Edgemont Denied Right To Petition for Incorporation

In a typical turn of events, the Town Supervisor was able to once again thwart the proponents of an Edgemont incorporation (EIC) by violating their rights to hold a referendum allowing them to essentially secede from the Town of Greenburgh and chart their own destiny out from under the monopolistic thumb of Mr Feiner. Sadly, the court condoned Mr Feiner’s desire to stop the EIC’s rights by agreeing with his convoluted assertion that the petition failed to include a description of the territory to be incorporated with common certainty. 

When the first court case came up in 2017, Mr Feiner routinely took advantage of his position to write numerous op-ed pieces and do interviews that bemoaned his eagerness to stop the incorporation. A proven liar (found guilty of lying in the Fortress Bible Church Discrimination Lawsuit), he said that should the incorporation happen, it would affect the Town budget by $17 million dollars. When the incorporation proponents repeatedly stated that they were planning all along to contract for Town services with the Town which might affect the budget in total but would make up a vast portion of the tax revenue that Mr Feiner claimed would disappear. And then he often said he would not do that deal. If effect saying, “Screw unincorporated Greenburgh residents!”

In a Town that is making Yonkers, known as the City of Hills – where nothing is on the level, look more and more like the Flatlands of New York, has had Mr Feiner enlisting the assistance of Councilman Jones, who has parroted the same mantra. Why would these representatives not do the best thing for the Town should the referendum go through? Why would they purposely sabotage the revenue of the Unincorporated budget? Jones, is also no stranger to controversy, having had two Ethics violation charges brought against him with the hapless Ethics Board. We have to say, though, that an Ethics Board in Town of Greenburgh is a contradiction of terms and has proven time and again to be a waste of time and energy when legitimate ethics violation charges have been levied.

In an interesting exchange of back and forth statements by Mr Feiner and EIC President Jeff Sherwin, the reality is that Mr Feiner, a purportedly non-practicing attorney, has  childishly slung verbal jabs at Mr Sherwin, the EIC and incorporation proponents just short of sticking out his tongue at them and saying, “Nan, na, na-na nah.” Considering Mr Feiner is supposed to represent all residents and taxpayers, he should be looking to sit down with the EIC and work out a number of things. First, can the EIC be reasoned with to back off the consolidation drive; second, could Mr Feiner help them draw up the correct proposal so it can go through; third, should the referendum application go through again – and there’s no reason to think it won’t – would Mr Feiner offer a Town Hall meeting to discuss openly and most importantly, honestly, what can and cannot be done should the referendum pass.

Mr Feiner only knows how to work with residents when they agree to what he wants and doesn’t allow differing points of view. This needs to change. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh. 

Democrats Promise Councilwoman Position

It’s no secret that Diana Juettner will not be seeking another term as a Town Council member. We originally thought, “Finally, maybe we can get a breath of fresh air, some new thinking and innovation!” Juettner, a Village of Ardsley resident served on the Board almost as long as the Supervisor. She was also part of the “Feiner-crew” that was found guilty on seven counts, along with Mr Feiner, Westchester County government’s  Steve Bass, Eddie Mae Barnes and Timmy Weinberg (deceased) in the Fortress Bible Church Federal discrimination case. One would think that being convicted of any crime would be enough to force a politician to be removed from office. Not in “Bizaro Greenburgh”, where a guilty conviction seems to embolden them with more anointing of tenure.

Speaking of anointments, with Juettner leaving, the Greenburgh Democratic Party has already blessed and promised the Juettner seat to Ellen Hendrickx, former Hastings Democratic Chair and “fill-in” Council woman upon the death of Councilman Kevin Morgan. Can you say, “Done deal?” So much for fresh ideas, new thinking and such. It’s her turn after stepping aside to let Gina Jackson have a seat on the Board. This is significant for several reasons. First, Juettner is a Village of Ardsley resident and Hendrickx was a Village of Hastings resident. This matters because it’s the Villages that support Mr Feiner and ultimately bring him the votes he needs to stay in position as Supervisor. Also, the minuscule portion of the Village resident’s tax bill isn’t high enough for those residents to complain or even follow the illegal and unjust actions of Mr Feiner.

Second, we seriously doubt any Democrat would challenge the party decision-makers and try a run for this seat after it has been blessed for someone else. We saw how well this fared for several past challengers to those in existing positions within the party, the most recent being Democrat Eric Zinger, who ran for Town Board against Councilman Ken Jones and Gina Jackson. While there were those who disagreed with some of his positions and inflexibility toward them to compromise, he was a viable and preferred alternative to Mr Jones and did have some different ideas toward running the Town. 

