Department of Health Dumps Nearly 3,000 Pages On Understaffed Local News Outlet
What the Health Dept finally released about South Blooming Grove—and what it means
As a reminder to readers: In New York State, there is no such thing as a “Village Executive.” Joel Stern has used the title repeatedly despite not being an actual elected official for the Village of South Blooming Grove, as you can see pictured above.
Well, it only took two years … But we finally got our FOIL request answered from the Department of Health.
As you know, the Village of South Blooming Grove is ground zero for an ongoing white-collar crime spree with two men, Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein, at the center of it.
Attorney General Letitia James has been aware of this crime spree going back to at least 2022.
The FBI and Orange County District Attorney have also been aware for about the same amount of time.
The Governor, Kathy Hocul, and her office knows as well—and has declined via FOIL to turn over her communications with both Stern and Ekstein’s United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove organization— and so too knows our state senator James G. Skoufis—who took $10,000 from Stern and $15,000 from Ekstein, not to mention tens of thousands more Skoufis took from their friends.
Despite this…
There are still a lot of questions to be answered.
Including newer ones that have popped up in the last year involving the “emergency services” that Stern and Ekstein have recently established in an attempt to get rid of the goyim’s emergency medical services.
(I wish I was kidding, but that’s what they keep asking the County and State for help with: How to displace the current emergency services groups while only advertising assistance to the Haredi population.)
One reoccurring question sent in to The Monroe Gazette is this: Why does Stern and Ekstein’s firetrucks have advertising on it for Island Time? A local grocery store. (See below.)
They (Stern and Ekstein) claim the Island Time owners donated the fire truck to the Village of South Blooming Grove, which, according to village records we’ve seen thus far, the taxpayers of South Blooming Grove may have paid for it.
So, once again, Stern and Ekstein are lying and probably still using the village’s money—including state grants and federal money—as their personal piggy bank.
Where’s the money from the Island Time supermarket advertising going?
Because if it’s not going to the Village of South Blooming Grove, that’s the kind of thing that you’d think would get a district attorney’s attention.
This question, by the way, is at the subject of a brand new Freedom of Information request that we just submitted to the village.
And before you ask, yes. It is legal in the State of New York, as far as we can tell, to place advertising on municipal property. This includes a fire truck.
Island Time isn’t just a grocery store. So there’s a little bit more to this story.
It’s a real estate development that, like almost everything else in South Blooming Grove, is ignoring environmental and other municipal rules and regulations to get built at “super fast speed.”
If you’re thinking what I’m thinking here—that Stern is rubber-stamping permits for developers, like Island Time, who fund his playtime fire department—you’re on the right track.
That brings us to the DOH document dump.
The Monroe Gazette is ad-free and paywall-free, covering local news in Monroe and surrounding towns as well as county, state, and national issues that impact those residents.
If you’d like to keep it that way, we’re looking to recruit 996 paid annual subscribers between now and June 24, 2027. Want to help keep the lights on? If you’re new here or already a free subscriber, press that beautiful button below to upgrade.
The New York State Department of Health, after two years of waiting, finally released over 2,500 pages of documentation concerning South Blooming Grove that I need to read. I have made all those documents available here.
So far, I am underwhelmed with what I’m seeing, and I think someone (me, and them) botched this FOIL. Meaning we’re going to have to FOIL them again.
What I’m seeing is a hodgepodge of stuff about South Blooming Grove but not much about corrective action being taken on behalf of residents with no clean drinking water.
But … There’s some other stuff in here. Stuff related to Stern and Ekstein’s fake EMS and fire company for example. That’s why I wanted to remind you of some of the questions being asked to us by residents.
So, if you don’t mind, there won’t be a post on the 21st (tomorrow) and 22nd (Wednesday.)
I’m going to examine all the documents I just shared with you from the DOH, and then put in some follow-up FOILs and requests for comment.
I’ll then come back on Thursday with an update. On Friday, you’ll get part 2 of our interview series on FOIA (freedom of information act) best practices.
Sadly, I can’t do two things at once. This document dump requires some reading and investigating. so let me get back to you after I’ve done that.
See you Thursday.