Lies and Misdirection Continue From GCSD

Our Greenburgh Central School District just can’t seem to help itself. Between misdirection with maintenance of our schools, unnecessary evacuations of the mansion, investigations of Superintendent Chase, the firing of the old engineering firm and the hiring of a new one, promised dates missed for reports, attempted consolidation, a 3.96% tax increase to the 2020-21 budget, the Coronavirus cancellation of school and a waste of $300k to evacuate the Mansion, it’ll be a miracle if the public ever sees our dysfunctional school district function properly and actually educate our kids. Let’s dive in.

Consolidation

We’ve written about this extensively. About a year ago the Greenburgh Central School District (GCSD) Administration put forth a bond referendum in order to consolidate the multiple Greenburgh schools onto one campus. Effectually, they wanted to jettison the Highview School (Central Park Avenue behind Presser Park/Webb Field) and the RJ Bailey School on Hillside Avenue. The administration went to extremes to prove how dilapidated these structures were. Admittedly, there was some lack of maintenance and neglect with these buildings because we were told the Board made a conscious decision to allow the buildings to be neglected in order to not lay off teachers. 

When we began to dig into the numbers, based on the facts and figures we were fed, the numbers simply didn’t add up. We learned that we were being lied to by the administration when we pressed them to explain what the bond principle plus the interest would be. They continued to maintain it was only $114 million dollars even though the NYS Board of Education information showed the interest to be almost as great as the principle. The real figure would have exceeded $200 million dollars! The school administration planned to sell the two schools to offset the loan amount. They gave an inflated approximation of what each school should fetch in the open market. A commercial real estate broker even said at a meeting that these buildings, at best, might fetch up to $3 million dollars each – a far cry from the $10-12 million we were being told they were worth.

Maintenance

We’ve already mentioned the Board made a conscious decision to allow the buildings to be neglected to not lay off teachers. Perhaps we can give them the benefit of the doubt for trying to save jobs? However, money was always included in the budget for maintenance and repairs – just not enough for the serious work that needed to be done. Responsibility for the failure to accomplish the necessary repairs falls right into the lap of the long time Board of Education members specifically and the Board as a whole. Was their goal to allow the schools to degrade to such a point that they became uninhabitable? Yes, we know it was.

The community Bond referendum meetings were preceded with slick mailers and superfluous information from the District to all of the Unincorporated resident taxpayers. The first two meetings brought out many residents. There were also a large number of administration members and teachers with their children present who spoke in support of the consolidation. Then taxpayers starting asking hardball questions. When Superintendent Chase was unable to provide them good answers, she reverted back to, “Don’t we want the best for our kids?” Of course we do. That’s why we pay Dr. Chase a $250k salary plus benefits. While not an issue until now, many of us are now being hamstrung by the Coronavirus. Many residents have lost their jobs and are now faced with paying annual federal and state income, Town, fire AND school taxes. Thankfully they are not dealing with the huge tax increase that would have resulted from passing the bond!

Budget and Tax Increase

It’s becoming apparent that trying to sustain the $73 million expense to educate fewer than 1,600 K-12 students is becoming more and more unrealistic. The budget that was presented on February 27th called for a budget increase of 3.96% ($2,801,301). Funding this amount calls for a 4.25% tax increase. So, while Mr Feiner is bragging about having no tax increase this year for the Town residents, that success will be eliminated by the School budget if this proposed budget should pass. During these fiscally uncertain times, it’s imperative that the School Board reduce this year’s budget (through attrition and perhaps a hiring freeze), repair our buildings and make sure there is NO tax increase for residents. After all, with students scoring 35% in both English and Math skills, something is beyond amiss in the GCSD. 

The Sky Is Falling

After a 3-month summer hiatus and literally days before school was scheduled to start in September, Dr Chase ambushed us with the news that the Mansion was uninhabitable. She called for the immediate evacuation of the facility which houses the administration, maintenance, three Early Childhood Programs and a Special Needs classroom. The ECP and special needs classes were relocated to the Jackson School. A month later the administration employees were moved out. Not moved out were the maintenance people. Why would they be allowed to continue to work there if the building was unsafe? 

