Problem Creator Seeks Problem Solver

In a recent front page article in the only daily newspaper left in the region, Mr Feiner was front page, below the fold, patronizing the youngster writing the article entitled, Crisis For Every Downtown Area. His photo is in front of a vacant store front in the Hartsdale Four-Corners (4-C). While disingenuous at best, Mr Feiner feigns lamenting  about this “hub” for small business. In his almost thirty years as Supervisor, he never gave this hub a second thought. Then, with the advent of the Hartsdale Neighbors Association, and a groundswell of support for the Edgemont Incorporation, and even talk of a Hartsdale Incorporation, he knew he had to do something.

Mr Feiner’s playbook for action includes a litany of faux-action points: write a letter to another politician telling them they must act on this on behalf of their constituents, pit neighbors against each other, ignore and say nothing, hoping the issue either resolves itself, goes away, the complainant moves or dies, and/or he appoints a citizen committee or student intern group to address it. The latter usually being his most effective after completing the letter writing grandstanding. After all, who wants to pick on high school kids? 

He’s quoted as saying, “It’s very upsetting and aggravating.” We’re not sure if he meant the vacancies or the action taken by others to remedy the Four Corners’ issues, making him appear to be doing nothing. Specifically, there is a business in that area that did a study bemoaning what's wrong with the area and presented it to Mr Feiner and the Hartsdale Neighbors Association. So to again feign concern, Mr Feiner had his Board vote to spend $400,000 to purchase two uninhabitable houses on West Hartsdale Avenue behind the Dairy Del deli. The excuse proffered was to develop it into a parking lot which would be monitored and maintained by the Hartsdale Parking Authority.

Even with the wasted expenditure of $400,000 and the additional cost involved in the destruction of the two homes, construction of anything within the Four Corners immediate proximity must first be approved by the New York State Department of Transportation. The reason is that Central Park Avenue and Hartsdale Avenue, east and west, are DOT governed roadways. Regardless of the ownership, Mr Feiner is bereft of any plausible or workable ideas for the area as he has been these past 30 years during his unprecedented and mostly inept tenure. You can start to see why term limits are so necessary.

With a recently completed and presented study of the area, a small company who would benefit from several of their suggestions is Inspired Places. While we can debate the merits of it, the study has provided Mr Feiner with talking points that will eventually prove useless. In the article, Greenburgh officials claim to have already been worried about For Lease and For Rent signs before the Covid 19 pandemic. Really? We find it hard to believe as they only seemed to became interested when rumors of a Hartsdale incorporation began to circulate.

What’s also interesting is that Town officials parrot the same canned responses that the internet killed retail. Yet when we talk to business owners, specifically ones in retail, the successful ones are offering a higher level of customer support and interaction with the same goods and services that they've always offered and even increased. Luke Tancredi, the owner of Crank Cycles on North Central Avenue, discussed how he opened his store on March 1st and that bikes “Were flying out the door.” We’re extremely happy for him and our community to have a bike shop that’s thriving. When we went in to purchase a bike with a neighbor, we learned that all of the bikes in his store were only there for repairs. He had run out of new bicycles to sell. Nor did he have any used bikes for sale. We wish him continued success.

When Public Sector officials try to rationalize retail and the private sector and tell the public what’s wrong in the private sector, the words fall on deaf ears. Ultimately, retail space suffers for several reasons that our elected politicians refuse to acknowledge. Instead, in typical Feiner-fashion, he’s proposing to waste more money by increasing personnel and hire an Economic Development Coordinator (EDC), enlisting residents and Generation Z-ers to find ways to “brand” their shops and restaurants. The glaring omission in this “logic” is that this does nothing to fill the vacancies that exist throughout the Town, not only the Four Corners. 

Yes, someone can assist a business owner in applying for funds but those organizations giving those funds will also work with the applicant for their success. Yet we believe the current crop of business owners who are “making it work” are already ahead of that curve. And after they apply, what then for this EDC, their salary and benefits? We might favor this position if the EDC’s remuneration for instance, were tied to successfully filling vacant spaces for 2 years. 2 years? Yes, two, as most businesses fail in the first year.

The are several real issues that are typically ignored by the Public Sector know-it-alls as to what ails businesses and specifically retail. One is antiquated zoning, permits fees (a bonanza Greenburgh’s Building Dept. currently enjoys), registration fees, insurance bonds, etc., and that's before anyone even moves in. Sky-high rents and regulations abound. But why are they sky-high? Taxes. Last year saw Mr Feiner being embarrassed into a one year moratorium on tax increases after Supervisor candidate and challenger Lucas Cioffi promised a two-year moratorium on raising taxes! This year, however taxes have increased. Those increases are passed on to the renter (store owner) through their rent and are ultimately paid for by their customers. Lowing taxes could assist in breaking this cycle.

