Don't Let Bad Faith Actors Bully You Into Silence
Residents in Blooming Grove and South Blooming Grove, among other Orange, Rockland, and Sullivan locales, have to fight back against nonsensical claims of antisemitism when addressing development.
In March, I wrote a post about what you can say to developers when they claim your opposition is driven by antisemitism. If you missed it, please take a moment and read it here.
Yesterday, I also presented a couple of examples of “Bad Faith Actors” over in Woodbury.
How can you tell if someone is a Bad Faith Actor? It’s simple. You just have to ask yourself one question:
What does this person stand to gain from their statements?
Let’s use yesterday’s examples real quick:
The first was Mrs. Teresa Schaeffer, who has been telling everyone she can that I’m not a journalist and that Mr. Wayne Corts is a great guy that the community can trust.
What does she stand to gain from this statement?
Her husband, Michael Schaeffer, testified that he is a personal friend of Mr. Corts, and he was also named as a co-defendant in a civil suit along with Mr. Corts because of their business relationship.
If Mr. Corts is successful in his project of converting the Falkirk Golf Course into condos, the Schaeffer’s would stand to benefit financially from any work provided to them by Mr. Corts and his associates related to those condos.
That makes sense, right?
You don’t have to take my word for it. You don’t have to take the Schaeffer’s word for it.
You have to follow the money and who see who stands to gain financially from the position being taken.
Let’s look at yesterday’s other example, former Woodbury Police Officer Cliff Weeks. This one is a little harder to figure out.
What does he stand to gain? That one is a little harder because, from a financial standpoint, Mr. Weeks is retired. So there’s no apparent monetary gain like with the Schaeffers.
However, Mr. Weeks attacked the former police chief through a series of false statements, which gave up what his actual position was.
One trick you would do well to remember is that the loudest idiots tend to give up the game by projecting.
Trump does this a bunch.
So does Supervisor Tony Cardone in Monroe.
They’ll say their enemies are liars when, in fact, they’re the ones doing the lying. During the most recent presidential debate, you saw this happen in real-time. President Biden pointed out that historians have rated Trump as America’s worst president.
What was Trump’s response?
He immediately replied, saying that, in fact, Biden was the worst president ever.
That’s projecting.
The MAGA Republicans do it all the time.
You just have to listen to what they say about their enemies to know their positions.
We’ve seen this numerous times from Supervisor Cardone during Town meetings, too. There are documented instances where he blatantly lies to the public and then accuses Councilwoman Richardson of being a liar.
It’s all projection.
In the case of Mr. Weeks, he gave up the game when he attacked the former police chief.
So, we can infer from his statements that Mr. Weeks wants Chief Watson to keep his job.
That’s just simple logic; otherwise, why say anything?
Why attack the former police chief, specifically?
I didn’t know anything about the former police chief. Mr. Week’s comment led me down that research rabbit hole, and I thank him.
This same chief cracked down on the Woodbury PD, calling them out for sleeping during overnight shifts at home, barely writing any summonses, and charging lots and lots of overtime at taxpayer expense.
Can’t imagine why Mr. Weeks and Mr. Watson (who both worked for the former chief) would have an axe to grind, would you?
;-)
Now, as any Woodbury resident can tell you, there is a verifiable double standard concerning the application of the law in Woodbury as it relates to Haredi and non-Haredi residents. You can listen to an example of this double standard right here.
Woodbury residents have alleged that this double standard stems from Chief Watson's lucrative contracts with various vendors in the Village of Kiryas Joel.
So, Mr. Weeks speaks up on behalf of Chief Watson at the same time the Village discusses replacing him and taking over the police force.
That’s not a coincidence.
We don’t believe in coincidence when it comes to politics.
Weeks doesn’t stand to benefit from his dubious claims, but his friend Chief Watson does, and Mr. Weeks is speaking out on the Chief’s behalf.
See how this works? It’s just logic.
Who benefits from these statements being made?
Wayne Corts and Chief Watson are two people who are both under a lot of scrutiny right now. And two people who, one could argue, are causing harm to the community, first through shady multimillion-dollar development deals like ACE Farm and second through preferential treatment attributed to personal financial gain.
But how do you know if someone is telling the truth?
That’s easy, just ask yourself what kind of harm will be caused if that person is right.
For example:
If I’m right, the development proposed by Mr. Corts would be blocked, and Mr. Watson would join Mr. Cattagio and Mr. Panella in the unemployment line. Land would be preserved, and the laws of the State would be applied fairly to all residents of Woodbury by the local police.
Who is harmed by my position aside from these two individuals who are doing the harm?
Nobody.
Now look at Mr. Weeks and Mrs. Schaeffer’s position.
Who is harmed by their position? The people of Woodbury, in both cases.
The same logic can be applied to developers who claim antisemitism whenever they don’t get what they want in your neck of the woods.
What you’ll find is that the loudest person claiming antisemitism often stands to gain financially from the development project they’re trying to protect.
