How to Steal an Election
A Full Timeline and Breakdown Explaining the Fraudulent South Blooming Grove Village Election Held in October 2025
Pictured Above: The alleged home of South Blooming Grove Mayor George Kalaj. When The Monroe Gazette called Kalaj about the helicopter taking off and landing next to his home, he said he doesn’t know anything about it—except what he reads in the news and on social media. In contrast, Mr. Javier Dam, who lives on the other side of the mayor’s property, stated to The Monroe Gazette that when the helicopter takes off and lands, as it did on January 6 at 4 p.m., it shakes his entire home.
The following is a complete breakdown of everything we know about the Sham Election. This post is taken from a document sent to [redacted.] So I’ve had to remove some information from the version they got.
I may have missed something. Or got something wrong. If so, message me on Signal at 646-331-8341 or email me at BJ@MonroeGazette.com. The Signal App is free and can be downloaded here.
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I’ll be back soon with the podcast on the helicopter now that this is done.
-BJ
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Part 1: Background Information
-If we assume that the Village of South Blooming Grove legitimately changed the Terms of Office from two-year terms to four-year terms — they didn’t, but let’s assume — then Mayor George Kalaj, Deputy Mayor Abraham M. Weiss, and Trustee Yitzchok Feldman would have been up for re-election in March of 2024. Instead, no election was held that year. The next regularly scheduled election would then be March of 2025 for Trustees Zalmon Rosner and Asher Guttman.
Like in 2024, no mention is made of the 2025 March election anywhere. Ballots, nominating petitions, nothing.
This is important to keep in mind, because what the Village of South Blooming Grove does — and they did it for the Fake 2025 election detailed in Part 2 below — is frequently update the website for pretty much everything except when it doesn’t want to. The fake election, as well as the referendum to hold the fake election, for example, was never noticed on the Village website. But the Mobile DMV visits and other notices were, without issue, throughout 2025. This is much like Village Clerk Kerry Dougherty’s “The Dog Ate My Homework Defense” found in The Monroe Gazette’s first lawsuit against the Village. When they want their stuff to work, it does. When they don’t, it doesn’t.
See: MENDELSON, B.J. vs. VILLAGE OF SOUTH BLOOMING GROVE et al (Index #EF009645-2024)
January 2025
-New York State Attorney General Letitia James is sued by (now former) South Blooming Grove resident, Chris Maderia, asking for her to intervene in the two missed elections, which she does not do.
See: CHRISTOPHER J MADERIA v. LETICIA JAMES et al (Index# 002386-2025.)
According to the lawyers The Monroe Gazette spoke with, missing one election, let alone two, renders decisions by the Village of South Blooming Grove Mayor, Village Board, Planning Board, and other related entities null and void.
See: ANTHONY J. GILROY, DANIEL C. GILROY, and JOHN M. GILROY v. VILLAGE OF SOUTH BLOOMING GROVE et. al (Index #2025-08623) Yes. It’s that Gilroy. No. They don’t want to talk about it.
But. Until a judge or the Attorney General acts to enforce this, the people holding these positions in the Village essentially operate in a de facto state. (This is because, according to New York’s Department of State, whether or not South Blooming Grove failed to change its terms of office due to an inability to file a change in the law with DOS for over three years is something only a judge can decide.)
Don’t believe me?
Mercedes Padilla at New York Department of State on November 26th, 2025 told The Monroe Gazette: “The primary state law governing the filing of local laws with the Department of State include Municipal Home Rule Law, Article 3, Section 27 (accessible here.). Only a court of competent jurisdiction, and not the Department of State, can finally determine whether a village or other local government has properly filed a local law in accordance with Section 27 and any other applicable laws. “ (Emphasis added)
In December of 2025, The Monroe Gazette filed a new Article 78 against the Village of South Blooming Grove. This one involving the failure to hold the 2024 Election as required. Specifically we are requesting documents concerning the reasons for failure to hold the 2024 election, among other items which includes all of Joel Stern’s election communications sent from and received at his personal Gmail address.
The Village has repeatedly attempted to obstruct processing FOIL requests through constant delays, or providing only some data, not all. The case insists that criminal charges must be pursued related to the failure to hold the 2024 election.
See: MENDELSON, B.J. vs. VILLAGE OF SOUTH BLOOMING GROVE et al (Index #EF012691-2025)
Why didn’t Attorney General Letitia James Do Her Job?