Another issue negatively and severely impacting this Hartsdale 4-C area is flooding. There is a Flood Committee for the County, chaired by County Legislator Alfreda Williams and the Town’s own Victor Carosi. Amazingly, they’ve never met after the committee was initially formed some four years ago and done nothing for their constituents! This entire time while we did not have any crippling water events would have been the perfect time to act. Politicians such as Mr Feiner love to come out during the storms and promise anything and everything to solve all of these issues “moving forward,” simply leave after the cameras are turned off. The issue in Hartsdale permeates the entire length of the Bronx River corridor and all of the residents along its way repeatedly get flooded. FEMA, a four letter word, only exacerbates the issue by offering extremely expensive and in some cases unaffordable flood insurance for those residents in the corridor with miserly claims payout and ridiculous deductibles. 

These areas never used to flood like they do now and many of these people had never got flooded even during severe storms. It’s only after all of the communities along the corridor began building and creating more and more impervious spaces that people began to get flooded. Why? Because the politicians approved all of the developments (some say over development) and channeled storm water into the Bronx River. The explosive rate of building coupled with a lack of storm water management and infrastructure improvement has proven a recipe for disaster. But what can be done?

First, our representatives must actually act and not spew the useless rhetoric of the past. Second, the different communities must commit resources in a partnership to dredge, clean out and maybe even widen the river to improve water flow. Third, after that they need to provide routine maintenance to keep it clear of debris and flowing freely. Fourth, the County, who has most of the immediate ownership of the property, must assume its responsibility and work to get the river cleaned out as a partner with the river-bound communities. They can no longer sit back, collect their ridiculously high salaries while working families are struggling with sky-high taxes, and do nothing. The time to act is now, before the hurricanes, floods and other assorted storms depend upon us. 

Perhaps Mr Feiner, instead of writing a letter to the County Executive, could actually spearhead an environmental impact crusade to save the Bronx River corridor and help to alleviate those people’s pain?! And perhaps Ms Williams can intercede and get County execution to clear the hurdles of County government’s inaction?! People who get flooded are less concerned with politicians pushing bike lanes in densely trafficked areas and want real help.

After flooding is addressed, there needs to be an honest discussion and action by the Town on zoning that will control how land is use and/or be preserved, along with the integrity of our communities. Village and Town Boards must not capitulate to developers because they seek tax monies. Many of these developers are utilizing grants and low interest loans with little of their own monies invested. This undercuts the community they seek to build in strictly for their bottom line, compromising our neighborhoods. Yes, they should be allowed to build within the constricts of our zoning laws, but not at our neighbood’s expense. Zoning laws are in place for numerous reasons to help communities thrive, not just developers. This abuse has to stop. Finally, Mr Feiner needs to sit down with the DOT and develop a workable plan for improving numerous failures of our combined roadways. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

More Flooding = Lack of Preparedness = Leaf Blower Regulations

Houston’s drinking water system is being stressed by overflowing water reservoirs and dams, breached levees and possible problems at treatment plants and in their water distribution system. Failure of drinking water systems could lead to real water shortages. Raw sewage, dead bodies (human and animal) in the water and release of dangerous chemicals into the floodwaters could lead to the spread of disease through contact with contaminated water and to infection through open wounds. Most flood and swift-water first responders, such as our County’s all-volunteer Technical Rescue Swift Water rescue technicians, all wear dry suits to protect themselves from these types of contaminants in the unknown waters they will be in to perform rescues, searches and other related tasks.

Houston has at least a dozen sites that have been designated environmentally hazardous and at risk of petrochemical contamination. Indeed, companies have reported that pollutants from refineries have already been released. As if those are not bad enough, the “unprecedented” amount of water leads to the perfect breeding opportunities for mosquitoes, which bring us Zika and many other infectious diseases. Hurricane Harvey has already led to deaths by drownings and the destruction of many homes and businesses. Most in Texas, specifically in the Houston area were caught in a false sense of safety as the experts had indicated they were not in harms way.

Flood impacts can hit hardest on the most vulnerable and exposed people, especially low income and ignored neighborhoods, the elderly and frankly, already known flood-prone areas, such as the Bronx River and Saw Mill River corridors. And yet, after several years of relative calm when action could have been taken, the politicians did nothing and moved on to more critical issues. Specifically, in our Town, the major concern between lawsuits and guilty verdicts against our Supervisor has been over leaf blower noise. While an inconvenience to some, nobody has ever lost their possessions or been forced from their homes because someone was using a leaf blower!

In fact, Mr Feiner asked his Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) to review and report back to him about regulating leaf blower usage. And, the CAC issued no less than four reports to the Town Board, and recommended that the Town Board regulate the periods of use of blowers in the residential areas of Unincorporated Greenburgh for part of the year – from May 1 - September 30. Interestingly, the Town stopped using the vacuum truck to pick up leaves during the fall because they did not know when the leaves would fall. Huh? So, how can they now know that September 30th is the correct date to go by for this proposed bill?

The Edgemont Association sought this legislation, along with the 50 or so Edgemont, Cotswald and Hartsdale residents, and even passed a resolution in support of the CAC findings. They also agreed with the exemptions that practically negate the bill, should it become law, and only restrict residents from leaf blower usage. We quote here from Section XXX-4.  Exemptions, about who will be exempted from this:

B. The restriction provided by Section 3 shall not apply to: (1) commercial properties, (2) privately-owned golf courses, (3) properties owned by a religious institution, and (4) properties owned by the town. Perhaps the only valuable portion of this bill comes down to the permissible hours of use: “...after 9 am and before 2 pm on weekdays and after 12 noon and before 5 pm on weekends and holidays.” Our non-legal interpretation is that homeowners’ landscapers or maybe even neighbors helping each other with their leaves are restricted unless they purchase a new electric blower and all businesses are not. Ironic that most businesses utilize landscaping companies and some of the complaints leading up to this request for legislation have been from those adjacent to golf courses, which are exempt. 

