Half-Million in Debt, Two Mysterious Fires, Zero Answers
What Orange County authorities know—and why they're staying quiet, as usual.
Pictured Above: The two alleged suspects of an on going arson investigation in the Village of South Blooming Grove.
So, just a reminder, you can send tips to The Monroe Gazette anonymously. There are two ways to do this: You can download the Signal app here, and then send me a message on Signal to BJMendelson.32.
The other way is, without filling out the return address, sending us mail or documents to The Monroe Gazette, PO BOX 5, 996 Route 17 Stop 2, Arden, NY, 10910.
I mention this because an intrepid reader of The Monroe Gazette sent us some information concerning an alleged arson investigation in the Village of South Blooming Grove.
Given the increasing frequency of “mysterious fires” in the Village beginning in 2021 when the white-collar crime spree began, these fires are something we try to document because Orange County seems never to get around to solving them.
And since Monroe’s Village Mayor, Alex Melchiorre, continues to oversee the Blooming Grove Police Department, for now, he’s going to have some say on what charges, if any, get filed.
So, I am reporting on this story to ensure that Mr. Melchiorre doesn’t do another favor for Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein and make this investigation disappear too.
When you get to our upcoming story on what’s happening in the Village of Monroe building department, you’re going to know Mr. Melchiorre will likely try to avoid any involvement in investigating the mysterious fires at 12 Delano Grove at 7:27 p.m. on July 20, 2026.
The building is owned by Samuel Kohn after purchasing it from Dariusz Domalewski for $210,000 in 2021 according to Orange County’s real property database. Mr. Kohn also owns 10 Delano Grove and 4 Delano Grove, as well as 20 Crawford Street in the City of Port Jervis.
Given how close Mr. Kohn’s properties are to each other, we pulled the South Blooming Grove ones he owns up on Google Maps to show you.
A day before, on July 19, 2026, at 3:07 p.m., a mysterious fire broke out over at 212 Prospect Road, also in the Village of South Blooming Grove. Shlome Itzkowitz purchased this property two months after Mr. Kohn purchased his. This is during Year 1 of what became a hostile takeover by a large real estate developer, of a small village government in Upstate New York.
Despite our state Attorney General’s promises to uphold the integrity of our electoral process—and possessing knowledge of the situation in South Blooming Grove because she was sued over her inaction—she’s refused to respond.
Mr. Itzkowitz owns a number of properties, including 922 Craigville Road in the Town of Blooming Grove, 209 Oxford Road, and 26 Bull Mine Road. Both also in the Town. 17 Blueberry Lane in Woodbury is also owned by Shlome Itzkowitz. In Warwick, he owns 171 Darin Road there.
So far, of the two men alleged to be at the center of an arson investigation by Orange County, Itzkowitz is the least interesting.
He doesn’t have much of a footprint.
Samuel Kohn, however, is definitely worthy of some additional coverage.
That’s because he’s currently in Orange County Court in Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. vs. Kohn, Samuel et all (Case Index #EF007431-2024).
In this case, Mr. Kohn is alleged to owe the plaintiff about $200,722.68.
In Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. vs. Kohn, Samuel et al (Case Index #EF011751-2025).
In this case, Mr. Kohn is alleged by the plaintiff to owe $234,893.83.
This means that, at the time of the fire on July 20 at 12 Delano Grove, Mr. Kohn owed $469,787.66.
Does that mean anything? I don’t know. I’m not a cop. What I am is an investigative reporter who is looking at what the public records can tell us about the alleged suspects.
What I want you to know though, is that if I can figure this stuff out, then so can District Attorney David M. Hoovler.