New York State’s law says the Attorney General SHALL act, not WILL act. There is no mechanism under the law that can compel her to enforce the law unless she chooses to do so.
Our best guess is that Mrs. James wants to be Governor and doesn’t want to upset Grand Rebbe Zalman Teitelbaum, as much of what is happening in South Blooming Grove can be traced back to an ongoing feud between Grand Rebbe Zalman Teitelbaum and his older brother, Grand Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum.
Aaron runs Kiryas Joel. Zalman runs Boro Park and other parts of Brooklyn.
Since the 1960s, the New York State Democratic Party has been a primary backer and beneficiary of the Satmar religious group’s financial generosity and electoral support in a State that has one of the lowest percentages of voter participation. Making cooperation with this group critical to success, especially in “Purple” Districts such as Orange and Rockland County.
(See: Pat Ryan and Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein’s close ties to him. Recently, despite little signs of activity, Pat Ryan secured $354,000 for Stern and Ekstein’s fire department. Like with the EMS and Police, Stern and Ekstein have attempted to set up their own departments and push out the established Town of Blooming Grove Volunteer Ambulance Corps., the Town of Blooming Grove Police Department, and the Independence Fire Company
You can see this and other posts featuring Pat Ryan on Stern’s newsletter here: https://www.ujcbg.org/tag/pat-ryan/. The Blooming Grove EMS is actually known as Orange County Emergency Medical Services Inc. D/B/A Blooming Grove EMS where Isaac Ekstein is identified as the president. This entity is under a confirmed investigation by the New York State Department of Health involving a number of issues, including the potential use of the Helicopter (alleged to be owned and operated by Joel Landau, landing at 58 Fort Worth Place in Monroe) as being used for “medical transport.” Orange County Emergency Medical Services Inc. did not receive a medical license for continued operation in the Village.
The Monroe Gazette put in a FOIL with the Village of South Blooming Grove for all State and federal dollars received since Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein took over the Village in January of 2021. We will provide those documents when they are provided, but we note that the Village intentionally obstructs these requests and delays them for as long as possible.
(See also: “A Fortress in Brooklyn” written by Nathaniel Deutsch and Michael Casper for more on this political relationship and how the Satmar sect got big into real estate during the wave of gentrification that hit their part of Brooklyn in the early 2000s.)
Historic Context Behind The Election Fraud and SBG
Zalman Teitelbaum wants to relocate from NYC with his people and encircle Kiryas Joel in the process. Using South Blooming Grove, in order to stop KJ’s expansion, which he (Zalman) feels will reduce the power of his rival and older brother, Aaron Teitelbaum.
This comes from posts on Ivelt.com (all in Yiddish) alleged to be written by Joel Stern under the name Written and Spoken which, since 2017, Stern has used to communicate his funder’s intention to transform South Blooming Grove into a city. It is also informed by discussions with members of the Satmar community who have repeatedly described the intention of Zalman to cut off the growth of Aaron in Kiryas Joel.
Joel Stern served as a secretary for Grand Rebbe Zalman Teitelbaum. Zalman’s lieutenant, Avraham Ber Jakobowitz (sometimes spelled Avrom Bur Jacobowitz) is the financial backer for Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein, and is also a prime beneficiary of Stern and Ekstein’s control of the village, approving multiple projects that would financially benefit Jacobowitz.
See: Mosayonu Grove LLC for example, owned by Mr. Avraham Ber Jacobowitz (sometimes spelled Avrum Ber Jacobowitz) and/or a relative named Bernard Jacobowitz. Mr. Jacobowitz may or may not also own the property at 20 Shannon Lane which you’ll read about in Part 2.
The ethical concerns about ties between Stern, Ekstein, and Jacobowitz were raised to the Village Attorney, Daniel M. Kraushaar and Village Planner Tom Shepstone. Since being appointed Village Planner in 2021 by Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein — referred to as “Co-Mayors” in the pages of The Kiryas Joel Weekly — Tom Shepstone has rarely denied a single project that Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein wanted the Village Board to pass.
After coming under scrutiny, Tom Shepstone, Stern, and Ekstein moved the Village Planning Board meetings to once a month on Fridays at 10am, and often stall or otherwise not provide the appropriate information to the project concerning what is supposed to be built, as opposed to what’s actually being built. Sometimes projects are proposed before the board with very little information provided. For example, On January 2nd, 2026, 1185 NY-208 appeared before the planning board and did not provide any requested information concerning their septic system. On January 6th, 2026, 1185 NY-208 “mysteriously” caught fire. This is part of a larger pattern of “unusual” fires occurring in the Village of South Blooming Grove dating back to the arrival of Stern and Ekstien. This includes 1 Fort Worth Place and 1 Treza Lane.