Whether every community has similar issues or not, does not diminish the merit of their concerns. However, if less affluent neighborhoods do not utilize these landscaping services as do these other communities, is this necessary for the entire Town or just a few neighborhoods? Likewise, these non-flood zone area residents might make a similar argument about the Town's resources being committed to the flood corridors. Regardless, no Town monies have been expended toward either effort.

In reading the proposal for a leaf blower bill, it almost seems to make the case for having a law based of flimsy reasoning. We quote in italics: 

     The basis for the CAC's recommendation were the adverse environmental and public health effects of blowers, principally the degradation of soils and the involuntary exposure of residents to air-borne particulate pollution. Soils are the foundation of plant life.The hurricane level wind forces generated by blowers, regardless of how powered, disrupts soils and soil regeneration. Moreover, those wind forces also involuntarily expose residents to filthy particular matter thrown into the air, some of which are toxic. Children, the elderly and residents exercising or walking outdoors are particularly at risk.  

As incredulous as the above statement is to believe, it seems like nothing more than the CAC trying to give Mr Feiner the cause celeb that he asked for proving (however weak) that another law is needed. He’s even said the Town is in need of a new law since it only has a noise ordinance pertaining to gas leaf blowers which is hard to enforce. We fail to see any enforcement improvements, only additional limitations on homeowners. In fact, placing the dates of use as well as time restrictions in the new law, won't offer any more enforcement opportunities unless Mr Feiner plans to have a cadre of interns patrolling landscaper-friendly neighborhoods on Segways to alert the police of an infraction.

A disaster involving a hurricane cannot happen unless people, infrastructure and communities are vulnerable to it. People become vulnerable if they end up being ignored by their political representatives. Where is the committee that was formed to address flooding by County Legislator Williams, or co-chairman Victor Carosi and most importantly, Mr Feiner and his Town Board? Now that it's hurricane season, we should be more concerned about flooding, toxic waste in the flood waters and the health effect it all has on our neighborhoods than leaf blower noise. 

And, what about the deadly leaf blower problem? Kill the suggested bill and go back to the table to develop a Town law that gives the affected communities the ability to regulate when and how loud a leaf blower, whether gas or electric, can be used. Wait a minute..., isn't that why Edgemont is trying to incorporate? The issues are clear, as are the motives from the corner office. It has to stop. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Believability

Is believability for a politician necessary to govern successfully? We think it should be. That’s why we were a bit dismayed when our local daily paper had an article about “Tackling The Flood.” It went on to discuss the efforts of three communities, Scarsdale, Eastchester and New Rochelle, and how they’ve begun to execute a plan to alleviate flooding along the Hutchinson River in their respective communities. Each signed an agreement, entitled the Hutchinson River Flood Mitigation Project, to try to do something about flooding in their communities. Will they accomplish their goal? We’re not sure, but we believe they will try. Welcome to hurricane season.

The same issue has been brought up at countless meetings for the town of Greenburgh, by different people as well as different organizations. Sadly, with all of the talk about flooding in Greenburgh, nothing has ever been done nor changed to improve the situation during 24-years of the Feiner administration. Taxpayers, both commercial and residential, continue to get flooded. The continued flooding actively forces people to seek higher ground, ultimately with the driest solution being to move out of our town. After all, if Mr. Feiner continues to do nothing but provide lip service what other recourse is there?

Several years ago Mr. Feiner asked to create a task force to address flooding. A task force was formed. Greenburgh Commissioner Victor Carosi and the White Plains Public Works Commissioner were named co-chairs for this committee. County Legislator Alfreda Williams, is also on this commission. There may be several other people on this task force that are also of no consequence and contribute nothing to the flooding problem still being experienced by residents and businesses. Why have they not done anything after having an initial meeting, offering no subsequent plan for relief for these beleaguered taxpayers? And, now it’s hurricane season again with no solutions.

It’s easier to talk about flooding than it is to do something about it, such as coming up with a plan of attack similar to what we see with this Hutchinson River flood mitigation project. The dormant task force has not met in over two years since they were founded. We’re sure if they had they would have said there is no money or there are too many boundaries to try work with to clean the river spaces out, or to dredge them, or to somehow open them up to get a better flow of water. It’s easier to talk about it, to listen to us complain about it, than it is to fix it. After all, these elected officials and subsequent appointed officials know they will be reelected, typically without any opposition, and will reappoint their favorites once again. Losing a couple of hundred collective votes is nothing for Mr Feiner when he receives 7,000 votes running unopposed!

