Dying A Slow Death Until They Die In Office

The governor has sent “tax relief” checks to property owners in the guise of helping the beleaguered NY taxpayer. The Town has not. What may have helped the governor would have been to announce that instead of trying to buy your vote, he’s announcing an infrastructure overhaul that has been needed for the last hundred years or so to address the cacophony of issues plaguing New York: failing roadways, flooding, failing railways, crumbling bridges, ruptured water mains, outdated airports, traffic congestion and more. Instead, this move highlights the kick-the-issues-down-the-road practice all politicians subscribe to because it’s not sexy stuff. They profess these issues will be addressed but later become someone else’s problem if they ever leave office. But in New York, as in Greenburgh, you have to die in office to officially leave. It’s killing us.

The twin “Honda” bridges (aka New Tappan Zee) across the Hudson River exacerbates the ineffectiveness of what is transpiring with our government’s stale and feeble thinking. We recently saw two tractor-trailers jackknifed on the bridge, stalling traffic for over an hour. No one was surprised. Let’s face it, with the volume of traffic travelling that roadway, we know we can expect more. So, when the planning stages produced two bridges with a new rubberized surface much slicker in the wet weather than the previous concrete, no rail, no real HOV lanes, a bike path, viewing areas, eagles’ nests, and other millennial contrivances, traffic volume and flow appeared to have been a glaringly absent topic.

We experience daily this thinking at local, state and federal levels as project after project transform into boondoggle after boondoggle. The difference locally and in our Town is the failure to “play the game” and think outside the box is destroying what was once a dynamic Town! And, at the same time, every NY politician – mostly all democrats – have remained in office for far too long. Regardless of New York’s issues and us specifically, we have the same archaic, stale and ineffective thinking bombarding us daily. An example would be any project will have 10% low-income, ground floor retail (which over and over again stay vacant) and apartments above the retail for Millennials and of course with no parking as we’re continually told Millennials don’t drive or own cars. Yet, when you look at Hartsdale Avenue going into the center of Hartsdale, there is not nearly enough parking for those people living in those apartment buildings! When it rains and there is flooding, they must (re)move their cars to higher ground. Some thought a recently passed weak Comprehensive Plan would help the residents. It was so watered down it became a laughingly simple political document that won’t protect the integrity or longevity of the Town.

Project after project gets approved by a reticent Town Board incapable of breaking free of the servitude that grips them to their master. As long as they are instructed to vote in favor of a project, pass a code change or waive the craftily enacted standards that favor developers, they will remain on his Board. Falter from that narrative and be jettisoned in the blink of an eye, commonly referred to as being “Sonya’d.” After Town Board member Sonya Brown publicly exposed Mr Feiner’s racial bias against the minority community in the Fairview section of town, she was shunned by the Town Board, ignored by many in Town Hall (also fearful for their jobs) and dropped from the re-election ticket for now-Councilman Ken Jones. Mr Jones learned quickly that to get along he must go along. Sadly, we had been hopeful that he would exhibit a modicum of independence only to have the electorate be disappointed yet again as he tows the Feiner -line.

The Elmwood Country Club was sold to a developer who has an arsenal of attorneys at their beck and call who know how to play the approval game in Greenburgh. We’re told they met secretly with Mr Feiner and probably his Town Board as Mr Feiner laid out the groundwork they needed to follow to ensure successful completion of their yet to be proposed project. First, meet with his arch-enemy, the President of the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association and get a buy-in from their President and ultimately their members. You’ll recall that they were the ones who successfully stopped Mr Feiner’s GameOn 365 from erecting (really inflating) an 83 ft tall “sports bubble” at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road where the former Frank’s Nursery had been. Stung by this embarrassing defeat after several residents exposed Mr Feiner and GameOn 365’s collusion, Mr Feiner has worked tirelessly to find any way possible to get the flawed and failing GameOn 365 project to reach fruition. Why follow this same path of failing ideas? Do as I say, not as I do.

The Hartsdale Neighbors Association sparked a debate about their 4-Corners (4C) and it’s need of renovation and uplifting, citing that it’s been a revolving door of failed businesses and desolate retail spaces due to the Town’s permit process, zoning, lack of parking and bereft planning processes. In light of the Edgemont Incorporation effort, word got back to the Town Board about new talks of a Hartsdale Incorporation based on what happens to the Unincorporated Town (which includes Hartsdale) should the Edgemont incorporation succeed. Concerns festered over what would happen to the Hartsdale community and the town budget, town services and staff. Mr Feiner and his Board were rapt as Inspired Spaces made a presentation of solutions for the failed and ignored area. They certainly embody their motto, “We seem to care.” But since the only real beneficiaries of remodeling of the 4C area is the landlords, we doubt these plans will get much traction.

But now that the Edgemont incorporation has been successfully stalled, Town politicians needed a new crisis to divert attention from what is really going on with finances, personnel, insider developer approvals and more. Thankfully, whenever in need and there is no apparent cause to latch onto, play the race card. This time it was espoused by Town Clerk Judith Beville, an African-American woman who charged in a series of emails that she, as an African-American woman, was being targeted by all of the members of the Town Board, but not her meal ticket Mr Feiner, that had racial overtones. She made sure to not bite the hand that feeds her so to speak.

Racism is no stranger at our Town Hall, at least during the Feiner Administration(s). And while these episodes have always been craftily ignored, swept under the rug or simply ignored, racism is alive and well at 177 Hillside Avenue. Regardless of previous events, Ms Beville sent a series of emails alluding to racism and then actually charging that this was done to her specifically because she was an African-American woman in a high-profile position in the Town. Whether or not it was true almost seemed inconsequential as she began to play to her base who showed up to the Town Board meeting on her behalf. There were other statements made about the Deputy Town Clerk that appeared to cross the line regarding HIPAA requirements, legal requirements and of course common courtesy. In fact, toward the end of the Town Clerk discussion portion of the last Town Board meeting, all of the Council members as well as Town Attorney Tim Lewis were repeatedly asking her to stop talking as she was probably violating HIPAA laws by discussing the medical problems of the former Deputy Town Clerk! Punishment for these transgressions? Not in Greenburgh.

While Ms Beville was unwilling to remain silent after the Board pleaded with her, Councilman Sheehan stated that the entire episode was not a racial matter and that the Deputy said she was going to quit because she had to keep training new people as well as continuing to do her own job as well. Because of the seemingly endless stream of trainings and her workload, she said she had had enough. Apparently, it was either Mr Feiner or the Town Board (or both) who decided to create and fill a new position at roughly $70+k per year with benefits without approval, a budget item or candidate search. THIS sounds like our Town Board. They also stated that the Town Clerk’s office would still have the same number of staffers working there, but training could now be done by Ms Beville. And yet Mr Feiner seems compelled to complain about the Fire Districts personnel issues. Those who live in glass houses should not cast any stones.

Word in the Town Hall hallways is that the Town Board doesn’t have faith that Ms Beville can adequately train those new people and that’s why they wanted to keep the former Deputy, even if it was in a different position. Maybe so. This isn’t the way to run a Town. It’s also proof of why we need term limits, even though those in office will never agree to relinquish their power until they've padded their coffers enough and are ready themselves to step down. When the Democratic electorate finally wises up, maybe we will see a change and get some new blood, new ideas and better thinking. Complacency is also alive and well in Greenburgh. It needs to change. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

“Deflection Mode” Media Blitz Underway

In classic style, Mr Feiner has spent the last week or so bemoaning the need for sidewalks in our Town. Never one to let a “good” crisis go by without comment, he has engaged a complicit media with email and snail mail press releases about the death of Mount Vernon resident Herbert Wesley, age 57, on Grasslands Road in Valhalla, on November 17th. It’s been reported that Mt Pleasant police received several phone calls of an intoxicated man, who turned out to be Wesley, who could be seen walking along Grasslands Road. He was struck and killed by an SUV at about 7 p.m. The driver of the SUV was not identified by police and is not facing charges but did remain at the scene.