Third, since the Town of Greenburgh’s Republican Chair is a Feiner fan and committee appointee, he is content to not even try to put a Republican candidate up against a Democrat running for elected office in the Town. Additionally, there had been interest from some of the existing Republicans in Town as well as the Villages, in forming a Republican Club to begin raising funds and cultivating candidates for the Town and Villages since the Westchester Republican Party refuses to do so. In fact, Westchester Republican Chair Douglas Colty has said numerous times that he has written Greenburgh Republicans “off.” We’ll wait and see if, and how, that pans out.

Fourth, since the Villages are insulated from any fines incurred by the Town or Mr Feiner and his various Boards, such as the $6.5 million dollar guilty verdict and fine in the Fortress Bible Church Discrimination Lawsuit, why would they even care if Mr Feiner stays in office or not? And, why would they care if he has been in office for 29 years thus far? There are no negatives for them. But there are plenty of negatives for the residents in the Unincorporated portion of the Town, as the Villages have Mayors and Village Boards protecting them – a luxury we will never see with any Feiner administration.

In fact, the Fortress Bible Church Discrimination lawsuit payments originally included all of the Villages but at the last minute Mr Feiner and his Town Board removed them off the resolution. Years earlier, the Villages were very angry when they were included in the payments dealing with a lawsuit over Town property - a fallen tree that killed a man & paralyzed his wife. Because the town was “under insured,” all residents had to pay the remainder of the settlement. The Villages threatened to leave Greenburgh! Mr Feiner promised them that if they stayed, the villages would not be included in any future lawsuits dealing with Unincorporated Town property. That was an incredibly good deal for them.

Fifth, looking at a small issue to begin with, Mr Feiner has mandated that the Town will not send out this year’s garbage and trash pickup calendars*. His excuse is that he can save the Town $5,000 by not printing and sending them out. What?! So, with a TOV budget that is roughly $88+ million dollars, which includes funds for him to do his many campaign mailings, we believe the $5,000 needed to keep our residents informed is well worth the expense. If he were truly looking to cut down printing and mailing expenses, stop the campaigning with all of the duplicitous mailings throughout the year and use that money for the garbage/trash pickup calendars. Or, offer to print the calendars on the office copiers at Town Hall on demand and have the residents come in and pick them up.

Sixth, if we move on to the larger issues, we find the Supervisor and his feckless Board granting every developer just about anything and everything they request . Case in point, the Battery Energy Storage System at the Knollwood Country Club, or the Brightview Continuum Care Facility at the Metropolis Country Club, or the ShopRite Supermarket at the old 9A Multiplex Theater complex or the Townhouses at the Elmwood Country Club bonanza that Mr Feiner keeps pushing for approval. These developments have too many unresolved issues. And yet, after going through the motions of listening to the impacted communities, Mr Feiner and his Board simply ignore the public and do what he wanted anyway. 

It seems that every project becomes a “done deal” whenever a developer walks into Town Hall. In addition to the above-noted examples, there are other projects, such as: the Shelbourne Assisted Living Facility which is currently in litigation, and the Westchester Power - ESCO that Mr Feiner automatically enrolled every resident and small business into. Yes, there are exceptions, especially when a development involves  “the quality of life” of a Town Board member or Town Official. For example - the Jefferson project in the Ardsley area [affected: Supervisor Feiner and Councilwoman Juettner] or the Ferncliff Cemetery  project, [affected: Councilman Sheehan] or another assisted living facility off of Payne Street, [affected: Councilman Morgan and Town Attorney Lewis] . All shot down! 

Another ridiculous idea from the Supervisor, who has no business experience or knowledge, is that he has decided the Town needs another crony to be his Economic Development Czar to help fill the empty retail stores throughout the Town. First, the ground floor retail store, with apartments or other businesses above them, is a failed model and should simply be immediately abandoned. Second, while Mr Feiner believes in over-taxation, he fails to recognize that landlords pass his tax increases to their tenants, who in turn pass them on to the consumer or end-user. While this model has always worked to some degree, the more-than-usual vacancies throughout the Town prove that his taxation policies are continuing to kill retail in particular and business in general throughout our Town. Since he only sent this notice about this new position to residents who are online, many of the Town’s residents are unaware that this “fast one” is being done to them.

