when he lived next to their recently purchased property. Mr “Not-In-My-Back-Yard” Abinanti subsequently moved to the Village of Tarrytown to enjoy the protections afforded that villages residents. Mr Feiner was subsequently sued and found guilty in federal court of lying under oath, destroying evidence and discrimination against a church! The fine for Mr Feiner accommodating Mr Abinanti was $6.5 million. Here’s a class issue if ever there were one! (Ironically, a total lack of class).

What Mr Feiner never mentions, except to say, “No!” is what can be done to offset the budget “crisis” that an Edgemont incorporation might bring. The EIC has consistently said they wish to contract services from the Town. Mr Feiner said, “No!” Residents have asked if the Board has come up with any contingencies should incorporation go through? “No!” At a Town Board meeting residents asked specific questions to see if the Board had sat down with the EIC? “No!” Asked why, Mr Jones parroted Mr Feiner saying the EIC is a non-legal entity and that’s why. Why not just stick out their tongues and say, “Na, na,na-na na!”

The Theodore D Young Community Center, perhaps a recreational center, perhaps not, has a $4 million budget. A successful Edgemont incorporation might affect its ability to operate as it currently does. Unfortunately, Mr Feiner is making it a political football as he did with the Greenburgh Town library. You’ll recall he withheld money to use as leverage over the library Board forcing its closure on weekends – the time when most kids who would need the library are available to go to it. 

He’s doing that again with the TDYCC and trying to create a class war that isn’t real between two communities. Shame on him! We too are concerned about the negative effects on Unincorporated Greenburgh should the EIC prevail. Yet, we envy Edgemont’s ability to try to get out from under the horrible management of this administration. Edgemont is the first real crack in the Feiner infrastructure while Rome is burning. It needs to change town-wide, only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

The Village of Edgemont Edges Closer To Incorporation

After being unnecessarily delayed, the seekers of an Edgemont incorporation may finally get their chance to vote for just that: incorporation. Judge Susan Cacace issued a decision against Mr Feiner’s decision that disqualified the resident’s petition signatures to incorporate. Once he issued his original decision and invalidated their petition, Mr Feiner did what he always does to attract publicity and delay the inevitable. He said what he always does, “If you don't like what I’m doing, sue me.” And, once again, they did.

This lawsuit, while considered frivolous by Mr Feiner’s supporters, was far from frivolous. Had Mr Feiner adhered to the law, he would have reviewed the petition signatures, returned his judgment that everything was in order and scheduled the referendum. Instead, he chose to politicize the request from the Edgemont residents and force them to play his games. Before he disqualified the petition, the incorporation momentum didn't stop and he enlisted the “help” from a retired judge. However the real goal behind hiring the judge for $50,000 unauthorized Town dollars was to be able to point a finger at him when the defecation hit the ventilation. And, it did and he did.

The judge, on Mr Feiner's behalf, hired a private investigation firm to scour the Edgemont community and acquire residents' signatures that would actually invalidate their original petition signatures. This seemed like the move of a desperate man - and rightfully so. Numerous attorneys, practicing attorneys, kept explaining to Mr Feiner, his Town Board, supporters and those not fully informed with what was going on, that what he was doing was not only reprehensible, but legally wrong. As he always does, he ignored their advice, refusing to sit down and discuss any of this.

Numerous groups also called upon Mr Feiner to “do the right thing” to no avail. In fact, we cannot recall a time when Mr Feiner actually did the right thing. Unfortunately, his bad behavior and unethical actions cost the Unincorporated taxpayers a fortune unnecessarily. It would be nice to have a Supervisor and Board that was actually looking out for us, the beleaguered resident - sort of like what Edgemont residents are seeking. He now has 45-days to hold a special election for Edgemont.

While Mr Feiner played his games, the Edgemont Incorporation Council (EIC) continued to try to move the equation forward. They drafted a second petition and sought more signatures than they garnered the first time. This time they also dotted their “i’s” and crossed their “t’s” with a renewed vigor and perceptible scrutiny. This time when they submitted the second petition – if required – there would be no wriggle room for Mr Feiner’s games.

Regardless, Mr Feiner took to the media again, having already positioned himself that he was probably going to lose. As an aside, the resident taxpayers have already lost because of him. It’s not just the filing fees, or the unauthorized $50,000 paid to the retired judge. Rather, it’s the fact that so many residents asked him and his Board what they were doing to plan for the Town’s finances should Edgemont be successful and incorporate. Nothing! He and Councilman Jones were vociferous in posturing that they would not do anything and only admitted that layoffs and a loss of services would be the solution. It is not. If the Town contracts services with the new Village of Edgemont, the budget could theoretically remain close to the same as it currently is without layoffs or loss of services. It just would not garner the publicity Mr Feiner graves. 