After this happened, Mr Feiner sent out numerous letters to the editors of area newspapers. In them, he states, “The pedestrian death... highlights the need for sidewalks to be built on streets leading to the community college.” What he failed to mention was that this accident might not have happened had he not postured several years ago and acted in earnest on the request made about two or three years ago by a young college student from Westchester Community College. He appeared before the Town Board meeting holding a hand-made sign asking for sidewalks from the college on both Grasslands and Knollwood Roads, citing the hazardous walking conditions along the sides of each road compounded by a high volume of traffic.

As usual, the Town Board bristled, as here before them was a novice, young, idealistic voice of a new constituency, untainted and unmarred by Greenburgh’s demagoguery. Mr Feiner engaged him in a conversation, giving Mr Lewis the “secret signal” to allow the exchange. You see, when things get prickly for Mr Feiner, Mr Lewis is right there to stop the exchange and has even fallen on the sword when necessary to spare his boss self-inflicted embarrassment. At the end of this exchange and even with a brief interview by a news reporter, several long-time residents eventually informed him that nothing would come of his pitch to them and the exchange that followed. That’s politics kid!

On November 14, 2015, ABG wrote about another pedestrian struck by a car that went unreported by other news media. Here’s an excerpt:
“According to Police Chief McNerney, ‘On November 24th, at approximately 6:55pm, a pedestrian was struck on Joan Avenue at the intersection of Knollwood Road. The pedestrian was crossing Joan Avenue, from the north side to the south side and was struck by a vehicle that was traveling south on Knollwood Road, making a right onto Joan. According to the report, the pedestrian suffered minor injuries.’ This piece of information was unreported to the media.” What we had learned at the time from a police officer was that Mr Feiner called the Police Chief and asked him to withhold the information from the press. You see, many newspapers, including the Journal News, will call daily all of the Westchester police departments and ask if they have any news to report. We believe that is what he asked him to withhold.

Looking back through the ABG archives, we found another story from Friday, February 8, 2013 about a pedestrian struck on Knollwood Road. Here’s that excerpt:
“At about 2PM today, Friday, a pedestrian was struck by a car walking on Knollwood Road at the entrance to the Westchester Community College. There is no sidewalk. At the other end of Knollwood Road, the new Greenburgh Health Center has opened. It’s only a matter of time that a pedestrian gets hit by a car at this new address. The old Community Health Center on Rt 119 across from the former A&P in the Crossroads Shopping Center, found many of it’s clients crossing Rt 119 with kids, strollers and shopping bags, etc., in all kinds of weather and traffic. The dangerous situation that existed at one area has been shifted to another. Even though it is a different area, the same risk still exists for the health center’s clientele, just at their new home. There is no sidewalk.”

ABG has followed numerous requests for sidewalks for years from the North Elmsford, Fulton Park, Worthington Woodlands, and the Broadview Civic Associations to name a few. No responses or action have taken place by the Town to those requests. Although Broadview has been pushing the argument that the Town dropped the ball by not enforcing the agreement that the Greenburgh Health Center, owned by the Mount Vernon Health Center, and the condominium next to it have failed to honor their agreement to build sidewalks in front of their respective property. Our research also found two additional pedestrian deaths on Rt 9A in 2008.

The only response for sidewalks made thus far has been to the Edgemont Community Council’s request for sidewalks at Seely Place, where there is a school. ABG believes the only reason Mr Feiner worked towards getting them sidewalks is the looming secession they have held over him. Should Edgemont secede, the Town and Mr Feiner would lose a tremendous portion of income for his budgets, pulling back the magic curtain and exposing the shell game Mr Feiner has run for years. Let’s not forget the money lost by his breaking the contract with Westchester County for WestHelp to the loss of $1.2 million per year. Let’s also not forget the guilty verdict by a Federal Court against Mr Feiner, Ms Juettner and the Town for $6.5 million of which the taxpayers must pay $5.5 million!

Last year, the village of Ardsley built a sidewalk on Heatherdell Road leading to the Ardsley High School using federal dollars. What Mr Feiner fails to mention is that only Ardsley’s elected officials secured the funds without Mr Feiner or the Town's involvement and built their sidewalks in record time. ABG has learned that each time the State has had funds available for sidewalks, Mr Feiner has never “stepped up” to try to secure those funds for sidewalks in any portion of the Town! If only Unincorporated Greenburgh residents had a Mayor like Ardsley things might be different.

What Mr Feiner typically does is act like the Town Crier (no pun intended) and then say that other politicians should pay for what he says we need. It’s the classic bait-and-switch scheme that frankly, has gotten old and worn out under this administration. It’s time for real leadership in Greenburgh. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

An Open Letter: Death of “The Process”

May 20, 2015

Supervisor Paul Feiner

Town Board
Town of Greenburgh
Town Hall
177 Hillside Avenue
Greenburgh, New York 10607

Dear Supervisor Feiner:

I am appealing to you in my capacity as the Vice-President of the Fulton Park Civic Association with respect to the application filed on behalf of GameOn 365 Sports, LLC seeking a zoning amendment that will negatively impact the entire Town in the future, initially allowing construction of a prohibitive commercial sports complex on Dobbs Ferry Road in the R-30 Zoning District.

As you will recall, at the Town Board meeting on April 8, 2015, an overwhelming majority of community members attended to steadfastly voice their opposition to GameOn 365’s application. In fact, the overwhelming sentiment was that the proposed zoning amendment should be rejected. Nonetheless, you and Town Board members, Ken Jones and Kevin Morgan, decided to blatantly disregard the will of the residents of the Town of Greenburgh by moving the GameOn 365 application forward by commencing the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act process and referring the matter to the Town of Greenburgh Planning Board for an “informal” review. This belies your collective statements of impartiality and removes all pretext of keeping an open mind! I am writing to advise you that the members of my association, as I’m sure the residents living in the vicinity of the golf ranch property, are greatly troubled by your actions and the actions of Councilman Morgan and Councilman Jones. 

I had written you a letter on April 8, 2015, pointing out a number of deficiencies in the long form Environmental Assessment Form prepared by GameOn 365. Regardless, you, in concert with Councilman Morgan and Councilman Jones, and over the objections of Councilmember’s Sheehan and Juettner, decided to declare the Town Board’s intent to act as Lead Agency under SEQRA and provide notice of this intent to interested and involved agencies, giving GameOn 365 the necessary ammunition to seek real financial investors. I believe this is purely endorsed semantics to move GameOn 365’s proposal forward! I reiterate that preceding any further with the SEQRA review is improper until the errors in the EAF are analyzed and corrected. To continue with the review would create a flawed environmental review process since the involved and interested agencies cannot accurately assess the impact of the zone change or the scope of the underlying project. Or, is that the actual plan? I ask that the Town Board immediately withdraw its intent to act or become Lead Agency, and, at the very least, require GameOn 365 to amend its EAF until the errors I previously pointed out are corrected.

The next troubling aspect of your actions is that you have continually acted as an advocate for GameOn 365. Although you contend that you are neutral and that you are merely following “the process”, there are many examples where you have chosen to proceed in a biased manner.  One example is that you have continually taken the position that the traffic impacts relating to Dobbs Ferry Road are not significant and that the project would not result in excessive traffic.  However, this is substantially different than the position that you took with respect to the Fortress Bible Church.  At that time, you were very concerned about the volume of traffic the Fortress Bible Church would add to Dobbs Ferry Road. The GameOn project would likely add more traffic, on a more regular basis, than the Fortress Bible Church proposal.

Your most recent statements that you were only concerned with site lines with respect to the Fortress Bible Church are directly contradicted by the record in that action and will invariably and rightly be part of any litigation concerning the proposed traffic impacts. Your statement that you spoke with the Chief of Police on occasions regarding the Fortress Bible project is also contradicted by your testimony in that case. These contradictions demonstrate that you are anything but neutral. Past performance has proven when you have a project you support, such as GameOn 365, you will do anything to move the application forward; but where you have a project you are against, such as Fortress Bible, you will do anything to oppose it including destruction of evidence and lying under oath. It is no wonder people have lost confidence in the process in our Town!