Whenever there is media focus either on a politician visiting the scene of a flood, or the media interviewing the flooded residents, the politicians all say that something must be done and then they point fingers at other politicians either uninvolved, not from the area, or are totally inappropriate for the problem at hand. Previously, Mr. Feiner has passed the buck to County legislators, State legislators or FEMA and the federal government. In fact he told one resident from Old Kensico Road that he would reach out to FEMA on their behalf to see about purchasing their flooded property. He knew that was a lie because the municipality must first perform a number of steps before FEMA will even entertain involvement. It made for great TV sound bytes but little else. Finally, after receiving no help for assistance of any kind from Mr. Feiner, specifically the Town, the County, State, or Federal government, especially FEMA, those same residents sold their house at a loss and moved to another area!

Mr. Feiner went to great lengths to appear on News 12 to bemoan the lack of action by other politicians for his valued constituents. These so-called valued constituents quickly realized that they were mere pawns in Mr. Feiner’s attempt to gain more publicity for himself. While he was successful in beating the drum getting publicity for himself, he threw a small portion of his constituency, literally, down the river along with many of their prized, ruined or irreplaceable possessions. Now that hurricane season is upon us the proverbial barn door has already been closed as the flooding begins once again. With all the development that has taken place in the region there are only two outlets for rainwater to go. The first on the west side of Greenburgh is the Saw Mill River. The second is on the east side of Greenburgh and that is the Bronx River. After the flooding caused by hurricane and tropical storm Irene, the Village of Elmsford mounted a campaign to clean out the Saw Mill River after a resident videotaped the debris blocking the waters flow causing some of the flooding in the area. Mr Feiner jumped on that bandwagon and received all kinds of publicity, but actually did nothing while the flooding continues.

During all the hype that Mr. Feiner and others utilized for their advantage, they ignored the Bronx River corridor and the residents that live near it. They too were severely flooded during Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Sandy. At no point beyond the TV cameras did Mr. Feiner or other politicians offer to do anything to remediate the problems in the Bronx River corridor and the flow of water, especially during even minor storms. Mr. Feiner remains dry and aloof in his gated community in Boulder Ridge. Other politicians also remain dry during storms and bad weather. The role of government is to protect its people – all of its people! That hasn’t happened for those that live along the two corridors that parallel the only two rivers out of the Town and County. Both the Bronx River and the Saw Mill River need attention and residents need relief!

Every community that has the river passing through it needs to take ownership and responsibility for keeping the river clear. Individuals must participate as well. One simple thing individuals can do is simply don’t litter – it clogs our storm drains and ultimately our rivers. By collectively doing this it will help to allow the flow of water to better reach the sound shore waterways and other outlets and not back up into our neighborhoods, homes, and businesses.  By investing in our infrastructure and maintaining all of our wetland areas, we will be helping everyone enjoy a better quality of living in our towns and villages. This needs to happen sooner rather than later so we can have A Better Greenburgh.

Reclaim New York, Pitch Gigabit and Ignore Flooding

This past week featured a very interesting meeting held at the Greenburgh Public Library by a group called Reclaim New York. Simply, their goals are somewhat straightforward and easily understandable. They seek civil engagement of the public with their local, county and state governments. Among their goals include trying to make New York affordable again. They even have an online calculator (NYCalculator.org) which you can use to learn what NY is costing you and thwarting your efforts to save money for retirement, school, purchasing a home and so on. And, for some, it exposes their struggle to just get by. Another of their goals is to try to stop the incumbency curse (our words) of re-electing the same politicians over and over again who continue to insult us by telling us they are creating jobs and saving us money in one breath and then continue to raise our taxes in the next. They also seek to expose and stop corruption and return government as a tool back to the people. Check them out by visiting their website: http://www.reclaimnewyork.org/.

There is nothing a politician loves more than a new project being pitched in their district and being seduced with more tax money becoming available for them to spend. What those same politicians refuse to do, ever, is actually lower your tax burden when these new funds are acquired. Coming off the heels of the Reclaim New York meeting, we read an article in the October 6, 2016 issue of the Journal News with a different vigor. Journal News reporter Richard Liebson quotes White Plains Planning Commissioner Chris Gomez, “For the past year, White Plains has been looking at ways to improve transit and make the neighborhood around the TransCenter a "go to" residential, retail and entertainment destination in the city, with a better link to the downtown business district. Using a $1 million state grant and the consulting services of WSP Parsons Brinkerhoff, city planners have been working with Metro North and other interested parties, and held a series of public meetings to gain insight into what residents and local businesses would like to see in the area.” We went to their website to see what topics of discussion were being highlighted.

There were talks of skyways, tearing down the Galleria and making a Central Park-like park, increasing retail space (huh?), more parks, a theater for live entertainment like Madison Square Garden, more dining (because Mamaroneck Avenue lacks enough restaurants?), better traffic congestion alleviation, and so on. One topic we continually write about and rarely see any resolve or even movement on, is mitigating flooding along the Bronx River corridor. Here is a map of the proposed area to be remodeled.

