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Spring Valley inspector: Park View Homes violate plans with religious adds

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LoHud housing under investigation

Parkview Condos at 120 N. Main St Spring Valley (Photo by John Meore/The Journal News)

“SPRING VALLEY – A townhouse development already under investigation now faces local violations for allegedly adding a school and place of worship.

Spring Valley Chief Building Inspector Walter Booker said Thursday that the school and synagogue violate the approved site plan for the three-story stone buildings at Main Street and Maple Avenue known as the Park View Condominiums. They were built as part of the village’s downtown urban renewal. [Read more…]

Spring Valley home cited after woman sickened

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Photo of Mirna Ramos

Mirna Ramos Photo by John Meore/The Journal News

Jay Street house cited for illegal rooms, lacking smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and overcrowding in one bedroom

“Mirna Ramos’s near-death experience from a carbon monoxide incident just after her family moved into a Jay Street house on June 2 has the property’s manager set to answer to numerous violations at both the county and local level. [Read more…]

SV Building Inspector Booker and Jacob Goldman indicted

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Walter Booker Spring Valley inspector

Walter Booker Journal News file photo

A Rockland grand jury has indicted Spring Valley’s Chief Building Inspector Walter Booker and businessman Jacob Goldman for allegedly stealing taxpayer money and filing false certificates of occupancy for Goldman’s Zeissner Lane house.

Booker and Goldman were arrested in January following an investigation by the Rockland District Attorney’s Office and Spring Valley police as part of a joint task force with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in White Plains.

A grand jury heard testimony in the case last week, with Booker answering questions and giving his defense to the charges on Friday.

The phony paperwork authorized by Booker allegedly allowed Goldman to get $33,093 in property-tax exemptions in 2012, 2013 and 2014 from Ramapo and also operate two for-profit daycare centers at 9 Zeissner Lane that caught the attention of the Rockland Department of Social Services, the Rockland District Attorney’s Office said. The Department of Social Services investigated possible fraud with the state and alerted prosecutors. [Read more…]

Spring Valley passes $6.4 M bond to update fire gear, repair roads

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The fire department will finally get the funding it needs to repair its aging equipment.
Trustees passed a long-delayed bond Tuesday that included about $1.3 million dedicated to updating gear and infrastructure for the fire department. Mayor Demeza Delhomme said, in spite of the delays, “The fire department will be completely equipped.”
“When I was elected, I made a promise that I would get the job done. Despite us (the village board) fighting, I got it done,” Delhomme said.
Ken Sohlman, Spring Valley fire chief, expressed relief over the passage of the bond.
“I’m just happy they finally accepted it,” Sohlman said. “This will bring us up to safety compliance and give us the equipment we need to do our jobs.”

Read the complete Journal News story here.

Why Simon was removed from the bench

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The 40-page decision released Wednesday by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct portrays Alan Simon as the archetypal “Boss from Hell.” The number of fellow workers who he charged with contempt, and, screaming, demanded their arrest and removal, included clerks, police officers, the police chief, another judge, and others. In fact, the routine, replete with bulging eyes and Anglo-Saxon epithets, almost reached the comic level of the Queen of Hearts’ “Off with their heads!” LoHud reporter Steve Lieberman has an overview of what got Simon yanked from the bench. Read Watchdog Decision: Judge Alan Simon booted for bullying, threats here.

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…]

Spring Valley Passes $6.4M Bond for Fire Dept., Roads

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“The Board of Trustees this week approved a plan to spend $6.4 million in bond funds to begin bringing aging Fire Department equipment and infrastructure up to date. The 5-0 vote,  a rare display of unanimity from the fractured board, came Tuesday night during an otherwise chaotic meeting. The 80- to 90-member department has been asking for new equipment for years. They say their vehicles and gear are dangerously out of date.” Read the complete Journal News story here.

Spring Valley Firefighters: Politics Leave Gear Dangerously Outdated

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“Volunteer firefighter Aaron Lerer points to his protective jacket with large, brown scorch spots staining the shoulder of the fire-resistant material. He holds up a helmet with a melted face shield and burn marks, and displays one of the radios needed by firefighters inside burning buildings that has an antenna held together by tape. The department’s main tanker truck is 24 years old, more than a decade past its shelf life, and has broken down at fire scenes. Those are just some of the issues Spring Valley firefighters say they are coping with as they respond to emergencies without proper equipment and dependable trucks. They blame a divided village Board of Trustees, which has refused to allocate money to aid the beleaguered volunteers. [Read more…]

Spring Valley Building Inspector Charged with Fraud

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Booker Arrested

Google Street View of 9 Zeissner Lane, Spring Valley

Walter Booker was released without bail. The homeowner, Rabbi Jacob Goldman, is also facing charges.

“Spring Valley’s chief building inspector and a businessman were arrested Thursday in a corruption investigation that alleges the inspector gave the man false certificates of occupancy for the man’s Zeissner Lane home.That false certificate allowed the businessman to get sizeable tax exemptions and otherwise profit from day-care centers run from the property, prosecutors charge. [Read more…]