You have also continually questioned whether the traffic impacts studied by House of Sports should be considered when analyzing the GameOn 365 project. Despite your assertions to the contrary, the GameOn 365 facility will attract a similar amount of traffic as House of Sports. Furthermore, the number of spectators and participants will not in any way be limited by an alleged lack of seating or otherwise at the GameOn 365 facility. There is no doubt that when children come to GameOn 365, their parents, relatives and friends will attend practices, games and tournaments in large numbers.

The manner in which you have driven this process forward demonstrates bias and that you are acting as an advocate for GameOn 365.  As stated above, you have voted to declare the Town Board as Lead Agency, despite the deficiencies in the EAF and substantial evidence and testimony that property in the R-30 zone should not be zoned for commercial use. The only reason to have moved the environmental review process forward at this time is because you are in favor of the GameOn 365 application!

The formation of a “committee” for the purpose of hiring of a traffic consultant and planning consultant, is also highly suspect, is not typical in a SEQRA review and further establishes that you are treating the GameOn 365 application differently than other applications. The usual process for a zone change petition is for the applicant to submit studies in conjunction with a draft Environmental Impact Statement that the Town professionals can then analyze. It will be at that time that the Town could hire a planning consultant, traffic consultant and other professionals to review the applicant’s studies. The public would then be given the opportunity to hire its consultants to analyze the applicant’s studies and present information during the SEQRA review. It is entirely inappropriate for the Town to conduct studies on its own, prior to the applicant submitting its own studies and draft Environmental Impact Statement. This is true even if the applicant is paying for the studies, which further taints the process. What is even more disturbing is that if the Town’s consultants ultimately conclude that there are not any significant impacts from the project, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the Town Board to reject or modify the application during either the SEQRA or site plan review process.

The supposedly “informal” referral of this application to the Planning Board is also not typical of a petition for a zoning amendment. As you are aware, Town Code § 285-64 requires the Planning Board to make a formal recommendation addressing specific areas of concern with respect to any petition for a zone change before the Town Board holds a public hearing. However, there is no provision for an “informal” Planning Board review in the Town Code. If you are seeking an advisory opinion from the Planning Board, I believe such advisory opinions are improper and illegal. Your attempt to somehow sidestep the formal recommendation process by asking the Planning Board to conduct an “informal” review is again contrary to the process and shows that you are taking a biased approach with respect to this particular applicant.

The bottom line is that communities throughout the Town of Greenburgh are against the GameOn 365’s petition for a zone change that will forever change the landscape of Greenburgh town wide. Yet you, Councilmen Jones and Morgan continue to support it at all costs. I insist you all to reconsider the current direction the Town Board has taken with respect to GameOn 365’s application and dismiss it.

Thomas Bock, 

Vice-President, Fulton Park Civic Association

I Can Do This Forever

Do what? Jerk the tax-paying residents around until they get exhausted? Mr Feiner may not say this, but he certainly practices it. He continues to hand-hold any developer interested in building in the Town as they submit their project(s) for approval. He does this by having his Town Board vote to be the Lead Agency on every project put forth that he favors. We imagine he gets fed up at times and says to himself, “When are they going to learn and stop interfering with my plans? I can’t be voted out of office because no other party will put up a candidate to run against me. Hell, even the Democrats couldn’t beat me! I just wear them all down. I can do this forever!”

Two years and five months ago, as well as five years ago, issues came to the forefront that Mr Feiner has still not acted upon. Nor has the Town Board. These issues, completely unrelated and very different, highlight the tenacity of Mr Feiner when he wants something and meets with resistance. He will fight whomever is against him simply because they are against him. Think rope-a-dope.
 
Two years ago, ABG attended an Edgemont Civic Association (ECC) meeting at Edgemont High School. An Edgemont resident in attendance got up and voiced his opinion about how many massage parlors were opening in the Town of Greenburgh and Edgemont in particular. He asked for that Association’s assistance in helping to close them. Some of the reasons included the clientele, possible sexual slavery, prostitution, unlicensed massage “therapists” as well as other issues were highlighted and made for a compelling argument against them. More immediately, he was concerned for his young daughters being exposed to this when they went to a nearby or adjacent business.
 
Robert Bernstein, an Edgemont resident, attorney and ECC President, along with Community Activist Ella Preiser and others, drafted a bill that would give the Greenburgh Police Department real teeth in going after these establishments. If they were legitimate, they would have nothing to fear. If not, the Police, Fire and Building Departments would have the ability to close them down. Publicly Mr Feiner said he was against the massage parlors. But is he? His actions, or lack of, belie what he says. Another Feiner tactic.

We imagine he told Town Clerk Beville to slap together some kind of meeting about sex trafficking, invite the usual suspects and he’d send it out on the GBList to make it seem like they really cared. We wonder if anyone has questioned his use of the GBList since Worthington Woodlands Civic Association President Dorrine Livson had sued the Town under an Article 78 for access to the GBList and won? We also imagine his response to be, “Just do as I say and let me worry about the GBList and Livson.” Emails sent.
 
So did he line up the players in a closeted session, possibly including Town Clerk Beville, Town Attorney Lewis, newbie Commissioner of Planning Garrett Duquesne and maybe a Town Board member or two? We imagine he gave them their marching orders: “Anything Bob Bernstein submits must get lost, discarded, proven useless or simple fought to stall for time. I need this to go away and if you all value your jobs, you’ll do as I say!” Hence, the apparent unending opposition by Attorney Tim Lewis, in particular, as he protects his meal ticket against Mr Bernstein’s proposed bill.

We believe the relentless verbal pounding Mr Lewis was receiving at every meeting by residents regarding his resistance to Mr Bernstein's bill probably forced Mr Feiner to develop an alternate plan or two (or three) in case Mr Lewis caved. The next step was to have the bill delivered to the Planning Board, who we’ve now learned are unqualified to write legislation. ABG wonders if Town Attorney Lewis instructed the Planning Board to "take their time" and stall this bill by formally asking the NYS Attorney General’s office to review it. That request was rejected by the NYS Attorney's office but succeeded to stall the bill for another 5-months, providing the Town Board the ability to say they are awaiting an answer from the state and cannot discuss the matter further. The Planning Board created their own law so now there are two versions to be decided upon. Mr Bernstein keeps asking to meet with the board members to discuss it but they keep ignoring him. ABG believes this was nothing more than another stall tactic by Mr Feiner. Remember, he can do this forever.

Then we come to the Zoning Change Proposal that will negatively impact the entire Town. The Town Board is split on the request made by Mr Feiner's friends from GameOn 365. This started five years ago when Mr Feiner sought to illegally hand the property over to Martin Hewitt, project manager for GameOn 365, for the proverbial “song”. When a threatened lawsuit halted that folly, Mr Feiner announced a referendum, which was carefully worded to ensure its passage. In the meantime, the Federal Courts rendered a guilty verdict against Mr Feiner and certain people on his Town Boards of violating the civil rights of the Fortress Bible Church, including Ardsley’s Diana Juettner, a current Town Councilwoman.

So with all of the back and forth about how to get the former Frank’s Nursery property to the GameOn 365 paper organization, Mr Feiner has launched his campaign, being their most committed cheerleader. The property is still suffering from numerous contaminants and requests by residents for the Town to remediate it were met with blank stares and Mr Lewis’ assurances that the remediation would cost no more than $100k. Hah! The study alone cost more than that and it was a truncated one at that. The auction specialist the Town hired to auction off the property ultimately said the Town must make the property whole before anyone would bid on it. Huh? That’s exactly what the residents had said!

A number of years ago the Town, under Mr Feiner, tried to take over the Visioli’s Golf Driving Range on Dobbs Ferry Road. Now he professes that he is trying to save it. Our guess is he suggested to Mr Hewitt that he try to purchase all of it or at least some of the Visioli property as they were in tax arrears and instead of a bubble, offer a fixed structure. Whether or not this conjecture is true remains a mystery, but the relentless actions by Mr Feiner to try to make GameOn 365’s proposal come to fruition are alarmingly suspect. However, the issue isn’t about GameOn 365’s proposal, per se. Rather, it is about changing the zoning to allow commercial entities to invade residential neighborhoods. Remember, he can do this forever.

