Hello Greenburgh,

Happy New Year??? It's been a long time since my last email so even though its February, a belated Happy New Year to all of you. The main topic below is the new maps for New York's Congressional representative and State Legislatures. I'll have more on that once the maps are finalized and additional analysis about how it impacts potential upcoming elections(The Shimsky/Abinanti race in particular). In addition to that though there are a lot of other bullet points at the end you might find interesting so make sure to go all the way through.


New York Redistricting
We are coming to the conclusion of a process that occurs every 10 years where district maps are redrawn to reflect changing populations and communities. This affects every aspect of government representation and so far we have preliminary maps for the House, State Senate and State Assembly. The preliminary maps can be viewed here and form the basis for the below analysis. An Independent Redistricting Commission was formed with equal parts Democrats and Republican's to draw the maps but they were unable to agree(stunning I know) on a map. As a result they sent two separate non binding proposals to the legislature to consider. With Democrats in firm control of all 3 branches, it was up to Democratic party leadership to draw up proposed maps that they would then send for votes in the legislature and to the Governor for approval. It is widely expected that the preliminary maps will pass as presented. If you want more background on the process you can click here.

House of Representatives
The redrawing of the congressional map is the map that is getting the most attention in both national and local news coverage. Due to population atrophy, New York will have 1 less seat than it did before, decreasing from 27 to 26. The updated maps have most experts predicting an addition 3 Democratic Seats in the House(Republicans losing 4 because of the decrease to 26), with an expected 22-4 split. Greenburgh is currently represented by 2 freshman congressman. Jamaal Bowman defeated incumbent Elliot Engel in the 16th district and Mondaire Jones defeated a crowded field in the 17th after incumbent Nita Lowey retired. So how is Greenburgh affected?

Under the old map, Greenburgh is split between CD 16(Hastings, Ardsley, Edgemont, and also includes Yonkers, Scarsdale, and New Rochelle) and CD 17(the rest of Greenburgh along White Plains, Northern Westchester and parts of Rockland County). The updated map leaves Hastings in CD 16 but Ardsley and Edgemont join the rest of Greenburgh in CD 17. CD 17 is further amended to include much more of Rockland County, remove South East White Plains and include less of Northern Westchester, now ending at just north of Ossining and Mt Kisco. So Hastings is now on its own in the 16th with the rest of Greenburgh is united in the 17th. Hastings has always had its own voter makeup, but to me surprising that the map moves Edgemont and Ardsley out while leaving them behind on their own. How this will affect the potential campaigns of Mr. Jones and Mr. Bowman is yet to be determined but as freshman congressman, they can't rely on strong name recognition in the new areas of their district the way a more experienced representative could.

State Assembly
The State Assembly map is mostly unchanged in Greenburgh, after all unlike Congressional seats, we aren't changing the number of seats in the legislature. However there is one major change in the proposed maps that people should be aware of. Whereas previously all of Greenburgh was located within the 92nd Assembly District, the new proposed maps carve Edgemont out of the 92nd and includes them in the 88nd. The 88nd includes Scarsdale, Eastchester and parts of New Rochelle.

I'll just go ahead and say it. Whereas Edgemont may share a zip code with Scarsdale, carving them out to remove them from the rest of Greenburgh with which they share local services can only be logically explained in one way. It is my opinion that this an attempt by the incumbent Assemblyman Tom Abinanti to remove an area of his district where he is not popular in order to increase his chances of re-election. In 2020 when he was challenged by complete unknown Jen Williams with zero name recognition and zero experience as an elected official, Abinanti barely held onto his seat winning 55/44. Comparatively he lost Edgemont 62/38 to Williams, a 16 point swing the other way. Edgemont voted strongly against him because of his sponsoring of Anti Incorporation legislation in the Assembly. This time around he is being challenged by a much, much more formidable opponent in Mary Jane Shimsky(for full transparency I have donated to her campaign). Most people expect the Greenburgh Democratic Party to rally around Shimsky in the primary and Abinanti must see this as a way to shore up his position. If there is another explanation for changing Greenburgh from one united Assembly district to carving out only Edgemont, I'd love to hear it.

State Senate
The State Senate mas is changing but Greenburgh is not directly affected by the change. Both the old and new maps keep all of Greenburgh within the 35th Senate District where we are represented by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins. The district map itself however is undergoing some pretty dramatic changes. The district will no longer include Scarsdale and parts of Western White Plains and instead replaces that area with more of Northern Westchester including Sleepy Hollow, Thornwood, and Pleasantville.. The premise behind this change is less straightforward and not as clear to me. It does result in more of Mt. Pleasant being within the same Senate District which makes sense.

Reminder if you'd like to see the proposed maps you can do so here.


E Waste Pickup
The Town is collecting old electronics, computers, televisions, printers. You can get this picked up at your curb as long as you make an appointment by Friday. Pickup will be next week. To make an appointment, Click here.


Other Notes:

• Greenburgh Health Center- Free Vaccines and Boosters Today Wednesday 2/2

• New Town Justice- Following Judge Christie D'Alessio's election to the State Supreme Court in November, there was an open seat on the Town Bench for one of the 3 seats. Erin McGoey was appointed by the Town Board to fill that seat which expires at the end of 2022. An Ardsley resident, she was most recently Deputy General Counsel at the MTA.