The School Board appeared to sit on their hands until January, finally bringing in a company to do an evaluation of the building (another expense). While we were told the damage was caused by roof leakage, no provisions were made to seal those areas with tarps or anything else. The Board finally hired BBS Architects, Landscape Architects and Engineers (BBS) to evaluate the Mansion and the groundskeeper’s residence. At the last Board meeting we learned the building was not in danger of collapse and with $869,000 of repairs, it would be safe to return. It turns out while moving the kids in order to be safe could be appropriate, moving everyone else for the cost of $300,000 was not. That money, which could have been used for maintenance and repairs, is gone. After wasting all that money, time and effort building a new suite for Superintendent Chase in the Woodlands High School can she and her staff actually be going back to the Mansion to work?

Where We Are Now

The Mansion will require $869,000 for repairs not including the roof. The roof will cost about $1.5 million. However, $1.3 million dollars had been set aside and already authorized to be expended for those repairs. We’d like to know what is causing the holdup? By the way, $1.3 million plus $300,000 dollars equals $1.6 million dollars. The $300,000 spent to move out of the mansion would have made up the necessary shortfall to repair the roof.

Currently there’s talk that after spending close to $300k to move everyone from the Mansion to the other schools on the Warburg Campus they didn’t actually all need to move. There’s also talk that the Administrative staff and Superintendent will move back into the Mansion as there was no risk of collapse as we had been told by Superintendent Chase. These are the kinds of actions and frankly lies that make the public distrust the Superintendent, the Administration and the Board. The kids in the classrooms will remain where they are currently located and Principle Matt Smith will get his office back from Dr Chase. Where was the Board during this knee-jerk reaction and why weren’t they controlling the narrative instead of the Superintendent? She works for them!

The Board is also required by law to hold public hearings for the budget. How and what will transpire with the budget approval process? Will hearing dates be allowed to change to accommodate its public hearing requirement and vote?

Another issue were the online accusations made against Superintendent Chase and Principal Smith. Several months ago, unidentified persons writing under the email monikers of Watchdog For Greenburgh, Greenburgh Free Press, and several others wrote to a group of residents and ABG alleging questionable or illegal activity by the Superintendent and Principal, (referencing several topics that we will not post as we could not verify or corroborate them). Our understanding is that an investigation took place by the School Board utilizing an outside agency that will not be shared because they are a “personnel matters”. Convenient.

With Coronavirus blanketing our neighborhoods, schools everywhere are closed. Budgets may not be voted upon or passed for various reasons and contingency budgets may need to be adopted. Our guess is that schools may not reopen this year. If they do, it will not be for the entire in-school season. Should this prediction come to fruition, repair work for the mansion should begin as soon as possible as it could take several months and the repairs can be done through the summer. If that’s not possible, repair what can be repaired and get these buildings back in good operational shape.

We’ll see you at the budget hearings – eventually.

School Board Swamp Needs To Be Drained

As ABG got more and more entrenched with the School bond debacle, we learned that certain members of the school board may be secretly working to re-introduce all or part of the consolidation bond. This time, the illusion and the scene were cast when Dr Chase made “headlines” by claiming the school district’s engineers deemed the building was not safe for occupancy. And yet, she allowed her staff to remain at risk as they continued working in the building, thus either ignoring the directive that it was uninhabitable or proving that this declaration was a hoax perpetrated two days before school started for effect! Why had the entire summer passed without adequately addressing some of these issues?

We’ve recently learned from our sources that all is not well with many operational considerations. Recently several teachers who were instructed to report to the Mansion for staff training voiced a concern for their safety. (We purposely are not giving much info as to not cause these teachers any additional stress). 

So the question remains, why are people still occupying the Mansion if it is unsafe? And how unsafe is it really? Is the engineering firm that furnished the report on the building condition the same company that would be contracted to oversee the repairs? Can you say conflict of interest? Or how about collusion? We can continue but you get the idea. Is the Consolidation Bond issue that Dr Chase, Trustees Terry Williams, Lloyd Newland and David Warner all favored still a game plan for them as their legacy? The legacy should be about education, and improved metrics for the students. The Board should have learned something when the bond was overwhelmingly defeated – and not only that they poorly communicated with the taxpaying public. Are they trying to better understand what the taxpayers, including those with children in the school, were trying to tell them by voting against the bond.? Fix the existing schools, don’t sell them or move them!

A hypothetical question was raised at a recent neighborhood meeting we attended. The question was, “What is the first thing(s) that needs to be done to start improving the school buildings?” The answer was resounding, “Fix the roofs at each of the schools.” It was also asked, “Why wouldn’t they just do that anyway?” The answer was stunning: “Because it wouldn’t allow them to continue with their narrative that the schools are falling apart and need to be jettisoned while new buildings were constructed at Warburg.” The crowd was in disbelief. 