It is truly a difficult thing to start and even sustain a business. We see area businesses shuttered in Greenburgh, the County and the State all too often. In fact, ABG staffers were at a meeting where the owners of Smashburger were seeking additional signs for an "under-performing" location. We thought they were in good shape. Apparently not. It’s the one in the shopping center with Shoprite on Central Avenue. You know the one, they want to add two more buildings utilizing existing parking spaces - the latest craze from town and urban planners. Could it be that Smashburger is under performing (read: losing money) because it is already so difficult to find a parking space anywhere near your intended location unless you were born into it? We don’t want to see this zoning change. We want to see businesses operate in the appropriately zoned area for it. Only then we will see A Better Greenburgh.

Fairview Golf Driving Range To Close

It has been known for months but Mr Feiner has chosen not to use the information as ammunition in his goal to help his friends, GameOn 365, but we’re confident he will. He’s fought the urge to blurt out at a Town Board meeting about the other golf driving range in Town closing. Instead, he’s tried to put the onus upon the Dobbs Ferry Road area residents, claiming the Visioli’s Golf Driving Range on Dobbs Ferry Road could close. GameOn 365 and Mr Feiner, with Board members Morgan and Jones, are ignoring the area neighborhoods and simply brushing aside their concerns. They are still, after five years, seeking to build something, anything, on Dobbs Ferry Road in hopes of “cashing in” on the lucrative sports market. Their building can be inflatable, fixed, it doesn’t matter. But, according to Mr Feiner, it must be there and it must be now.

As has been well known in the community circles, the Fairview Golf Driving Range, with two miniature golf ranges, is scheduled to close its 300 Waterside Drive location, this Friday on April 24th. It was located in the industrial complex since 1994 across from the Westchester Skating Academy ice rink facility – a commercial entity in a commercially zoned area. The Dobbs Ferry Road driving range facility has been in existence longer. One notable difference is the Fairview Golf Driving Range facility always paid their Town taxes. 

Sporting a double-decker structure with a pro shop inside, the heated “booths” provided a year-round practice facility with practicality and comfort. While we are always sad to see any business close their doors, we see this as Mr Feiner’s next argument at future Town Board meetings as he continues to stump for GameOn 365, but not for the Fairview Golf Driving Range. We envision the argument to almost tearfully be, perhaps performed by character actors from a nearby deli, “We must not lose this treasure, this icon, this multi-generational business as we attempt to completely pave this area into a sports corridor. We must save the driving range. GameOn 365’s proposal does that.” Actually it does not.

Fed Ex, located behind the Fairview Golf Driving Range facility, has submitted an application to build a new distribution center. The Town Board has already approved the FedEx expansion onto the 27-acre site occupied by the golf driving range. Variances were granted in February to increase the height of the building and outdoor lights. Situated here, it will not interfere with any residential neighborhoods. The application also involves subdivision approval from the Planning Board and a special permit from the Town Board so that a new road can be built within the industrial park. The road would be deeded to the Town and connect to Fieldcrest Drive to the north.

In part, this FedEx expansion onto previously unpaved surface, will increase the amount of impervious space for that area and cause more water to drain off into the Saw Mill River and the businesses and homes along the Route 9A corridor. Additionally, just north of this location will be the 100-acre development of a box store, strip mall, movie theatre and whatever else is planned at the Landmark at Eastview. It only promises to increase the amount of water flowing downhill. Not much concern is given by our Town Board and Mr Feiner’s hand-picked appointees sitting on his other Boards to the over-development of every inch of land in Unincorporated Greenburgh. It has to stop before unincorporated Greenburgh resembles the worst of the Bronx. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Game On 365’s Plans Set a Dangerous Precedent in Town of Greenburgh

On April 8 the Greenburgh Town Board held a meeting to hear the views of residents (and nonresidents, as it happened) about the proposal by Game On 365 to build and operate a large sporting facility on Dobbs Ferry Road, on the golf-driving range property that, Game On has an option to buy.

The proposal is to build a large building (for indoor sports), which was described by Councilman Francis Sheehan as being the size of the Sam’s Club structure in Elmsford, but more than 60 percent higher. In addition Game On will build an outdoor field and operate other facilities, including physical therapy rooms, a party room, a cafe and a retail store. Readers will remember that Game On had previously tried to build an 80-plus-foot high sports bubble on the Frank’s Nursery site, with Paul Feiner’s strong support, but that proposal failed for a number of reasons, primarily because the town did not legally own the site and the grounds were chemically polluted.

The meeting was emotional and contentious. Residents of the area were angered at the thought of such a commercial behemoth being foisted on them, in the middle of a neighborhood that consists of single-family homes of rather high quality. The golf driving range property is situated on land that is zoned residential single-family housing and operates as a legal nonconforming use because it predated the applicable zoning law.

Game On has requested that the residential zoning be changed to permit a commercial use in order to accommodate the sports facility that it wishes to build. As was to be expected, the neighborhood erupted in opposition. Such a facility - open during the day and into the late evening - with its noise, its late-night lights, its traffic, its appearance, its physical impact on the nearby homes, etc. - would destroy this quiet residential neighborhood and decimate the value of the homes there.

The meeting consisted of arguments pro and con the Game On facility. Those in favor, primarily soccer moms and dads and coaches, cited the benefits of it year-round sports facility. Those opposed cited the very real destructive consequences to the community,

But these were the wrong arguments.

The question of whether this large facility should or should not be in the Dobbs Ferry Road location is the second question to be considered. The first question is whether a 32-acre site in the middle of an area zoned residential should have its zoning changed to permit commercial use. That is a question of great consequence, with enormous implications. And that is a question that needs to be addressed before one considers the impact of a sports facility in that neighborhood. A zoning change is permanent. Game On’s proposed facility is temporary.

Suppose, as one example, that the proposed Game On sports facility is not successful, and has to close. And at some point it will close. Greenburgh, and the neighborhood, are then left with a huge building that allows a number of commercial uses in the middle of a residential neighborhood. The possibility - no, the inevitability - of this building and associated parking being used for other commercial purposes is self-evident.

Or consider another example. If the 32-acre site is zoned to permit cornmercial uses, its value multiplies by several orders of magnitude. The land Game On has an option to buy will immediately greatly increase in Value. Suppose that the Game On owners decide (or have already decided) that instead of risking the investment in a business, they can sell all or part of the property and make a huge windfall profit. They have the power, and perhaps the incentive, to do so.

In either of these eventualities the town will be essentially helpless. It is not difficult to stop a commercial development in a residentially zoned area. But it is difficult to stop a legitimate commercial development on a property already zoned to permit commercial uses. There is no hindsight available. To refuse a commercial developer in an area already zoned to permit commercial uses invites litigation that will be extremely expensive and probably unsuccessful for the town. And it is worth noting that the town board cannot prohibit an applicant from seeking variances horn the Zoning Board of Appeals to expand the permitted commercial uses.

And so I repeat. The question for the town board at this time is not whether the Game On proposal is good or bad. The question is what are the consequence of a change of zoning permitting commercial uses in a residential area, and should the town risk them?

It may help the town board to realize that a change from residential to commercial use is virtually unprecedented. If my memory is correct, it has happened only once in the past 50 or more years. That was when the old Union Carbide property (now Landmark at Eastview) was rezoned from commercial to residential in the 1980s. The property was never developed. At the April 8 meeting the town board held a public hearing on rezoning the property again to commercial.

It was obvious that the residential zoning was inappropriate since the entire area is commercial and therefore the zoning should correspond. But that is the opposite of the Game On situation - there the area is primarily residential except for some old legal nonconforming uses (and as to those. When they discontinue operations only residential development will be permitted) I urge the town board to consider what I call the first question - namely, what are the consequences of a rezoning and can the town risk those consequences? As an afterthought, there are other places in Greenburgh where Game On can build its facility. Landmark at Eastwood representatives have requested, and the town board is prepared to adopt, a zoning change that Would permit indoor/outdoor recreational facilities on the Landmark site, and Game On can easily build their sports facility there, only a short distance away from the Dobbs Ferry Road site. The only reason that Game On persists on the Dobbs Ferry Road site is because Paul Feiner is their advocate. It is past time to do right by the neighborhood of the proposed site, and most of all, do right by the town.

