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WPCNR County Confidential. By John F. Bailey. April 8, 2003 UPDATED 4:00 P.M. E.D.T.: A substantial portion of White Plains has been saved from being annexed by the Town of Greenburgh.
A WPCNR reader living in the 10603 District reports today that Mr. Feiner, Greenburgh Town Supervisor delivered prerecorded telephone messages to 10603 residents encouraging them to return the post office survey.
ZIP CODE CAPER: A Post Office survey circulated to North White Plains residents to determine their preference to turn the zip codes 10603, which runs from the Valhalla dam to Stewart Place in White Plains, and 10607 into a “Greenburgh” address, has been thwarted.
White Plains Map from Hagstrom Westchester County Street Atlas by WPCNR NewsLab
It took a day of lobbying by Mayor Joseph M. Delfino with the White Plains postmaster and the United States Postal Service in Washington and Congresswoman Nita Lowey to extract a guarantee from United States Postal Service in Washington that 10603 would stay White Plains, USA. The other zip code involved in the zip code survey, 10607, encompassing Tarrytown Road, West of Central Avenue, was not mentioned by the Mayor.
The survey letters from the United States Postal Service asking the 10603 and 10607 residents to make a choice were mailed last week, according to a 10603 resident.
This resident reports to WPCNR they were addressed to all WP 10603 residents and Feiner dialed up WP citizens (including him) with a prerecorded plea to fill out the survey and return it to the post office.
Hockley “Walk About” Contact Exposes Greenburgh Paper Invasion
The stealth annexation by Greenburgh first came to light Saturday morning with several phone calls to the Mayor’s office from residents concerned about the survey they had received in the mail and by their reading the article describing the Feiner “zip code caper” in The New York Times Westchester Section.
HOCKLEY WALK ABOUT FOILS FEINER: The northern section of White Plains Zip Code 10603, as delineated by the Hagstrom Westchester County Street Atlas. Residents would have been given a choice of White Plains or Greenburgh address. A resident contact during a Councilman Glen Hockley Weekend “Walk About” foiled Paul Feiner’s plan to make 10603 a Greenburgh postal address.
Photo by WPCNR NewsLab
The Mayor’s office was tipped off to the paper invasion thanks to an alert White Plains resident who phoned Councilman Glen Hockley who had left a card with the resident who lives in the 10603 zip area during one of the Councilman’s trademark Weekend Walkabouts.
Mr. Hockley contacted George Gretsas, the Executive Officer who lives in the 10603 district about the resident’s concern. According to Mr. Hockley, Gretsas knew nothing of the attempt and said he’d investigate it, and told Mr. Hockley the Mayor would be looking into this Monday.
The Mayor spent most of Monday resecuring the 10603 area as part of White Plains.
Feiner Attempt to Unify Greenburgh the Culprit
An effort by Town Supervisor of Greenburgh, Paul Feiner, to enable residents of the Town of Greenburgh who live in Zip Code 10603, to have a Greenburgh address on their mail, for purposes of saving on the White Plains sales tax, is behind the issue.
Feiner explained it innocently enough to The New York Times. The new Greenburgh Town Hall is in Zip Code 10607, which is now listed as White Plains, according to Mr. Feiner. The Times quotes Feiner as saying, “I think it would make more sense for the Greenburgh town hall to be in the Greenburgh postal area. It would give Greenburgh a stronger sense of identity.”
According to Mayor Delfino the process of whether or not zip code 10603 was to be considered a Greenburgh address or a White Plains address hinged on the residents filling in a postal survey asking their preference. If 50% had voted for the Greenburgh address, the Mayor said, the postal service would list all residences in 10603 as White Plains.
The Mayor said he learned of this through an article Saturday appearing in The New York Times, and that the city had never received a “heads up” from Mr. Feiner on his effort with the post office and Ms. Lowey to give residents of 10603 and 10607 their choice of Greenburgh or White Plains.
White Plains Semper Fidelis
Mayor Delfino ended Monday’s Council meeting, assuring citizens of 10603 that their address would remain “White Plains,” saying he had spent most of the day convincing the Postal Service in Washington to drop the matter, that citizens did not have to return any survey, and he “thanked the U.S.P.S. for understanding. The matter has ended.”
ZIP CODE 10607 as defined by the Hagstrom Westcchester County Street Atlas. A Survey is being conducted to ask residents of this zip code if they prefer a White Plains or Greenburgh address. The new Greenburgh Town Hall is located within this area.
Photo by WPCNR NewsLab
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Today, a postal spokesperson is reported by
The Journal News as saying that the 10607 Zip Code survey would continue as scheduled. Mr. Feiner is reported to have remarked that it was his understanding that the 10603 survey would only go to residents in that postal area who live in the Town of Greenburgh, and that the 10607 area contains Greenburgh residents only. Mr. Feiner is also reported to have said that it was also his impression that only residents opting for a Greenburgh address in the 10603 area would have their address changed by the post office.
The WPCNR reader said today, he finds it hard to believe that Mr. Feiner truly believed the post office would deliver two different town destinations within the same zip code.
