Greenburgh town officials are exploring whether an allegedly bought vote on the Yonkers City Council for the Ridge Hill development leaves the town with any legal options against the developer and the city of Yonkers.
Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner said the town hoped at least to receive an additional payment from the developer for traffic improvements related to the project and perhaps reduce the size of the mixed-use development, set to open in early 2011.
Yonker Mayor Philip Amicone accused Feiner of “making political hay” out of the alleged criminal affair in Yonkers and wasting taxpayers”™ money on a frivolous lawsuit.
The Greenburgh Town Board this month authorized the town attorney”™s office to explore whether legal action should be taken in light of former Yonkers Council member Sandy Annabi”™s recent federal indictment for bribery and other charges. Annabi, a Democrat who served eight years in office, in 2006 allegedly was influenced to drop her opposition and cast a crucial vote in favor of the Ridge Hill project in exchange for cash and other payments from alleged co-conspirator Zehy Jereis, a former Yonkers Republican Party chairman.
Ridge Hill”™s developer, Brooklyn-based Forest City Ratner Companies Inc., in 2007 paid Greenburgh $5 million for traffic mitigation measures to settle lawsuits the town brought against the developer and Yonkers City Council. Feiner said town officials still were concerned about the size, traffic impacts and poor planning of the 1.1-million-square-foot development but were advised the town was not likely to win its court challenge because of the Yonkers council”™s approval of the project.
In voting to explore renewed legal action, town officials said the Yonkers council”™s approvals and the Ridge Hill environmental review might have been compromised by Annabi”™s allegedly tainted vote.
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Feiner gave no estimate of what the town needs and might seek in court for traffic mitigation projects related to the mega-development on its border. “The $5 million is a drop in the bucket,” he said. Gaining more money from Forest City Ratner for those improvements “is really our major objective,” he said.
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“I think the most likely scenario would be to get additional road mitigation. I think that”™s our best chance. Our goal is really not to halt the project. I think we would be receptive to a smaller project,” Feiner said.
“It”™s sort of like a tricky lawsuit,” the supervisor said. “Sandy Annabi, while she has been charged, she hasn”™t been convicted.” If town officials wait for her conviction before exploring legal action, the Ridge Hill project by then will be completed, he said. “It”™s going to be less likely that a judge would order a smaller project.”
Feiner said the prospect of a potential lawsuit and adverse court ruling might persuade Ridge Hill to agree to an additional payment. “All we”™re asking for is traffic mitigation that would make the project more successful,” he said.
Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick called Greenburgh”™s move toward legal action “premature for two reasons” in the wake of the charges against Annabi. “It”™s an indictment, not a conviction,” he said. “Secondly, the courts have long held that even a conviction would not taint the environmental review.”
“You can”™t sue on an accusation,” Yonkers Mayor Amicone said. Noting that Greenburgh already took $5 million from Ridge Hill”™s developer, he said the town”™s new legal threat “almost looks like it”™s blackmail or a bribe ”“ and I wonder what they did with that money” already received.
“He”™s not getting any money out of Yonkers,” Amicone said of Feiner. “He”™s going to waste more of the taxpayers”™ money. It”™s going to cost them more money by a guy who”™s trying to make political hay out of this indictment.”
“I don”™t think we”™re making political hay,” Feiner countered. “I”™m very offended if the council approved the project because somebody got paid off. If she hadn”™t voted that way, there wouldn”™t be a project.”