– Herb Rosenberg, Judge, Retired.

This article originally ran in the Scarsdale Inquirer and was submitted by the author.

No Confidence In Process After Supervisor Speaks

It is not a surprise to anyone who follows Greenburgh politics that the proverbial “deck” is stacked against the residents by our Town administration. Ironically, while it is technically the “Feiner Administration”, it’s certainly not a “finer” administration – in fact, it’s far from it. The Town Board and in particular Mr Feiner, knowing the media would be present at its previous Wednesday night meeting, began to use words like honest, honestly, honesty, confidence, the process and so on quite often as well as conjunctively! Media-savvy Mr Feiner took the lead and his re-election teammates ran with it. Regardless of what Mr Feiner and half the Town Board says, every resident we spoke to gave a vote of “No Confidence” with this administration. Don’t lose sight of this one simple fact: this is about changing zoning in residential neighborhoods to allow commercial businesses.

Always the behind-the-scenes operative, Mr Feiner sent an email to Dorrine Livson, President of the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association, who felt it should be seen by all and has no problem sharing information. You may recall that Ms Livson asked for the GBList from Mr Feiner and the Town through the Freedom of Information Law and was denied the request. She appealed to the same Town Board denying the request because, well, here is another convoluted process with which the public has no confidence. Not surprisingly her appeal was also denied – by the same people she was requesting the information from!

Sadly, while Mr Feiner has no intention of releasing the GBList to Ms Livson and is comfortable disobeying another court order, he has no compunction about using the coveted GBList for a non-Greenburgh civic association from Yonkers. This association borders Mr Feiner’s gated community and would have affected his home value and quality of life. Do as I say, not as I do? Here’s a copy of that email:

Click on the email to enlarge

With no other recourse, Ms Livson filed an Article 78 with the courts to seek justice for both Town Board refusals of the information requested. She was victorious. However, now as another stall tactic, the Town says they are appealing her court victory. Regardless of that outcome, here is the latest email Mr Feiner sent to Ms Livson:
Dear Dorrine,
I know that you and I have some differences re: the appropriateness of the Board commencing a traffic and environmental study of the Game On application. However- the Board made the decision. It's time to move on and have an honest, unbiased review of the application and the impact the facility will have on the community - if it is approved.
 
We are going to be issuing a request for proposals. And then will interview the possible consultants before making a decision.

I want to work with you and your association members during the review process. And, also want to reassure you that I have not made up my mind how I will vote on this application.

Thanks for your comments and participation.
Paul

Several points we’d like to make with regards to this email. First, while it may seem innocuous enough by itself, there is an underlying message of pomposity and certainly one of non-respect for the community. Second, and possibly most importantly is that he is now claiming “the Board” did this. The vote is split 2 for the proposal and 2 against the proposal with Mr Feiner casting the deciding vote. It is well known in Greenburgh politics that if a Board member seeks re-election, they must tow Mr Feiner’s line or be “Sonya’d”*. Don’t lose sight of this one simple fact: this is about changing zoning in residential neighborhoods to allow commercial businesses.

Mr Feiner has never been objective when it comes to the GameOn 365 application. For almost 5 years now, he has been GameOn 365’s biggest cheerleader. From an illegal lease, ignoring higher offers for the former Frank’s Nursery property, to now wasting time on an application that should not be entertained. His actions, to be honest (his phrase) show his true self. He has mandated by his and his two colleague’s actions by voting to intend to become the lead agency actually initiates this process for this proposal for an approximately 107,000 sq. ft. indoor recreation facility along with an outdoor playing field, while retaining a reduced portion of the existing golf driving range, and provide related features such as landscaping and parking. Again for the uninitiated, he promised his friend the deal and he plans to deliver! The issue is becoming clouded by Mr Feiner’s deflection in making this about the GameOn 365’s proposed sports mega-plex. It’s not! It’s about changing residential zoning to allow commercial enterprises in residential neighborhoods. Don’t lose sight of this as Mr Feiner will continue his deflection technique.

How do we know this is nothing more than a confidence (con) scheme? Simple. Here’s an email we received by accident back in 2012 from Martin Hewitt (GO365 principle) to Mr Feiner cautioning to not send emails as they could be FOILed. Note the portion that says, “...first breach that could be FOIL’d that may tip Donald off...” Donald, by the way, is one of the owners of Elm Street Sports in Ardsley, NY, operating the House of Sports facility. Here’s that email:

Click on the email to enlarge

At this week’s Town Board meeting, two Board members and Mr Feiner agreed to to start the review process of the application for a zone change to allow a recreation facility to be built on Dobbs Ferry Road by declaring their intent to become the Lead Agency (the first step) for this project. So, regardless of Mr Feiner’s posturing (lying?), the process has begun under the guise of a non-committal intent, foisting a traffic study (the second step) upon us – residents be damned! He’s begun his rope-a-dope as he fosters more misinformation to anyone who will listen. Here’s a sampling of it: The Town Board will hire a traffic expert to conduct a traffic study.; we will analyze the traffic impacts and the environmental/quality of life impacts in communities that have similar Sports facilities. Under New York State law the applicant (Game On) pays for the consultant costs. But, the Town Board selects the consultant. So what? Don’t lose sight of this one simple fact: this is about changing zoning in residential neighborhoods to allow commercial businesses.

Mr Feiner is technically correct how he has phrased this next sentence. “The Town Board did not approve any application this week. We just started the review process”. What this really means is they have initiated the first step of the review process which is what would happen if they had sat up there and said they were declaring themselves the Lead Agency. It’s semantics and deflection to keep the average, uninformed residents guessing. What does this mean for the average Greenburgh citizen? Simply, don't stand to close to the tracks, you might get hurt as this train won’t slow down as it approaches the station. This favored method of operation by the Town Board has to change. Only when residents no longer feel as though they are being railroaded will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Confidence in the Process or Confidence Game?

This past Wednesday night's Town Board meeting found the main auditorium unusually packed with standing room only. Obviously, there was something controversial on the agenda. It seems to be the only time people come out, otherwise providing free reign and uncontrolled hubris from the Town Board. Both sides were represented although the neighborhood representation was easily two-to-one against this controversial proposal: a requested Zoning Change on Dobbs Ferry Road at the Golf Driving Range. Nearby, the former Frank's Nursery continues to languish after having had an offer Mr Feiner turned down for twice as much as the offer from his friends.

Tensions as well as emotions ran high and was palpable in the cramped room, where the coveted seats in the back of the room were at a premium for comfort and semi-working ceiling speakers. While some people in attendance may have been there purely for entertainment, the constant of the failed sound system and uncomfortable seating would make tonight's events more a gladiator sport than a standard Town Board session where the political locomotive screams through the agenda at breakneck speed with a constant hum of yay votes. However, most were probably there in hopes of either stopping or advancing this zoning change depending on where they live. 

The affected residents of the area immediately spoke one after another, stating their street address and the amount of years they have resided in the area. Some spoke of being there since they were kids. One man bragged to have lived there since 1960, yet pronounced Mr Feiner's name incorrectly as "Feener". Could he simply be another out-of-town supporter asked to speak in favor of the zoning change? In fact, the opposition, if and when they gave an address, simply stated the Villages they were from - sometimes west of the Hudson! Several people from outside the Town said they hunger for soccer fields and this was the answer they supported. They asked the Town Board to not deny them the opportunity to kick their balls in our neighborhood. Frankly, we're tired of having our balls kicked by people from outside our Town.

Corridor residents said Wednesday night that the proposal should be killed this night. Mr Feiner had continued his ruse of indecision claiming he "honestly wanted the facts" to make an informed decision. This year's buzz term from Town Hall finds several interchangeable phrases: "I honestly haven't made a decision yet"; "We want people to have confidence in the process"; "I am honestly listening to the community"; "we need to become the lead agency so we can have the studies done to make an informed decision"; "We all want to do the right thing". The list is almost endless. By the way, last year's preferred phrase was, "We need to do our due diligence". Predictably, last year's phrase and promises were just another promise not kept. These new phrases already ring hollow. Confidence or confidence game?