Here’s a couple of questions raised for which we need answers to from the Board. First, Why did the staff remain in the mansion for roughly a month if the conditions were as dire as Dr Chase insisted? Second, has the Board considered having the building evaluated by an engineering or architectural firm that is a disinterested party with nothing to gain by championing a campus consolidation? Third, has the Board already moved to initiate roof repairs? Fourth, once roof repairs are made what will be the next round of repairs and will they be made in stages of seriousness? Fifth, what is the next bond offering going to cover? Will it be for major, minor, all or some repairs? Most well run districts float bonds every couple of years so that major maintenance, such as roofing, can be done in a timely and scheduled manor. Why does our Board insist on ignoring necessary periodic maintenance bonds? Trustee Williams insisted during the Consolidation Bond presentation that the taxpayers in the past had always defeated the bonds. Why do you think that happened?

This Board, (except for its two newly elected members) and this Superintendent have not given the public the confidence that they need to be assured that the right decisions are being made for our property where we send our children to learn. The fantasy that was purported during the Consolidation Bond forums was that the children would learn better in brand new buildings, with state of the art smart boards, lights and other peripherals. What was also mentioned was that we have great teachers. Great teachers can teach under a tree if they are truly great. We’re not saying they should all adjourn to the great outdoors to teach. But instead of worrying about speaking Mandarin or having a press booth on the football field, let’s worry about teaching and learning in a productive environment. Fix the roofs. That’s a start – it needs to begin somewhere. It’s the first step to make A Better Greenburgh School District.

Letter To The Editor

The Journal News cover article on Sunday is an eye-opener. There is no doubt the current administration is passionate about this plan. This vote will be decided by a few factors. How many senior citizens live in this area? I’m sure many believe their property value will increase., but will they be able to shoulder the financial burden until then.? How many middle-class residents and those approaching retirement will be unable to afford the increased tax burden if the vote passes? How many residents are paying college tuition? How many residents have kids who graduated college & have a good job that cannot afford to buy a house in this area? 

Greenburgh tax payers just received a 2 percent County tax increase. How many individuals know that if their taxes go up significantly, it will increase the chances that they will have a difficult time selling their houses? Many decide whether they will heat their homes comfortably or eat. Another factor, many parents do not send their children to the district and pay tuition for a private school? It’s more than 23%. 

It’s about more than just test scores. Which shouldn’t be the only way a child’s success in school is determined. How many people know for sure that $79 million is not an inflated number for the district to make the necessary repairs? If you’ve walked throughout RJ Bailey, the interior is in very good shape. Yes the magnificent auditorium needs chairs repaired and peeling paint repaired .On Saturday If you visited Highview you only saw the boiler room, yes it was absolutely astonishing that the furnace installed prior to 1955 is still there & works. Yes a leaky pipe should be repaired and asbestos should be contained or removed. I’ve been in Highview before and the interior is in good shape. 

A new heating system for Woodlands high school is approximately $1 million. (Give or take $200,000)The only breakdown of expenses is the cost to each building. What would the taxpayers get for $79 million? Woodlands repairs comes in at close to 50 million. I’ve pleaded with the board and superintendent to post the breakdown of the repairs for each building not just a number for each building. It’s been 3 weeks & no info. 

There is a strong undertow of civic association members who were astonished at information presented at the first meeting in Woodlands and are now posting and informing their neighbors each time they attend a meeting. This information Is based on information the board presented to the public. It is a fact the traffic congestion is a real issue. 

Not everyone can afford the fancy coffee every day or to go out to dinner as stated in the Journal news a couple of months ago. Make no mistake the budget vote was pushed back to March 19 for many reasons, primarily suspected voter suppression. Many are scrambling to inform thousands of residents of this potentially life-changing bond. Yes, it could change the lives of the students who are already performing well & graduating on time and it could change the lives of the taxpayers who may have to up & leave. Information is spreading like wildfire . 

Disseminating the information has become a challenge. There’s been flip-flopping with answers and expenditures. Yes the kids do deserve better. But what will it cost to average taxpayer? Why do kids in the high school have to wait until Highview and Bailey are sold for the necessary repairs at WHS to be complete? Will the district obtain 20 million for the sale of the buildings? Just like the “irreparable buildings", taxpayers are left in the dark wondering why nothing was repaired in over 11 years or asking is this really a good use of my hard earned money? 