Going back to where we started, the same old stale Town Board thinking may be changing players unless Ms Juettner changes her mind again and decides to stay in her anointed lifetime position. Should she leave, the Democratic Party will do their members and the Town residents at large a grave disservice, by not offering better potential candidates and by meting out positions from Westchester’s Tammany Hall. All because someone was a good soldier by stepping down to anoint Gina Jackson a position. This is not the way the government was intended to be run, even in Bizarro Greenburgh and has to end. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

* One of our staffers mentioned that they just received a robocall from Mr Feiner stating he would be sending out the calendars after all.

Great News & More Lies

A recent press conference held by County Executive Latimer, touted, finally, the upcoming plans for the former abandoned Westhelp facility on the Westchester Community College campus. It was abandoned because Mr Feiner decided to play games with the facility while it was under the Town’s control. Sadly, due to his politicization of the site and his desire to generate publicity, the “problem causer’s” plan backfired for the Town.

The facility originally generated $1.2 million a year for the Town, guaranteed. Now, forever lost, these were monies that could be applied toward paying off penalties and fines brought upon the Town with the Fortress Bible guilty verdict by Mr Feiner and Diana Juettner directly, and his Board indirectly through their condoning of previous behavior, to mention just one example. During the Feiner-induced Westhelp debacle, Mr Feiner decided on his own to not sign the Westhelp renewal contract with the County during the waning days of the then-County Executive Spano administration. In fact, they reached out to Mr Feiner numerous times only to be rebuffed by him. Mr Feiner then lied to the public when asked about it, saying the County never reached out him and that was why the contract was not renewed. Copies of communications from the County Executive later validated the County’s claim that Mr Feiner was again lying.

Now Mr Feiner has again used his infamous GB-email list to share more “great news” - even if it’s only partially true. In his announcement, he thanks his Board "who worked very hard" to make this happen. They did nothing! They condoned everything that Mr Feiner tried to do with the site. Instead, they should have forced him to adhere to the original contract, intent and agreements that were in place when it was created. After which the facility would be turned over to the Town entirely to be used for senior rental housing - period! 

Ever the shrewd publicity hound, Mr Feiner publicly suggested that it was the County causing the problem with utilizing the facility and not him. County Legislators Williams and Shimsky, not at all Feiner fans, vociferously countered as did then-County Executive Rob Astorino. Also following this sham, his lies and missteps was Journal News writer David McKay Wilson, who painstakingly detailed Mr Feiner's bad and possibly illegal activities. In fact, it was repeatedly pointed out that Mr Feiner and the Town were in breach of the inter-municipal agreement in place for the facility. As we’ve stated numerous times before, when Mr Feiner doesn’t like a particular law, agreement or decision, he simply ignores it, leaving the taxpayers to pick up the fines and penalties generated by his bad behavior!

The original conversion of the apartments was to be into 54 units. Regardless of the rationale, the number was then inflated to 74 by those involved as the numbers were increased to make a more profitable result for the management company, claiming 74 units would make the project more financially viable for them. Critics complained that the change would make for smaller, more cramped apartments for the future residents, which was not the right direction to proceed.

Now that County Executive Latimer has been dragged into the Feiner quagmire, he’s agreed to the 74 units at the facility in a lease created last October. Part of the discussion was about whether or not the new facility would generate more students for the Valhalla school district. Isn’t it a bit ironic that so often we hear about declining enrollments and yet “leaders” continue to try to keep new students from coming into our schools? Presently, in fact, Dr Tahira DuPree Chase, the Greenburgh School District Superintendent, is fighting the Greenburgh Central School district’s current reputation by visiting civic associations and neighborhood groups to try to dispel what she considers to be a false narrative from realtors and others about the Greenburgh schools. 

The plans call for the developer, Marathon Development Group, to pay $1.5M - $900K to the County and $600K to the Town, on behalf of the County, in exchange for the Town relinquishing all rights to the site. The new development will serve a wide mix of income levels, including 40% to 60% of Area Median Income as well as 80% to 90% of Area Median Income. Market analysts note the mix of units will broaden the property’s appeal to the senior community. 

