Preserve Ramapo

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Weidel banked nearly $400k in 2016

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Ramapo Chief of Police Brad Weidel

The Rockland County Times reported Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel’s base salary in 2016 as $225,000. This puts him ahead of some very high-profile law-enforcement officials. The Police Commissioner in New York City gets $219,775. The Director of the FBI gets only $172,000. For that matter, the Governor of New York State is paid only $179,000. Now this sounds seriously unbalanced.

However, when you add in the overtime Weidel accumulated last year, also reported in the RC Times story, that generous $225,000 jumped to a shocking $397,411.75. That’s just $2,588.25 short of what the base salary was in 2016 for the President of the United States! Who is negotiating this salary for the Town? [Read more…]

Important CUPON Meeting Thursday July 20–Development of Minisceongo Golf Course

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CUPON members of New Hempstead, Pomona, Hillcrest, New City, Chestnut Ridge, Airmont, Monsey, and all Rockland County residents:

The New Hempstead CUPON meeting this Thursday is VERY important. A main topic will be the proposed development of the Miniscengo Park/golf course in New Hempstead off Pomona Road. The developer is proposing several hundred new units on this property. He submitted a request for a Waiver of a Public Hearing and Re-Approval of Final Site Plan to the Ramapo Planning Board for a July 20th hearing, which has been rescheduled to July25th. If this project is successful, it will stifle traffic, water, sewage, and the suburban lifestyle for all of the surrounding communities. [Read more…]

Neighbors force builder to close potential illegal apartments at Viola Estates

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Construction on Viola Road

Photo: John Meore/The Journal News

“Neighbors of the massive Viola Estates housing complex have beaten back a developer’s stealth inclusion of basement space for potential illegal apartments at the Viola Road development across from Ramapo High School.

The agreement reached limited the number of condominiums to the town-approved 44, sealed off outside entrances to basements and removed electrical panels, boilers and other items that could support apartments. [Read more…]

Rockland lawmaker wants local governments to report suspicious financial activities

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Rockland Legislator Charles Falciglia

This story by Lanning Taliaferro first appeared on New City Patch on June 29, 2017

“Rockland Legislator Charles Falciglia is calling on the federal government to force local governments to report questionable financial activities — something he says local officials are often unwilling to do. Many think it’s not their job, many are afraid of political retaliation, others succumb to the “re-election factor,” he said.

He said monitoring property tax collection, for example, could be useful for fighting money laundering. [Read more…]

Viola Gardens litigation ends with restoration to single-family units

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The following story first appeared on Matzav.com

“No sign of the controversy that has swirled around Monsey’s embattled Viola Gardens condominium development was in evidence at the last Town of Ramapo Planning Board meeting when the complex’s new owner, veteran local builder Yossi Herskowitz, submitted a revised site-plan for the 44-unit project which had morphed under its prior owner into a behemoth potentially 5 times its approved size. [Read more…]

Millions still flowing to St. Lawrence’s RLDC

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Money vacuumYou would think that as fast as St. Lawrence and his attorney were pedaling in the courtroom in White Plains, trying to outrun the 22 felony charges from the Dept of Justice, that he wouldn’t have time to continue to siphon public money to his bankrupt RLDC. So much for common sense. While St. Lawrence and his attorney, Michael Burke, were looking over perspective jurors, his corrupt machine was still still cranking up the giant sucking sound at Town Hall on Route 59, vacuuming millions in public assets. At the other end of the pipe, almost six million was blowing in at the RLDC office over at the ballpark.  [Read more…]

Anthony Mallia resigns, Board approves moratorium on temporary modular schools

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Anthony Mallia Ramapo Director of Building and Planning

Anthony Mallia arrest photo

Anthony Mallia, indicted on 188 felony and misdemeanor counts, has resigned his position as the Director of the Ramapo Building Dept., and the Town Board voted to accept his resignation at tonight’s regular Town Board meeting (June 28). The three questions that now remain are: will Mallia plead to the charges before the trial; will he cooperate with the DA’s Office and/or federal authorities to mitigate his sentence; or will he be before Judge David Zuckerman on July 24, at 10 am watching as jury selection begins for his criminal trial? [Read more…]

Preserve Ramapo celebrates an overdue conviction

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Last night, many of the Preserve Ramapo faithful showed up at the Water Wheel restaurant in Tallman to celebrate the conviction of one of the most disastrous politicians in Ramapo’s long 226-year history. The former supervisor, Christopher St. Lawrence, was found guilty of 20 federal charges of bond fraud and will be sentenced in September. The damage caused by St. Lawrence’s abuses go well beyond those spelled out in the criminal charges that will remove him from the community. [Read more…]