Mr Feiner says, "The applicant has proposed a facility – that doesn’t mean that the town will give them permission to do what they want. We may reject the entire application or modify it. If citizens got involved and were willing to have a discussion the size of the building could be discussed." Because the Town Board is split with Messrs. Morgan and Jones siding with Mr Feiner, and the other two against, the first line is not true. They plan to give them exactly what they are asking for. The second line is laughable as this Board never rejects or modifies any developer proposal for any neighborhood - until they are threatened with court actions. Finally, he practically admits this project is going to be approved by saying, "If citizens got involved and were willing to have a discussion the size of the building could be discussed." So the issue is not that he hasn't made a decision, he has. It's not that he is listening to the neighbors, he's not. Now the issue is controlling the size of it. The devil is always in the details.

He continues, "I think it would be horrible for the corridor to replace the golf range –beautiful open space-with development and cement." Huh? Isn't the zoning proposal designed to do just that, put a development with concrete and blacktop aka impervious space, onto open space? Then he wants neighbors to discuss options for the golf driving range as if its viability rests with them. It does not. It rests with no one but the Visioli family - not the neighbors, not Paul Feiner nor the Town Board. Plus, with the newly uncovered lawsuit against the Visioli family and the golf driving range for a different contamination of the property causes ABG to believe this may soon all be moot. However, we're also convinced that Mr Feiner will find a way to skirt the taxpaying residents' objections either legally or illegally. Past performance IS an indicator of future results with this Town Board - hence the lie: "We want people to have confidence in the process". 

And don't be confused or amazed when you hear about the two proposals off of Payne Street and in Ardsley to which the Town Board said , "No." Mr Feiner stated that these proposals should not even be considered as they would strain our already over-burdened infrastructure (the same one he's neglected during these past 22-years). ABG believes those were throwaway proposals concocted to give Mr Feiner et al, the opportunity to seem to care (about his Ardsley voting base) and the north Elmsford area. Not only was there never any plans for them to proceed, but one would be in Mr Morgan's backyard and the other in Ms Juettner's. The proposal on Dobbs Ferry Road estimates 7,000 gallons of liquid waste a day and five thousand cars per weekend. How is that not taxing our over-taxed and under-maintained infrastructure?

Mr Feiner has also said, "During the review process we could discuss aesthetics, every option for the property. I want people to have confidence in the process. If there is unified opposition to the project, the chances of the project being approved are slim. On the other hand – there has been some misinformation spread about the application –and virtually no give and take." The first sentence is a throw-away to placate the uninformed or willfully ignorant residents. The second is a lie as no one except the developers have confidence in the process. The third line is the ultimate slap in the neighborhood's collective faces indicating he plans to proceed. There has only been unified support against the zoning change since it's inception 5-years ago. His comment that, "Chances of the project being approved is slim" is simply a lie. Mr Feiner just hasn't figured out a way to get over on the community for his friends. Finally, the only misinformation that has been spread was by Mr Feiner and Mr Hewitt and his operatives.

Throughout the night Mr Feiner, "We want people to have confidence in the process". No he doesn't. He wants people to leave him alone to do as he pleases. This is more and more shaping up to be a confidence game over confidence in the system. But the mainstream media will feature the above quote and the headline reading public will buy into it. It is better than any con-man could hope for. So as he reshapes Unincorporated Greenburgh into the worst of the Bronx, taxpayers need to be heard now and listened to closely. These same people are seeking re-election and will get 7-9,000 votes by those party faithful who won't decide its time to think differently and just say, "No.". Rather, they'll shrug their shoulders and mandate more of the same, allowing them to act with impunity. We certainly don't have confidence in that system. BTW, ABG believes this will be postponed until after the elections. The proposal will then go through and the public will forget how they got screwed again. We agree with the Greenburgh Council of Civic Associations who always says if its done in one neighborhood, it will happen in another. It's time to stop this madness. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Parsing Words To Disrespect Residents' Wishes

Many residents have sent letters/emails/comments to Mr Feiner stating that they are against the GameOn 365 proposal and cannot believe Mr Feiner is still entertaining this proposal for a commercial, for-profit (not that it would matter if it were not-for-profit) start up company desperately seeking investors. Mr Feiner was found guilty of illegally stopping the Fortress Bible Church from building a school and church on their property on the other side of the street from this proposal's location. Mr Feiner said he is not in favor of Fortress Bible because of the increased traffic the church and school would generate. What changed? Only that his friend Tom moved to Tarrytown and is no longer complaining about FBC moving into his backyard. This proposal is no different.

And still, Councilman Ken Jones insists he hasn't heard any negative comments about the proposal. It's the old saw, say it often enough and people will believe it. Sadly, while Mr Jones openly flaunts this position, he attended a meeting over a year ago at the Westchester View Lane homes and stood in a resident's driveway surrounded by many neighbors who live nearby, hearing (but obviously not listening) from everyone there. They all said openly, politely but firmly that they opposed the project! 

Let's momentarily discuss semantics of what this means. We're sure that Mr Jones, an attorney, is willing to parse words and say the opposition he heard on that day was about a bubble being proposed, not a permanent five-story-warehouse-sized building on the Golf Range property. He subsequently met with residents of the Secor Homes' neighborhood including two Civic Association Presidents who all steadfastly objected to the zoning change and the GameOn 365 proposal. There's not much wiggle-room.

Many believe the former Frank's Nursery was closed and abandoned initially because of the contamination on the property and more about the high costs associated with remediating it, even way back then. In fact, the Town Board did what is does best when confronted with real problems. They ignored it. So is Mr Jones deluding himself or towing Mr Feiner's "company line" saying he's in favor of the proposal because he hasn't heard any objections? The three "yes' votes to move this process forward, while disappointing, are frankly, expected. More interesting than the cost of remediation for this property, was Town Attorney Tim Lewis' declaration and assurance that remediation would cost no more than $100k, and yet nothing was done to make the property whole and salable.

Also interesting is the Town Board's cavalier attitude toward the significant revenue stream that could be generated in taxes if the former Frank's Nursery property was remediated and single family homes were built similar to Westchester View Lane's homes. Just the Golf Range space allotted to GameOn 365's proposal could generate upwards of just under $1 million dollars a year in tax revenue! Combine that with a properly remediated Frank's Nursery property and we would easily clear over a million dollars in tax revenue a year for the Town, the school district and fire district, etc. That income would go a long way toward paying down the $6.5 million penalty of Mr Feiner's guilty verdict of discrimination against the Fortress Bible Church.

Many of the Towns Civic Association's agree that landowners should be able to reasonably do what they want with a property. However, numerous considerations, such as zoning, traffic, safety, existing neighbors, Comprehensive Plans etc., must be a part of the decision making process for their developments. By circumventing these factors and making a decision on behalf of friends or worse still, because something is in it for them (and we have no evidence indicating this is the case), has befallen many politicians who got very comfortable doing as they pleased as their political tenure increased. After 22-years, we're sure Mr Feiner has gotten too comfortable.

ABG maintains Mr Feiner and his Board are not conforming to the spirit, the intent or the legality of the rules and regulations the Town has in place for development in Unincorporated Greenburgh. A portion of the Town Board follows his mandates in lock-step and for their own political expediency - go along to get along. Why else would they disrespect the residents? In a private meeting we attended held within the Town, a resident asked us, "What's in it for (Mr) Feiner? Why would he blatantly disrespect us?" No one could not furnish a satisfactory answer.

This project promises to build and pave over roughly 20 to 25 acres of pervious property. Why is this significant? First, they proposed to use septic if possible for approximately 7,000 gallons of liquid waste a day. Second, a facility this size generating this much waste cannot rely on septic and will need to be plumbed into the existing plumbing infrastructure. ABG is concerned about water runoff, which already affects this site, the surrounding neighborhood and the easily flooded 9A corridor. We're sure the developers will promise to build cisterns, dry wells and whatever it takes to satisfy the minimal Town Boards softball questions regarding flood mitigation. More important is that runoff water will be directed into the already over-burdened and usually saturated Saw Mill River and the 9A corridor. But once the Town Board makes itself the Lead Agency for the project, all answers to questions such as flooding, increased traffic, lighting, etc., will be moot and summarily dismissed.