Many residents throughout the Town asked if they would contract services with the new Village of Edgemont, they arrogantly insisted, “No!” Rather than look to maintain the well-being of the overall Town, they played their selfish games. And, for what reason? It’s hard to say. Obviously the saying about absolute power corrupts can easily be applied here. So now that so much time, money and trust has been wasted, it’s time to finally learn what the entire Edgemont population will do when they vote on the referendum. It’s also time to see if Mr Feiner and his Board will ever “step up to the plate” for the entire Town should the Edgemont incorporation succeed? We hope so; it’s way past time for Mr Feiner and his Board to help to make A Better Greenburgh.

Incorporation Continues to Move Forward

A small setback would not stop them. Mr Feiner's biased decision against Edgemont incorporation was not based on the law. We believe he miscalculated and has actually pushed the Edgemont Incorporation Committee's (EIC) cause forward. And, having temporarily slowed the incorporation movement, Mr Feiner has ensured an Article 78 appeal. An Article 78 is the court-provided vehicle for the public to appeal what they believe to be bad or incorrect decisions made by a municipality.

As we write this article we are aware of a second petition that has begun to be circulated by the EIC. It mirrors the original one, as it’s still believed by the EIC that their first attempt was legally correct and should not have been dismissed by Mr Feiner. This time, however, they have engaged an engineering firm with Westchester County experience to validate the boundaries that the EIC and the petitioners seek to become the new Village of Edgemont.

Whether or not everyone agrees with Mr Feiner’s position or are even against incorporation, it appears many people have been persuaded toward incorporation after Mr Feiner hired private investigators to dupe residents into signing a newer affidavit to invalidate their original incorporation petition signature. A video captured on a home nanny-cam security system showed the entire process, with sound, in play. In fact, the video system had just been installed the day before. And, it was not the grainy, useless video we see on the news of shadowy figures robbing a convenience store at 2 AM. The picture was sharp, the sound clear and the evidence damning!

Since one of the Mr Feiner’s sticking points was the argument that signers of the original petition were not provided a map indicating the boundaries of the proposed new village, the engineering firm hired by the EIC will provide the EIC with a modern map showing all proposed property lines. Another argument made by anti-incorporation proponents was the lack of a financial analysis of the new village. The analysis and all subsequent information was provided on the EIC website (www.Edgemont2017.org). However, we understand how Mr Feiner likes to operate. Say something that is not factually correct enough times and eventually it will be believed as true. Perhaps the EIC should have used this tactic as well and just kept referring to themselves as the Village of Edgemont...

Mr Feiner weakly claimed several other reasons contributed to his reasons for invaliding the EIC petition. Knowing, however, that he was against the petition from the beginning also provided predictable responses. One of his reasons to be against the incorporation was that it would cost the Town approximately $17 million in lost revenue. Every time this point was raised the EIC stated that they wanted to contract services with the Town which could keep the Town budget virtually unchanged. Mr Feiner and Councilman Jones openly said the Town would not contract the services with Edgemont as a village. If they were truly concerned about the well-being of the Town, they would not be so obstinate and go along with this.

Now it was just a dog-and-pony event, utilizing a retired judge and NYC private investigation company as his foils. It also necessitated writing several emails, press releases and photo “ops” where Mr Feiner could substantiate his decision. The master of deflection was at it again. The issue again became the methodology necessary to pull this off. He held the hearing open for the required length of time and shrewdly scheduled the final hearing date to be the day before the hearing’s close date, making it impossible for the EIC or any pro-incorporation proponents to challenge “evidence” submitted by anti-incorporation proponents.

Not only will the EIC have people out and about getting signatures a second time around for the new petition, but Edgemonters can find out when and where someone will be and go to them to sign the new petition or schedule a time to sign by reaching out through the EIC email: edgemont2017@gmail.com. Mr Feiner, who we believe lies regularly about open government, has tried to shut down the Edgemont community’s right to vote - once. We’ll have to see what happens in court or with the second petition. We hope this time the right thing will take place. It will make for A Better Greenburgh.

A Zone Free Greenburgh – Will Anything Change?

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

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

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

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

So?

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

How?

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

When?

