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GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Outspoken Greenburgh residents raised a racket during a Wednesday public hearing over whether or not the Town of Greenburgh should suggest an amendment to a New York State law, which has been motivated by the proposed development of a year-round tennis facility at Anthony F. Veteran Park.
The Greenburgh Town Council is considering issuing a recommendation to state legislators to change a law enacted in 1982 – known as the Finneran Law – that would allow residents outside unincorporated Greenburgh to use the park’s tennis courts.
Behind the suggestion is a proposal from Sportime, an athletic facilities company, to build a “tennis bubble” at the park free of charge that would include a sheltered tennis facility covering nine courts that would allow residents to play tennis year-round.
Supporters of the change, including Town Supervisor Paul Feiner, say it would be a “can’t miss,” “win-win” and “golden opportunity” to bring sorely needed funds to the town and allow the courts to be renovated free of cost.
Still, others complain that taxpayers in unincorporated Greenburgh would get a raw deal. Only residents of unincorporated Greenburgh pay taxes on the park, which is town-owned – leading many to argue that only those paying for the park should be permitted to use it.
“The unincorporated residents will be paying to allow everyone else in,” resident Hal Samis said.
In the midst of the debate, some residents chided the board during Wednesday’s hearing for focusing so much time that could be dedicated on issues like traffic, infrastructure and flooding.
“I think there is more that needs to be addressed in Greenburgh than whether we can play tennis year-round,” Thomas Bock said.
But Greenburgh Tennis Director Janet Lefkowitz, along with a number of tennis instructors and players, pointed to lackluster conditions at the park and see Sportime as a chance to fix the courts.
“It would be criminal to let this golden opportunity slip away,” she said.
Feiner agreed that the opportunity shouldn’t be passed up.
“Our tennis courts are in serious need of major infrastructure improvements,” he said. “We don’t have the money and we’ve been delaying and delaying the repairs. If we contract” with Sportime “or another company we would be able to get them to improve the facilities at their expense, not ours.”
Still, Sportime representatives have told the town they aren’t interested in building the facility unless the amendment is passed because the current law significantly restricts park usage.
According to Feiner, State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins is open to the idea. A representative from Cousins’ office attended the hearing Wednesday and said that the state senator suggested that the Town of Greenburgh and its villages find agreement on the matter to make it easier for the state to consider passing the amendment.
Local officials from both sides of the spectrum have also weighed in on the matter. Greenburgh’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board unanimously approved suggesting the change. The Village Officials Committee, made up of mayors from Tarrytown, Ardsley, Irvington, Hastings and Elmsford, however, voiced their opposition to the plan in an email to the board.
Herb Rosenberg, a former justice in Dobbs Ferry, said without an agreement between the town and its villages, Wednesday’s lengthy debate may be all for naught.
“Senator Stewart-Cousins has said there need to be an agreed upon proposal between the town board and the villages. So this is a pointless exercise,” Rosenberg said. “The town’s proposal will not pass.”
The Greenburgh Town Council will vote Tuesday on whether or not to make the recommendation to the state.
Comments (1)
Personally I object to the reporter's characterization that 'outspoken residents raised a ruckus' because that implies a disturbance, a disruption which was never the case. Not that I don't think that oftentimes ruckuses are the only sensible reaction to the hypocrisy and double-dealings of the Town Board initiated by Town Supervisor Feiner whose latest scam has him looking out for the welfare of homeless dogs in an Elmsford animal shelter. "Not that there's anything wrong with that" but his paid job (which he is failing at) is to keep Greenburgh from 'going to the dogs'. The Hitchcock movie Psycho ends with a character commenting on unbalanced Norman Bates "he wouldn't hurt a fly". That's the impression that Feiner wants to leave: a likable schlub who, at worst, just doesn't get it but whose heart is in the right place. A role which explains why Greenburgh taxes have risen over 50% in five years.
So what has this latest chapter from the Book of Job (aka Impatience) revealed? Only that a few, diehard tennis buffs could be recruited to lend their support and be paired with those who receive Town paychecks performing Tennis roles for the Parks department. And that these employees see the possibility of a windfall coming their way were Sportime to be in business (getting Federal aid for creating new jobs) and hire those most familiar with Greenburgh Tennis players and who can bring their rolodex to Sportime. Getting your piece of a larger pie is often a powerful incentive for those who make rare visits to Town Hall.
Truth is there just aren't enough Tennis players around as substantiated by the declining Tennis revenue and usage of the Town's Tennis courts. Fortunately, despite fewer dollars coming in, Ms. Lefkowitz's compensation hasn't declined. As for the disrepair at the Tennis courts, despite the plethora of hapless win-win scenarios proclaimed by the Tennis lobby, the history of the courts does not suggest this. If you want to make a hero of Feiner, you should say that given the declining use of the courts, it makes no sense for the Town to have spent scarce tax dollars on preventing their continuing decay. If you want to tell it like it is you would say that while the Town is supporting multiple summer camps to maintain "separate but equal" facilities, he is doing this with tax dollars that should be going toward absent infrastructure upkeep townwide.
But the heart of the problem is that those that pay the freight are being asked to invite everyone to the party. And in this case, "everyone" is not just those who live in Greenburgh's six villages; "everyone" means everyone who wants to play indoor tennis during the winter. That may include those living in Yonkers, Riverdale, Sleepy Hollow, White Plains, Scarsdale...So altruism aside, what Feiner is seeking unincorporated residents to do, is host the party for all our friends and neighbors and bring more car traffic to the area in its furtherance. And Tennis, already an elitist sport, isn't going to recruit many new followers from unincorporated's less well-off areas; the Town Tennis courts (and its pool) are not served by public transportation. Game. Set. Match.
Hal Samis