See:
TOWN OF BLOOMING GROVE, NEW YORK v. SEAN MAHAR et al (Index #912403-24)
ROCKLAND ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP, LLC et al v. VILLAGE OF SOUTH BLOOMING GROVE et al (Index #EF008313-2025)
TOWN OF BLOOMING GROVE, NEW YORK v. VILLAGE OF SOUTH BLOOMING GROVE et al ((Index #EF009896-2024 )
Additionally, the Village of South Blooming Grove CDRC moved their meetings from the Village to the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove headquarters at 29 Merriwold Lane South. We know this because we have a picture, published by Stern himself, of Village Planner Tom Shepstone holding a CDRC meeting there at the UJC Headquarters instead of at Village Hall in plain violation of New York State’s Open Meetings Law.
Of note: In reviewing the New York State Board of Election voting history for the names that appeared on signature ballots submitted by Joel Stern for the October 2025 surprise election, and the November 2025 general election, there are two primary dates that repeat. The first is February 22nd, 2021. The other is September 17th, 2025. The firing of the Village Planning Board came in April of 2021, after Guttman and Rosner were elected to their first terms.
So we can factually say that Joel Stern utilized 17 Sleepy Hollow, 1233 State Route 208, and 20 Shannon Lane in a similar fashion to what he did again in September of 2025 back in February of 2021 as well, potentially demonstrating a pattern of electoral fraud on the part of village officials in South Blooming Grove in order to further the real estate interests of Mr. Jacobowitz and associated real estate developers.
Let’s Introduce…
The people discussed here (Stern, Ekstein, Gluck, Weiss, Halpern, Schvimmer, Jacobowitz, ect.), in South Blooming Grove, are working for Zalman Teitelbaum.
According to documents filed with New York’s State Department, concerning the incorporation of the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove, Joel M. Stern, Yitzchok “Isaac” Ekstein, and Abraham M. Weiss, the Deputy Mayor, are listed as Board members. Two other Board members worth noting are Moche Halpern (spelled “Halprin” on the incorporation document) and Chaim Gluck.
This organization had its not-for-profit status revoked in May of 2022 after failure to file its Form 990s for three years in a row. (EIN #84-3796984.)
On or around April of 2024, The Monroe Gazette submitted a Whistle Blower form (#211) to the IRS to report that the organization was still collecting funds and spending them.
Isaac Ekstein has his name attached to a number of not-for-profits, organizations, and LLCs, including United Jewish Community of Orange County Inc.. According to the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search database, UJC of Orange County appears to still be active. (EIN #87-1109865)
[Redacted] previously shared information about the election issues, as well as the Second Garbage Pickup — which triggered the NYS Comptroller investigation in March of 2024 — with FBI Agent [Redacted] some time in 2024.
I am unaware of whether or not [Redacted] was one of the [redacted] involved in investigating a similar absentee ballot scam that took place in 2022 at 2 Arlington Drive in South Blooming Grove. The residence of Yitzchok “Isaac” Ekstein and Lazer Schvimmer (sometimes spelled Shwimmer). Mr. Schvimmer and Mr. Halpern run the real estate company, Blooming Realty, with Joel Landau, a developer in the Satmar community. (Not to be confused with the other Joel Landau, who is operating the helicopter illegally at 58 Fort Worth Place. Joel Landau 2 is the one with the helicopter.)
See: Blooming Grove Realty LLC, 815 UC LLC, BNB Management LLC, and John Liebermann v. Rapid Properties LLC, Preferred Estates Realty LLC, Five Star Medical Group Inc., Joel Stern, and Isaac Ekstein. (Preferred Estates Realty LLC is Joel Stern’s company as is Five Star Medical Group.) (See Index #507845/2023)
Isaac Ekstein’s wife, Tzipora “Tippi” Ekstein, signed a summons for Isaac Ekstein at 2 Arlington Drive as part of the GINA CAPPELLI et al v. JOEL STERN et al case (see case index #72601/2023. Ekstein has since falsely claimed in testimony that he does not live at 2 Arlington Drive. (See: The County of Orange v. CIOFFI 1, Inc. d/b/a CIOFFI Services et al, case index #EF000367-2023)
Chaim Gluck, Tzipora Ekstein, and Joel Stern’s wife, Malky, are listed as the Committee on ballots signed and submitted to Village Clerk Kerry Dougherty later in 2025. These documents claim 1233 State Route 208 and 17 Sleepy Hollow Road are residences, they’re not, and that the individuals who signed these forms live at these addresses, which they also do not.