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

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

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

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

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

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

In an entirely predictable move by Mr Feiner, he officially ruled the Edgemont Incorporation petition was not sufficient and cancelled the hope of a proposed incorporation referendum for the Edgemont community. Mr Feiner had said all along that he was against the incorporation citing a loss of revenue, approximately $17 million out of the Town budget that would be Edgemont’s portion. Regardless, what Mr Feiner and any elected official should be doing, is entertaining different ideas and listening to their constituency. Clearly that did not happen. To quote the old Gomer Pyle TV character, “Surprise, surprise, surprise.”

Mr Feiner claimed that the Edgemont Incorporation Council (EIC) had been careless with the petitions, referencing failed boundaries for the proposed village – all of their documentation stated they were utilizing the Greenville Fire District boundaries. He referenced the EIC petition not including minors in their list of inhabitants – although we would assume that would be two-fold: one to protect children’s identity and two because they cannot vote and subsequently don’t “count” toward this event.There’s additional supposed reasons Mr Feiner ruled as he did but these other issues will, unfortunately, flush out in court. That said, he ruled many of the signatures invalid. If anyone could fabricate a reason or a way to invalidate petition signatures, it’s Mr Feiner and his Board.

“Forged signatures falsely sworn to by a witness in front of a notary is a legal violation that invalidates all the signatures collected by that witness,” Mr Feiner said. Wow! His incredible statement is ironic given his own conviction by a Federal court for lying under oath in the Fortress Bible case, destroying evidence and discrimination! Could we ever witness more hypocrisy in government? It’s almost as if Mr Feiner practices doing the wrong thing to see how he can get out from under it.

He floundered helplessly several times during the hearings without his Town Board to keep him from speaking too much. Normally, they would intervene and keep him from going down the proverbial rabbit hole. We can only wonder if this time they knew what he was doing was wrong and decided to err on the side of caution and stay far away. This by no means excuses most of their bad behavior and we even believe Mr Feiner might have told them, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this one. You can stay away.” But not after they agreed to spend $50,000 to hire attorney Robert Spolzino!

“The Town had to develop the facts,” Mr Feiner said. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be a real decision.” Actually, what he should have said was the Town needed to invent the facts and in lieu of actual facts and create what they needed to kill the petition. How? He enlisted his troops from his core of regular supporters, Mona Freitag, Martin Payson, Planning Board appointee Hugh Schwartz and his wife, Town Attorney Tim Lewis and his wife, along with others. The sad part is now that he’s decided to invalidate the petition, a new petition will invariably be filed expanding the area to include portions of Hartsdale parking district – backfiring on Mr Feiner big time! At the same time, it is expected that a lawsuit will be filed by the EIC against the Town and Mr Feiner for ruling the way he did. 

The elephant in the room is that Mr Feiner, with a modicum of assistance from Councilman Ken Jones at one of the public meetings about incorporation, was against the Edgemont incorporation from the get-go. At the first hearing, Councilman Kevin Morgan could be seen whispering in Mr Feiner’s ear after he lost control of the meeting. Instantaneously, Mr Feiner said, “We’re adjourned.”

At no point did he hide his disdain or opposition for the incorporation, claiming routinely that it just wouldn’t work. ABG staffers always believed his end game was to delay the petition until after the (re)election in November, knowing that people would tire of this and he could do what he always does: wear down the opposition while he campaigns against them and rally enough votes to squash everyone in favor of incorporation.

If they don’t tire of the incorporation movement, he’ll simply assume they would forget about. He knows voter memory is minuscule at best. That strategy might have worked had he not hired retired justice Robert Spolzino, who in turn hired private investigators to try to trick pro-Edgemont incorporation residents into signing an affidavit that would invalidate their previously signed endorsement for incorporation. It was so unbelievable that one resident supplied a nanny-cam video with sound that proved what was being done to dupe residents. Watch the resident’s video here: https://youtu.be/MBR3L16s3_s

One detrimental move was when Mr Feiner adjourned the first hearing after losing control of it following his mandate that pro-incorporation residents could not speak at the hearing, only anti-incorporation residents could. At the second hearing, adding insult to injury, he allowed the President of the security firm that they hired to speak during objections, followed by Town Attorney Tim Lewis reading affidavits from the surveyor he hired and the Title search attorney he hired, all during the objections. 

The second detrimental move was when Mr Feiner held the second hearing the day before the hearing was scheduled to close the record, not giving residents or the EIC an opportunity to review statements, evidence or information presented by anti-incorporation proponents. More importantly, at the second meeting Town Attorney Tim Lewis read the previously read statements already entered into the record and then called the same anti-incorporation proponents up to the podium to re-read their statements again. The reason was surely to eat away at the precious time the pro-incorporation proponents would try to utilize for their cause, further thwarting their efforts.

