Developer Lipa Deutsch Calls Shots in Monroe Building Dept
He got the mayor elected. Now he hires the inspectors
Just a programming note: On Thursday, August 6, at 6 p.m. will be another normal people time meeting of the Orange County legislature—as opposed to their usual nonsense of meeting at 2 p.m. like a bunch of jackaloons.
My friends at the Mid-Hudson Valley DSA want you to be there and join your neighbors in telling the legislature that you don’t want ICE anywhere in Orange County—not in Chester, not in the Town of Newburgh, not anywhere. You can RSVP for the meeting here.
And if you’d like to learn more about other ways you can get involved in blocking the concentration camps proposed for Orange County, you can learn more here.
I have to be honest. I thought the ongoing FOIL lawsuit with South Blooming Grove would be the most complicated thing we ever did at The Monroe Gazette.
I was wrong.
It’s the FOIL (New York’s Freedom of Information Law) that I’m working on today involving the Village of Monroe and their Building Department.
So I’m going to break this story down into two parts.
We’ll talk about the first part today.
And we’ll talk about the second part of this situation on Thursday.
If you’re a resident of the Village of Monroe, I strongly encourage you to pay attention. If you know someone in the Village, and they’re not paying attention, send them this post.
Otherwise by the time Mayor Alex Melchiorrie and his Village Board collaborators—Joe Mancuso, Debbie Behringer, and Nancy Peifer—are done, you’re not going to have much left.
And maybe even the sight of condos where the Roscoe Smith House is.
New York State’s Open Meeting Laws Are Useless
The first part of this story is … a mouthful, but otherwise pretty straightforward:
Question 1: Is the mayor, elected under shady circumstances, allowing Lipa Deutsch to have final say on who gets hired to be a building inspector?
Mr. Deutsch is one of two men responsible for the existence of “Mayor” Melchiorrie—apparently Mancuso is the brains of this operation—through funding Melchiorrie’s election and getting out the vote. Mr. Deutsch also owns properties throughout the Village, including some that either are or have been cited by the Building Department.
Question 2: Why is Lipa Deutsch sitting in on interviews and questioning people who would fill the role of building inspector?
Where is Letitia James on literally any of the corruption we report on? It’s not like she hasn’t been to our area recently:
Pictured Above: Monroe Town Supervisor, Maureen Richardson, pictured with New York State Attorney General Letitia James in early July 2026. James can't be bothered to do a damn thing about the ongoing white-collar crime spree happening in Supervisor Richardson's neighboring village, potentially involving people Supervisor Richardson needs to communicate with in order to provide services to all town residents, including Mayor Alex Melchiorrie. Melchiorrie, for example, is the person specifically holding up expanding the Village of Monroe police presence into the Town of Monroe. Something all Town residents have asked for.
There are two sources with direct knowledge on the matter who say yes: Monroe Village Mayor Alex Melchiorrie has allowed Mr. Deutsch to attend interviews and ask questions of potential candidates. He is also, according to them, the one making the final decisions in exchange for getting Melchiorrie elected.
We reached out to the Village Mayor for comment on these allegations. We will update this post if the mayor responds. So far, he’s dodged questions from both The Monroe Gazette and News 12 on this and other matters involving the Building Department.
If those allegations are true, the scandal-plagued—and soon-to-be-former—Town of Blooming Grove Police Chief is about to become the scandal-plagued Mayor of the Village of Monroe.
This is because Mayor Melchiorrie would be in violation of a number of laws. Chief among them is the New York State Open Meetings Law, which would be violated by having a private person with no employment or other government ties to the Village sitting in on job interviews conducted by the Village.
The thing is, New York State’s Open Meetings Law has no teeth to it—yet. I say this because if you’re following our FOIL lawsuit involving the City of Newburgh, depending on how the judge rules, there may be consequences for the City for openly flouting those laws. So stay tuned.
Now, you might be asking, “How is this not like a real crime—not one of those slap-on-the-wrist crimes?”
That brings us to whether or not this situation involves bribery.
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There are two sources with direct knowledge on the matter who say yes: Monroe Village Mayor Alex Melchiorrie has allowed Mr. Deutsch to attend interviews and ask questions of potential candidates. He is also, according to them, the one making the final decisions in exchange for getting Melchiorrie elected.
We reached out to the Village Mayor for comment on these allegations. We will update this post if the mayor responds. So far, he’s dodged questions from both The Monroe Gazette and News 12 on this and other matters involving the Building Department.
If those allegations are true, the scandal-plagued—and soon-to-be-former—Town of Blooming Grove Police Chief is about to become the scandal-plagued Mayor of the Village of Monroe.
This is because Mayor Melchiorrie would be in violation of a number of laws. Chief among them is the New York State Open Meetings Law, which would be violated by having a private person (Deutsch),with no employment or other government ties to the Village ,sitting in on job interviews conducted by the Village.
The thing is, New York State’s Open Meetings Law has no teeth to it—yet. I say this because if you’re following our FOIL lawsuit involving the City of Newburgh, depending on how the judge rules, there may be consequences for the City for openly flouting those laws. So stay tuned.
If Melchiorrie let Lipa influence the hiring of any of these building inspectors, that would be official misconduct. But you might be asking, “How is this not like a real crime—not one of those slap-on-the-wrist crimes?”
We’ve reached out to the Orange County District Attorney’s office for comment on whether or not Mr. Deutsch’s presence, and possible questioning of building inspectors who would inspect his properties— in exchange for funding and operating the mayor’s campaign—rises to that level. We’ll update this post if they respond.
It would rise to the level of bribery if this was a pre-arranged agreement between Melchiorre and Lipa Deutsch since before the campaign and if Deutsch is the one exercising final authority over who gets hired.
Also, if Melchiorrie explicitly invited Deutsch to these meetings for the express purpose of deciding who to hire, or worse, interviewing someone hand-selected by Deutsch for any of the open building inspector roles, that would be a possible crime too.
Now do you understand why, in one of his first acts in office—alongside his three rubber stamps—was to limit Public Comment to three minutes when there hasn’t been a time limit in the last eight years?
If you don’t, just wait until you see this FOIL …