“A wrecking crew will write the final chapter of the historic Hotel Lafayette this week and make way for the construction of a new, multistory building with high-end apartments. [Read more…]
Archives for June 2016
Officials: New Square fire damages house with safety violations
Photo: Chris Kear of Hillcrest Fire Dept.
“The building at 29 Jefferson Ave. has eight to 10 apartments, a history of violations, and lacked sprinklers and smoke detectors, authorities said.”
A four-story building packed with apartments and with reported safety violations caught fire Monday afternoon, leaving one unit in the building uninhabitable, authorities said.
The fire apparently ignited inside a large closet in the finished attic, which had two bedrooms and a bathroom, Hillcrest firefighter Chris Kear said. [Read more…]
Rockland County sues State and Suez
County Exec Ed Day Press Conference
Photo Ricky Flores/ The Journal News
“Rockland rate-payers are being hosed.”–Ed Day
“Rockland County has taken legal action in state court to try to keep Suez New York water ratepayers from paying the cost of an ill-fated scheme by the utility and two state agencies to build a desalination plant on the Hudson River in Haverstraw.
The legal action claims the state Department of Public Service didn’t verify all of Suez’s expenditures related to the nearly $40 million the company says it spent pursuing the plant, but instead did merely a sample audit of the invoices. [Read more…]
CUPON Hillcrest meeting Tues 7pm
Notice emailed by CUPON Hillcrest:
Hello CUPON Community,
It is time for our monthly Hillcrest meeting! Please join us and our elected state representatives, Senator David Carlucci, Assemblypersons Ellen Jaffee, and Ken Zebrowski. They will expound on a number of topics of vital interest to all of our communities, including: Blockbusting; signs on poles; new ERCSD law; etc.
Let’s come together to learn / discuss / plan what we need to do to sustain our community. [Read more…]
Make Suez pay for leaked water in Rockland
Letter in The Journal News
Suez New York, which supplies Rockland County homes and businesses with water, is primarily a transporter of water. Suez gets its water free from Rockland County sources; Mother Nature fills up our reservoirs, streams and aquifers with water. .
Consumers pay Suez New York to filter, chemically treat our water, and transport it back to us. So, if there are leaks in the water pipes, consumers pay for the lost filtered, treated and transported water. If we gave our household goods to a transporter (i.e. moving company) to pack and deliver, we would expect to get all items back, not 25 percent of our goods disappearing. Any lost items would be paid for by the moving company. [Read more…]
Who’s carrying water for SUEZ’s rate case?
Lake DeForest Photo by Rosspilot.comy
Letter originally published in Our Town, Wednesday, June 22, 2016
The writer is George Potanovic, Jr. from the Rockland Water Coalition.
I am writing to thank all the Rockland County residents and elected officials who came out in force on June 15 and 16 to speak out against the proposed SUEZ rate hike.
The company is now asking the NYS Public Service Commission to charge Rockland ratepayers an outrageous $54.5 million for expenses it claims United Water paid for the development of its failed Hudson River Desalination Plant—that was not needed, never approved, and never built. This request has revealed a blatant and ongoing lack of financial oversight by the PSC, which has approved millions of dollars of claims for payment that did not indicate services provided, primarily by engineering and legal firms [Read more…]
Comptroller: East Ramapo still in significant fiscal stress
DiNapoli: East Ramapo School budget is hampered by deficits and inadequate rainy day funds.
A follow-up audit of the East Ramapo School District was released by the New York State Comptroller yesterday. What follows is the full text of the press release from Thomas DiNapoli’s office. [Read more…]
Ramapo recluse’s land may become housing
Recluse George Konnight
JIEM Properties faces a September 2018 deadline to subdivide 30 acres.
The Journal News RAMAPO – While George Konnight lived a spartan life in the woods off West Maple Avenue, potential plans for his former property are far more luxurious.
Two years after the recluse’s death, JIEM Properties has floated a proposal with Ramapo to create a new housing zone that could bring up to 180 two- and three-story townhouses with three to four bedrooms each to the strongly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood bordering Smolley Drive and two town parks, Manny Weldler Park and Viola Park.
No official plans have been filed with Ramapo, a representative of the New Jersey-based developer said. [Read more…]
CUPON Chestnut Ridge–Meeting Mon Night
A message from CUPON
Neighbors,
We are calling a special CUPON meeting on Monday June 20th at 7pm at the Firehouse on Red School House Road to address the Real Estate Non-Solicitation Zone, an opportunity presented to us by Orangetown Supervisor Andy Stewart at our last meeting to prevent Blockbusting in Rockland County. [Read more…]
Spring Valley inspector: Park View Homes violate plans with religious adds
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…]