Greenburgh Sues to Block Edgemont Incorporation Legislation

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Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins spoke about her Chapter Amendment in Greenburgh.

January 23, 2024

By Rick Pezzullo—

The Greenburgh Town Board has taken legal action again to try to prevent Edgemont from becoming the town’s seventh incorporated village.

During a special meeting Jan. 12, the board adopted a resolution hiring former state Supreme Court Justice Peter Sherwood to oppose a pending bill in the State Legislature that would exempt the hamlet of Edgemont from a law adopted last year, which amended a 140-year-old Village Law that was created when most of the town’s Unincorporated area was farmland.

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A Chapter Amendment, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, would allow the estimated 7,800 Edgemont residents to vote on becoming a separate village with its own government and elected officials without having to submit petitions through 2040.

“The Town Board has been fighting for legislation which provides voter rights and equal treatment/representation under the law for Unincorporated Greenburgh for nearly seven years,” the Greenburgh Town Board stated. “We believe that last year’s bill also protects the residents of Edgemont, both for and against incorporation, by requiring accurate, vetted fiscal and service provision information prior to their having to vote in a referendum. Voting blindly without information is not acceptable.”

If Edgemont were to become its own entity, Greenburgh officials have stressed the town would lose millions of dollars annually in revenue that would lead to the likely cutting of services for residents.

“If Edgemont breaks away, there’s no doubt in my mind there would be massive layoffs,” Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner said. “I’m really upset because we have so many great services in this town and we’ll be losing the services that people really on.”

Stewart Cousins, a senator since 2007 who represents both Greenburgh and Edgemont, appeared at the Jan. 12 meeting to explain her rationale for proposing the Chapter Amendment, which she maintained was not targeted at Edgemont, but was designed “to fix a system statewide” and align New York with laws throughout the country.

“I didn’t wake up one morning and decide (to do this),” Stewart Cousins remarked. “The law has been on the books for 140 years. It was written for people who felt they weren’t being represented. This incorporation battle with Edgemont and Greenburgh has been going on for years. This is not a new situation. I have always tried to represent all of the people. There are laws written that may not be favorable to all constituents.”

The Edgemont Incorporation Committee (EIC), a small group of residents that has been lobbying for Edgemont to become a village for seven years, submitted petitions in 2017 and 2019 that were defeated in court by Greenburgh.

The Chapter Amendment sponsored by Stewart Cousins, which passed in the Senate, requires a state appointed committee, comprised of experienced individuals in municipal planning and operation, to study the fiscal and social effects of all incorporations going forward, to determine their viability and the effects on all parties, before allowing a referendum vote by the proposed village to go forward.

Stewart Cousins expects that study to be completed by April 1 and would be circulated for three months prior to any referendum.

“I never like to pull the rug from out of anyone or any entity that is following the law and change the rules in the middle of the game,” she said.

However, residents and town officials contended the Chapter Amendment was dividing residents in Greenburgh.

“I keep fighting for us to be one community and we keep being separated,” said Councilwoman Gina Jackson. “It hurts. I don’t want us to be divided.”

A consultant hired by the EIC in 2017 concluded Edgemont could succeed on its own, stating, “We believe the assumptions are conservative and reasonable, and should the residents of this area of the Town of Greenburgh wish to incorporate, you would be able to provide a high level of service with the existing revenues that will credit to the village.”

The Chapter Amendment was approved in the Assembly Jan. 22. Assemblywoman MaryJane Shimsky, who represents Greenburgh, voted against the measure, maintaining the data in the study would not be relevant if a referendum on incorporation didn’t take place until years down the road.

Amy Paulin represents Edgemont in the Assembly.

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