Break-Ins Surge According to Email

 Even without receiving campaign emails from the corner office about what’s going on around Town, it’s no longer a secret that the Greenburgh Police Department has lessened their traffic control presence throughout the Town. It was most notably observed in several neighborhoods that used to have an officer in either a marked, unmarked or “shadow” vehicle sitting with a radar gun monitoring traffic, speeders and issuing tickets. The officers doing this have apparently been removed from these locations and either reassigned or perhaps even retired. While we don’t have a reason for this, we know the lack of traffic policing has not gone unnoticed.

Many residents have reached out to their civic associations to complain and find out why. The police department has admitted they are short-staffed. Quite possibly a personnel shortage might, in fact, be the reason. But we also read that the police department decided not to fill a vacant position to purchase several motorcycles. Clearly, this move would indicate the position that was open was not necessarily impactful or critical to the police on patrol. Or was it?

In one of his recent daily email campaign blasts, Mr Feiner wrote to residents that “Over a dozen unlocked vehicles were entered last night in the Joyce Road section of Hartsdale and property was stolen from within the cars. Additionally, one unlocked vehicle with a key left inside was stolen.  If each of these cars was locked this email would not have been written!” We doubt that. In fact, he would simply discuss something else. Such as, since the professionals he hired to repair the 9-11 memorial wall at Presser Park (formerly Webb Field) failed with their last attempt, he has enlisted the help of students to repair the wall and try to keep the individual tiles from falling off again.

He continues, “We are stepping up patrols and asking residents to help protect themselves by locking their vehicles at night. This crime of opportunity is plaguing many communities in Westchester and we believe the Greenburgh police have previously arrested the subjects responsible for last night’s crimes. Our officers have been in the Bronx most of the day following up.” What it sounds like is that a lack of patrols by our police might be what’s missing. Perhaps one of the new motorcycle police officers could do the patrol more stealthily than a regular patrol car?

Finally, he says, “The Greenburgh police department also has a neighborhood watch program. Neighbors who participate in the neighborhood watch efforts help the police look for suspicious activity. Let us know if you're interested in setting up a neighborhood watch program on your street. We can have a police officer meet with you and your neighbors at someone's home, provide neighbors with safety tips and advise you what action steps you could take to help us keep your neighborhood very safe.”

We are all for Neighborhood Watch programs and encourage the public to report any suspicious activity, regardless of a Neighborhood Watch or not. But Mr Feiner has cleverly switched the subject from a lack of action with the thefts in the Hartsdale neighborhood away from the real issue, that of a lack of police presence in all of our neighborhoods. Our police department is one of the best to be found anywhere. Sadly, the police chief answers to, and the department falls under Mr Feiner’s purview. 

While all of the rhetoric from the corner office will no doubt change the subject, Mr Feiner will offer to meet with anyone who is willing to talk to him. If he hadn’t already changed the subject prior to his arrival, he will do so once he is there. Then he will try to enlist the help of that person to assist him in creating a program to... We need a more visible police presence in all of our neighborhoods to thwart crime. We need speed monitoring and ticketing of those offenders who violate the law. If we have the police in our neighborhoods instead of in the Bronx or riding motorcycles, maybe we can prevent more crime here as get to know our police officers better. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Memorial’s Disrepair Requires Overhaul

We understand Mr Feiner's proclivity towards grandstanding and hype. We also understand that after 22-years in office he has nurtured and become his own brand, developing a cult-like following and an ability to circumvent and/or ignore any opposition. Yet, to follow the traditional media's take on him, he can do no wrong. Not so, and we expose his illegal and unethical actions every chance we can.

We have continually followed and high-lighted the "other side of the story," often taking on issues that others prefer to ignore while Mr Feiner bloviates attention away from them and those with a critical eye. The Town employees, no doubt under orders from Mr Feiner, routinely obfuscate, delay and out and out refuse to supply information requested under the Freedom Of Information Law (FOIL).

Just ask Dorinne Livson, the President of the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association. She and her Civic Association are still waiting for a copy of the supposed Game On 365 contract after being given the run-around from Town Hall. ABG believes it is because there never was a contract and the Town is simply stalling in hopes of not being caught violating the law (again). By the way, when she asked Town Attorney Tim Lewis when she could expect the results of the FOIL request in 2013, he said rather matter-of-factly, "Sometime in 2015." 2015 is almost over and still no contract. Shameful.

With press releases galore, regurgitated in every printed and online source seeking to move his agenda, Mr Feiner is now claiming that the Memorial Wall at Webb Field/Richard Presser Park on Central Avenue, is in need of repair yet again. Several years after the original Memorial Wall was constructed through the generosity of an Arts Westchester, the Rotary Club and Walmart's Sam's Club, the tiles originally mounted began falling off. Subsequently, 1,686 cataloged tiles were cleaned, repaired and numbered and finally transported back to the Wall for reinstallation.

At the time of it's construction, many favored a different and more accessible location to have a Memorial built. But since this is where Mr Feiner wanted the monument, that was where it was to be built. Now, as we have learned through Mr Feiner's media deflection, the Wall is once again in need of having the tiles repaired because they are again falling off. ABG is critical because like so many patches that are made to our infrastructure, they are not designed to last. Could this be intentional on Mr Feiner's part so as to set up his next media campaign, soliciting sympathy, empathy, and more importantly, votes? We believe so.

So now he has offered several solutions with which he “hopes” to involve the public. We’re convinced he doesn't really care, but he can get more publicity from this. Most people won't even realize he's using this issue to campaign for re-election. His options are listed below in italics.
 
Options we have: Tear down the existing wall.

Preserve the tiles.

Replace the large wall with a new design.

Place the murals on the new memorial design.

Fix the wall.

The problem is that we tried to repair the wall in 2011, and it did not work. Some people believe that the climate changes contribute to the deterioration of the wall. I prefer a lasting memorial, not a memorial that will look bad every few years. Our goal is to maintain a beautiful 9/11 mural at Richard Presser Park.

Here is ABG's suggestion for the Wall:

Contact all of the high schools within the Town to assist in taking the existing tiles off the Wall, cataloging them and packing them up. This would qualify as Community Service hours for the students. Convicted criminals, Mr Feiner included, sentenced to community service could also participate. Then the Town should tear down the existing Wall and return the property to its original state. Have the tiles in need of repair get the necessary repairs to make them usable again. Map out the dimensions for the existing Wall and replace it on the Greenburgh Library's Wall near the main entrance and traffic circle area of the Library. This would avail everyone who uses the Library an opportunity to view the Memorial and it would be under constant scrutiny by everyone who sees it and works there, enabling better maintenance. It was also suggested to put the tiles on the handicap ramp from the bus stop at Route 119 toward the top, culminating at the top by the Library.

Mr Feiner decided how and where to put the Memorial Wall. It was under his direction that the repairs were made. The qualifications of those involved were never vetted, similar to what we see when Mr Feiner and the Town Board are the lead agency for a project. There are numerous examples of lead agency failures, such as the failed geothermal heating system at the Library, as well as their inadequate heating and air conditioning systems. We're not going to list them but suffice to say the list is long. If the Library is chosen as the new Memorial location, the brick siding would need to be properly prepped so we don't have to repair it again in five years after another installation. Besides prepping the wall, we'd suggest using a track system to accommodate expansion and contraction due to climate fluctuations. Similar, if you will, to the way vinyl siding is installed to accommodate the shift due to weather.
 
We want to see the victims of the horrific September 11, 2001 attacks honored. Since this Memorial Wall has had a sketchy past, perhaps this administration can finally do justice to the memory of those lost on that fateful day. Only then will we have A Better Greenburgh.