• Hartsdale Parking District- The Town board is looking for a replacement for an open seat on the 3 person Hartsdale Parking District Board of Commissioners. The Commissioners are volunteers who oversee the district, make policy and oversee the operations. If you are interested you can email TownBoard@greenburghny.com. One interesting note is that due to the state law forming the district, you must be a property owner in the district, no renters.

• Shelbourne Assisted Living- The battle over the proposed assisted living facility at the Shelbourne site in Edgemont continues. The latest update is that the New York State Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit by the developers who were suing Greenville Fire Department officials in both their capacity as Commissioners and individuals alleging. Greenville officials said that the developers lawsuit fell under the rules governing SLAPP (Strategic Litigation against public participation) and that they were speaking on issues of interest to the public. I'm not a lawyer, but from my view the judge made the right call under what was clearly an attempt to silence/push back against critics of the project.

• Battery Storage- Tomorrow 2/2, the Planning Board will hear amended site plan applications and special permit applications from two applicants for proposed installation of Tesla Megapacks

Hopefully you have found this informative. Please forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Eric Zinger
www.ericzinger.com

There has been a lot going on lately, so let's get straight to it. Apologies for the length of this blog, but there is a lot of good information I want to share.

Marijuana Dispensaries and Retail Sales
At the Town Board Meeting on Monday 12/13, the board voted 4-1 (only Feiner opposed) to opt out of allowing recreational marijuana lounges where marijuana can be consumed. The board did not opt out of allowing recreational dispensaries. That means marijuana stores would be allowed in the Unincorporated area of Greenburgh, subject to zoning approval. The exact zoning code for where these businesses would be allowed has not yet been written, and will be the subject of public hearings to come.

To be clear, the Town didn't vote to allow recreational dispensaries, they voted to opt out of allowing marijuana lounges. By taking no action on recreational dispensaries, they will therefore be allowed under state law. Supervisor Feiner was the only councilman to vote no. He clarified his vote by saying he was opposed to lounges, but voted no on the measure because he also wanted to ban retail dispensaries.

Allowing marijuana dispensaries Greenburgh is clearly the right decision. Marijuana is here: New Rochelle, White Plains, Hastings and Tarrytown have all also not opted out. Regardless of any Town Board decision, smoking marijuana walking down the street, growing marijuana in your home and even having marijuana delivered to your home (a la Uber eats or liquor delivery services) would all be legal. There is a shopping center in Greenburgh that is half White Plains / half Greenburgh. Dispensaries are going to be here. A "no" vote is simply sending the revenue to our neighboring towns. As cited at the Town Board meeting, the Police Chief said there would be zero additional risk to the Town by allowing dispensaries. Access to regulated and tested marijuana, under a highly controlled system, benefits the consumer and brings in revenue for the Town.

Planning Board Chair Resigns
Longtime Planning Board Chair Walter Simon has stepped down as chair of the Greenburgh Planning Board. He remains on the Board but will no longer serve as chair. At the special meeting Monday, Vice Chair Hugh Schwartz was appointed Chair by the Town Board. There is no official Vice Chair replacement yet.

2022 Budget
Onto the 2022 budget.....The budget was passed earlier this week in a unanimous vote. It was surprising that the Town Board was all on the same page as the budget has not been discussed at all in open session. There has been no presentation from department heads and no work sessions where the budget was on the agenda. By Supervisor Feiner's own admission on 11/30, "we haven't- as a board- discussed the budget at all so far in open or in closed session." Since then, there were two regular meetings and two work sessions where it was not discussed. Just a handful of comments from the public and a 5-0 "Yes" vote on a $128 million dollar budget! How is this possible?

Not one work session where the budget was discussed or on the agenda? We as citizens can't get department heads to come to a Work Session to present their department budget or answer questions? This is the job of Town Supervisor. This is what transparent government actually looks like. It isn't being done.

Town-Wide Budget
Projected spending will decrease by ~$4mm in the town-wide budget but the decrease is really an accounting move, as it projects less money to be spent for the new Police/Courthouse building. The 2021 budget presented $12.5mm to be spent, whereas the 2022 budget has $7.4mm projected. Only $160k was spent last year and it is unrealistic to think any significant spending will occur in 2022 as well. That is the only significant change to note here. Real property taxes to be raised are $9.31mm which is a 0% increase. No change from 2020. This is accomplished by appropriating $9.9mm from the reserve fund balance. In reality, that number will be much lower given the unlikely nature of Police/Courthouse spending.

Unincorporated Budget
The Unincorporated Budget projects a spending increase of $3mm or about 3.5%, the main driver of which is a 14% increase in police spending. This is primarily the result of a $2.2mm increase in salaries due to the new police contract. The contract includes retroactive raises which are included in this year's budget. The budget uses a combination of increased building permit revenue projections (Regeneron) and a drawdown on the fund balance to keep the $59.2mm tax levy flat. As you can see the Unincorporated (or TOV) is much larger and represents most of the town's major functions (police, sanitation, parks). The Town is receiving approximately $4.5mm in Federal aid for the Unincorporated area split into $2.2mm in 2021 and 2022.



*These numbers are from the published tentative budget, there are some minor changes to the final version that will impact the exact numbers.

Other Notes:

• The Town Board passed a "Black Lives Matter" Resolution which came together from a partnership with the Town Board and the White Plains/Greenburgh NAACP. Its a great sign that the Town Board is united on this issue. While the measure is largely symbolic, its a testament to Greenburgh that this was able to come together.

