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Archives for December 2017

Hamlets of Ramapo tenants remain in limbo as town agenda could include moving out the families

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Street view of Lake Street in the Hamlets of Ramapo

Lake Street in the Hamlets of Ramapo Photo:Tania Savayan/The Journal News

Journal News year-end update of the situation in the Ramapo Hamlets.

“Billy Cuomo and his wife are throwing in the towel and plan on moving after 37 years of living in a town-owned house in the secluded Hamlets of Ramapo.

They and their neighbors are facing the inevitable, as Ramapo officials are leaning toward eventually selling the 20 acres of Torne Valley land where more than a dozen families live, to slash expenses and get out of the landlord business.

“I don’t want to give up my homestead,” said Cuomo, a 70-year-old retired machinist and school custodian. “But I can’t live like this with the uncertainty of month to month. I’d like to stay another seven or eight years. I don’t know how much time I really have.” [Read more…]

Ramapo whistleblower: Fire me or lift suspension

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Photo of Melissa Reimer at one of the Ramapo hearings.

Melissa Reimer Photo: Joe Larese/ The Journal News

“Suspended Ramapo finance official Melissa Reimer’s latest legal action demands the town either fire her or put her back to work.

Reimer, 50, has been suspended since June 2013 after two disciplinary hearings in which a hearing officer ruled Town Board members should fire her for insubordination and other allegations as supervisor of fiscal services.

The Town Board has not acted and Reimer continues getting paid $170,000 annually, as her federal civil rights lawsuit against the town continues.

Reimer’s attorney, Fred Lichtmacher of Manhattan, contends Ramapo is required by civil service law to make a decision on the hearing officer’s determination. The law doesn’t set a time frame for the town to act.

“The town needs to either bring her back or cut her loose and face the consequences,” Lichtmacher said. “They are costing the taxpayers tons of money by paying her for not working. She wants to work.” [Read more…]

Chestnut Ridge: Neighbors say 3-car garage operates as a synagogue

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View of the interior of the the three car garage on Spring Hill Terrace in Chestnut Ridge

Inside the 3-car garage at 3 Spring Hill terrace in Chestnut Ridge (Photo submitted)

NOTE: A special meeting of the Zoning Board of appeals will address the matter in today’s JN story–Meeting is Monday, December 18, 2017, 7:30 PM Please note Meeting will take place at the Chestnut Ridge Middle School Auditorium, 892 Chestnut Ridge Rd, Chestnut Ridge NY 

“When is a garage not used to house cars? Neighbors of a Spring Hill Terrace property say when the garage is a synagogue.

While the congregation denies holding services in the three-car garage, neighbors are asking the village zoning board of appeals to revoke the structure’s certificate of occupancy and issue a stop work order.

“They lied,” Hilda Kogut said Friday, standing with neighbor Carole Goodman on a chilly morning outside the house owned by the Brooklyn-based Kedishas Aharon D’Hadas. “This is a shul, not a three-car garage. We kept telling the village what’s going on there. The village is turning a blind eye.” [Read more…]

Ramapo’s Christopher St. Lawrence: Done in by vanity: JN Editorial

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“For those who had followed former Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence’s rise and fall, and years of ironclad rule in between, there was scant satisfaction in the sentence handed down Wednesday for his 20 federal corruption-related convictions: Two and a half years in prison; three years supervised release; a $75,000 fine.

Even his uncharacteristic apologies after his federal sentencing Wednesday — that he was “deeply ashamed” — provided a rather hollow and unsatisfying denouement to this final chapter of his political life.

What did him in? Vanity, it seems. His 20 convictions on fraud and conspiracy stemmed from an elaborate scheme to cook the books and fudge revenue to put a shine on the town’s sinking finances. [Read more…]

St. Lawrence can ask court to delay prison start date

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Sign Otisville Correctional Facility

Otisville Correctional Facility

“Former town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence doesn’t have to go straight to prison in March to start serving his 30-month sentence.

St. Lawrence, 67, can ask U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel to delay his sentence pending the appeal of his conviction and sentence. She sentenced him Wednesday to 2 1/2 years in prison and a $75,000 fine for securities and wire fraud, and conspiracy. [Read more…]

St. Lawrence sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, 3 years supervised release and fined $75k

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Photo of St Lawrence outside White Plains Federal Courthouse

Christopher St. Lawrence and his attorney at Federal Courthouse Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News

The disgraced ex-Supervisor of the Town of Ramapo was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison followed by 3 years supervised release by Judge Cathy Seibel today at the federal courthouse in White Plains. The Judge also imposed a $75,000 fine. [Read more…]

Judge to sentence St. Lawrence Wed at 1pm

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Judge Cathy Seibel has scheduled Wednesday afternoon, December  13 to pass sentence on the convicted ex-Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence. There are three issues to be settled: number of years in federal prison, a personal fine for his crimes, and the damages attributed to the 20 felonies for which a jury found him guilty.

CUPON Meeting: Tues, Dec 12, 7pm Hillcrest firehouse

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Hello all. This is a reminder of the last Hillcrest CUPON meeting of the year. Come out, meet some old friends and neighbors, make some new friends, have some light refreshments and learn what is happening with housing in the immediate area. I hope to see you there! 7pm at the Hillcrest Firehouse.

Micheal Miller

St. Lawrence sentencing hearing continues Monday; Troodler’s sentencing off until January

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Indicted Supervisor St. Lawrence

Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence

“Former Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence’s sentencing hearing continues Monday in White Plains on how much money investors may have lost from a fraudulent bond scheme to build the baseball stadium and hide the town’s financial malaise.

One result of the continuing hearing is that the sentencing of former Ramapo assistant town attorney Aaron Troodler has been rescheduled for Jan. 2.

Troodler pleaded guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy in March and cooperated with prosecutors for a lesser sentence by testifying against St. Lawrence during his trial from April to mid-May. Troodler potentially faces two to four years in prison. [Read more…]