In late February 2017, the EIC submitted an incorporation petition to Town of Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner. Mr. Feiner subsequently held hearings and rejected it.

We appealed through an Article 78 filling. Yesterday, Justice Cacace found Mr. Feiner’s reasons for rejection to be illegal, unlawful, and contrary to the weight of evidence. She ordered that the Town Clerk undertake all actions necessary to schedule an election within 40 days to permit “…each resident of the proposed Village of Edgemont who is qualified to vote for town officers to exercise their individual statutory right to vote and thereby determine whether the proposed Village of Edgemont shall become the incorporated Village of Edgemont.”

Under Village Law, the Town Clerk must schedule the election within 10 days and provide at least 20 days’ notice as to date and location. 

Mr. Feiner has acknowledged receipt of the decision and that it requires an election. In response to a resident's inquiry about whether he will appeal (which is his decision alone, not the Town Board's), Mr. Feiner responded: “I am reviewing the decision with our attorneys and will only appeal if we think we have a good case.” 

Mr. Feiner has up to 30 days to appeal, which means he could pull the plug on an election with a mere 10 days to go. 

We hope Mr. Feiner provides some transparency in his thinking. Given the decision’s strong language, an appeal seems like a long shot. Continuing to thwart Edgemont’s now-court-ordered vote will delay an election that Mr. Feiner himself has said is inevitable. It will ultimately serve no purpose other than costing taxpayers unnecessarily while keeping the future uncertain for many, including unincorporated taxpayers, Edgemont voters, and Town employees.

Of course, if Mr. Feiner does appeal, we will seek to expedite so that uncertainty can be minimized.