Ok Woodbury residents, as promised: Here are the steps you can take to help preserve as much of the ACE Farm property as possible.
Make sure you sign the We The People of Woodbury petition here.
This episode also talks about yesterday’s public hearing up at the Orange County government center, where Local Bigot — and Woodbury Mayoral Candidate — Brandon Calore, and Town Board member Sandra Capriglione, attempted to poke holes in a possible new park for the Village of Woodbury. You can see the video from their appearance here, starting at 43:32:
Transcript
Hello and welcome to another edition of The Monroe Gazette, recorded inside the George Carlin Memorial Podcast Studio. I’m your host, BJ Mendelson.
Woodbury’s MAGA Mayoral candidate, Brandon Calore, made an odd public appearance yesterday in Goshen, where he failed to identify himself as a member of the Woodbury Town Board. He was joined by Mrs. Sandra Capriglione, who did identify herself as such. Both members of your Woodbury Town Board were there to raise concerns about the potential funding and acquisition of nearly 30 acres of parkland in Woodbury.
Mrs. Capriglione seemed confused by what is, and what is not, a public park. Asking more than once for the Chair of the hearing and Orange County Planning Commissioner Alan J. Sorensen to clarify who would have access to this parkland if acquired. I reached out to Mrs. Capriglione to ask her to clarify what exactly the problem would be if the park was open to all Orange County residents or just Woodbury residents.
Following the Woodbury Town Board meeting where a resident expressed concern that sure sounded a lot like “There’s too many brown people at the Town pool”, I think Woodbury residents deserve an explanation here. Usually around these parts, when people ask who can access a park, or want to restrict that access based on residency, it’s usually code for “No Jews and No Black People.”
What was Mr. Calore doing there? Mr. Calore, who by the way claims he’s self-funding his campaign but also refuses to provide any financial paperwork to New York State’s Board of Elections to prove that, wanted to also poke holes in the plan to acquire this parkland in Woodbury.
Mr. Calore, claimed during his public comment that “he’s all for parks” but expressed doubt about the location of this specific park. This concern was due to the speed of nearby roads, which he asked the County to assist with. While there’s definitely concern about too high speed limits across both Woodbury and Monroe, that’s an issue for the Department of Transportation. If only there was a State Senator and Assemblyman that Brandon Calore was buddies with that could help get these speed limits reduced. But he hasn’t done that. Instead he’s complained and used the speed limit as an excuse to stop this land from being acquired.
Mr. Calore also referred to this potential property as “Muckland.” If that term sounds familiar to Woodbury residents, it should. Because Pro-Development Village Trustee James Freiband consistently uses the term “muckland” to disparage potential properties that could be acquired for preservation. I’m sure the use of the term muck land by Calore is just a coincidence. And if you believe that, I’ve got a Boeing 747 from the President of Qatar I’d like to offer you.
Now, before we get into today’s story involving ACE Farm I’d like to remind you of a couple of local Memorial Day Parades happening this weekend. The first is in Monroe on May 25th. Formation starts at Smith’s Clove Park at 12:15 with stepoff at 1:30pm
Over in Woodbury, the formation will start at 11am on Bond Street. And there will be music at Jay’s Deli and at Victory Park at noon.
My Grandfather fought in World War 2 over in North Africa and Italy, and my great-grandfather fought in World War 1. When I was married, my ex-wife’s grandfathers served in World War 2. This generation is almost completely gone, and since we find ourselves fighting the Nazis all over again, this time right here in America in the form of MAGA, the least we can do is attend these parades and remember the heroism and bravery of our men and women in the armed services who fought to defend and protest our constitution and our Democracy.
We should all take a lesson from their courage and sacrifice and recommit to ensuring our Constitution is upheld right now, while it’s under direct assault from President Trump and Congressional Republicans.
I’ve been getting questions from Woodbury residents about the annexation of ACE Farm and what they can do about it. The answer is, you can do a lot. But you have to actually do it. You can’t just talk about doing it. We have a lot of talkers in Woodbury.
So today I’m going to briefly outline some of these actions. For the sake of time I won’t get into the weeds on each of them, but if you have questions, you can email me at bjmendelson@duck.com, yes that’s duck like the bird. And I’ll link to the petition in today’s show notes as well as the Orange County Public hearing on the parkland so you can see that stuff for yourself.
Here’s the list:
-You can and should sign the petition We The People of Woodbury. You should also warn people not to sign whatever petition former failed Village Trustee candidate, John U. Keleman is circulating. We don’t know the details of what Mr. Keleman is circulating, and so far have been unable to reach him for comment, but it appears to be yet another pro-developer action taken by the Committee to Elect Woodbury Democrats. (Update: We now know the details! It’s worse than you think.)