As always, there were no surprises with this announcement. The one surprise we would have enjoyed would have been one where Mr Feiner did the right thing, didn’t force another lawsuit for the Town taxpayers and allowed the petition to go through. Had he done the right thing, we might have gotten A Better Greenburgh, smaller, but better.

Announcing Nothing Says It All

All they want to do is vote. All they want is to become a Village. All they want is to control their destiny. All they want is to get out from under the incompetent, illegal, and bad decisions repeatedly made by this Town’s mismanaged and incapable Town Board. Hey, wait a minute... we all want this. But we all can’t afford to do what the Edgemont Incorporation Committee (EIC) has undertaken. Be it the expense, the lack of expertise or the support that doesn’t exist elsewhere in the Town, most of the rest of Unincorporated Greenburgh is saddled with what the EIC has confirmed is a problem. The Town not acting in their/our best interest.

In another calculated move this week, Mr Feiner chose to announce he had reached a decision as to the sufficiency of the EIC petition but would not make it known publicly until after he met with his Town Board early this week. If the decision has been made, why not just announce it? The legal requirements involved are simple: determine the sufficiency (or not) of the petition and let the EIC specifically, and the public in general, know the decision. But Mr Feiner, the Master of Deflection, the King of Compounded Confusion, the Purveyor of Publicity, the Convolutor of Crappola, decided early on that he was against the incorporation and attempted to thwart this effort at every juncture. Hence, the delayed announcement. But again, why?

The EIC’s move to incorporate and the efforts against it may or may not be legitimate. There are other events at play that factor into the Master of Deflection’s suspect actions. Take, for one instance, the Town’s maneuvering with the Dromore Road fiasco; or another instance to get the Shelbourne Assisted Living facility approved by any means necessary and take some of the attention off of the EIC case. The reality however is that it highlights the exact reason the EIC is seeking to incorporate!

What's also interesting is that Feiner Planning Board appointee Hugh Schwartz has been a vociferous proponent on the anti-incorporation side of the fence. Mr Schwartz has publicly positioned himself as being recused as a Planning Board member from the Shelbourne project because his wife works for the law firm representing Shelbourne. However, we came across this piece of information that may indicate otherwise where he requests to talk to Town Attorney Tim Lewis about it. Hmm, this makes us wonder.

Mr Feiner usually has many irons in the fire, enabling him to dance from one controversial issue to another. What he fails to publicize is why. We believe it is simply to be able to change any conversation from the question raised to something else, hence the moniker, Master of Deflection. The issue at hand, beyond Edgemont's right to vote for incorporation, is what else is he doing?

Some have said Edgemont activists fear Mr Feiner will reject the petition, and is conferring with his Town Board to plan a response once the announcement is made. We've also learned from some in Hartsdale that the EIC is considering circulating a new petition, and expanding the boundaries of the proposed village to include parts of Hartsdale, including the hamlet's parking district. The boundaries must be determined by the proponents of the village incorporation. Not the Town, an existing fire district map or school district map. In fact, it can be drawn by a kid with a crayon and agreed to by the EIC and submitted as final. Clearly, there is more going on and wonder how much is from the corner office?

Strangely, when questioned at numerous meetings about what preparations were made by the Town should an incorporation take place, Mr Feiner hesitated and said, “Nothing, because I don’t believe it will pass.” Many were taken aback. Shortly after one of the last meetings about Edgemont incorporation, Mr Feiner said he wanted a citizen’s group to look into what the Town could do should incorporation takes place. He subsequently appointed Luis Polit to chair the Greenburgh Unincorporated Area Citizen’s Contingency Committee which would be tasked with seeking solutions. 

One condition of acceptance was that Mr Polit would receive no interference from the Town or Town Board and get to appoint all of the committees members. While this sounds above-board, a documented video exists of Mr Polit physically pushing Robert Bernstein after a disagreement the two had while serving on a different Town committee. Additionally, Mr Polit recently made this statement after being forced to cancel a meeting with department heads and town commissioners, “I suspect they were told not to participate in this meeting until the petition gets resolved, so I kind of read between the lines.” Obviously, while Mr Polit might believe in preparedness, open government and independence, Mr Feiner is clearly not interested in any of these!