The documents also state that George Kalaj lives at 58 Fort Worth Place, despite there being little evidence to suggest that he does. When George Kalaj was called and asked about the helicopter taking off at 4pm on January 6th, 2026, he said he wasn’t aware of any helicopter and only knows about it through what he’s read on social media and in the news, indicating that Mr. Kalaj may not actually live at 58 Fort Worth Place, the residence he claims to as Mayor. If Mr. Kalaj did live at the property, he would have the same complaints Mr. Javier Dam does about the helicopter taking off and landing adjacent to his backyard with the noise being so loud that it shakes Mr. Dam’s home.
Part 2: Election Fraud
(Pardon the repetition below for some items. I repeated some information here in the event you print this out and share it with others.)
February of 2025: A month before the March 2025 election, no mention of the election is made anywhere.
March of 2025:
On or around March 4th, 2025, no nominating petitions are submitted.
On or around March 8th, 2025, no ten day notice is submitted.
On March 18th, 2025, Rosner and Guttman’s term of office legally expired.
No election is held in March of 2025. From this point forward, the entire Board of Trustees are, essentially, acting as squatters, meaning that all decisions, appointments, and other actions are null and void.
April of 2025: Business as usual in SBG. Except …
May of 2025: Joel Stern gives sworn testimony in the Orange County case, where he says the terms of office for Mayor George Kalaj expires in March of 2026. (See: The County of Orange v. Cioffi 1, Inc., d/b/a Cioffi Services; RSBM Excavating LLC; RSBM Management, LLC; Watler & Sons Tree Services; and the Village of South Blooming Grove (Index No. EF000367-2023. Note that this case helps to illustrate the connections between a lot of the people identified in this timeline. So I recommend you look at the testimonies carefully.)
This wouldn’t be the first time Joel Stern lied while giving sworn testimony. I have video of him giving testimony in Union Township (in New Jersey) concerning his activities at 601 Lehigh Avenue. A building the Township eventually chased Stern and Jacob Gold out of. Jacob Gold is worth flagging here as he is a major investor in the Clovewood development project. It’s clear from the Union New Jersey video that absolutely no one speaking to Mr. Stern believes what he has to say.
Jacob Gold Is (or was) Joel Stern’s Boss
As brief as I can explain it: In the early 2000s, a former country club, owned by Marvin Green, was sold to a dissident group from the Village of Kiryas Joel. This happened not long after Marvin Green was murdered, allegedly, by tenants on the former country club property.
In order to block what would have been a massive housing development, the Town of Blooming Grove created the Village of South Blooming Grove. There’s a big court battle. Most of the dissidents involved in the lawsuit form a company called Keen Equities, which owns the property.
Keen Equities filed for bankruptcy in 2013 and tells the court it’s sending new management to South Blooming Grove to hopefully get the project going again. That new management is Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein. Stern was/is an employee of Jacob Gold at Windsor Global, the company that was based at 601 Lehigh Avenue in Union Township, and which became subject to a number of investigations. (Stern in his Orange County testimony would pretend to know very little about Mr. Gold despite working for him in New Jersey. It’s very possible Stern, via Windsor Global, also participated in PPP fraud during the pandemic requesting loans under its old name Arenburg Electronics in New Jersey.)
Stern and Ekstein’s job is to essentially do whatever it takes to get the Clovewood project approved, which they do upon taking over the Village following the September 2020 election. There are numerous issues concerning Clovewood (see: Town of Blooming Grove, New York v. Mahar, Sean et al. (Index No. 912403-24)
See also for historic context: Zalman Berkovitz, Solomon Witriol, Mendel Schwimmer, Bernie Jacobowitz, Joseph Strulovitch, Jacob Gold, Moses Greenfield, and Sam Wiesner v. Village of South Blooming Grove. The names in bold are confirmed as investors in Keen Equities LLC.
Both Stern and Ekstein would go on to testify and pretend not to know Schwimmer and Strulovitch, and his son, in the Orange County lawsuit. As mentioned, a man named Avrum Bur Jacobowitz or Avrom Ber Jacobvitz is alleged to be the primary funding source for Joel Stern’s operations and is alleged to reside at Shannon Lane. This residence is often claimed to be utilized by Joel Stern as part of a voter fraud scheme wherein he collects signatures from people who may not actually live at this address.