The Town Board will be voting to become the lead agency this week on April 8th. Officially the meeting has a start time. But when something controversial is broached, Mr Feiner will pad the meeting with tributes, poetry readings, recognition awards and other useful devices to discourage the public from remaining and /or participating in the events. Once this topic comes up on the agenda, Mr Feiner will state that they cannot make an informed decision and they must make themselves the Lead Agency so they can have the traffic study, the environmental and other studies completed to help them in the decision-making process. Don't believe that for a second! There is no legal requirement for them to become the Lead Agency nor run any studies. They have the legal authority to dismiss this request. But will they? Your presence is required to help them see the light. Only then will we have A Better Greenburgh.

The Zoning Give-A-Way of Unincorporated Greenburgh

It’ll be about 8 months before the 2015 elections for Mr Feiner and his two Board members. A lot of damage might be done during that time by those already in office. Until such time that the incumbents are voted out of office, we will probably continue to see a wholesale assault on all open space in Unincorporated Greenburgh! The Worthington Woodlands and Secor Homes Civic Associations, as well as others sympathetic to their plight, have been trying for almost five years to get Mr Feiner and his two Town Board members to abandon his desire to serve his friend Martin Hewitt with a drastic zoning change in a residential neighborhood for a commercial venture. This venture promises less than half the revenue in taxes over what new residential housing would bring if it was built there instead of being utilized for which the property was originally zoned. It eludes us as to why Mr Feiner would simply ignore the obvious return the Town could get by adhering to the existing zoning over changing it to a lesser valued project?

The southern side of Secor Road finds Ferncliff Cemetery proposing an expansion of their cemetery almost directly into the Secor Homes community. On the northern side, neighbors in the homes on Jean and Jennifer Lanes have the Golf Driving Range owned by the Vizioli family. It has been there sedately for years and is now threatening to compromise the area with expansion. The Vizioli family wants to convert most of the property from a quaint and unobtrusive golf driving range into a megaplex sports site with a 5-story airplane hangar-sized building, fields, lights, noise, increased traffic, parking and an almost around-the-clock operation in a partnership with GameOn 365. Since originating this massive dream-scheme, Mr Hewitt appears to have cycled through all of his previous partners. It appears he’s struggling to find a way to circumvent the existing zoning and cultivate investors from an evaporating pool of candidates.

If these two projects are allowed to move forward, coupled with Westchester Greenhouses, spanning the entire width of Jennifer Lane, with pollution to the area via their outdoor wood boilers, the once residential suburban community will be overwhelmed and boxed in by large commercial enterprises. There are some who believe Secor Road might become a major access roadway, particularly if Jean Lane, which connects to the Vizioli property via Jennifer Lane, is ever opened up to allow traffic. It’s one of any neighborhood’s worst nightmare.

ABG has previously written about Mr Feiner’s desire to hand over the property vis-à-vis a Zoning Code change Mr Hewitt will need to take his paper company from napkin-conception to birth. Unconvincingly, Mr Feiner and his Board made the argument that they recently disallowed two projects from proceeding and that they haven't made a decision about this one. What? Wait a minute! How can any of the three Board members say with a straight face that they haven’t made a decision for or against this project when they have been stumping for GameOn 365 since 2010? Another lie from Mr Feiner and his two Board members. The fix has been in since the beginning and saying otherwise is offensive to us all!

One of these other two projects would have adversely affected the Villages of Ardsley and Dobbs Ferry. Make no mistake, Councilwoman Juettner resides in Ardsley and brings a good number of votes to the Feiner ticket. And that’s the real story here: votes! Obviously, that wasn’t mentioned in this week’s Work Session. The second proposal that was denied was, some believe, a phony one from the beginning. It was one that would allow the Feiner camp to say, "No," and appear to be concerned for the Town. The public was informed that both proposals were not being entertained by the Board because it would over-tax our infrastructure. After 22-years of neglect by various administrations under Mr Feiner, now he’s worried about infrastructure?

The second project was a proposed assisted living facility off of Payne Street in the North Elmsford section of Unincorporated Greenburgh. The plan there was to build a multistory complex on a triangular strip of land between the Croton aqueduct and the Sprain Brook Parkway at the north end of High Street and North Lawrence Avenue. While their claims of limited traffic through this residential neighborhood was purported to be minimal, surrounding space on this postage sized parcel would not be big enough for emergency vehicles to access and egress. But saying it would tax our infrastructure was once again disingenous from the start. Yet, it provided a vehicle for a portion of the Town Board to use as a means to offer balance to the uninitiated in the Town. It is nothing more than pure political calculation at it's best. By the way, this project would literally be in Councilman Morgan's backyard. Is it any wonder why it was denied?

So how can an almost 24-7 sports operation not be taxing to our infrastructure? Mr Feiner, already found guilty of discriminating against the Fortress Bible Church, said the increased traffic from the Church and school was the reason he was against Fortress Bible Church’s application. He never said the real reason, which we believe was to keep this church from building in his friend’s back yard. The Fortress Bible Church was awarded a $6.5 MILLION settlement being paid by us, the taxpayers, for Mr Feiner’s illegal actions! So for three projects in three different Unincorporated locations in the Town, reasons were given by the Board against these projects that when those same reasons were made by the residents near this Dobbs Ferry Road location, only to be summarily dismissed by Messrs. Feiner, Morgan and Jones. How is the residents’ concerns for congestion, over-crowding, over-burdened infrastructure hours of operation, etc., any different than the reasons used by Messrs. Feiner, Morgan and Jones? Votes.

Rome is burning. The Town’s infrastructure has been slowly decaying while Mr Feiner and his Board fiddles for developers. They continue with gifts for their preferred developers while ignoring residents in these respective neighborhoods and do as they please. The upcoming elections hold no promise of us seeing positive change in our Town – or does it? Our prediction is that these three will be re-elected as the Democratic faithful and the willfully ignorant will easily fall prey to Mr Feiner’s lies and hypocracy. The media will be complicit as well and speak of his (pseudo) open government policies, work with the seniors, the poor and on and on and on. His media campaign blitz will become non-stop. Ultimately, running unopposed, he will garner some 7-9,000 votes, even though the Emperor has no clothes. This must end! Only then will we have A Better Greenburgh.

Consolidation Deflection Plus

Recently there was a private meeting with the self-appointed Fairview Fire Monitors and the Fairview and Hartsdale Fire Chiefs along with Mr Feiner. Why would Mr Feiner be participating? Because they aren't really self-appointed, he is the catalyst behind the Fire Monitor group, pulling their strings, if you will, and making sure all the headlines and faux issues deflect attention away from his mismanagement of the Town. This isn't the first time the Master Deflector has done this.

More scrutiny of the Town and actions of its employees is not only necessary, but imperative given the constant illegal actions of Mr Feiner. The change of venue with the former news website, the Greenburgh Daily Voice has given Mr Feiner carte blanche to write anything he wants directly onto the site with little or no fact checking. So, in spite of an outdated and cumbersome Town website where Mr Feiner has free reign, he now has the ability to amplify his mantra, usually poised to benefit someone other than the taxpayers.

The Fire Monitor group is just another example of his control of the issues behind the scenes and ultimately the media. Case in point, when it was time for the Town Board to vote on the budget, he kicked up the high fire taxes as his deflection to hide the almost $17 million dollars in bonds that passed through the Town Board faster than a bullet fired from an outdoor shooting range. With the exception of the G10, there was no outrage with the budget passage. Nor was there even a mention about the Town's oft-touted superior AAA Bond Rating which Mr Feiner always boasts. This would have been a perfect opportunity to mention it, finally in the correct context. Instead, we get more duplicity from Town Hall.