Does anyone question why each time they show up at the public school info meeting why the PowerPoint is completely different? Just Saturday individuals were asked to write questions on index cards. The cards were collected and the questions were not answered as promised. Another factor in this vote: civic associations and blogs will be a very strong undertow in this vote. I encourage all residents to find time to read blogs and civic association websites because their information is what is disseminated from meetings and is truly a strong voice that speaks for many. As for individuals who were told “change your settings to shut out people who post” “Fasten your seat belt it’s going to be a bumpy ride”

- Name withheld upon request.

Greenburgh Schools Schedule Information Session On Bond Referendum For $114.6 MILLION

In an effort to keep Greenburgh residents and taxpayers informed, we are posting this information. Sadly, Greenburgh School Superintendent Tahira Dupree Chase has met with one civic association, and the leaders of another, to detail her plans to consolidate the Greenburgh School District schools to the Woodlands campus. She has not shared information with residents through mailings, meetings or articles. It seems a bit disingenuous to foist this referendum onto the unknowing in hopes they will vote for it? Or, is her plan to not inform the residents and have only those she feels assured will vote for this come out and cast a ballot in favor of it? 

A referendum held in February can slam the voters and keep them from coming out if the weather turns out to be what February weather usually is. Regardless, it seems a very suspect and disappointing. Also disappointing is that Mr Feiner and his Town Board have just allotted $7,000 toward an East hartsdale Road traffic study for something that hasn't even happened yet and they don't know will be voted through! Their canned response is that they want to be prepared should the vote go through. Actually, if history has taught us anything about referendums in Greenburgh, and it has, this proposal will go through for a number of reasons. Many with school age children in the Greenburgh system, educators, well-off, well-paid residents will buy into the rationale being offered and vote yes. The uninformed, seniors, fixed-income residents and many not involved in politics or school issues may want to vote no, but may not be able to get to the polls at the Woodlands campus. Or, as we believe is the case, will not even know about it!

Several information sessions on the bond referendum for the Greenburgh School Districts proposal, will be voted upon on February 12, 2019, to spend a minimum of $114.6 MILLION to build replacement schools on the current Woodlands campus. School tax increases are being predicted to increase approximately $850 per year for property owners. Well-paid Superintendent Chase has used the analogy of equating this increase to a daily cup of gourmet coffee. Many of our fixed income readers have related to us that they are barely able to pay their taxes now and fear losing their homes should this referendum pass and these increases be instituted.

Consolidation for what purpose remains the unanswered question? To simply say we would have all grades on one campus does not validate the expense or return on this huge investment. To sell two current schools that are either in disrepair or needed repair begs the question why weren’t they maintained to begin with? And, can we expect more of the same should the referendum pass after Dr Chase has moved on? Mr Feiner insisted on letting WestHelp degrade to the point of ruin. He insisted on letting the buildings intentionally deteriorate so such a dismal picture could be painted, ultimately proving the need to destroy them. Also, what of security and threats to the younger children in our ever-burgeoning active shooter world? Somehow the separate locations seems a viable alternative.

The Greenburgh Central schools have a more surmountable problem with education. They are now teaching the Mandarin language from kindergarten through the high school senior class because studies show it’s an up-and-coming language. It used to be that French or Spanish were the two more popular foreign languages to learn. Frankly, after hearing some of these students speak English, the school probably needs to be working on speaking better English than learning others. And, with all of the special programs and remedial classes that are maintained, a fundamental education seems to be absent. Our suggestion to Dr Chase would be instead of trying to apply lipstick to make this proposal look pretty, fix the glaring problems before undertaking such a major expense and cost to the already beleagured taxpayers.

Here is a list of meeting dates that are being scheduled by the Greenburgh School district to discuss the $114.6 million dollar proposed Greenburgh School bond referendum that will take place on February 12th. The school district hopes to sell the Highview and Bailey schools and consolidate the Greenburgh schools into one campus.

