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Monsey man demands lawmakers protect seniors from overdevelopment

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Photo: Seth Harrison/ The Journal News  Herrick Avenue, Monsey

Community View in the Rockland County Times

A letter to Senator Carlucci, Assemblyman Zebrowski & Assemblywoman Jaffee from Monsey resident Asher Kaufman

Fourteen years ago the Town of Ramapo produced a Comprehensive Plan and the only mention of Seniors living in single family homes is to say they “no longer need or want the responsibilities associated with maintenance of a single-family home” while completely ignoring that many seniors in the community do want to remain and spent considerable amounts of money maintaining their single-family homes so grandchildren can visit them in the houses their parents grew up in. [Read more…]

Kaser: Fire-damaged trailer sits on same property with Village Hall

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Trailer on Kaser Village Hall property

A fire broke out in a group of trailers across from the Kaser Village Hall at 15 Elyon Road early Sunday morning. The unattached trailers, village hall and attached boy’s school are on the same fenced-in property. (Photo: Rochel Leah Goldblatt/lohud)

“A Sunday-morning fire in trailers that raised questions among fire officials occurred on the same property as a yeshiva and Kaser Village Hall.

The property belongs to congregation Khal Torath Chaim, according to Ramapo town property records. The Village Hall rents an office from the yeshiva, Kaser Deputy Village Clerk Binyomin Mermelstein said. [Read more…]

Route 59 mess was made by developers, let them fix it

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The following is a letter published in The Journal News in response to “State must fix Route 59 mess in Monsey,” May 22 Community View:

“I applaud the vision of Mr. Brachfeld. The improvements he proposes for Route 59 are desperately needed. I can’t understand, though, why he feels that taxpayers should pay to clean up the mess that real estate developers like him created, and in the process enrich his real estate enterprise. [Read more…]

Developers should fix Route 59 traffic mess

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This letter from Ian Diamond was published in The Journal News on Sunday February 26.

“When I was growing up, my family’s vernacular was peppered with Yiddish words and phrases. Whenever standard English failed to capture the nuance of a situation, we defaulted to Yiddish. When I read about developer Joseph Brachfeld’s plans, terms like “nerve,” “audacity,” and “gall” were inadequate. The suggestion that the state should pay for expansions to the congested corridor of Route 59 in Monsey? Once again, Yiddish rode to the rescue: “Chutzpah.” [Read more…]

Ramapo nears breaking point

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Front Page of The Journal News Sunday Jan. 8, 2017

On Sunday, The Journal News devoted its entire front section to an examination of the accelerating, crushing growth in the Town of Ramapo. The cautionary lead on the front page was followed by six feature articles in section one, all dealing with the growing crisis in a town with uncontrolled development, a collapsing tax base, and top-level administrators busy working on their legal defenses against scores of federal charges. The dry rot resulting from endemic political corruption threatens the entire community.

The six features in section one are divided by six separate themes:

“It’s Ramapo’s lack of zoning and safety code enforcement, not religion, that has encouraged development chaos and divided the town. [Read more…]

Monsey development plans unrealistic

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Photo of artists rendering Peter Carr/The Journal News

Photo of artist’s rendering Peter Carr/The Journal News

Community View in The Journal News by Steven Schultz

I can’t believe such a project would be considered for the proposed site. Then I remembered, it’s Ramapo and history shows that anything the community’s wealthy developers want, they get, regardless of costs and consequences to town residents.

The article includes photos of nice drawings of a large, New York City-style urban development with trees and landscaping, and even a few cars. Not surprisingly, they don’t show Route 59.

The drawings and the details of the plan are pure fantasy and a public deception. Six days a week, that location is already a dangerous traffic choke-point on Route 59. [Read more…]

Firefighters blocked by boxes at Monsey apartment building fire

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Apartment used as warehouse blocked access to firemen in Monsey apartment blaze.

Monsey Fire at 18 Calvert Dr. Photo/Tania Savayan The Journal News

“Firefighters removed boxes that were blocking an entryway as they battled an apartment building fire at 18 Calvert Drive that is being used as a warehouse July 18, 2016, in Monsey. Firefighters from Hillcrest, Spring Valley, Tallman, Thiells, Suffern and New City responded to assist Monsey.”

You can read Steve Lieberman’s full coverage of the fire, the violations registered and consequences going forward here.

Video coverage can be viewed here.

Lawsuit: Ramapo sold property in Monsey it didn’t own

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Photo of the property on Saddle River Road

Photo: Michael D’Onofrio/The Journal News

“Ramapo has been selling surplus land to raise millions of dollars for the town’s depleted coffers — including one property the town apparently didn’t own.

River Equity Holdings in Monsey has now taken legal action against Ramapo and developer Mayer Jacobowitz to vacate the June sale. Jacobowitz bought the 15,181-square-foot parcel at 102a Saddle River Road for $195,000.

Records show the Town Board approved the sale after town Highways Superintendent Anthony Sharan recommended selling the property as surplus.

One hitch: A deed filed with the Rockland County Clerk’s Office and cited in the lawsuit shows River Equity, not Ramapo, owns the property, having bought it from Israel Wagschal on Sept. 12, 2012. [Read more…]

FBI Raids in Ramapo Target Yeshivas, Tech Businesses

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FBI and Ramapo logos

“FBI agents and Rockland district attorney’s office investigators fanned out across Ramapo on Wednesday with search warrants demanding that vendors and yeshivas provide records and account for equipment allegedly bought by religious schools with millions in federal education technology dollars. Agents descended around 1:30 p.m. on vendors at 21 and 29 Robert Pitt Drive, Monsey; 161 Route 59, Monsey; and 386 Route 59, Airmont to seize records. The raids began to spread in the late afternoon to yeshivas in the Monsey area. A group of FBI agents were seen outside a yeshiva at 93, 95 and 97 Highview Avenue, all converted single-family homes. They would not comment. [Read more…]

Appeals Court Overrules Ramapo on Kaser Tax Exemption

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The battle over the nearly $20,000 tax exemption was sent back to Supreme Court Justice Margaret Garvey for trial.

“The disagreement returns to Supreme Court Justice Margaret Garvey and could go to trial, Ramapo Town Attorney Michael Klein said Thursday. He said the town’s denial stands until Garvey hears the case.”We will now litigate the factual issues,” Klein said. “The panel ruled the property being in violation is not good enough. The building inspector or zoning officer has to file charges against the property owner.” Garvey had sided with the Ramapo tax assessor’s decision to deny an exemption to the property in 2012 because the four-family house at 37 Kaser Terrace is zoned two family, even though the Kaser building inspector had not cited the operators for violating village ordinances. The village also never sought a court order to close down the house, the judicial panel noted.” Read the complete Journal story here.