That brings us to today’s story …
What’s Going On At 41 Sayer Road?
Last night (July 9th), I got an email from a concerned resident of Blooming Grove concerning a Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting being held tonight at 7:30pm over at 6 Horton Road, where the Town Hall is located. You can see the flyer above for the meeting.
The ZBA will discuss a potential variance for 41 Sayer Road (Section 15, Block 4, Lot 5). The property owner wants to squeeze a big, single-family home on a tiny plot of land. The current lot size is .34 acres, and you need a minimum of 2 acres to build a house. So, the owner is seeking a variance.
This project is represented in part by Hartman Design. You may recognize that name since Hartman Design is based out of 412 N. Main Street in the Village of Monroe, right next door to Ark Mortgage.
As pointed out previously here at The Monroe Gazette, there seems to exist some nexus between the businesses based in this building (there are numerous LLCs registered to this address on North Main Street, including one that ties back to an unregistered yeshiva operating in Blooming Grove), Hartman Design, and Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein.
Now, I have to tell you legally that I've been in touch with the attorney for Ark Mortgage.
They are thoroughly investigating some of the instances I brought to their attention.
As of this writing, I am still waiting to hear from them. So, unless we hear otherwise concerning that investigation, there's no reason to assume Ark Mortgage is involved.
I also have to tell you that the FBI has all of the information concerning the use (and potential abuse) of Ark Mortgage loans related to the activities of Blooming Realty's Moche Halpern and Lazer Schwimmer. Mr. Moche Halpern is a founding member of Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein's United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove organization.
I wouldn't hold my breath on the FBI acting, though.
Nobody is coming to save you.
If you've picked up on a recurring theme here at The Monroe Gazette, it’s that.
You must participate and help save yourself and your neighbors from the rampant greed and corruption our world is rife with.
Residents are concerned in Blooming Grove and the rest of the Hudson Valley that any time they speak up about construction and development, they're going to be called antisemitic by the Haredi developers.
The question I got about 41 Sayer Road specifically was, "What the actual fuck can we even do?" in response to these often baseless claims by the developers.
So today, I'm going to offer some answers. I hope people reading this will encourage their friends and neighbors to attend this meeting and others like it and speak up using these talking points.
Nothing Will Change Until You Speak Up
First thing first: You have to go to these meetings: ZBA, Planning Board, Town Board, as many as you can, but the Town / Village Board especially.
I know people are busy. A lot of us are working multiple jobs to make ends meet. It's hard out there. We're living through the Second Gilded Age, and while I have hope that, like the first Gilded Age, this one will end too with a wave of progressive government reform like the New Deal, we're not yet out of this tunnel of shit. We have yet to see the light at the end of it.
But if you're reading this and have the time, you have to use that time.
Many retirees are reading this. So, I will address you here: Retirement can be scary, boring, and hard to shake the feeling that your best days are behind you, especially in America, where we're constantly obsessed with youth.
I know. I've seen it with multiple friends and family once they hit their 70s.
But I don't think all of that is true. You still have a lot to offer. And you have the time and resources my generation (and the ones behind us) do not have.
If anyone can be counted on to speak up, it's you. The generation that came out in droves for Civil Rights and opposed the war in Vietnam still has a lot to give and a lot to do.
But you gotta do it.
So, yes. If you want to fix things, whether in Blooming Grove, Rockland County, or anywhere else in our region, you must go to these meetings and speak up.
Second, what can you do when the Haredi developers try to label the entire town and its residents, as Mr. Halpern and Mr. Rosborough of Whiteman, Osterman, and Hanna LLP have done with Washingtonville as antisemites?
There are a few steps you can take:
1. Acknowledge that there are absolutely antisemites in the community and say that this sort of bigoted nonsense has no place in the community.
Easy, right? It is indisputable that antisemites exist among us, and they should play no part in discussions involving the future of our region.
But after we've all agreed to that point, you must add: There's also no place for FALSE accusations of antisemitism in discussions concerning environmental conservation. These FALSE accusations are harmful, especially to my fellow Jews and I, and unproductive for the larger community.
When everything is antisemitic, nothing is.
Who is going to listen to us when real antisemitism occurs when some of our Haredi friends so freely and readily claim antisemitism just because things don't go their way?
More specifically, here in the Hudson Valley, where we've all seen the historic flooding our area experienced last year, land preservation helps reduce the risk of severe flooding, which we have a moral and ethical obligation to push for, especially given how destructive the floods were in 2023 and how bad they could be again in the not-too-distant future.
This is fact, and facts matter.
It is not antisemitic to oppose development during an emergency like the one we are all living in.
In fact, a central tenant of Judaism is Pikuach nefesh, which means "saving a soul." All Jewish people are obliged to put the preservation of life above everything else, including the rules of the Torah and the Talmud.
Preserving land is preserving life. Those who call preservation antisemitic are violating Jewish Law (the Halakha) in doing so, and you should feel free to remind them of that.