The Town has suffered long enough and lost millions of dollars due to Mr Feiner's arrogance, failed management and his rubber-stamp Board. As is so often said, the Supervisor, who is missing the “shame gene”, says this is good for the Town and the County. Is it? Cramped living quarters are certainly better than no living quarters. And, receiving $600k for the Town doesn’t negate the loss the taxpayers have incurred on top of the millions of dollars that must now be spent unnecessarily to remediate the mold and destruction that has taken place in the interim. This kind of arrogance and incompetence needs to end. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Storm Highlights Frustrations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Proposed Development Of The Former Elmwood County Club

Another large development saga has been slowly unfolding in the Town for about a year now. That is the sale and more importantly the development of the former Elmwood Country Club, located on Dobbs Ferry Road. The company that is undertaking the Elmwood development is the Ridgewood Realty Company of New Jersey. The two proposals to the public were to build either 119 single-family homes and the other is to down-zone the property from R-30 to R-20 so they can build 175 town-houses instead of about 120 town-houses for an adult of 55 years or older that sell for an average price of $900,000 each!

As an aside, if single-family homes are built, the Town will receive a taxable income of 100% from each home. Town houses on the other hand are taxed at a reduced rate of about 60% and produce less taxable income for the Town. Why is this important to us? Mostly to pay off guilty verdicts levied by the courts against Mr Feiner and his Board, such as the Fortress Bible Church discrimination lawsuit. Mr Feiner and his Board members were found guilty on seven counts including discrimination, lying under oath and destroying evidence.

Residents had been preached to by Mr Feiner of his plan to create the Dobbs Ferry Road corridor into a recreational corridor by allowing his friends from GameOn 365 to develop the former Frank’s Nursery property into an ill-appropriate 8-story sports bubble for mostly indoor tennis and soccer along with outdoor ballfields in a residential neighborhood zoned for residential housing. Fortunately, the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association, with help from others, were able to stave off this assault.

Town residents would have had to pay to use that facility even though they were also told they could use it at reduced rates but only during specific and limited times. The rest of the time would have been dedicated to leagues and non-residents from as far away as New Jersey and Brooklyn. In fact, some of those non-residents spoke, without providing addresses of course, in favor of the project claiming there were not enough soccer fields anywhere for them to play soccer. The obvious question was why don't they try to develop fields in their own hometowns?

While GameOn 365 has purchased the 16-acre Visioli Golf Driving range with additional prpoerty amounting to a total purchase of 32-acres on Dobbs Ferry Road, it remains to be seen how it can or will be developed – especially since the surrounding neighborhoods were vehemently against it as the land is zoned for residential housing, not commercial 8-story buildings. The Visolis had been in a contract dispute with their lessees as to who was responsible to pay the taxes, forcing them to be in arrears. Since Mr Feiner was favoring any deal the GameOn 365 partners could broker, the Visoli’s financial health or business’ viability was not of much concern. He just needed the headlines to keep appearing with his name in them. 

Another recent change is the former Frank’s Nursery property that was sold for $3.5 million to a developer named Capitol Seniors Housing, who will be building an assisted living facility at that location for about 100 residents. Sadly, after Mr Feiner and Mr Lewis claimed remediation of the former Frank’s Nursery property would be capped at $100,000, we now know that the cost to the Town will be just under $2 million! Is this why there are so many jokes about not trusting lawyers? Regardless, after back taxes are paid on the property including the remediation, the Town taxpayers will not see a profit on another piece of property it owned.

There are several other factors in play while these two developments are underway. We’ve learned that part of the Metropolis Country Club may be for sale soon as they are experiencing the same shrinking market that Elmwood had. In fact, we’ve heard that Hartsdale's Maplewood Swim and Tennis Club may also be up for sale soon due to the same issues. Finally, there have been rumors that the Knollwood Country Club’s shrinking base may force a partial sale of some or all of their property. It appears that millennials are not into golf, tennis and swimming as much as previous generations.

With the certain proposal for the Elmwood Country Club property, the Greenburgh Conservation Advisory Council met and crafted the below letter to the Town Board objecting to the down-zoning of the property which would result in an increase in density. This is important for several reasons: these Board members are “Feiner-friendly” as they are appointed by Mr Feiner; and because they recognize the harm that can be done by down-zoning. Down-zoning goes against the recently approved Comprehensive Plan that was 8-years in the making and cost taxpayers over $600,000. Mr Feiner cheered about it through email blasts, print media and at every public event he attended.

Here's the Greenburgh Conservation Advisory Council’s letter in its entirety:

TO: Greenburgh Town Board 

FROM: Greenburgh Conservation Advisory Council 

DATE: Feb. 12, 2018 

Statement of the CAC RE Proposed Development of the former Elmwood County Club 

The Conservation Advisory Council has discussed the proposed development of the former Elmwood County Club by Ridgewood Real Estate Partners. The CAC noted that one of the options being discussed is tied to a “down zoning” in the existing zoning of R30 on the property to R20 zoning, which would result in an increase of about 50 additional residential units. 

