Taking Care of Their Own

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Floating Dollars & Bronx River Flooding

ABG offices sit high atop Greenburgh overlooking the beautiful landscape covered in the proverbial blanket of white as Town vehicles appear to be about the only ones on the road. There seems to be a calm enveloping the area. Our copy of the daily newspaper may have been delivered but promises to remain undiscovered for weeks. We had received our copy of The White Plains Examiner before the storm which featured an article about the County’s move to address flooding with the Bronx River within the Town of Greenburgh. It a topic ABG has often posted about.

We’ve heard and seen the posturing before, so it remains to be seen if this time will be any different. County Executive Astorino announced the County is ready, “with an $800,000 capital project to restore over three acres of wetlands and riverbanks just north of Fisher Lane and east of the Bronx River Parkway in Greenburgh.” Translation? The County will throw a pittance toward an issue that needs addressing from at least the Kensico Dam southward into the Bronx, where the water continues it’s final exit. This will be nothing more than “photo ops” and press conference “attaboys” garnered to get political points, press coverage and accomplish little else.  This was exemplified by County Executive Rob Astorino, who said in a prepared statement, “It is important that we target achievable projects in problem areas in order to reduce and prevent future flooding.” Translation? As an “achievable” project, they mean they know they won’t fix the problem, but will be able to say upon the project’s completion that they completed the project. Government double-speak? You decide.

Last year the Astorino administration chose this site in Greenburgh as just one of the seven capital projects as part of a $9 million effort to address chronic flooding along the Bronx River and Sound Shore. The bond act has been sent to the Board of Legislators for approval. And while we assume the bond will be passed, the effort may all be moot if the entire river corridor is not attacked as a global entity. An inspection of the river from the Greenburgh area into the Bronx shows too numerous an amount of blockage to document. 

An effort made in Westchester that will contribute to creating a better and/or increased water flow, without participation from all points south of Westchester County, renders the money spent, the effort of little consequence and tantamount to floating dollars down the river. The people who suffered from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene have finally given up any hope of receiving funds from FEMA even though they are mandated to pay flood insurance to them; all the while new applicants hammered by Hurricane Sandy are just learning this lesson.

What’s needed is a consolidation of bipartisan leaders who run the length of the Bronx River to establish a plan with a concerted effort to tackle this vexing problem. We also need leaders which are willing to begin upgrading everyone’s aging infrastructures to help increase water flow created by all the development from the last twenty or thirty years. It’s not an easy task but one that will reap huge rewards for every community. We can only hope.