Notice the bottleneck of the Bronx River at the bridge at Hamilton Avenue and again at Main Street. It is obvious even to non-engineers, residents, government officials and yes, elected officials that this is a significant part of the flooding problem. Another obvious-upon-inspection issue is the quantity of debris, litter and refuse that has built up in these areas which the City of White Plains has ignored. This exacerbates flooding each time there is any rainfall. There are other locations as well along the Bronx River corridor that suffer from the same neglect. It used to be that when we had significant storms there would be understandably generated flooding. Now, however, even sun showers are clogging the rivers.

Town of Greenburgh Public Works Commissioner Victor Carosi was named as the co-Chair for a multi-community task force on flooding. The other usual players were named as well, such as County Legislator Alfreda Williams. But regardless of who is on this task force to mitigate flooding, they never meet, never come out with information and have continued to ignore the flooding issues everywhere in our Town and villages – especially along the Bronx River corridor! It’s as if the politicians welcome flooding so they can have the media feature their soundbyte about how somebody else has failed these victims and they will look into it. The only thing they seem to look into is finding a different flood location for another soundbyte.

The Journal News article said “they” were, “Using a $1 million state grant and the consulting services of WSP Parsons Brinkerhoff, city planners have been working with Metro North and other interested parties…” So,now we know who the developer of this massive project is predestined to be. Every time a resident complains about flooding and what’s not being done to mitigate it, they are told there is no money. Here was $1 million that could have been used toward dredging the river, cleaning out debris and helping the Bronx River corridor residents keep their homes and loved ones safe. Another lame excuse is that there are multi-jurisdictional legal issues to address. Just cleaning the river, which falls under the aegis of the Westchester County government, always seems to be the victim of finger-pointing. Apparently, it’s not enough to get a full-time salary and lifetime medical benefits and actually help taxpayers. Rather, they prefer to spend more time printing a Proclamation to present at a dinner and glad-hand those in attendance in hopes of more votes.

Now we see the latest “pitch” by the cities to install gigabit internet service to “allow them to tap into an exclusive global network of high speed information sharing that is fueling previously unthinkable economic growth.” There it is again. Political speak for how they are unnecessarily spending our money and using buzz words to do it. In fact, New Rochelle lifetime Mayor Noam Bramson said, “What we are learning is that the digital infrastructure can be every bit as important (as roads and bridges).” That’s doubtful. But maybe Mayor Bramson could try maintaining the roads and bridges first, before we give him more money to waste?

Later in the article, other city’s leaders gave their reasons why this needed to be done. A lot of reasons were given to validate this “historic” move, as they always are. Internet companies will bid for this work, such as Verizon, AT&T and Comcast. Wait a minute. Aren’t they really the only games in town anyway? Then they mention that the cities will need to float a bond to pay for this. What’s not said is that you and I will pay for this for the next twenty years even knowing that technology becomes outdated almost as soon as it’s installed. It’s kind of like your brand new car depreciating as soon as you take ownership and drive it off the dealer’s lot.

We also have outside players adding insult to injury. The Westchester County Association, a group maneuvering to be political power brokers started by now deceased former County Executive Alfred DelBello and current president William Mooney in 2009 (or so). Its representatives are extolling the benefits of gigabit services for businesses, in schools, smart-energy power grids, public safety and well, you get the idea. Although they didn’t mention it, we expect it will also cure cancer. While purporting to have no skin the game, why are they even involved?

We’re being are spoon-fed a lot of the same political misinformation that is rolled out for every project to justify these publicity producing moves. Come election time, this will be one of their accomplishments that we paid and will continue to pay for, not them. And are you utilizing it? Of course not. They tell us that this will reduce the digital divide – whatever that really is. What will be divided is your money from you over the course of years. We’re sure Mr Feiner would have jumped onto this bandwagon had he been invited. Since it was only for city leaders, he’ll have to wait until next time - but it is sure to come our way. We’re sure it’s coming. Reclaim New York discusses these types of smokescreens as well as how to combat them. They are worth checking out and even getting involved in. The more people who see what these disingenuous politicians are doing, the better! Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Inaction and Incompetence Guarantees More Damage

While the rest of us wait for the next drop of precipitation that will eventually build into the latest flood for our neighborhoods, our Town Board keeps busy by focusing on everything except properly running our Town. They certainly are ignoring real storm and disaster preparation. Countless people throughout the Town have complained to Mr Feiner and his Town Board, to our County Legislators, State leaders and the media about the need for flood mitigation. All of them have ignored these appeals for preparation to help the ever-increasing list of neighborhoods now flooding.

First, Mr Feiner seems to only be interested in flooding if there is a press conference or press release that can get his name in the media, or, if there is a flood and he can be interviewed with the destroyed beachfront property behind him, saying how terrible this is and he will contact every other elected leader to do something. He won’t actually do anything himself except stave off those nagging residents with copies of emails sent to others. Politics: why fix it when we can talk about it?

Second, in a meeting held with several Greenburgh Civic Associations, county Legislator Alfreda Williams stated the County’s Flood Mitigation Committee (we’re sure there’s a more formal name) hasn’t met for almost a year. So while the weather has been conducive to cleaning out the rivers, removing debris, and helping improve the flow of water, nothing has been done. Several residents at that meeting gave numerous ideas to improve the status quo to help mitigate some of the future flooding. In fact, our own Victor Carosi, Greenburgh’s Commissioner of Public Works, is a co-chair of the committee. And, even after he has seen the devastation caused by the flooding, he and others remain impassively disconnected to residents’ plight.

