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NAACP challenges Orthodox Jewish dominance of East Ramapo board in high profile court case

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Photo of East Ramapo school board

East Ramapo School Board Photo: Nancy Cutler/The Journal News

“A federal judge is being asked to decide the NAACP’s challenge to how school board members are elected in the East Ramapo school district. Disagreements over funding inequities will be aired at trial

The question before U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel comes down to this:

Does the current method for electing the East Ramapo Central School District’s school board members limit the participation of black and Latino voters whose children take up most of the seats in district schools?

And, if it does, should the district revert to a ward-based system of voting, which could lead to more blacks and Latinos being voted onto a board that for years has been dominated by white, Orthodox Jewish men? [Read more…]

East Ramapo trustee Bernard Charles pleads guilty in fake town rental case, will quit school board

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Bernard Charles LoHud File Photo

“East Ramapo school board member Bernard Charles, accused of pretending to be a Ramapo town official, renting out the town’s Cultural Arts Center and pocketing the $1,100 fee, pleaded guilty today to misdemeanor petty larceny as part of a plea deal with the Rockland District Attorney’s Office.

Charles also will pay back the town of Ramapo $1,100 and will resign from the East Ramapo school board. He will also be on probation for two years. [Read more…]

Bluefield Extension gets go-ahead despite judge’s ruling

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Michael Specht Ramapo Supervisor

Ramapo Supervisor Michael Specht Photo: Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News

RAMAPO–January 31, 2020

“The Zoning Board of Appeals has approved the hotly contested 15-unit Bluefield Extension project despite opponents’ claims that a state judge’s ruling blocked the construction.

Supervisor Michael Specht and ZBA attorney Alyssa Slater said the judge’s decision annulling the variances allowed the builder to reapply to the land-use board.

Specht, a former ZBA attorney, said the board voted Thursday night on an application updated in 2019, though opponents took issue that the update cured the violations cited by the judge.

The board’s 5-0 decision would allow the owner to build multiple-family housing on approximately one acre off Union Road, just across from the massive Bluefield complex of multiple family townhouses. [Read more…]

Town Board Approves Sale of Suffern Quarry

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Aerial photo courtesy Lee Ross at RossPilot.com

At last night’s Ramapo Town Board meeting, the board members voted 5-0 to approve the sale of the Tilcon Quarry property on Lafayette Avenue in Suffern. They accepted a $5 million bid submitted by Suffern Equity Real Estate, LLC, and along with the formal acceptance of the winning bid, the board declared the site as surplus property and authorized the Supervisor to draw up a contract for the sale. The buyer stated they had no plans for housing development for the property and said they would accept the light industrial zoning limitations for its use that would include their plans for warehousing and storage. [Read more…]

CUPON Chestnut Ridge: Meeting Tuesday Jan 14

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There is a CUPON Chestnut Ridge meeting Tuesday night, Jan 14, at 7pm at the William Faist Ambulance Corps. There are six items on the agenda:

  1. Updates on the two lawsuits.
  2. Brief update on the Bluefield Extension lawsuit and the court’s decision .
  3. Cease and desist program and the results from the NYS Dept. of State.
  4. Update on the Consumer Affairs work in the Village and the issue of the Village’s failure to act on even the simple issues. How to motivate the Village?
  5. Discussion about the Comprehensive Plan for the Village.
  6. Upcoming elections.

Bernard Charles, East Ramapo trustee, charged with grand larceny in scheme to rent out town facility and pocket fee

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Bernard Charles LoHud File Photo

“Bernard Charles, an East Ramapo school board trustee, spouse of Ramapo’s deputy supervisor, and former town employee has been charged with grand larceny and criminal impersonation after the Rockland District Attorney’s Office said he attempted to rent out the town’s Cultural Arts Center and pocket the more than $1,000 fee.

In the past, Charles has managed bookings at the Cultural Arts Center, located on Main Street in Spring Valley.

The 65-year-old Spring Valley resident was arrested Friday morning and charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony, and second-degree criminal impersonation, a misdemeanor, according to Rockland County Chief Assistant District Attorney Dominic Crispino.

“He is accused of pretending to be an employee of the town of Ramapo,” Crispino said. He had no permission to enter into a rental agreement for use of the Cultural Arts Center. “He is not a town of Ramapo employee,” Crispino said. [Read more…]

Despite NYC investigation findings, state puts off rules for yeshiva instruction

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The chancellor of Regents board says no timetable for state regulations on what private schools must teach, despite a New York City investigation findings that some Yeshivas fall short on academics. (The Journal News)

“Even as a New York City investigation has refocused concerns that some ultra-Orthodox yeshivas do not meet standards for academic instruction, the state is putting off possible action on proposed rules for aggressively monitoring private schools.

A long-delayed report from the New York City Department of Education, released Thursday, found that only two of 28 yeshivas visited by city officials since 2015 complied with a state law that requires private school instruction to be “substantially equivalent” to what public schools teach. Nine schools were found to be moving toward substantial equivalency

New York City is home to about 275 yeshivas, but the probe focused on yeshivas that were targeted in complaints filed in 2015 by the advocacy group Young Advocates for Fair Education, or YAFFED. [Read more…]

New fire safety law for schools aims to erase risks that haunted Rockland fire officials

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“For years, Rockland fire volunteers concerned about questionable fire safety in private schools found themselves thwarted by lax local code enforcement and toothless state oversight. So they joined with state legislators to fix a faulty system.

This week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that mandates that all New York schools — public or private — undergo regular fire inspections and use qualified inspectors to perform them. [Read more…]

Appeals panel: Pomona discriminated against Tartikov as rabbinical college plans move ahead

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“A federal appeals court Friday upheld a judge’s ruling that village officials adopted discriminatory zoning to block an Orthodox Jewish congregation from building a dormitory college for rabbinical students and their families.

As a result, Congregation Rabbinical College of Tartikov Inc. plans to file site plans and seek variances now that it has clear sailing for a college amid 130 acres straddling Routes 202 and 306, the congregation’s attorney, Joseph Churgin of Nanuet, said Friday. [Read more…]

Judge sets up trial about East Ramapo voting that could alter how school board is elected

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“A federal judge today (Nov 20, 2019) denied the East Ramapo Central School District’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit challenging how the district elects its school board members.

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel sets up a two-week trial in February that could alter how votes in May’s school board elections are tallied.

The lawsuit filed in 2017 by the Spring Valley chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and several black and Latino voters sought a dramatic change in the district’s election process. [Read more…]