• Police News- If you are following along the Police Misconduct Scandal, this note about police discipline from yesterday's special meeting is interesting/cryptic "Motion for Executive Session of the Board of Police Commissioners for the purpose of discussing and potentially implementing disciplinary charges against a specific police officer."

Hopefully you have found this informative. Please forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Hello Greenburgh,

It's been awhile since my last update and I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I will be sending a separate email later this week on the budget and some upcoming events but I wanted to get this email out with two important updates.

Police Sexual Harassments Lawsuit
The Yonkers Times has published a piece in which they report that additional subpoenas are being issued and additional incidents are being investigated. Link

One additional note I thought was interesting is that Steins brother, also formerly a Greenburgh police officer, and was in the room at the time of the alleged incident with Officer Cerrone, has transferred out of the department. The Yonkers Times article reports one incident that "centers on a Sergeant in the Greenburgh PD who recently threatened a female Greenburgh police detective to make sure she didn’t come forward with her own accounts of sexual harassment."

If you remember, Kristen Stein made allegations of Sexual Assault and Police Misconduct against the Greenburgh Police Department, Former Chief McNerney and others in the department. The cost to the town to defend against this lawsuit is already $150k and increasing by the week. I will be closely monitoring for updates and will apprise readers of developments. Police must be held to the same standards and rules that regular citizens are held to. I'm not sure how this will all end but it definitely won't end well for Greenburgh taxpayers.

Marijuana Dispensaries and Retail Sales
The Town has continued to hold hearings regarding opting out of potential marijuana dispensaries in the Town but no decision has been made yet. Supervisor Feiner and Councilwoman Jackson have indicated supporting allowing dispensaries during these hearings/work sessions. Councilwoman Juettner and Councilman Sheehan were on the other side during the discussions and seemed to be leaning towards opposing dispensaries. However at one of the recent hearings, Councilman Sheehan said that he had actually changed his mind on one aspect of this, and could be potentially in favor. That would be the 3rd required vote. Councilman Jones has remained mostly silent and its hard to see which direction he leans.

In terms of surrounding areas, New Rochelle, White Plains, Yonkers, Sleepy Hollow and Hastings have all opted in. Bronxville, Eastchester, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Irvington have opted out. Elmsford, and Scarsdale are still deciding. I've found this map helpful in identifying each community status.

No matter what they decide, marijuana is legal in NY to consume and smoke anywhere cigarettes are allowed. If your local municipality opts out of dispensaries, delivery services would be allowed to sell within those areas and consumption would still be allowed in public.

Hopefully you have found this informative. Please forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Additional Notes

• I spoke with Police Chief McNerney about his potential replacement as Chief of Greenburgh Police. He encouraged the Town Board to choose a candidate from within the department already. Interviews for that position have already begun and are happening tonight at the special work sessions in executive session.

• Wednesday 11/22 7:30pm- Public Hearing at Greenburgh Town Hall on the 2022 Budget

  • Tentative Budget here- Lots more on this to come

• Town of Greenburgh Public Discussion regarding retail marijuana dispensaries. Link

  • Discussion begins 30 minutes into the video, my comments begin approximately 45 minutes into the video.

• Fairview Empowerment Committee- Next meting 11/4 at 6:00pm at Theodore Young Community Center

Hopefully you have found this informative. Please forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Eric Zinger
www.ericzinger.com

Curious what your Greenburgh elected officials think about Covid? Watch an interesting conversation from last nights Town Board meeting where vaccine requirements, masks and all things Covid were energetically discussed by members of the Town Board.

Supervisor Feiner advocated for returning to remote meetings for the Town Board and requiring vaccines for admittance to Town Hall. Town Board member Francis Sheehan responded that if Town Hall is open and town employees are required to attend in person, so should the Town Board. TB member Gina Jackson felt uncomfortable staying at home but having employees coming into Town Hall and wanted strict enforcement of the mask mandate. TB member Ken Jones was not at the meeting.

The 17 minute conversation starts 1 hour 9 minutes into this video after the agenda is concluded.

https://greenburghny.new.swagit.com/videos/141653

Hello Greenburgh,

Lots of quick updates in today's update:

• The latest Town Board work session had representatives from FEMA to help answer questions from homeowners about possibility reimbursement from Hurricane Irma. Business's and residents are eligible. Don't miss out on help rebuilding that is out there. You can watch the work sessions here.
  

• A work session in November the Town Board touched on the potential ban/approval of marijuana dispensaries in Greenburgh. Watch here. Regardless of any action the TB may take, marijuana will be legal to smoke in any place cigarettes are legal as a result of the NY State legislation. The Town Board will only be able to decide if and potentially where, marijuana may be sold in legal dispensaries.

• The Hartsdale Neighbors Association hosted a roundtable of elected officials from GCSD Board of Education and Hartsdale Fire Department. You can watch it here. HNA will be hosting an additional roundtable with additional elected officials in the coming weeks, stay tuned for that. If you don't get the HNA emails make sure to subscribe here.

• The cost to defend the town from the Kristen Stein lawsuit is now up to $75k in legal fees.

• The TDYCC and Parks and Recreation Department are now unable to run buses because the Town failed in its DMV registration requirements. The Town cannot operate any of its larger vehicles for a period of 11 months. They are appealing.

Upcoming Events

• Saturday 10/16 Spooktoberfest at HartsBrook Preserve- 12:00pm-4:00pm- $6 per person, masks required. More information.

