Hello Greenburgh,
It has been more than 2 months since my last email and obviously the Corona virus has been the talk of just about everything. I haven't been posting about that here because frankly, I am not a doctor or public health official and there are plenty of places to get your Corona news, regardless of how you feel about the whole thing. I know that this has been challenging to everyone, whether you are dealing with job loss, kids home from school/daycare, deaths in the family, or struggling with the quarantine. I want to send a special message of solidarity to those of us with young children at home. When my kids were home with us while trying to work full time it was the hardest thing I have ever done and nearly broke me. Whatever you are struggling with, you are not alone, and if you'd like to just vent or complain please give me call, it can be quite cathartic.
Regardless, life is starting to move on regardless and I wanted to send out an update on a number of things going on in the Town and in our community.
Election Day June 23rd
Election day will be June 23rd with early voting beginning June 13th. In additional to the Democratic Presidential Primary there are several important local Democratic Party Primary contests. You should have received an application for an absentee ballot in the mail if you wish to vote by absentee. Note if you wish to vote by absentee you will receive two separate ballots, one for the presidential primary and one for the local elections. More info on absentee ballots here and a link to information about the election in general.
The CD-17 Congressional Race- There is a crowded field of 8 candidates for the open congressional seat in the Democratic Primary. With Democrats significantly outweighing republicans in the district, the Democratic Primary is the defacto election. David Carlucci, of former IDC fame, is considered the front-runner with Mondaire Jones, David Buchwald, Evelyn Farkas and Adam Schleifer as his main opponents. Much of the focus has been on Carlucci for this actions as a member of the IDC. During that time he caucused with Republicans in Albany blocking many progressive agendas. I encourage everyone to learn more about the candidates and support the candidate they feel best represents their views.
New York Assembly 92nd District- Most of Greenburgh is represented in the New York State Assembly (District 92) by Democrat Thomas Abinanti, He has served as Assemblyman since 2010 prior to serving on the Westchester County Legislature and Greenburgh Town Council. He is being challenged by political newcomer Jenn Williams of Irvington. Through legal maneuvering and with the support of the Greenburgh Democratic Party, Mr. Abinanti tried to prevent Mrs. Williams from appearing on the ballot. He was unsuccessful in that attempt with Mrs. Williams prevailing in court.
Westchester County District Attorney-Incumbent Anthony Scarpino is being challenged by Mimi Rocah. Scarpino barely received the endorsement of Westchester Democrats at the County Convention and is facing a stiff challenge from Mimi. Many progressive organizations have rallied to support her and this could be the tightest race on the ballot.
Fire District Tax Collection
So there was some news coverage in both the Scarsdale Inquirer and Lohud about this. Both articles do a pretty good job of summarizing what happened but I will do my best here to concisely convey the facts. The Town of Greenburgh collects taxes for the 3 professional Fire Districts(Hartsdale, Fairview and Greenville) in Unincorporated Greenburgh. The Town is obligated to pay out 100% of the tax warrants(or taxes due) regardless of how much is collected. Typically about 90% is collected, the town pays out the entire amount, and collects late payments/penalties from those who paid late until full payment is made. This year, Supervisor Feiner engineered a campaign to only pay out what was collected, or in this case 88%, and pay the remaining amount at a later date. The logic or reasoning behind this on his part was that because the Town went along with the County plan for having reduced late payment penalties, the Town didn't want to front the money to the Fire Districts. Now this is 100% illegal, Supervisor Feiner has zero authority of any kind to withhold the payments from the districts. That said, more than 88% of the money was dispersed up front, the Hartsdale and Fairview Fire Districts had no issues with this and were willing to work with the town. More than enough money was dispersed to cover the Tax Anticipation notes that the districts issued, and there would be almost zero impact on day to day operations or public safety from a practical standpoint. Now the Greenville Fire Department, which represents Edgemont(and everyone knows there is zero love lost there between Feiner and Edgemont) was quite opposed to this plan and it has become another chapter in the long battle between Feiner and Edgemont.
Other Town of Greenburgh Notes and updates
Grieving Taxes- Reminder that the time to grieve the assessment of your property values which is used to determine your taxes is coming up. The town assessors office is permitted to accept grievance applications between 6/1 and 6/16. If you have questions you can call the office at 914-989-1520 or email assessors@greenburghny.com
HPPD- Not much to update here, since Corona Supervisor Feiners plans to engineer an expansion of the board has pretty much stalled. Will continue to monitor this as time goes on.
Shoprite- A Shop Rite has received site plan approval for the old movie theater at 320 Saw Mill River Road. Many local residents opposed the project because they did not want a new entrance to the site constructed off of Old Country Road which would increase vehicle traffic. That entrance was granted with a number of improvements required by the developer. More details on this here.
Pool/Camp- Unfortunately today the announcement was made Town Camp would be canceled due to the Corona Virus. No decision about the opening of the pool has been made at this time yet. The pool season was scheduled to begin on May 24th, the tentative date for the pool reopening is currently 6/20 but is pending review and consideration both at the Governor, County and local level. I for one expect that the town will not open the pool but that is just a guess.
Upcoming Events
6/23- Election Day
9/12(date change)- Odell House Colonial Day- Ridge Road Park 12:00pm. Live military re-enactments and family friendly activities.
Eric Zinger
www.ericzinger.com