As a result, the CAC voted to issue a statement in support of the Comprehensive Plan, as adopted by the Town Board on Sept. 28, 2016. The Comprehensive plan states expressly, without qualification, there are no planned policies to increase density in residential zoning. 

11.6.4 Projected Sales & Net New Development No policies are recommended to extend existing one-family and multi-family residentially zoned districts into other areas of unincorporated Greenburgh. There are also no planned policies to allow a greater density of residential units or residences per acre in existing one-family and multi-family residentially zoned districts. It is anticipated that residential subdivision and site plan applications will trend in a manner similar to that depicted in the 12-year snapshot in Table 11.15, which had a proportionately higher percentage of new developments with lower numbers of new residential units. 

Under New York law, all Town use regulations such as zoning must be in accordance to the Comprehensive Plan. As stated in N.Y. TWN.LAW 272 – A (11) (a), “Effect of adoption of the town comprehensive plan. (a) All town land use regulations must be in accordance with a comprehensive plan adopted pursuant to this section.” 

The applicants request to increase density is not in accordance with the express provision of the Comprehensive Plan pertaining to density in residentially zoned districts. 

The determination to not allow an increase in density in the residential zones was in direct response to the valid concerns of the residents. Starting with the initial outreach meetings and at all subsequent public meetings the public comment consistently focused on the concerns about the impacts on residential communities resulting from allowing more dense housing options, such as road congestion, changing the look 2 

and feel from suburban to urban, diminished air quality and general diminishment of quality of life. A review of residents’ comments shows 256 complaints about traffic and 205 complaints against development. During the multi-year process of development of the Comprehensive Plan, believing in its importance, the CAC issue three reports to the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee which among other issues highlighted the impacts of increased traffic on air quality and quality of life. The determination provided in the Comprehensive Plan not to increase density in residential areas is consistent with public input, rational and environmentally sound. 

The CAC further notes that any change in zoning to permit more density would set a precedent for the possible future development of the remaining golf courses and other large parcels in the Town. 

Conservation Advisory Council 

Cc Judith Belville, Town Clerk 

Garrett Duquesne, Commissioner, Community Development and Conservation 

Ultimately, all of these assisted living and senior living facilities may have a detrimental effect on our school systems as many seniors, empty nesters, etc., typically vote against school budgets. With more and more people moving here and not feeding students into the school system and voting against the budgets, it will have a detrimental effect on property values. So Mr Feiner’s scheming may work against us again. 

With the hopes of Mr Feiner’s sports corridor dashed, the development of the Elmwood Country Club in tandem with the former Frank’s Nursery, and other spaces throughout our Town, it now appears that Mr Feiner’s new corridor will be a housing and/or residential corridor. Or will it? There needs to be a better balance without Mr Feiner in the mix. Let the Town, its zoning laws, Comprehensive Plan and neighborhoods control our destiny. It’ll make for A Better Greenburgh.

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.

Candidates Skate Real Issues

Being an incumbent candidate has its advantages, especially when it comes to being re-elected. Except in the Town of Greenburgh. In Greenburgh, as we’ve been witnessing almost forever, the incumbent’s position is a guaranteed-for-life position unless the candidate or Mr Feiner chooses otherwise as in “being Sonya’d”. Such is the case with Francis Sheehan and Diana Juettner.

The Hartsdale Neighborhood Association, which prefers to not be known as a civic association, hosted a meeting for its neighbors at the St. Paul’s United Methodist Church’s basement on Central Park Avenue. It was known that the two Town Board candidates would be there “campaigning” as well as other topics being discussed. As usual, the candidates arrived late. We wondered if it is because they are running unopposed or just felt entitled enough to not worry that they might lose their seats, again as they are running unopposed?

Regardless, an update briefing regarding the status of the Edgemont Incorporation began the meeting. One member spoke as to the incorporation effort, the Article 78 appeal by the EIC, the latest Article 78 by “another group” which we interpret as Feiner sycophants, in hopes of negating the EIC Article 78 appeal. Apparently, even though this second appeal is underway, the EIC is prepared to address it as well. There wasn’t much subsequent discussion at this point about incorporation – although it remained the 800 pound elephant in the room.