• October 23rd- Kiwanis Painting in downtown Hartsdale 9:00am-12:00. Judging in the afternoon. $10 pp.

• Saturday and Sunday 10/23 and 10/24- Greenburgh Nature Center Fall Festival- More information

• Saturday October 30th from 11-12- Dog Park Halloween Event at the East Rumbrook Dog Park. Costume prizes at noon, $5.00 donation requested.

• November 2nd- General Election. Lots of contested races. More on this to come

Hopefully you have found this informative. Please forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Eric Zinger
www.ericzinger.com

Hello Greenburgh,

Summer is over and Fall is here. I hope everyone made out as best they could with all of the flooding damage from Hurricane Ida. I know it was certainly eye popping for me to see the destructive power of water on the local roads where the pavement was torn up. If you do have severe damage there is the possibility of FEMA reimbursement or support. Click here for an update from Supervisor Feiner about possible assistance. If there are potholes that are on Town Roads you are encouraged to notify Public Works regarding the incident. Two main updates in today's newsletter:

The Town Board passed a resolution at tonight's Special Meeting accepting the resignation of longtime building inspector Steven Fraietta. His last day will be 9/20 and Robert Dam, current Assistant Building Inspector was appointed Interim Building inspector effective 9/21. Mr. Fraietta has been the Building Inspector since 2016 and was an Assistant Building inspector for the Town prior to that. His sudden resignation is a surprise to me. One can only speculate if this is related to the 9/8 resolution passed by the Town Board to bring formal disciplinary charges against an unnamed employee. We do not know who that employee is, what the charges were, or what discipline was imposed but the timing is curious.

The other update I have is regarding the allegations by Kristen Stein against Greenburgh Police Officers for sexual harassment, sexual assault and a violation of her civil rights. You can read my previous update about the allegations here and the full complaint here. There are no updates on the litigation at this time but I have obtained the bodycam footage that partially captures one of the allegations against officers of the Town. Click here to view it. At the time of the footage, Stein accuses Officer Cerone "of grabbing her shoulders and forcefully pushing his genital area into her buttocks, toppling over her" when she had turned around to retrieve booklets from a desk as directed. The incident occurs approximately 1 minute into the video. The actual physical contact is off camera, but you can hear the physical contact occur and Supervisor Lt. Desmond Martin clear the room of officers after the incident.

I spoke to Police Chief McNerney about the case and he said "We can't defend ourselves in the media, but we are anxious to defend ourselves in court. We look forward to opportunity to disprove these allegations." The Town has hired the Law Office of Vincent Toomey as council to defend the lawsuit for a preliminary amount not to exceed $50k. Is this the incident related to the Town Board resolution for disciplinary action against a Town Employee? Maybe but at this time we cannot know for sure. Will be following this case closely for all updates.

Other News:

• Colonial Day at Odell House- Saturday 9/18/2021 Advance registration is required due to Covid. There are two sessions: Noon to 2:30 p.m., with a performance at 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a performance at 3:15 p.m. The event is free, though a donation is greatly appreciated. This event is brought to you by Friends of Odell House Rochambeau Headquarters with the support of the Town of Greenburgh and the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area. Register here.

Hopefully you have found this informative. Please forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Eric Zinger
www.ericzinger.com

Hello Greenburgh,

It has been quite a bit of time, approximately two months, since my last newsletter email. I've been trying to enjoy the summer as much as possible and hope you have been too. It has also been relatively quiet on the local news front after the primary election with not much to report. Obviously there is a lot going on in the nation and worldwide, and if you know me, you know I have strong opinions on those issues. However that is not what this newsletter is about and why you have subscribed. So its been relatively quiet the past few months but things are starting to pick up.

We have next year's Town budget coming out at the end of October. It will be very interesting to see what that looks like and how the federal stimulus and Corona Virus over the last year impacted our projected versus actual spending. If you recall, we projected to spend down a significant portion of our Town reserves to keep the Town tax rate flat in 2021. That was a decision that I agreed with, but also recognized left us with no second bullet for 2021. Hopefully we will have received injections of funding from the Federal stimulus, but the 2022 budget is one to closely watch when it comes out. We also have the Town's plan to build a large and costly new Police Station and Court House at what is increasingly looking like 100 Hillside Ave. No deal to purchase the property is in place, but a significant amount of resources have been invested with consulting firms by the town, with an eye towards that property.

One piece of news that just came out this week was allegations of sexual assault and police misconduct by a former Greenburgh Police Officer. You can read the full complaint here and a Lohud article about the lawsuit here. I encourage you to read the complaint in full and watch the bodycam footage embedded in the article. The allegations (and at this time they are merely allegations) are wide-ranging and allege a range of misconduct, but when I boil down the 42 page complaint the 3 main complaints that stand out to me are: 1) An allegation of sexual assault by another Greenburgh P.D. officer. The incident is partially captured on police body cam video, but the actual physical contact between the two officers is not visible. It is clear that something happens as the Lieutenant in charge clears the room and states "What the F*** Jeff." After an internal review, the offending officer was disciplined with loss of 2 weeks vacation. What is disputed is the exact nature of the physical contact. 2) An allegation against current Chief McNerney that he interfered with the plaintiff's attempt to transfer to Westchester County police and 3) An allegation that fellow officers were slow to provide backup or respond to requests for assistance by the plaintiff. There are many other allegations of inappropriate behavior, but these are the key items in my view.