Mr Feiner "kicked off" the fire tax issue when his own contaminated land sale debacle blew up after being brought to the public's attention by us and others with the former Frank's Nursery property. Mr Feiner desperately tried to gift the contaminated land to his friends from GameOn 365 with an illegal lease. When that illegal action was publicized and a lawsuit threatened, Mr Feiner backed down. When he tried to manipulate the sale to GameOn 365 for half the amount that was offered by Ardsley's House of Sports ($3.5M), an established and full functioning business, he incredulously blamed the public of bid rigging and it was their fault that the land sale fell through. Through it all, Mr Feiner knowingly withheld the fact that the Town never had clear title for the property he was trying to gift to his friends. The Town couldn't sell the contaminated property even if they had followed part of the law!
 
More recently, he has reneged on his offer with the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association, as well as the public, to enforce the conditions for an auction of the former Frank's Nursery property to only qualified bidders who intend to use the property as residentially zoned. The Civic Association fought vehemently for this one provision. And, while Mr Feiner had actually insisted on Civic Association inclusion, at the eleventh hour Mr Feiner changed the bidding structure.

This latest twist means bidders will no longer be required to comply with existing residential zoning for the property allowing bids from any bidder, regardless of intended use and totally disregarding the neighborhood and its civic association's request for zoning adherence. According to Mr Feiner, it was a legal necessity. ABG believes the real reason is the structure he had originally put in place would have virtually guaranteed GameOn 365 not be a contender or even the winning bidder. More importantly, he wouldn't be able to control the outcome as a favorable one for GameOn 365. And Mr Feiner's end-game, no pun intended, is to deliver the contaminated property to GameOn 365, one way or another.

All of this is nothing more than deflection - period - taking attention away from the Town's budget fiasco(s). A financial source extremely close to Mr Feiner admitted that the next couple of Town budgets promise to be very painful for the Unincorporated taxpaying residents because of impending increases which will border on obscene. This tells us we should expect more deflection, whether it's a high-line park in Hudson River with the Tappan Zee Bridge, regulating gun ranges, developing and delaying adoption of Comprehensive Plans, withholding tax revenues collected by the Town for the fire department fom the fire department, collapsing park pools, or anti-Semitic charges against other Town employees. We're sure there will always be more to come from Mr Feiner to muddy the facts until he gets what he wants.

One final comment about the Fire Monitors sans Mr Feiner. They are in agreement with several civic association leaders and the fire chiefs that it is not necessary to push for a referendum to consolidate the two "cherry-picked" departments. Numerous residents and the Fire Commissioners, the Chiefs and their members proved with facts and figures that any savings that might be had initially would be short lived and ultimately more costly to the taxpaying public. Since both the Fairview and Hartsdale Fire Chiefs have been openly discussing the issues surrounding consolidation, and their efforts to control costs and expenses, the Monitors agree that the dialog is improved and a pause may be warranted. Perhaps a study about consolidation in the future will be requested and even done. ABG hopes it won't be a knee jerk reaction to another one of Mr Feiner's unqualified comments. We'll discuss this more in another post as necessary.

Greenburgh taxpayers take everything Mr Feiner does "on the chin" and more importantly, with their wallets. This must change. It requires a public that is not content to accept the meager bribes from the Town, or with phony certificates at Town Board meetings. It requires the residents to abandon their willfully ignorant status and become involved. It requires a certain amount of paying attention which our current crop of politicians count on the public to not do. Again, this needs to change. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

Aurora Borealis and SPF-40

We hope many were busy with family and friends enjoying the holidays and this time of year. A recent forage into the wonderlands of Eastchester brought us to an interesting version of their sports bubble, located at the Lake Isle Country Club and run by the infamous bubble kings, Sportime - sans The Paul. You’ll recall how The Paul petitioned his Albany buddies Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Tom Abinanti to covertly get the Finneran Law changed in 2012 in the wee hours of the legislative morning, allowing the Town (really The Paul and his Stepford Board) to install sports bubbles at will. This was a scheme The Paul had been planning since about 2005.

As we ventured southbound on Rt 22, we knew the Lake Isle Country Club would be on our left. Unsure exactly where it was, we were suddenly awed by what could only be considered Westchester’s version of the Aurora Borealis, aka our northern lights! With a marker like this, the space shuttle could have navigated a landing. As we pulled into the parking lot of the Lake Isle Country Club, we couldn’t find a roadway that led to the bubble. We decided to drive to the next street south of the entrance we had entered and see if we could access it from a different side. We could not. But as we got lost in a seemingly well-to-do neighborhood of middle to large sized homes, we were always able to get our bearings from “the glow” of the bubble.

We returned to the Lake Isle Country Club parking lot and decided to walk toward the bubble. The walkway was not illuminated by light fixtures and yet the amount of light provided by the bubble was more than adequate for us to proceed. As we got a bit closer, it got brighter and we discovered the bubble was in fact three bubbles! These were not as large as what has been proposed at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road by GameOn 365 and The Paul. The GameOn 365 bubble will be approximately eight and a half stories high in a residentially zoned neighborhood! ABG is realistic and knows that since The Paul wants this project at all cost, he will make sure his Stepford Board “rubber stamps” the zoning change to whatever GameOn 365 requests – and then some.

You may recall the proposal from GameOn 365 ends if the zoning or planning boards vote against it? Well, don’t hold your breath, especially now that The Paul is touting an unethical, but technically legal, sale of the property without putting it out to bid. He insisted on holding a referendum for the done-deal that many opposed stating that the referendum was needed to see what the people wanted of the property. The Paul’s reality has nothing to do with “the people” and everything to do with what he wants. He wants the bubble and so he’ll find a way to make it happen! Unfortunately for the residents that live in the area, The Paul discarded their opinions and opened the decision to the entire Town. This was an underhanded, low-blow to the Worthington Woodlands communities. The neighborhoods opinion toward decisions that directly affect them should always be paramount and respected by our “elected representatives” and not tossed aside to get the outcome The Paul sought. In a real version of Greenburgh, The Paul would work for us, not developers and campaign contributors!

Once we arrived at the bubble’s entrance, we joked about needing to apply SPF-40. We entered an empty lobby with a receptionist who said hello and went back to what she was doing. We ambled over to a window overlooking two tennis courts with what appeared to be a clay court. A young employee with a Sportime shirt came over to see if he could help us. We asked numerous questions, such as how high is the bubble? “Gee, I don’t know.” We guestimated the height to be between four to six stories at the pinnacle. What are the hours of operation? “It varies.” Do they own this facility? “No, Lake Isle Country Club does.” Do they operate it year round? “No, only during the winter when the bubbles are ‘up’.” Lake Isle operates it during the summer, although their goal is to take over the operation year round.” Do the neighbors complain about the light “No, it’s during the winter when they are inside and don’t see it.” Who owns the John McEnroe Tennis Academy; is it Sportime, Lake Isle, Eastchester, or John McEnroe? John McEnroe “owns” it and Sportime operates it.” As we talked he seemed personable, pleasant and knowledgable about the tennis program but nothing regarding the operational side of the business.

As we exited, this same young man walked with us toward our cars, continuing to answer what questions he could. One of us commented on the brightness of the illumination from the bubbles. He told us because of the transparency of the material, and its ability to transfer light, if the sun is out they don’t even turn the interior lights on because it provides enough light inside. ABG staffers in attendance commented that the luminosity of the bubble would be amplified with a larger-sized bubble.

ABG is not against a bubble if it is in the correct venue. The Sportime bubble in Eastchester is located in the middle of a country club and not surrounded by homes. Rather, it is surrounded by a golf course. Sportime was going to install their bubble model in the Anthony Veteran Park, but has decided not to. The Paul won’t discuss it, but ABG believes it was because The Paul and the Stepford’s placed so many mandates on them that they realized the project would not be cost effective. While The Paul doesn’t understand Return On Investment, Sportime does. It’s why they walked. So while The Paul was able to get his Albany cohorts to amend a law that at one time protected the Towns Unincorporated residents, the change has rendered the amendment counterproductive for the Town but not GameOn 365. ABG believes the property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road should stay residential and be developed as such. If the GameOn deal is so good for the Town, it should be located on Town property, perhaps in Veteran Park. Sell 715 Dobbs Ferry Road through a legitimate assessment, bid process and then take the highest bid for the land, not a deflated price arbitrarily created by The Paul. For once, we’d like to see the Town to do the right thing. We can only hope.