Next, a discussion took place about the planned upcoming “Hartsdale Day” event. Many residents had questions while others had suggestions about what should be done. Some questioned why a more widespread effort to encompass more of Hartsdale wasn’t being done. The response was that this was the first attempt and that the hope was to build off of the initial effort and have it grow year after year. A future goal was to turn this into the event that Dobbs Ferry does every year. What we didn’t hear was more than one or two people offer to help with it. We wish them well and are happy to advertise it here if they choose to send us information.

Finally, we got to what some believed was the main event. The first candidate to speak was Councilwoman Diana Juettner. She decided to discuss various properties throughout the Town and infrastructure. When you speak about things that are not the topics many wish to discuss, and are allowed to go on unencumbered with questions, you can spin an effective tale about how difficult these issues are and why it is such a challenge for the Town Board to address and what she is specifically doing about it. What she didn’t discuss is the Edgemont Incorporation or why she participated in the voter suppression effort spearheaded by Mr Feiner and his friend Mr Abinanti. Smug and content, she sat down to a faint smattering of applause.

Mr Sheehan decided to take a different tact and relate how he had moved to Greenburgh and slowly gotten involved in an issue of zoning. This tale took about ten minutes as he discussed several particulars, making him the hero and champion of the people. While we admit Mr Sheehan is knowledgeable about zoning issues, he too avoided the pachyderm in the room and did not mention the Edgemont incorporation and his vote to suppress voter rights either!

One audience member asked why the Town was so unfriendly to businesses. Ms Juettner remained silent and Mr Sheehan did a Feiner-like rope-a-dope. He also obfuscated his answers enough to make it difficult to stay on topic. We’re sure if one of his students did this they would be chastised for it. But this is Greenburgh politics and the goal of this administration is to not provide information or answers. Mr Feiner would be proud of his two semi-independent appearing minions.

Mr Sheehan also took the lead when they were finally asked why they endorsed the Feiner created, Abinanti and Stewart-Cousins’ sponsored, voter-suppression bills in Albany. An audience member pointedly mentioned that the administration claimed the bills were not directed against Edgemont. And, almost everyone was against it, but according to Mr Feiner, the bills were directly aimed at Hartsdale residents as it was suggested numerous times that they might also be interested in incorporating. Mr Sheehan claimed that was not true and his political answer almost made it sound like the voter suppression move by these two candidates and their co-conspirators was a good thing! Fortunately, the audience knew better and grew restless.

Know that the 800 pound elephant was in the room and out in the open. Several informed audience members began to vociferously pepper the candidates answers with interruptions, facts and real information. Several Feiner-friendly people tried to quiet them and encourage the candidates to answer. But the damage had been done. Fortunately, the clock would save them. So while the two candidates didn’t need to be there, the real issues were avoided with fluff. No matter. Both candidates will be re-elected as the Democrat party condoned their actions of voter suppression, as did its members. If things do not change, we may never see A Better Greenburgh.

A Call For Civility, A Call For Democracy- You Decide

As we were writing an article about Mr Feiner's email blast, hard-copy mailing to follow, we received a rebuttal email from the Edgemont Incorporation Council (EIC). While we refuse to print Mr Feiner's press releases for numerous reasons, we felt it fair to print it in its entirety with the EIC rebuttal. As we have followed this entire process, we believe the EIC has been forthcoming, forward with their answers to any questions and tried to provide an honest and open discussion. The same cannot be said about Mr Feiner and his Board. With the exception of the special Sunday night "CYA" meeting, his Board has seemed to distance themselves from him and this event. No matter, they know you will re-elect them in November. In fact, the Democrat party has already nominated them and is carrying petitions to that effect.

Regardless of the election outcome and stalemate of ideas, creativity, new or better thinking the residents will not be receiving come this November, the real effort by Mr Feiner should recognized for what it is, voter suppression and control. Simply, Edgemont residents should be allowed to vote. They followed the rules to do so. They gathered the signatures, they put their money ($6,000 fee) up while Mr Feiner has bent, manipulated and disregarded the rules. This argument is broken down by both of the sides below. Once again the EIC has provided links to back up their position and share information. 

Eventually, usually at taxpayer expense and in the courts, this will be decided. Allowing the community to vote without Mr Feiner strong-arming the process to achieve his goal,even though its usually served for him before, should be the outcome in court. It's the right thing to do even if you don't want it. Why? Because like it or not, it will help to make A Better Greenburgh.

A Call For Civility

As many of you may have experienced, the debate related to Edgemont’s proposed incorporation has produced a level and intensity of rhetoric which has inflicted real damage on every segment of the Town’s population and staff, as well as the outside world’s view of both our Town and its Hamlet of Edgemont.