I spoke to Police Chief McNerney about the case and he said "We can't defend ourselves in the media, but we are anxious to defend ourselves in court. We look forward to opportunity to disprove these allegations." Whatever actually happened, the police bodycam footage reflects poorly on the Greenburgh P.D. I know that if I did what Officer Cerone did to Officer Stein in my workplace, I'd be fired immediately and without pause. I agree with the Chief that now is not the time to rush to judgement. Many of the claims in the suit can quantifiably be proven either true or untrue. This is a story I will be following closely and I will continue to provide updates.

Other News:

• An update on Odell House- The Town of Greenburgh has awarded the contract for historic preservation design services for the Odell House Rochambeau Headquarters to architect Stephen Tilly of Dobbs Ferry.

• Dog swim on 9/12 at Anthony Veteran Park. Advance registration only. $10 per dog goes to Friends of East Rumbrook Dog Park Association. Sign up here.

Hopefully, you have found this informative. Please forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Eric Zinger
www.ericzinger.com

Why is it that the village of Pelham Manor, with 1/15th of the population of Greenburgh is able to get their requests for traffic safety through the NYS legislature but the Town of Greenburgh isn't? Meanwhile, according to the article, despite more than 7 pedestrian accidents in just a few weeks time in 2019, Greenburgh hasn't even asked the legislature yet for permission.

https://www.lohud.com/.../pelham-manor-could.../7891132002/

In other, totally unrelated news, see this post from Town Supervisor Paul Feiner complaining about passport applications taking too long.

https://greenburghny.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1105

In a world of finite resources, time, and effort, which one of these problems would our local officials best spend their time on and be most able to make an actual impact?

Hello Greenburgh,

This post is going to focus on the upcoming/current Democratic Party Primary. Election Day is 6/22 and early voting has begun. There are two important contested races, for Westchester County Clerk and for Greenburgh Town Supervisor.

For Westchester County Clerk, I am encouraging readers to vote and tell others to vote for Timothy Idoni. Mr. Idoni has run the clerk's office at a surplus and is well known as a competent, organized elected official. He is well deserving of another term. Learn more about Tim here.

For Greenburgh Supervisor, I am encouraging readers to vote and tell others to vote for Tasha Young. Tasha has the Tasha executive leadership, vision and progressive ideals to lead Greenburgh to a brighter future. Learn more about Tasha here and click here to watch a video I recently recorded with her where we discuss her campaign.

Now more than ever, we need best-in-class leadership from our Town Supervisor. The kind of leadership that isn't focused on government by press release, but government by leadership and doing the gritty business of running the day to day operations of the town. Paul Feiner is great at constituent service, but that is only a small part of the role of Town Supervisor. The role of Town Supervisor is about far more than answering the phone when residents have questions. Its about being the CEO of a $90mm budget and 90k residents. About bringing in the funding we need from Albany and Washington. About thinking proactively about what our Town needs to succeed in the future. We need a Supervisor who is willing to face the big problems we have in our town head on, problems that can't be solved in just 24 hours with a phone call, and turn those problems into opportunities. 30 years of Paul Feiner has shown us that economic development, bringing investment and jobs to our community, just aren't his priorities.

To lose one multi-million settlement may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose more is mismanagement. Paul Feiner is running on his experience. Unfortunately the experience he brings us is one that results in Greenburgh taxpayers paying the cost for his mistakes. At a time when there are so many investment needs, Greenburgh losing millions to avoidable lawsuits was no investment. Tasha brings the executive leadership and skills to get the job done. It is past time for change. Vote Tasha Young this primary election.

How to vote

As a registered Democratic(You must be a registered Democrat to vote in the primary) voter, you can vote early in the primary at the Greenburgh Town Hall or at 22 other locations in Westchester County.  You can also vote via absentee ballot if you are eligible or on June 22nd at your polling place.  For early voting you can vote at any early voting location, on election day you must vote at your designated polling place.

Primary Election Dates and Early Voting Hours:

• Monday, June 14, 2021 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

• Tuesday, June 15, 2021 from noon until 8 p.m.

• Wednesday, June 16, 2021 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

• Thursday, June 17, 2021 from noon until 8 p.m.

• Friday, June 18, 2021 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

• Saturday, June 19, 2021 from noon until 5 p.m.

• Sunday, June 20, 2021 from noon until 5 p.m.

Absentee Ballot Information

• Read additional important information on Absentee Ballots

Primary Election Day

You can also vote in person on June 22nd at your polling place.

Hopefully, you have found this informative. Please send any questions and forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Eric Zinger
www.ericzinger.com

Hello Greenburgh,

While I normally focus on Town of Greenburgh items tonight I am going to give my endorsements for the Greenburgh Central School District Board of Education election on 5/18. As a resident of GCSD, this is the district I am most familiar with but all Town of Greenburgh school districts (all 10) are having their budget vote and board of elections on 5/18. Make sure to vote!

Greenburgh Central School District

First, I want to start by encouraging all voters to vote yes to pass the budget. This year's budget features only a 1.24% tax increase, is well below the tax cap, and takes important steps towards ensuring a strong future for the district.

This years election for GCSD features 7 candidates running for 3 seats with 2 of the 3 incumbents renewing their terms. Incumbent Cora Carey is not seeking another term. She is thanked for her service on the board but I am excited to see a new face in her seat.