Third, some say it’s the homeowners problem that they bought a home in a flood zone. While this may be true to a miniscule degree for a very few of these homes and businesses, there are many areas that now flood that never flooded before or when residents purchased their homes years ago. In fact, in canvassing different neighborhood residents and discussing water issues with them, most said its only in the last 15 years that they had experienced some water in their basements, crawlspaces or businesses. The common thread has been while nothing has changed to expedite the flow of the two rivers that parallel both sides of the Town, Mr Feiner’s non-stop over-development in our Town has all of these new projects emptying their storm and other drainage into either the Saw Mill River or the Bronx River. With nothing being done to accommodate the runoff water that would have been absorbed into the ground, the surrounding low-lying areas flood. Many are anxious to see what happens to the 9A corridor after the new construction in Eastview is completed.

A study published in Nature Climate Change warned that the annual costs from flooding in the world’s largest coastal cities could grow from about $6 billion to $1 trillion  by 2050. Granted, 2050 may be some time away, but its that kind of thinking and lack of planning that has currently landed us in this morass of finger-pointing and lack of action. Sure, many politicians will say this is going to cost money and take a lot of time. They've been saying that about the 9A corridor for the last 50 years - maybe longer. The current National Flood Insurance Program is $24 billion in debt! This deficit will not be washed away (pun intended) without reform of the system. It’s also a bonafide indicator that increased investment in mitigation efforts prior to an event is imperative before we are hit with the costs of the next disaster which promise to be overwhelming.

True story: One neighborhood is a “A” rated flood zone (worst) neighborhood. A young couple with a young child from the Bronx purchased their first home here. They never knew that Mr Feiner held a press conference in their driveway after Hurricane Irene. They didn’t know he promised the couple living there to have FEMA purchase their home from them so they could leave. They didn’t know Mr Feiner was lying when he told them that. The young couple’s sale went through without much fanfare - although for them it was a pretty exhilarating moment. At the closing, however, they learned that the bank holding the mortgage requires them to have flood insurance. The sellers might have neglected to mention that. Regardless, while their checkbook was out, they wrote a $2,000 check to the bank for flood insurance. Closings are like that. Bring your checkbook, be prepared to empty it on fees and payments that would shame an IRS agent.

The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) underwrites the National Flood Insurance Program. Yes, the Federal government. As mentioned earlier, they are $24 billion in debt. These are the same people who run Social Security, who don’t have enough money to pay retirees; the Veterans Administration, who can’t take care of our heroes; the Post Office, who has its own $8 billion deficit; Medicare and Medicaid, which both do everything not to pay benefits and are rife with corruption; Education, which many believe amounts to indoctrination – or just day care, and many more but you get the point. Back to FEMA. They charge homeowners thousands to pay back hundreds when you place a claim. By the way, there’s a mandatory $5,000 deductible. Government at its best?

We just had elections. Mr Feiner wasn’t running. It doesn't matter - he’ll get re-elected next year. Job performance in Greenburgh doesn’t matter. What does matter is we keep the same people in office so we can get more proclamations, plaques with our names on them and “atta boys” from Mr Feiner and his ilk. Ms Williams is content to coast along for her base salary of $49, 200 and various stipends. And what of Mr Abinanti, handily re-elected as our “environmentally concerned” NYS Assemblyman? He remains AWOL during all of this. Why tackle something he’s impotent to fix? In fact, he used to live in Greenburgh until Mr Feiner started making too many bad decisions and moved to a safer area to distance himself from real issues. We keep electing the same people who do nothing but pander to us.

The young couple who only last year bought their new dream home? Here it is a year later and they now know who Senator Chuck Schumer is. He co-sponsored a bill that increased the cost of flood insurance. You see, after having to pay out claims for Hurricane/Tropical Storms Irene and Sandy, the program went broke. Naturally, the politicians did what they do best: they raised taxes, in the form of flood insurance premiums, but only to the people who get flooded. So they hammer the people suffering the most, again.

And what of our new homeowners formerly of the Bronx and now living in the A-rated flood prone Greenburgh? Their flood insurance went up a whopping $20,000! The Town needs to address the flooding issue they created with over-development, poor planning and developer carte blanche. It may be part of the solution to cause the Federal government to readjust the flood maps and reduce the young couple’s flood premiums. Although it’s not likely because we continue to fail ourselves by electing the same people over and over again and they always seek the latest tragedy for publicity. This guarantees them that publicity. This has to change. Only then might we get A Better Greenburgh.

This Job Stinks!

Driveway pipe

Looking up Randolph

Fulton Park has had its share of abuse from the Town for the last seven or so years. Mr Feiner, et al, dumped Westhab’s subsidized housing in the neighborhood. Then he appointed new Zoning Board of Appeals members and coerced his newly appointed subjects to approve the Deli Delicious petition to pave his entire property and (illegally?) expand onto the state property to create a drive-through window for a private company.