At this time, the attacks on the Town Board, our staff and on me have become increasingly personal and in many cases cruel and hurtful.  I have not reacted previously to the ever-mounting, non-stop barrage of vicious commentary, as I believed that acceptance of criticism comes with the “turf” when you choose to be a public servant.  However, this process, which I truly believe is an orchestrated plan by the pro-incorporation group to discredit every aspect of the Town, comes with a severe cost.  Residents, both pro and con, are at “each other’s throats.”  Words like racism and elitism are being tossed about outside and within a community which previously had been seen as a bastion of acceptance of diverse opinions.  The results of this campaign will clearly live on beyond the Edgemont referendum, both in the form of our residents’ perception of each other’s values and in the manner in which the Town of Greenburgh and its Villages are viewed by the outside world.  In addition, the effect of this nasty rhetoric on our staff, who fear for their jobs and whose spirits are being broken by the constant criticism of their commitment and ability to professionally fulfill their responsibilities, is wrong and unacceptable.

I am the elected Town Supervisor for approximately 90,000 residents of the incorporated Villages and unincorporated Town of Greenburgh.  In conjunction with a Town Board comprised of individuals I trust and respect, we endeavor to do the best job we can, for all residents.  The Town Board and I oversee  434 full time and 268 part time Greenburgh employees, who are dedicated to serving Greenburgh’s residents and have proven their competence and commitment, over and over again.  The Town Board and I have great pride in these individuals and respect for each and every one, on a personal and professional level.  They are the best of the best and provide the highest level of service anywhere.

At some point Edgemont voters may cast ballots in a referendum to determine whether Edgemont will become a Village.  Let us be clear, the potential loss of nearly $17,000,000 in revenue will absolutely have a devastating effect on many of the more than 42,000 residents of unincorporated Greenburgh.  As Supervisor of “The Town of Greenburgh,” not just any single entity, I will do my best to ensure the fairest outcome for my entire constituency.

I appeal to those Greenburgh residents on both sides of this debate, to our local newspapers and media outlets, to pursue their objectives, as is their right and responsibility, to their fullest, but to utilize restraint in their tone and presentation.  Our community and our children are watching, and regardless of the outcome, it is my fervent hope that Greenburgh’s reputation for civility and acceptance can remain intact.

PAUL FEINER, Greenburgh Town Supervisor

Open Response to Supervisor Feiner on Civility 

The EIC completely agrees that the discussion on Edgemont's incorporation should be civil and respectful.  

Since it began, the Edgemont Incorporation Committee has conducted a fair, open, information-based, transparent process. The thousands of Edgemont residents who have attended the dozens of meetings, forums, open houses and petition-signing events over the past year can attest to the depth of the discussion, the sincerity of the views held (on all sides), and the genuine spirit of civic engagement that has animated the entire process. Thousands of visitors have examined, analyzed and debated the detailed information assembled by Edgemont volunteers and experts on our website.  

Edgemont's residents are not "at each other's throats" -- we are discussing, debating and challenging each other to build a better community.  What we are attempting -- with no help from you and your regime -- is to exercise our rights under state law and under the constitution.

But let's be clear about what Edgemont has gotten in return from you, your board, your hired investigators and some of your anti-incorporation supporters: 

- a consistent pattern of obstruction, deception, and delay at every step in the process.
- a secret and outrageous scheme (revealed through emails to which you were a party) to organize and support an opposition campaign, including false allegations of intimidation. 
- vulgar gestures directed at Edgemont residents in a public meeting
- the active solicitation of false objections to Edgemont's legitimate petition. 
- the use of Town funds for private investigators to deceive petition signers into disowning their signatures.
- and most recently, an attempt to thwart democracy with an unconstitutional home-rule bill.

The EIC endorses any call for civility in this process. But even more importantly: 

We call for DEMOCRACY.  After months of assurances that you were merely trying to follow the law, it turns out you could only pretend to care about the law as long as you were winning. So last week, you decided if you couldn't win an Edgemont vote, you would try to have Edgemont's right to vote taken away altogether - by ramming a "home-rule" request through the legislature in Albany on the last few days of the legislative session. With no notice, no debate, and then a sham last-minute meeting on Father's Day, you had your Board of Supervisors rubber stamp your anti-democratic end-run in Albany.  It was only thanks to the very civil appeals of hundreds of Edgemont residents to their legislators in Albany that your scheme was halted. 