Please make sure you vote in this election, the last time there was a contested election in GCSD in 2019 only 15 votes separated the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. This is one of those elections where you can unequivocally say your vote will count and make an impact. Make sure to Vote.

The below endorsements are mine and mine only and do not represent the views of HNA or any other groups I am affiliated with.

Candidates to Support!

• Chris Valin- Chris Valin is one of the strongest candidates in recent memory for school board that I can recall. She is a Spanish speaking parent of 2 current Woodlands students, former PTA board member, and longtime involved resident in the district who has served on numerous district committees over the years. With a financial background as well, Chris has all the skills one would need to thrive on BOE.

• Sarah Lazzari- Sarah is one of the co-founders of the ECP PTA in 2019 and currently is membership chair for the Lee F. Jackson PTA. Outside of the district Sarah is an involved member of the community who currently serves as the Vice President of the Windsor Park Civic Association. Sarah also brings a great background as a a higher education professional. She holds a Masters Degree in Higher education and Student affairs and has professional experience with college admissions and academic advising. She would be a great new addition to the board.

• Jamaal Thomas- Jamaal is a GCSD graduated with longstanding roots in Greenburgh and a background as an educational consultant. I did not know Jamaal before his announcement like the previous two candidates but I have been impressed with his response in the PTA and HNA events. I have also been impressed with the way Mr. Thomas has conducted himself on social media. His NextDoor campaign post received comments that reminded many individuals why they usually stay off of that site. However there were some good questions and Jamaal engaged and gave thoughtful responses to those questions. I appreciate when candidates don't run from questions.

• Antoinette Darden-Cintron- Antoinette is running on a slate with Kiana Washington and Eric Bitterman and to be frank that gave me a lot of pause. However I have known Antoinette for several years now and I believe that she has been an asset on the board during her tenure and a steady influence. When it came time to advocate for the bond I thought she did the best job of all board members of advocating for the bond, and being a representative of the district. As current board president, she has by all accounts done a very good job of shepherding GCSD through the covid pandemic. It hasn't always been smooth as board president, but I believe she would not have declined to renew Dr. Chase contract without good reason and I am supporting her for another term.

If you would like to learn more about the candidates you can watch the PTA sponsored Meet the Candidate night which features all 7 candidates. You can also watch individual interviews with all the candidates conducted by the Hartsdale Neighbors Association. You can also read about them in the Falconer mailer which went out to residents from the District.

Hello Greenburgh,

A major update in the long running legal dispute regarding the Dromore Road development site in Edgemont. According to tomorrow's resolution, the town is settling the case regarding the property in Edgemont owned by S&R Development for $9.5mm. This massive settlement, which dwarfs even the infamous Fortress Bible Case, will presumably be approved tomorrow evening. The town was first sued in 2016. The agenda notes pre-emptively quoting "outside counsel ", that the Town Board will not be making any comment on the matter until it is fully resolved.

Link to the Resolution.

As is always the case with these kind of zoning disputes this settlement will be paid entirely by the Unincorporated area because it is a zoning related decision. Village residents will pay $0.00 towards this settlement because they have their own zoning laws, rules, and board. This is yet another sad chapter in the kind of management that that has come to embody the Feiner administration. This settlement also doesn't include the millions in legal fees paid to date. It is the town's taxpayers who pay the price for this ineptitude.

I think its time for new leadership in Greenburgh. Join me in supporting Tasha Young for Greenburgh Supervisor on election day June 22nd.

Other News:

• School Board Elections and Budget Votes are one week from today May 18th. Make sure to vote!

  • GCSD- I will be speaking on GCSD race as that is where I live and the only race I am familiar with.

    • I will announce my endorsed candidates(7 candidates running for 3 seats) later this week.

    • Link to Hartsdale Neighbors Association Candidate Interviews

    • Link to PTA Meet the Candidate night.

Hopefully, you have found this informative. Please send any questions and forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Eric Zinger
www.ericzinger.com

Hello Greenburgh,

By now, most, if not all of you have received your 2021 Preliminary assessments. Some of you may have had your eyes come out of your head as there are significant increases in this year’s assessments across the board. While the Townwide average is a 7% increase, I’ve seen many properties increase by 25% or more with some as high as 40% increases. Some properties, especially on the higher end have seen assessment valuation decreases.

This can have major tax implications for property owners in Greenburgh. I have seen a lot of people with questions about what the impact of their assessment increase will be and how that will affect their taxes. Obviously, people are concerned because for most of us, our home is our largest asset and our tax bill is our biggest expense. There is a lot of confusion and misinformation out there for what can be a confusing subject. So, I know I could probably go on forever on this topic so to limit myself, I am going to start this email with 5 key pieces of information you need to know.

1. Assessment changes have NO IMPACT ON THE TOTAL TAX REVENUES RAISED. All changes in assessments do is shift the proportionate share of the total tax pie. The assessor could triple the assessment of every single property in the Town and the Town would not collect even $1.00 more in additional taxes. This does not raise or lower your taxes.

2. The valuation of your property is based on a number of factors such as lot size, square footage, #of bathrooms/bedrooms, and property condition. Recent sales of like properties in your area will also heavily contribute towards the valuation. A list of recent sales used in these calculations was published here. Note that condo’s and co-ops are valued differently due to NY state law and as a result end up with valuations about 60% of their market value.