Now something completely different is happening that will have a better outcome for this previously ignored and now “dumped” upon neighborhood - but it still stinks – literally! Apparently, the Town Public Works Department discovered several of the sewers in the area were at an unusually high level after some recent rains. Not only does this create a foul smell, but it can cause the sewage to back up in multiple locations as well as being a health hazard. Fulton Park knows what that smell and cleanup nightmare is like after having had all kinds of sewage back up into residents’ basements when the neighborhood was flooded during Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene. Naturally, FEMA, NYS, Westchester County and the Town talked about helping but in the end, did nothing!

Looking down Randolph

An email was sent out to the Fulton Park residents from Public Works Commissioner Victor Carosi advising of what would be taking place starting today. Here's what it said:

We have a substantial sewer break in the brook behind Randolph Road.  We expect noise and disruption to residents along Randolph Road and Benedict Road during the work.  This will include operating a large pump and having pipes along the street for probably the next five days.  The pumping will be necessary to operate 24-hours a day.  The pump ordered is fitted with noise dampening mufflers, but it still will be noisy. 

I would like to inform the neighborhood association and/or key residents in this area.  Victor G. Carosi, P.E.

Commissioner of Public Works

Town of Greenburgh, NY

(914) 993-1644

We decided to investigate and found crews in the process of laying out 12" piping to bypass a section of pipe that had been found to have cracked and been leaking. Representatives from the Town stated the plan is to pump as much of the sewage and water from the dead end of Benedict Rd through the piping into another sewerage drain located on Randolph Road. Our photos show the piping and driveway plates that are actually flat piping, allowing cars in and out of their driveways. The Towns representatives were forthcoming with information and their plan. After all, this wasn’t a Town Board meeting so there was no need for secrecy, special meetings behind closed doors or Executive sessions.

“Quiet pump”

The schedule of events after the piping is hooked up is to pump the water and sewage tonight and tomorrow and then evaluate the amount left. If the level is low enough, they plan to repair the existing pipe with a liner, hopefully eliminating the need to tear up the road and physically replace the old pipes. If everything checks out okay, the work will continue probably through Monday. If they need to do a bit more, it could go longer. They are confident it should go smoothly. They also said this should not disrupt any residents use of water or sewers (toilets, showers, etc.).

Workers laying the pipe said it was a dirty job but once everything gets started, it should be “routine”. One fellow did comment on the extraordinary amount of mosquito bites he got just laying the equipment out in place. He said they sprayed the area but to no avail. Most residents are already well aware of the Panama Canal-like quality Fulton Park suffers from with mosquitos. Well, as the saying goes, “Its a dirty job but somebody has to do it.” And while this job really does stink, we’re glad the dedicated employees of the Town are there doing the job. 

Slay The Pothole Vortex - Addendum

Based on the previous article posted by ABG this morning, a staffer just drove by the site of the lane-wide pothole on Old Tarrytown Road. She emailed us to say she saw steam coming from the freshly poured blacktop patch of the hole! That’s a relief. We also received word of crews that are out in White Plains on Main Street and other communities doing patching. Not being well-versed in the art of blacktop work, apparently rain is not a handicap to effectively patch a pothole.

We applaud our Town crew for responding to our post to rectify a dangerous situation on Old Tarrytown Road and hope we see more being done throughout the Town. While there is still much to do to get A Better Greenburgh, at least we won’t lose any fillings driving there.

Slay The Pothole Vortex

As the weather’s temperature drops to create new cold records, and weather people suddenly began teaching us about the Polar Vortex, a by-product of this cold is witnessing divots in our roadways expanding faster than crews can keep up with their growth. It’s almost like some science fiction movie where the film shows an accelerated growth of the pod that begins killing humans. Only this time the pod growth is the divot that grows in size to become a tank trap. It’s controlled by the Pothole Vortex.

Potholes are not a new phenomenon here in the northeast. But fixing them in a timely fashion, is. In the midwest, where many roadways are still made of concrete, the threat and realization of chips in the concrete growing exponentially larger each day is not common. Road crews respond quickly to keep their roadways in check. Concrete has a stronger tensile strength than its cheaper cousin, macadam/blacktop/asphalt. Plus, concrete is a much more cohesive product that does not break apart as easily as blacktop. Nor do you have “black ice” with it.

The first macadam surface in the United States was laid on the “Boonsborough Turnpike Road” between Hagerstown and Boonsboro, Maryland. Construction specifications for the turnpike road incorporated those set forth by John Loudon McAdam of Scotland. Early roads in the United States had been simple ruts carved into the ground by the many horses and wagons that traversed our great land. Travel was brutal at best, add to that any inclement weather conditions and you get the sloppy picture. Cobblestones were common from late medieval times into the 19th century.

In 1876, President Grant selected a group of army engineers to study the use of asphalt on roads. This group suggested that Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., be paved with sheet asphalt made from Trinidad Lake asphalt. That pavement remained in excellent condition for 11 years, despite the traffic at the White House. But, as with most politicians, Grant did nothing about maintenance. Because the traffic was literally lighter, potholes such as the ones we experience today were unheard of.