To learn more, please plan to attend one or more of these upcoming informational Community Meetings:
◾Tuesday, January 15 - 7 p.m. @ Woodlands Middle/High School
◾Thursday, January 24 - 7 p.m. @ Richard J. Bailey Elementary School
◾Tuesday, January 29 - 7 p.m. @ Highview Elementary School
◾Thursday, January 31 - 7 p.m., @ The Greenburgh Public Library
◾Thursday, February 7 - 7 p.m. @ The Theodore Young Community Center

These meetings may be a little bit too late in the game to give this proposal the scrutiny it deserves. We hope that Dr Chase’s lack of forthcoming information is not how she normally operates. And why are they only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, instead of utilizing other days to accommodate those who work or have child care issues? This should be changed. Finally, she needs to turn the schools she already has around and prove that she has what it takes before selling us a bill of goods that should be expected out of the corner office on Hillside Avenue. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

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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HNA Sponsors Tax Watch Columnist Presentation

The Highview Elementary school auditorium saw about 50 people attend the Hartsdale Neighbors Association meeting which featured David McKay Wilson as the guest speaker.

Prior to Wilson speaking, there was a brief presentation about food scrap recycling. The two women showed a small scrap container you can use in your kitchen for daily recycling and then a slightly larger one that would collect about three weeks worth of scraps. Lined with biodegradable liners, these would accumulate in the larger container that you would bring and drop off at a location at Anthony Veteran Park. Flyers were also handed out explaining the program along with an email sign-up sheet.

Wilson gave a brief description of himself and recounted a good number of stories he had worked on in and about Greenburgh. After being away from Greenburgh for about seven years, he returned to write his first story exposing the contaminated landfill that was installed at the Woodlands High School. That story ultimately led to an investigation which resulted in a jail sentence for the offender as well as remediation of the field. Town Attorney Tim Lewis, the Town's defacto environmental faux-expert, was not involved with cost-analysis with this event. Wilson also discussed the WestHelp debacle created initially by then HUD Chairman, current governor Andrew Cuomo. He talked about the scheme cooked up for the Town to get the lease money from those apartments and the illegal payoffs that Mr Feiner was making to the Valhalla School Board.

The night was to be a discussion of taxes. So, after Wilson completed his introduction, he proceeded to talk about what he had learned from various experts about what was on the horizon. He commented that 27% of the Town Taxes were from Edgemont. And, now that the judge has ruled Mr Feiner's decision to not allow the elections as incorrect, the vote for Edgemont incorporation can proceed. While good news for Edgemont residents, it may not be so good for the rest of the Unincorporated Town.

This discussion renewed talk of a Hartsdale incorporation as well. Since Mr Feiner has positioned himself in favor of the Villages, something we don't believe would be the case with the Village of Edgemont, he would have major budgetary issues in the Town should Hartsdale also look to control their own destiny in a similar fashion.

One comment that Wilson made was that the new IRS tax plan should not negatively affect most people in Greenburgh and Hartsdale. He clarified this by saying that the polarized political pundits are saying how bad it will be but the experts he's been speaking and meeting with are saying the opposite. He seemed to feel that the greatest impact with it will be in the real estate market.

Ultimately, the high-end market could suffer the most as the property tax deductions will change, allowing for only the first $10k in taxes to be deducted. As such, it will probably make selling a high-end home more difficult. It may also find sellers lowering their asking price to be able to make the sale. This same scenario could force an increase in the rental market. Consequently, the incentive to own might be less.

The discussion turned toward affordable, low income and Section 8 housing. It is also believed that affordable housing could suffer as the tax incentives most developers utilize will not be as great. An unrelated example that Wilson mentioned was illegal housing and that Governor Cuomo, who lives with his girlfriend Sandra Lee, never filed or paid for renovation permits to their home in Chappaqua. The irony is that the Town Tax Assessor revalued their home to a higher value.

Wilson finally discussed the taxation schemes that our current crop of legislators are trying to implement both to attack President Trump and to help people who might be severely and/or negatively impacted by this tax plan. He reiterated that most people are probably not going to be negatively impacted by it. What was never discussed were any plans by these same legislators to lower NY State taxes to help keep people here, to help keep businesses here and to help to make New York competitive again. It would behoove the Town to be leaders and start to lower fees(taxes), regulations(taxes), and taxes to make Greenburgh more competitive for businesses. We don't need more low income, affordable, Section 8, workforce and other housing that will not change the paradigm. We need creative ideas from different people. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Town Crippled With Supervisor Gone

There’s quite a bit that must happen for a neighborhood in our Town, such as this one known as Edgemont (Greenville by some), to ultimately want to incorporate into a Village within the Town. The steps taken so far are moving that goal closer to fruition. To be candid, not everyone is a fan of the Edgemont incorporation move. Many of those opponents include Mr Feiner, and probably his Town Board – mostly because we believe he told them to be against it.