3. It is possible for your property to increase in assessed value and you have a resulting decrease in taxes. Similarly, a 10% increase in your property value does not mean your taxes will increase 10%. More on this here.

4. Since the 2016 reassessment, the Town is required to maintain it’s 100% equalization rate, where they maintain the assessed value of properties at 100% of their market value. That is the reason this reassessment is occurring, and all properties are receiving an updated review.

5. You can challenge the assessed value and have until June 15th. You can hire someone to assist you with this, but its not required and frankly in my opinion not worth it. Information here. Go to Tylertech.com/schedule (before 4/23) or call 914-231-8250 to set up your appointment.

Finally, some Key Dates:

• The value of your property on the 2021 rolls is for the value of the property in July of 2020.

• You have until JUNE 15TH to challenge the assessed value of your property. Go to Tylertech.com/schedule (before 4/23) or call 914-231-8250 to set up your appointment.

• April 1st 2022, the first tax bill that will be impacted by your new assessment.

More information and links below:

• The landing page from the Town for the Reassessment

• An 8 minute summary from the Town Assessor on Youtube.

• A heat map showing average increases by Village/Unincorporated.

• List of recent sales used to help determine the valuations.

Still interested? Click here for more on this subject.

Other News:

• The Edgemont Incorporation Committee has announced plans to circulate a third petition to keep the effort going to incorporate Edgemont into Greenburghs 7th village.

• Westchester Youth Congress held a forum for the candidates for Greenburgh Town Supervisor Tasha Young and Paul Feiner. Link

• Hartsdale Neighbors Association held a forum with the new Commissioner of Public Works Rich Fon. Link

• Alfreda Williams despite circulating a petition for her candidacy has declined the nomination for another term as County Legislator for District 8. Since her name was already on the petition that was filed, the Committee on Vacancies selected Jewel Williams(her daughter) to replace her on the ballot. Since the petition period is over, and there are no other challengers Republican or Democrat, this action effectively elected her to public office.

Hopefully, you have found this informative. Please send any questions and forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Eric Zinger
www.ericzinger.com

My latest email with information about the 2021 Assessment Revaluation in the Town is out but its not on my website yet.

Want to read about it and learn what is happening with the Assessment and other important news updates for the Town Supervisor Race, County Legislator election and more? Email me at eric@ericzinger.com and I will add you so you can be in the know about all things Greenburgh.

Breaking News- Longtime public servant and current 8th Legislative District for Westchester County representative Alfreda Williams has declined the nomination for another term as County Legislator. Since her name was on the petition that was filed, it is now up to the committee on vacancies(Steve Bass, Lemuel Davis, Tim James and Bruce Campbell) to choose a replacement. They must notify the Board of Elections by this Friday.

The 8th legislative District is made up of Elmsford, Tarrytown, Fairview and Sleepy Hollow, see map below.

Breaking News- The Town is being sued! However in my preliminary opinion, this case is meritless and I side with the town. The details of the case are not online yet but were written about in the link below.

https://westfaironline.com/.../sons-of-the-american.../

This lawsuit alleges that the Town pressured Mr. Stackpole and his Sons of the American Revolution Chapter(Membership 1 total person) into handing over ownership of the property to the Town. It alleges that the town did so by fraudulently threatening to remove the tax exempt status of the property.

In my opinion these allegations are completely without merit and to support that opinion, I'll quote Mr. Stackpole himself who said about the deal in the Journal news "It’s a wonderful partnership between the state, Greenburgh and us”.

Under Mr. Stackpole stewardship, the Odell House was left to die a slow death, slowly falling apart due to the elements, with no efforts to maintain the property at all. There was no programming at the site, no educational events, no speakers, no website, no fundraising, literally nothing at all being done with the property. It was left to rot.

A group of citizens wanted to change that and began coordinating among themselves and formed a group "Friends of Odell House" to look to see what could be done to rectify the abused status of one of the most important sites of the Revolutionary War. https://www.facebook.com/odellrochambeau

It would appear Mr. Stackpole regrets his decision to give up ownership of the property and may just be jealous that so much amazing progress has been made by the Friends of Odell House. That group assisted the Town with getting a $1.2mm grant and has done more in the last 2 years with Odell House than Mr. Stackpole did in 40+ years.

When the Town is wrong, I'll be the first one to say so but when they are in the right, I will also be the first to defend them and in this case, I support the Town 100%.

Like my FB page and sign up for my emails to be the first to stay in the know about Greenburgh news.

Today's the 1st day of petitioning for candidates seeking to be on the ballot for the June 2021 primaries. So all across NY, volunteers and campaigns will be out gathering in person signatures to get their candidates on the ballot, at a time when the Covid 19 virus is still very much present and dangerous

When you can renew your drivers license online, car registration online, refinance your mortgage online, and even register to vote online(https://www.ny.gov/services/register-vote) the idea that we need to do in person petitions for candidates makes my head spin, pandemic or no pandemic.

It is 2021, I would say it is time to leave not the 20th century way of doing things behind, but its actually the 19th century way of doing times.

The time for digital signatures for petitions is long past due. If you can register to vote online, you can sign a petition online. Maybe its time for elected officials who understand the digital age to take us into the 21st Century

Hello Greenburgh,

Just announced today, the Town of Greenburgh wins its Appellate Court appeal in the Edgemont Incorporation case. Incorporation supporters can appeal this ruling, but their appeal does not have to be heard.