Coming down (eastbound) Old Tarrytown Road from Hillside Avenue will present you with the Mothra of epic potholes. It started as they often do, with a small crack and then a growing hole on the right-hand side of the road with a small road cone adjacent to it. As it expanded in size, presumably someone from the Town placed one of those large orange highway construction traffic cones in it. It’s the size of a large trash can with the black rubber ring on its base. That quickly fell over and into the hole, as the hole grew under its own power. This was the work of the Pothole Vortex, with a self-generating and uncontrollable appetite for growth! The “cone” lying on its side, was slowly being sucked into the earth, a la the China Syndrome. The unfortunate motorist driving in that direction, possibly on a cell phone, adjusting their radio, or simply aiming by rote, would be abruptly shocked when they hit this hole. Their car’s entire front end will fall into this and depending on their speed may make a tremendously loud bang, waking residents like a car hitting a bridge!

In short time, the Pothole Vortex gained strength, gorging and expanding its tentacles throughout our roadways. The Pothole Vortex required any drivers on the road to participate in some very creative maneuvers. Viewing traffic from above might resemble bugs flying around a lightbulb on a summer’s eve. This is making for some very unsafe driving conditions as motorists are swerving in all directions to avoid the bone-shaking, teeth-rattling dips and bangs with their cars. We’re sure there are other locations suffering from the Pothole Vortex. 

We realize the Towns and Villages are doing what they can to keep up with these traffic hazards. We also realize that NYS roadways going through our communities are largely ignored by our state government. Why isn’t Mr Feiner on the phone with Governor Cuomo and Assemblyman Abinanti and Senator Stewart-Cousins demanding repairs? Governor Cuomo has presidential aspirations, and says we should lower taxes, build a bridge and so on. He needs to do one more thing. We need the governor to tell the state road crews to get out there and patch our roads while our record-setting taxes are still being collected. What are we getting in return? They should be fighting this Pothole Vortex monster and making repairs 24-7 – around the clock! In fact, nighttime repairs make the most sense as the crews can work unimpeded due to less traffic, a safer environment for the crews as well as making morning commutes less harrowing as drivers won’t be slamming on their brakes each time the approach or hit a pothole. 

Mr Feiner, the Problem Solver, who won’t hesitate to redirect our road crews from a Town project to fill a pothole or trim a bush in some constituents neighborhood in search of a vote, needs to work with Commissioner Carosi and allow the Town crews to do what they do best. These road conditions are unsafe, ruin our already degrading and ignored infrastructure, and make for more work for our employees. We applaud the job Mr Carosi has been doing. We just need Mr Feiner to stay out of his way so he can help the taxpayers and slay the Pothole Vortex in Greenburgh. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

Another Resident Speaks Out

This post was a letter posted on another site after last nights Town Hall meeting to discuss forming another Citizen’s Committee for the Town, this time for Alan Hochberg to address ConEd’s inaction during Hurricane Sandy. Given the enormity of devastation throughout the region, we are more concerned with The Paul’s inaction during and after the storm. It is written, submitted and reprinted with permission by Whitney P. We feel there are several valuable points, warranting inclusion here:

Thank you for another great publicity piece for Paul Feiner. You took the comments of a few Village supporters who threw a few minor, somewhat valid, albeit softball, points and allowed him to pontificate for two hours. You neglected to quote any of the people who recognized Feiner’s typical lack of action, poor management skills and uselessness as a leader as he did absolutely nothing during the storm except send out emails to people with no power. Feiner admitted in the beginning of the meeting that HE couldn’t get ConEd to respond quicker or better for Greenburgh. If he can’t, what makes these residents believe they will have an impact? Because he said so? They won’t. If there are fines levied against ConEd, we will pay them after ConEd pays them and they raise our already high rates even higher still!

One man got up and blasted Feiner, saying he did nothing but make empty promises during and after Hurricane Irene, and his lack of actions were the same for this storm. All Feiner ever does is send letters to other politicians telling them they should do more for constituents. He also stated there is an emergency operations center in Hawthorne for all the decision makers to be located during an emergency with the heads of all agencies. THAT's where Feiner should have been during this storm. But, since you didn’t push back and just reproduce his one-sided press releases, you don’t know why he wasn’t there, do you?

Another man asked if Feiner had invited ConEd to attend this meeting. His standard parsing of words was to dodge the real answer until he finally admitted he had “notified” ConEd of this meeting. When the man continued to push, Feiner finally stated that, no, they had not been invited. Of course he didn’t invite them, as well as Police Chief DeCarlo, Fire Chief Loguidice, Highway Commissioner Carosi, if he had, it would have actually required doing something.

This meeting was about publicity for Feiner, shifting attention off of his Fortress Bible loss $8 million, the contaminated soil at the GameOn 365 site, the loss of $1.2 million a year from Westhelp and so much more. He got his publicity no thanks to the GDV. Feiner is a media whore who will continue to talk to you regardless of how much you write against him. Samantha, you need to get in the game.

Finally, Samantha, good reporters learn early on if they plan to make a name for themselves they must ask the tough questions, state the unpleasant and prove themselves in their reporting with the real story. What you’ve done is regurgitate Feiner’s talking points, historically repeating that Feiner will not be held accountable for his failures (again) and that you may have better success at your next job. We had such hope for you.