After The Monroe Gazette published excerpts of Joel Stern’s testimony from May of 2025, there were rumblings of dissatisfaction in the Satmar community concerning the leadership of Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein.
From this point on, no minutes of any meeting is provided by the Village of South Blooming Grove. The Monroe Gazette, in October of 2025, threatened to sue the Village for violation of New York State’s Open Meeting Law (OML), following the phantom election held on October 22nd, 2025.
At the same time, State Senator James G. Skoufis authorizes the Investigations and Government Operations Committee to investigate the October 2025 election, and also requests the missing meeting minutes. This is the first time, since becoming aware of potential criminal wrongdoings by Stern and Ekstein in South Blooming Grove, that Skoufis utilizes the committee to investigate.
Skoufis has received donations from Stern ($10,000), Ekstein ($15,000, $10,000 personally and $5,000 through an LLC, and other parties involved in the South Blooming Grove situation, such as Mr. Moshe Ostreicher. Ostreicher testified in court in the Orange County case that he is Fort Worth Holdings LLC and owns various other LLCs that are used in order to aid his efforts operating the Sheri Torah school and construction in the surrounding area of 58 Fort Worth Place. Joel Landau 2, in exchange for having the helipad at 58 Fort Worth, is said to be funding the construction of the school.)
Ostreicher also pretended not to know what was going on with Joel Stern’s operations in the village done on Ostreicher’s behalf — such as Stern approaching Javier Dam on Seven Springs Road about acquiring a portion of his property to build what turned out to be an unknown to the FAA helipad for Joel Landau 2 — but in the same testimony talks about how strong his relationship with Stern is.
Ostreicher, through Fort Worth Holdings LLC, purchased Mayor George Kalaj’s property at 58 Fort Worth for 890% its market value, claiming it was a great deal given the real estate prices within the neighboring village of Kiryas Joel. Ostreicher also testified that he was unaware as to whether or not George Kalaj still lives at 58 Fort Worth Place. The Monroe Gazette will now periodically be calling George Kalaj and dropping by to see if he’s home. This is done on our part to serve the public in a news gathering effort. One involving potential fraud by the mayor.
During the weekend of November 22nd, The Village of South Blooming Grove rushed new minutes onto their website.
One additional note on the law. Or: “No. This Isn’t a RICO case yet.”
18 U.S.C. § 595, prohibits government employees from using official authority in connection with federally financed activity to interfere with or affect a federal election;
In 2024, concerns were brought to the Orange County Board of Elections where Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein utilized their former Rapid Care office on State Route 208, across from Village Hall and potentially less than 100 feet from the polling location, to fill out ballots on behalf of community members and instruct them to vote for Congressman Pat Ryan.
Congressman Pat Ryan is a frequent visitor to South Blooming Grove, specifically visiting Stern and Ekstein, including the night before the 2024 Election. At no point has Congressman Pat Ryan bothered to visit anyone else in the Village despite an ongoing municipal water infrastructure crisis that Orange County’s Department of Health pins the blame squarely on Stern and Ekstein for causing. Congressman Pat Ryan’s office has refused numerous requests to comment on these and other matters involving South Blooming Grove.
The Congressman’s office has also declined to elaborate on what Mr. Ryan’s relationship is with Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein; however, the Congressman’s office has secured a lot of federal funding for the Village, and it is unclear how or where that money is going.
The New York State Comptroller’s office began an audit of South Blooming Grove in March of 2024 that was supposed to finish in June of 2025, but a Comptroller representative told The Monroe Gazette as of December 2025, the audit was still ongoing. There is a legitimate concern here about the misuse and abuse of federal funding, as well as Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein’s actions in South Blooming Grove on Election Day 2024 for Congressman Ryan.
June 2025:
“18 U.S.C. § 242, prohibits willfully acting under government authority to deprive individuals of their rights, including the right to vote; Section 241 of Title 18 makes it unlawful to “conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person” exercising a constitutional or legal right, including the right to vote; Section 10307 of Title 52, passed as part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and subsequently amended, proscribes a wide range of conduct including intimidating, threatening, or coercing any person for voting or attempting to vote, giving false information in voter registration or voting, and voting more than once.”