This is the 2nd time the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court has ruled that the incorporation petition was not sufficient. Read the decision here: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/.../2021/Decisions/D65779.pdf

Quickly summarizing the ruling, which was much longer than the previous ruling for the first petition, the court disagreed with the Supervisor that the list of regular inhabitants must include minors and also disagreed with his arguments regarding the list of inhabitants being included on the petition when the petitions are signed. It did however agree that the petition for incorporation failed to include a sufficient description of the area to be incorporated. Text below:

However, the Town Supervisor properly found that the petition for incorporation failed to include a description of the territory to be incorporated that was “sufficient to identify the location and extent of such territory with common certainty,” as is required by Village Law § 2-202(1)(c)(1). Although the petition for incorporation indicated that the proposed village was to be coextensive with the existing boundaries of the Greenville Fire District, the record showed that the metes-and-bounds description that was provided therein did not correspond to the existing boundaries of that fire district. Further, the mere statement in the petition for incorporation that the proposed territory was coextensive with that fire district was not sufficient to meet the applicable statutory requirements (see id.), particularly as the record shows that the legal boundaries of that fire district are disputed.

Looks like for now, it is back to the drawing board for Edgemont residents hoping to become Greenburgh's 7th village.

Other News

• Town Supervisor Race-

  • Additional analysis done by Hartsdale resident Dan Weinfeld

  • An article in the Hudson Independent

• The Greenburgh Central School District has announced it will move forward with negotiations to hire Dr. O'Hara to be the next Superintendent of Schools.

Hopefully, you have found this informative. Please send any questions and forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Hello Greenburgh,

The big update for tonight's email is from the Greenburgh Town Democratic Convention that was held this past Thursday virtually via zoom. Candidates were nominated and endorsements were voted for the following positions:
Town Supervisor
Town Council (2 spots)
Receiver of Taxes
Town Clerk
Town Justice,
Westchester County Leg 12

*I am not aware if a Republican Convention was held, but if it was and anyone is aware I would be interested in reporting on it so please let me know.

Greenburgh Democratic Party Convention Update
The big news of the night was the Town Supervisor race where Tasha Young won a plurality of the vote over longtime incumbent Paul Feiner. At the convention, in order to seek the nomination, you must be nominated, and then seconded by a District Leader representing one of the 81 election districts in Greenburgh. I nominated Tasha Young for Supervisor representing ED 39 in Hartsdale and her nomination was seconded by a representative from Dobbs Ferry. I think Tasha brings the kind of fresh and innovative approach that is needed to lead Greenburgh forward in the years to come and was honored to nominate her. You can learn more about her at her website here and read a preview of the race that I wrote recently here.

Tasha received 42% of the vote and Paul received 40% with 18% abstaining. So while neither of them will receive the official endorsement, having failed to breach the 50% requirement, it sets the stage for an interesting primary that is scheduled to be held 6/22/2021. Mark your calendars. See the below for a breakdown of how the convention voting went based by Greenburgh locale. Paul did best in Hastings and Ardsley while Tasha dominated the Fairview and Edgemont areas.

The rest of the races were less exciting as the following candidates were endorsed unopposed. There was one interesting point where Bishop Preston was nominated to run for Town Council but did not put his name forward for endorsement. He was an extremely late entrant to the race and removed himself from consideration.

Town Council- Ellen Hendrickx and Francis Sheehan
Receiver of Taxes- Venita Howard
Town Clerk- Judith Beville
Town Justice- Bonnie Orden
County Legislative District 12- Mary Jane Shimsky.

Other News

• Edgemont Appeal- The appeal filed in the case of the Edgemont Incorporation rejection was hearing on February 2nd. Both sides argued the finer points of Incorporation law and the standards for what would be a sufficient petition. A ruling on this is expected in the next couple of months. Either side will have the option to appeal the ruling, but the appeal is not guaranteed to be held. More to come on this when a ruling is made.
  

• The GASR or Greenburgh Against Systemic Racism committee formed in response to Executive Order 203 from Governor Cuomo tasking each local government to convene stakeholders to examine relations with police in their community and to propose ways to improve those relations has issued their report that was months in the making. Read the report here and if you wish to view some of the public hearings that were held you can click on the link, go to specialty and search for GASR.
  

• The Greenburgh Central School District held a live virtual forum with the two final candidates for Superintendent. Watch here. GCSD declined to renew the contract of Dr. Chase and the contract is scheduled to run out later this year. If you have any feedback or comment you can share it with the board. Here is their contact information.

• Unfortunately the Hartsdale Community lost Peter Woods who passed on January 9th. Peter was a 9/11 first responder and active member of the community in many ways including serving on the board of the Hartsdale Fire District. More information about Peters passing and comments from local leaders here.

• An interesting article on parkland taxation from Lohud
  

Hopefully, you have found this informative. Please send any questions and forward to your friends and neighbors. If you have questions about any of the above, please email me at Eric@ericzinger.com

Eric Zinger
www.ericzinger.com

The report, part of local action in response to Executive Order 203 from Governor Cuomo tasking each local government to convene stakeholders to examine relations with police in their community and to propose ways to improve those relations is below. I will have more commentary on this once I have the chance to review. If you wish to view some of the public hearings that were held you can click on the link below and search for GASR

https://ny-greenburgh.civicplus.com/485/Watch-Live-Board-Meetings