Mr Feiner’s ability to “game” the political system to his advantage is well-known and he surely has another ace up his sleeve. Or, he’s looking to delay this until after the (re)elections. It remains to be seen exactly how this will play out. All bets at this point indicate that Mr Feiner will reject the petition on the grounds of some obscure or undefendable technicality. It will warrant yet another taxpayer lawsuit that didn’t have to be. That is not acting in the best interest of the Town. What is in the best interest of the Town is for this administration to step down. With or without a seventh village, it’s what will help us get A Better Greenburgh.

So, What's Next?

The Edgemont incorporation fiasco needn’t be. Mr Feiner could simply find sufficiency in the Edgemont incorporation petition and schedule the referendum to take place. But then again, Mr Feiner is leading this publicity campaign with the hopes of being able to swoop in and save the proverbial day – from himself – and gain another major media exposure extravaganza. What is obvious to those following this sham is that the Edgemont Incorporation Committee (EIC) has dotted their “i’s” and crossed their “t’s”. So, why not just let it happen? Control. Mr Feiner, without the benefit of public input, also decided with secret meetings to hire an attorney and private investigators without telling the taxpayers. Remember this, you’ll see it again.

We spoke previously of an Edgemont resident who had initially been against the incorporation until he learned of the private investigators hired by Mr Feiner and his Board to try to invalidate resident petitions in favor of incorporation. Once he learned of this he changed his tune and said he was disgusted by Mr Feiner’s actions and changed his position. Many that we spoke to at the different hearings echoed these sentiments. Had Mr Feiner left the process to run itself out, followed the law, not tried any of his typical shenanigans, actually done his due diligence, etc., the proposition probably would have died a natural death.

This is not the first time we’ve seen Mr Feiner “muck up” the process. You’ll recall the former Frank’s Nursery property debacle that did not play out as it should have. Years ago, when the former Frank’s Nursery was operating at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road, they defaulted on their taxes. Many have speculated as to why. Some said it was just the natural progression of a company failing and ultimately going out of business. Others claimed they walked away from the property because it was laden with contaminants and cheaper to take the loss on the property than to remediate it. After several years, though, the Town acquired the property through foreclosure. And, Town Attorney Tim Lewis stated the cleanup would be no more than $100,000. Not an environmental attorney, or an environmental anything, he was very wrong.

New York State and Westchester County laws mandate that a municipality cannot be a landlord. As such, the Town is required to sell the land or turn it into a park or utilize it as Town property. Mr Feiner, without the benefit of public input, also decided in secret meetings (here it is again), emails and phone calls with GameOn 365 that he and his Board would lease the property to that commercial entity. In fact, email communications acquired under the Freedom of Information law (FOIL), exposed Mr Feiner's promise to supply the land to GameOn 365 at a ridiculously low rental price. The catch was that instead of selling the property, which is required by law, he wanted to lease it to them to install an 83-foot inflatable bubble. That's 8-stories high. More importantly, it is illegal!

But the property in question was zoned residential. By ignoring the contamination and leaving the property dormant for many years instead of selling it as required by law, Mr Feiner made the situation worse than it needed to be. Then again, Mr Feiner enjoys a tradition of ignoring laws he doesn’t like or wants to follow. And, it appears his Board condones these actions. Consequently, the property reverted back from the special business zoning it had enjoyed for decades back to residential! Oops! But Mr Feiner also knew he would make his Board the lead agency and able to change the zoning to whatever GameOn 365 needed it to be. What he hadn’t factored in was the civic associations and the unity of the neighborhoods around the property. Because of their due diligence, they thwarted both Mr Feiner and GameOn 365 and kept the property zoned residential.

Then there’s the Westhelp debacle created by Mr Feiner strictly to manufacture another event to garner publicity at the expense of a school for the handicapped. We are unsure as to the reasoning behind Mr Feiner deciding in secret meetings and without the benefit of public input (here it is again) to not renew the lease from the County of Westchester for the Westhelp property on the Westchester Community College campus. This was affordable housing for homeless mothers built under now-governor Cuomo’s reign in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The property was then turned over to the Town of Greenburgh with a yearly income to the Town of $1.2 million.

There’s nothing wrong with having elected officials who are independent thinkers, unless their thinking doesn’t help their constituents. The Edgemont incorporation issue has become just another one of Mr Feiner’s side shows. Regardless of the impact the people of Edgemont may cause the Town by incorporating and becoming another village in the Town, they have followed the law to get to this point. It would be nice if we had a Supervisor who also followed the law. Perhaps if we did, the people of Edgemont might not be seeking incorporation. Mr Feiner must make a determination this coming week. Hopefully, he’ll do the right thing by all Greenburgh residents. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.