-You can and should call State Senator Skoufis’s office twice. His phone number is (845) 567-1270. The first time you call, you should dial extension 5, which will put you in touch with his scheduler. When you talk to the scheduler, you should demand that the State Senator come to an upcoming Woodbury Village Board meeting to hear the concerns of his constituents. As a reminder, when Skoufis was trying to merge the Village and Town of Woodbury last year, he didn’t show his face at any meeting.
-The second time you call Skoufis’s office at 845-567-1270, you want to dial Extension 4, which will put you in touch with Mr. Matt Fascaldi. Mr. Fascaldi, by the way, is currently a candidate for office, so it’s not a good look for him to be blowing you off, or appearing like he’s doing the State Senator’s dirty work for him. When talking to Mr. Fascaldi, you want to keep your concerns limited to this: There is a potential conflict of interest between the Village of Kiryas Joel and the alleged private land owner, Elozer Gruber. The Village of Kiryas Joel told The Monroe Gazette that Mr. Gruber is a private landowner without affiliation to the Village; however, the Times Herald Record reported that when Mr. Gruber acquired the property, he did so as a representative of Vaad Hakiryah.
Vaad Hakiryah is the land owning arm of Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar. This is the flagship synagogue in Kiryas Joel where all of the elected officials are members of. So, while true on paper that Mr. Gruber is a private landowner, it's not true once you examine the relationships between Mr. Gruber and the Village Board. You are concerned that the DEC just demonstrated a complete and total lack of investigative abilities by granting a Clovewood-related permit to an organization that does not exist, which is called the Village of South Blooming Grove United Jewish Community Emergency Response Division. The granting of this permit triggered, in part, a lawsuit between the Town of Blooming Grove and DEC.
Oh, and by the way, long-time incumbents Abraham Wieder, Samuel Landau, and Jacob Reisman are all running unopposed in Kiryas Joel right now for a Village election scheduled for June 4th.
Don’t bother emailing Team Skoufis or the State Senator directly, because all you’ll get is the same copy-and-paste response, which is what’s happening to your friends and neighbors in South Blooming Grove. You have to call. And calling is important, because I can tell you for a fact that the Govenor’s office has already sent a representative to Woodbury to talk about this annexation request.
-Which brings me to the next thing you can do which is call Governor Kathy Hochul’s office. That phone number is 518-474-8390. You’re basically going to reiterate what was shared with Mr. Fascaldi with the Governor’s office. The important thing here is to stress that Governor Hochul just delayed the educational equivalency requirements for Yeshivas as part of the recent NYS budget agreement. So it’s clear she’s gearing up for re-election, and you do not want the DEC and the Governor’s office to step on you to make some wealthy real estate developers happy. Remind Mrs. Hochul that your vote matters just as much as the real estate developers, and if her office interferes with what’s going on in Woodbury, you’re going to organize, you’re going to get loud, and you’re going to vote.
Speaking of getting organized, if you have friends in Monroe, I want you to listen to the following carefully. Assemblyman Chris Eachus’s Chief of Staff, David Rabbitts, is running in the local Democratic Primary as Monroe’s next Town Supervisor. Mr. Rabbitts is running for supervisor, and for the same reason, Brandon Calore is running for mayor in Woodbury, because State Senator Skoufis wants him to. So if you want to send a message to Mr. Skoufis, and to Mr Eachus, you can tell all your friends in Monroe that Mr. Rabbits is working on behalf of the real estate developers, and not the people, and that they should make sure to vote for Councilwoman Maureen Richardson in the primary. Send Mr. Rabbits packing, which in turn will send Mr. Eachus a very clear message: IF he does not want to work on behalf of the people of Woodbury, he will find himself out of a job next.
-The next thing you can do is talk to your friends and neighbors in Blooming Grove and South Blooming Grove, because they can detail for you the numerous failures of the DEC Region 3 office and their lack of enforcement when it comes to the actions of the real estate developers. This information should be gathered and disseminated to everyone in Woodbury. Because what’s probably going to happen is that the DEC will give Kiryas Joel lead agency status for this annexation, and both Woodbury municipalities will need to sue. So, all of this information, which demonstrates a clear political choice in how the DEC makes its decisions, will assist you in the lawsuit.
-Another thing you want to do is go to a Town and Village Board meeting and ask whether or not your elected officials are talking to the elected officials in Kiryas Joel. Because the elected officials in Kiryas Joel claim that nobody on the Woodbury side is talking to them. Now, we know that’s not true thanks to the actions of State Senator Skoufis and Village Trustees James Freiband and Matthew Fabbro, but it’s important to stress, publicly and loudly, that we want peaceful cooperation and discussion with our neighbors. There are realities we cannot deny, and one of them is that there are 40,000 of our Haredi Brothers and Sisters living in Kiryas Joel, and there is a housing shortage in New York State.