For those who profess to be the most religious among us, you'd be shocked by how little some truly understand what the Torah and Talmud say. (Ditto when it comes to Christian Nationalists and the Bible.)
I can't stress this enough: People will die because of our inaction. As recently as just last week, someone in our region died, and more people will die in the days and months to come because of the climate emergency.
Therefore, we all must save as many people as we can.
There is nothing antisemitic about the desire to preserve human life. If anything, it's the most Jewish thing any single one of us, Jew and non-Jew, can do.
2. The United Nations has clearly and emphatically stated that everyone on this planet, including the people of Blooming Grove (for example), has a right to clean water.
So, any new development proposed, even if it's a single-family house, has to be evaluated carefully regarding how it will impact the local water supply.
For example, building a home on undeveloped land increases the probability of flooding from stormwater.
Putting up a home on undeveloped land increases the probability of fertilizer being used on the lawn, a proven contributor to greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet.
Putting up a home on undeveloped land may contribute to a more significant national security emergency later this century when arable land becomes scarce, and we need to control our food supply. I know that last one sounds scary and farfetched, but this is a very real thing that not enough people know or even think about, especially at the local municipal level.
There's nothing antisemitic about ensuring the community's water and food supply is carefully managed.
This is especially true when discussing the water supply. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, heat-related deaths are on the rise.
Last year, 2,302 people died due to extreme heat. That number will only go up, not down, as we develop our remaining open space.
In Judaism, our word for justice is Tzedek.
Our version of justice applies not only to how things are today but also to how they should be in the future.
There's no doubt our Haredi friends have a happy, healthy community in the region, and we should celebrate that, not condemn it.
We should all work together to find places within Southern Orange County (for example) where affordable, high-density housing can be built to support this community's growth and help alleviate the more significant national housing crisis.
Right now, this hodgepodge construction all over the Hudson Valley, driven chiefly by wealthy real estate interests — some haredi, some not — is not sustainable for the long-term health and security of the larger community.
We need a strategic plan, one that involves rainwater capture and water recycling, and, for those who do not want to see high-density housing, not to upset their views of the natural landscape.
Is that a popular position to take? Fuck no.
I consistently get shit for taking that position, and I understand why. My family came up here in the ‘80s when you’d go days without seeing another car go by.
I get it. People want to live here and escape New York City, not have New York City come to them.
But.
I don’t think time is on our side anymore, especially because of climate change and the housing crisis.
You’re talking about hundreds of millions of climate refugees coming our way from all over the world, and you’re talking about people needing to move out of parts of New York City that will find itself underwater as the water rises.
And the water will rise.
Where are all those people supposed to go?
So, we have to be smart about this and right now, we’re not smart about it.
But at the same time, we have to make sure that our actions, and those of our Haredi friends, are being done with justice at the heart of it.
It is not antisemitic to question the health and protection of a community's water supply and food supply because you are looking out for the interests of ALL people in doing so.
Not just some.
See how this works?
People can claim antisemitism all they want. You can't stop them. But if you're speaking from the perspective of justice and fairness for everyone, that's what will win out against the bullshit claims.
Maybe not immediately, but if enough people do it? You will win the argument more than you lose because the other side has nothing to stand on besides empty noise.
3. Finally, I've banged on this drum quite a bit recently, but it's worth sharing again. In 1961, Joel Teitelbaum, the founder of the modern Satmar movement and the Uncle to Aaron Teitelbaum in Kiryas Joel and Zalman Teitelbaum in Brooklyn and Sullivan County (and maybe South Blooming Grove), wrote a letter.
In that letter, he admonished his followers and reminded them, "Being faithful to the government of one's country of residence is one of the basic principles of Jewish religion."
When you hear someone say it is antisemitism when you question them about bending the rules and the law in our area, all you need to do is remind them of what the leader of the Satmar movement said, which is to be faithful to the government of one's country of residence. This includes the Town of Blooming Grove and its rules and regulations, to use today’s example.
And if that's not enough, you should tell them Dina d'malkhuta Dina, which translates from Hebrew as "the law of the land is the law,” which is really what Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum was getting at in his letter. This concept of the law of the land is the law is part of the very foundation of Judaism.
If anyone, particularly our Haredi developer friends, wants to argue with you over the points I've made here, you'll know they're acting in bad faith.
In fact, you can remind them of the concept of Kiddush HaShem.
You know what that means?
My fellow Jews and I are obligated to act in such a way as not to disgrace God and our fellow Jews with our actions.
That’s acting in a way that disgraces God and my fellow Jews and I.
You are actually doing us all a favor by exposing people using antisemitism as a shield to conceal their bad-faith actions because their bad-faith actions disgrace us all as Jews.
These are just some thoughts from your friendly neighborhood reporter. Use this how you will, but use it if you can because if you don't like how things are going, you're the only one who can change them.
Until we meet again, remember that you don’t have to let the bullies win with their bogus claims of “antisemitism.”
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Great points! I hope everyone is listening!