We call for HONESTY.  Don't hide behind your hired guns to disclaim responsibility for the private investigator fiasco.  It was your responsibility and your decision. Don't tell us, with a straight face, that the home-rule legislation you tried to ram through the legislature had nothing to do with the Edgemont incorporation effort. 

We call for RESPECT.  The Edgemont community has expressed its clear will to hold a vote on incorporation.  The EIC has expressed its clear intention to promote a fair and cooperative process between the Village of Edgemont and the Town of Greenburgh. You have rejected the community's petition based on fabricated technicalities and outright falsehoods, and you have rejected any possibility of a constructive, cooperative dialogue with the Village of Edgemont. 

The Scarsdale Inquirer's editorial page this week called you "a desperate man" and said your latest attempt to stop Edgemont was "manifestly desperate," seeking "new, totalitarian authority to keep [Edgemont] and their money right where they are." This week's Lohud article calls your "failed effort to change the rules in the middle of the game seems desperate, if not vindictive."

We agree.

Mr. Feiner - the CIVIL thing to do would be to honor the will and the right of Edgemont's citizens to hold a vote on incorporation and to accept the outcome.  If you insist on fighting, do so on the facts.  Argue the merits. Accept the voters' will.  That's civility. 

One more thing:  
It is not a fact (as you continue to state) that Greenburgh will lose $17-million in revenue when Edgemont incorporates. The EIC has consistently, repeatedly, emphatically laid out many scenarios in which the Village of Edgemont might find it advantageous to contract with the Town of Greenburgh for a variety of services.  What is a fact is that after Edgemont incorporates, you - Paul Feiner -- will lose your personal control over that $17 million in revenue.  You will no longer be free to use that money, among other things, to pay multi-million court judgments for your unconstitutional actions (Fortress Bible) or to hire private investigators to come into our homes and trick us into surrendering our constitutional rights. 

Sincerely, 
The EIC.

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.

Town Reacts After Screw-Up

After many battled with the Feiner Administration for over two years, the Town finally adopted a law regulating massage establishments – not to be confused with massage parlors. What’s the difference? Massage establishments offer legitimate massage and massage therapy services, usually by licensed massage therapists. There is little or no objection to these types of establishments or the massage therapists working there.

The law that was proposed initially and crafted by Robert Bernstein, after highlighting the issue of massage parlors brought to the forefront at an Edgemont Community Council meeting, was left untouched (no pun intended) by the Town Board. Despite regular discussions of the subject at regular Town Board meetings and various civic association meetings, no action was taken. Eventually, with the assistance of Mr Bernstein, a bill was introduced. Sadly, Town Attorney Tim Lewis was against it, saying he didn’t think it was legal.  In fact, before the Town Board would vote the bill into law, he altered it.

Mr Bernstein, an attorney now practicing law in Scarsdale, NY, complained about the changes, stating that they actually weakened the bill and would have a deleterious effect on the police department’s ability to enforce it. It would also not afford protection to the young women working in these locations, whether by choice or not. It has been claimed that many of these “spas” are nothing more than facades for prostitution, sex slavery, and more. By having a watered-down law such as what Mr Lewis ultimately passed on to the Board, helping these young women would be more difficult.

At the last Town Board meeting, Mr Bernstein commented that while the Town had actually passed the Massage Establishment law, Mr Lewis determined they should remain open while their appeals for being shuttered were decided. Ironically, the Town Board condoned Mr Lewis’ action by postponing the appeals process which was supposed to be addressed at that same meeting but was put off until March 14th!

A mere two days following the Town Board’s blatant disregard for the law, a hallmark of Mr Feiner’s career as Supervisor with the Fortress Bible discrimination verdict, WestHelp, Dromore Road, Frank’s Nursery, GameOn 365 to mention just a few, Mr Feiner sent out an email blast announcing that four massage establishments had been shuttered. The charges were unauthorized practice of a profession and prostitution. The first charge was based on the fact that several employees were allegedly operating as licensed massage therapists and were not. The second charge does not need clarification. These are just charges at this point and it remains to be seen if the participants are found guilty and what the punishment might be.

We still don’t know the reasons Mr Lewis did not want these massage establishments closed as each time there is a supposed discussion about his rationale, it’s behind closed doors – another hallmark of the Feiner administration’s "open government” policy. These types of discussions, along with the back room deals, phone conversations that cannot be reviewed under the Freedom Of Information Law (FOIL), and more must end. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.