For Paul Feiner, longtime town supervisor
of Greenburgh, home of Captain Lawrence, it is hardly beer-drinking weather.
Paul prefers a beer in the heat of summer, preferably after a long bike ride or
run.
“On a
hot day, there’s nothing like a good beer to quench your thirst,” he says.
Instead,
it’s 20 degrees out. But when Captain Lawrence produces a beer called the Pride
of Elmsford (the village of Elmsford is part of the town of Greenburgh), Paul
is happy to come by the tasting room and give the hearty ale a taste.
The
Pride of Elmsford is an American pale ale brewed with English yeast and five
malts, and dry hopped with U.S. hops. If you missed it, the Greenburgh Daily
Voice gave the brew some love.
Paul
does as well.
“Very
good,” he says with a satisfied smile.
Paul, the
supervisor since 1991, has a special guest in tow: his 91 year old father Phil, who has volunteered at town hall
for the past 20 years, keeping an eye on town finances. Phil clearly has a nose
for numbers, inquiring about Captain Lawrence’s yearly barrel output, and the
alcohol level on the various brews. All pack more punch than what Phil used to quaff
in the Air Force. “They gave us 3.2% beer,” he says while sipping the Captain’s
Kolsch (ABV 5.5%, if you’re scoring at home). “You had to have a lot of them to
get happy.”
Paul
admits he’s not a beer connoisseur; he’s perfectly fine with a Bud or Coors.
But he credits beer with helping get his blood pumping again after running the
New York Marathon six years ago (“I couldn’t feel my feet,” he says), and he’s
positively pumped to have a world-class craft brewer in Elmsford after spending
its first six years in Pleasantville. “In a year, Captain Lawrence has
definitely become the most popular business in town,” says Paul. “It’s
definitely put Greenburgh on the map.”
Paul
will be back at the brewery February 14. Every month, the Westchester Municipal
Officials Association, a collection of town supervisors, mayors and councilmen,
gets together, and Greenburgh hosts the February wingding—at Captain Lawrence,
naturally. “It will probably be the most successful Municipal Officials Association
dinner we’ve had,” says Paul.
When
he’s not running the largest town in Westchester, home to over 88,000, Paul unwinds
by running or cycling around the county. He mentions a Special Olympics bike ride
he took with John and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. years ago, from Westchester to
Vermont. He’s cycled from here to Washington several times as well. “I may be
the slowest cyclist, but I always finish,” he says.
Paul
continues to lure new businesses to Greenburgh. He says he can go the extra
mile for them by talking them up on his WVOX/1460 AM radio show (he’s also the
rare town supervisor with a blog, at pfeiner.blogspot.com), and offering a degree
of service other town chiefs may not match. Recently, he sent Captain Lawrence
Brewing owner Scott Vaccaro a Wall
Street Journal article about a bicycle built for 16, called the PedalPub, that
he thought might be a great marketing opportunity, cruising down the Bronx
River Parkway on Bicycle Sundays, adorned in CL logos.
“If a
business has a problem, they can reach out to me and I’ll call back in a few
hours,” he says. “We want the town to be partners and help them be successful.”
Captain
Lawrence’s arrival, Paul adds, has sparked interest from other businesses. “Any
time a company like Captain Lawrence comes to town, it creates positive
momentum,” he says. “It makes it easier to attract other businesses.”
Paul
laments that budget cuts have made Westchester “less fun.” But with an ice
rink, golf driving range, mini-golf, the Sportime USA amusement center and
various kiddie gyms all a 9-iron from the brewery, Elmsford has emerged as
Westchester’s playground. Paul, who’s currently pushing for a new sports
complex on Dobbs Ferry Road, credits Captain Lawrence for adding a little zip
to the region.
“A place
like Captain Lawrence is a little different,” Supervisor Feiner says. “It makes
the county a more fun place to be located in.”
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