Tuckahoe Mayor Omayra Andino
By Dan Murphy
Residents of Eastchester and the Village of Tuckahoe have more questions for Tuckahoe Mayor Omayra Andino after Journal News reporter David Mackay Wilson’s story uncovered the fact that Andino purchased an Briarcliff home for $990,000 just 6 days before she was re-elected for a second term as Tuckahoe Mayor , and that she indicated to the lender that the property would be her primary residence.
Wilson’s story, which can be read at www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/tuckahoe/2024/05/28/tuckahoe-ny-mayor-andino-bought-ossining-home-as-principal-residence/73826063007/, includes a link to mortgage documents, which show Andino listing the property as her primary residence and not a second home. The documents also show that Andino was represented at the closing by Tuckahoe Village attorney Gary Gjertsen, who shortly after Andino’s purchase, was re-appointed as the Village Attorney.
Tuckahoe residents who live in the same co-op building that Andino calls her residence, at 14 Westview, say “she is never there. I haven’t seen her in some time.”
Andino saved money on her mortgage, by obtaining a lower interest rate for the new property, by listing it as her primary residence, and admitted to Mackay Wilson that it will be her primary residence at some point. While some realtors have called this intentional misrepresentation mortgage fraud, it is hardly ever enforced.
Many believe that Andino was hoping to have the Briarcliff home purchase go unnoticed until November 2024, which would mark one year since she purchased the property, and at which point her lender would not require her to keep it as a primary residence. Mortgage documents available online, through the County Clerks office, show that the mortgage terms require Andino to reside in the Ossining property for at least one year after closing.
And that part of her mortgage does not coincide with the New York State Village Law, which requires elected officials to reside in the Village that they serve. Oddly enough the Village Code is silent to residency requirements and that is something that some residents want to see changed.
But regardless of whether Andino committed mortgage fraud on her lender, Tuckahoe residents are outraged about Andino’s explanation to Mackay Wilson that she wanted to buy a home in “the suburbs.”
“The Mayor of our Village doesn’t think that Tuckahoe is in the suburbs? She has to get out of here with her family to enjoy life?” said one Tuckahoe resident.
“Our Mayor has a choice to make. Either she should live in Tuckahoe, for real, or resign and live in Ossining. Why do some of our elected officials feel like they are entitled not to play by the rules?”
The other convenient fact in the LoHud.com story is that Andino’s Ossining home is 5 miles away from her work, at the The Institutes Of Applied Human Dynamics. Andino works as the CEO at a salary of $325,000 per year, according to Pro-Publica.
Many Tuckahoe residents don’t believe Andino’s story, that she really lives in Tuckahoe and commutes to work every weekday, when her Ossining home cuts her commute by 40 minutes every day. “She bought the Ossining home to be closer to work, that’s obvious,” said another Tuckahoe resident.
The LoHud.com story also includes a photo of Andino’s car in the driveway of her Ossining home. Some Tuckahoe residents have delved into Andino’s residency issue further, and have determined that Andino, Village Manager David Burke, and Deputy Mayor Cara Kronen, attended the New York Conference of Mayors in Albany from May 15 – May 17 on or about the same time that the photo was taken.
And sources close to Village Hall tell us that the vehicle taken to Albany was an unmarked Tuckahoe Police vehicle reserved for criminal investigations which was taken out of service for their use. We ask the following-Who takes an unmarked police car to a conference for 3 days? Is this something that is done on a regular basis for Village officials? Couldn’t one of the three officials have taken their own car and gotten reimbursed? How many Village employees were aware that the mayor lived in Ossining? Did they pick her up in OSsining on their way to Albany?
It seems that there are more questions than answers but one thing is abundantly clear – there are increasing calls for the mayor to resign.