Others who have doubts have called a meeting for tonight at the Highview School, off of Central Avenue, at 7:30pm. They might have wanted the meeting at Town Hall, but you’ll recall Mr Feiner and his Town Board decided to forbid any taxpayer the use of their own taxpayer building after he allowed a Hamas organization to use it and the police had to be called in to address a Feiner-created near riot situation! What a shame that residents are treated so poorly by Mr Feiner until a reporter is nearby and he can spout his phony “open government” mantra.

Whether or not you are for the Edgemont incorporation, you can find out more information by attending the meeting to be held tonight. Ironically, Mr Feiner was away on vacation when Jeff Sherwin of the Edgemont Incorporation Committee arrived at Town Hall loaded with a 1400 signature petition and a $6,000 filing fee to initiate the incorporation process. Bereft of any real legal talent at Town Hall, many, including the legal department, chose to misinterpret the law and not allow Mr Sherwin his right of filing his petition or paying the required fee. Under the rouse of ignorance, legal technicalities or simply ineptness, the Deputy Town Supervisor, in this case Councilman Jones, was claimed to not be able to accept the petitions or fee. Town Attorney Tim Lewis said he was unable to accept them, stating it had to go to the Supervisor. And, finally, the Town Clerk, the official keeper of all documents, was supposedly unable to accept them as well. To make a play on a line in My Cousin Vinny, “Do the laws of operation cease to exist at Town Hall when the Supervisor is away?”

What this clearly demonstrates is several things. First, our Town's operation will grind to a halt if the Supervisor is out of Town, ill and not in the office, or worse. Second, if the first assumption is not correct, does Mr Feiner have his administration so well-trained (scared) that they refuse to act in his absence for fear of repercussions or retribution (read: be Sonya’d)? Third, is there no other legal recourse that this administration's minions can seek guidance from in Mr Feiner's absence should our second scenario be incorrect? With all of the back-and-forth, their refusals lessened the amount of time Mr Feiner needs to validate the signatures. And, we all know that Mr Feiner is one of the best at disqualifying petition signatures.

The last municipality to incorporate was Rye Brook in 1982. It’s not a question of why did it take so long since then? Rather, why is this happening at all? Edgemont is the wealthiest community in the Unincorporated Town of Greenburgh. For years they have butted proverbial heads with Mr Feiner and iterations of his Town Boards about how their community was treated. Or, more importantly, mistreated. They have asked for zoning considerations during stressful zoning changes and been ignored. They asked for sidewalks and were ignored - at least until Mr Feiner realized they were serious about incorporation. They asked the Town not to add a tax, oops, fee to service stations on Central Avenue and were ignored. Wait a minute... he’s done this to every community except the Manhattan Avenue section of Fairview. The difference is Edgemont has the money, talent and resources others do not have to fight him. And fight him they are!

No neighborhood should have to feel or pursue the need to incorporate to protect its residents from the politicians in charge. And yet, this is Greenburgh; often described as Bizarro Greenburgh. This helps us to understand why a neighborhood such as Edgemont would want to incorporate and get out from under the bad and costly decisions of this administration. We're sure there are other communities that feel the same way but don’t have near the resources of an Edgemont to get “out from under”. It’s too bad that any neighborhood is driven to feel this way. This must end. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Edgemont Incorporation is Real

Yesterday, the Edgemont Incorporation Committee (EIC) team travelled to the Town Clerk’s office at Greenburgh Town Hall to file a petition seeking a referendum on Edgemont incorporating as a village. Although initially unsuccessful, we should assume that the EIC will complete the filing within the next week or two, kicking off the next phase of this process.

With this action the EIC have sent a clear message to the town that they are serious and plan on following through on their stated objectives.

For the Town Supervisor and board, who have so far kept their head in the sand and failed to seriously engage the EIC, it’s time to start focusing on day-after scenarios. For those of us in Hartsdale and the rest of the town outside of villages (TOV) area, it’s time to set out our expectations and put pressure on our elected bodies to ensure this process does not negatively impact our homes, families and communities.

PLEASE ATTEND OUR INFORMATION SESSION ABOUT THE IMPACT OF EDGEMONT INCORPORATION ON HARTSDALE AND THE REST OF UNINCORPORATED GREENBURGH: WED., MARCH 1, 7:30 PM AT THE HIGHVIEW SCHOOL.

Inform your neighbors: the more voices we have, the more influence we will have in guiding the future of our neighborhood.