So, while I know nobody wants to hear this, while it’s important to put the environment first, especially in light of our two recent climate disasters with the historic flooding in 2023 and the jennings creek fire in 2024, we also need our municipalities across all of Orange County talking to each other about how, when, and where we can build housing in a spot that is the least objectionable to everyone. Put another way, you won’t win this fight just by saying we don’t want any development anywhere. The Real Estate Lobby has too much power on the New York State Democrats, and the New York State Republicans are too busy pretending to be Nazis to put together a coherent strategey. So, we as the people of Orange County need to develop this strategy and work together.
-One thing you can do if you’re not already is register to vote. You wouldn’t believe how many of your friends and neighbors are not registered. And if you are registered to vote, make sure you get yourself an Early Mail Ballot. This way, there’s no more excuses about the Bloc Vote, and no more excuses not to vote at all. I’ll include a link in the show notes to help you get your early mail ballot for both the primaries and general elections.
Make sure you do this right away as soon as you’re done listening to this episode. Or better yet, pause this episode, click on the link, fill out the form, and then come right back to finish listening. Everyone should be doing this right now, no excuses. And if you’re running for office, you should be calling, emailing, sending mail, and going door to door ot make sure everyone who signed your nominating petition is getting themselves an Early Mail Ballot.
-This is a fun one. It’s very difficult to put in a FOIL request to the Village of Kiryas Joel, but you absolutely should. Their phone number is (845) 783-8300. Press Extension 5 and ask for the Village Clerk. Then ask for an email address that you can put in your FOIL request. In the coming days we’ll have more information about how to do this, but the point is, if the Village of Kiryas Joel wants to claim there is no connection between them and Mr. Elozer Gruber, they should prove it.
So you can and should foil for all documents pertaining to Mr. Gruber and his company known as Acres Road 2 Holding LLC. I’d also tell you to FOIL county executive Steve Neuhaus, but based on our experience doing so, he’s just going to lie to you and say he has nothing. That might happen here with Kiryas Joel, but the attempt is worth it. And while you’re talking to these Village officials, you should also ask when they hold their Village Board meetings. The Monroe Gazette asked for this information and we were not provided with it. If Kiryas Joel does get Lead Agency status, you’re going to want to come to these meetings.
-While we’re talknig lack of transparency here’s something else you can do: Make every candidate running for office in both Monroe and Woodbury sign a pledge committing not to take any money from any real estate developer or LLC. That should be a very easy thing for all of them to do. Unless of course, they want to take money from the LLCs, which would then tell you who exactly they’re working for. Because it ain’t you.
-And finally, there is the nuclear option. This should not be used unless all other options have been exhausted, all of your politicians have failed you, and you really, truly want ACE Farm to be the hill you’re going to die on. Because if you go this route, there’s no going back. And I strongly urge everyone involved to try to peacefully and cooperatively work together to find a solution that helps remedy New York’s housing crisis, a lot of the long standing issues between Woodbury and Kiryas Joel — like the annual request for a tax break on water infrastructure Kiryas Joel owns in Woodbury — and preserving as much land as we can.
Because remember, one of the best ways to fight climate change and protect our community from its adverse impacts like flooding is to preserve as much land as possible. And given that the world’s supply of airable land is on the decline, it’s also important that we use what land we do have to help grow food, so that nobody in our community knows hunger. Got me?
Ok. With that in mind, there is the nuclear option. The nuclear option is simple: The existence of both Palm Tree and the Village of Kiryas Joel violate the Constitution’s Establishment Clause. It also violates the Constitution’s Guarantee Clause, but since like only two of you know what the Guarantee Clause is, we’ll put that one aside. This argument is very basic: The Constitution and our founders like Thomas Jefferson were adamant about maintaining a strong separation of Church and state. When you have members of Congregation Yetev D Satmar running un-opposed, year after year, holding village and Town positions, and when Hanhallah — which is yiddish for leadership — tells those elected officials what to do, both municipalities are in violation of our Constitution,and it is the right of any American to file a lawsuit (which you don’t need a fancy lawyer to do, by the way) arguing that the VIlalge of Kiryas Joel and Palm Tree are Constitutionally void, and therfore, none of the decisions it makes are legally valid. That would include the annexation of ACE Farm.
Again, we don’t want to use that option, but I’d make it pretty clear to Hanhalah something must change. The way all of these local politicians play us off each other isn’t sustainable to long term peace and happiness. We respectfully ask for an opportunity to fix this. Otherwise, we’ll be left with no option but to blow it all up.
That’s just what I think Woodbury. We’re off next week because of the Memorial Day Holiday, but I’ll see you all back here on June 1st with more news and opinion from your friends at The Monroe Gazette.
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