There are two regularly scheduled Village of South Blooming Grove meetings in June of 2025. The first is June 9th, 2025, and the second is June 23rd, 2025. In both instances, according to Blooming Grove Supervisor Robert Jeroloman, the Village of South Blooming Grove requested that the Town of Blooming Grove police be present, and the Town of Blooming Grove assigned police officers to be present at these meetings.
This is standard procedure for Village of South Blooming Grove meetings (to have the police there) despite the fact that there are rarely members of the public present, and public comment is not allowed at meetings. I have witnessed first hand that Mr. Stern uses the Town of Blooming Grove police to bully, threaten, and intimidate the members of the public who are present at these meetings.
There are still, as of this writing, no meeting minutes posted for June 9th, 2025; however, The Monroe Gazette spoke with Preserve Blooming Grove’s Bonnie Rum, who routinely films Village of South Blooming Grove and Town of Blooming Grove meetings. While no video exists anymore of the June 9th, 2025 meeting, Mrs. Rum stated unequivocally that she was present at this meeting, that no discussion took place at the June 9th meeting concerning a meeting to be held on June 10th at 5pm. No discussion took place involving concerns raised by Joel Stern about moving the time and date of the 2026 election to the Fall of 2025. And no discussion took place involving concerns Mr. Ekstein would later claim involving difficulties in publishing official Town notices in the Times-Herald Record.
Upon reviewing the agendas and minutes from the beginning of January to June of 2025, at no point are any of these issues raised or discussed at Village Board meetings, nor are they raised in Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein’s United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove newsletter, which is the only source of information provided to South Blooming Grove residents, and only presented in Yiddish.
June 10th, 2025
Despite this, the next day, on June 10th, 2025, another Village Board meeting is alleged to be held. According to the Town of Blooming Grove Police Department, no police officer was requested or assigned to this meeting. The June 10th meeting is also alleged to have been held at 5pm without notification to the public. The meeting minutes for June 10th were only created on October 28th, 2025. Nearly five months later, as far as we can tell from the metadata.
These June 10th meeting minutes were also created exactly one day after The Monroe Gazette recorded, and posted, a conversation with Village Clerk Dougherty asking about the resolutions and local laws that allowed for the date of the election to be held, which neither the Village Clerk nor Deputy Clerk were able to produce when asked.
At the alleged June 10th meeting, Joel Stern claims residents have asked him to move the election up from March to October. He does not identify any residents or provide any rationale provided by those residents for the change in date.
At the alleged June 10th meeting, Isaac Ekstein complains of problems he’s allegedly encountered in submitting information to the Times-Heralrd Record, specifically that he would prefer the Village not rely on a system that relies on manual submission of legal notices by email.
It’s worth noting here that both Mayor George Kalaj is alleged to have attended this meeting, as well as Village Attorney, Scott Ugell. Mr. Ugell; however, upon reviewing his Facebook Page, was very busy promoting the opening of his new pizza place, Mangia Pizza, down in New City, which is a forty minute drive without the usual traffic that accompanies anyone’s journey from Orange County into Rockland. Also, given that Kalaj rarely if ever appears to be home, it’s unknown if he was actually at this meeting either.
At the June 10th meeting, the following resolutions are hastily introduced and unanimously approved:
Resolution 1: Naming the Wallkill Valley Times an additional newspaper of record for the Village. (This is a newspaper that covers Northern Orange County, not Southern Orange County where South Blooming Grove is located. Stern, on June 12th, purchased an ad in this paper using his Village email. The ad announces the June 22nd, 2025 referendum. Why Stern, and not Ekstein the deputy village clerk, makes this purchase is unknown.)
Resolution 2: Movement of the Village elections from March of 2026 to October of 2025, pending a referendum.
(Stern claims in these meeting minutes that the Village Attorney told him he could move the election date; but it’s not clear which Village Attorney he is speaking of since Mr. Ugell apparently does very little and the firm of Monaco Cooper and Lamm PLLC does most of the work these days. There is also Ira Emannuel, who is also sometimes cited as being a Village Attorney, although at no point has The Village of South Blooming Grove provided any documentation to The Monroe Gazette concerning Mr. Emannuel’s activities since 2021. Why Election Day 2025 was not selected, and a date less than two weeks earlier, was selected remains unclear.
Pictured Above: On November 7th, 2025, George Kalaj announces that he was re-elected to a third term as mayor of South Blooming Grove. Why he waited nearly two weeks to make this announcement, after the election was held in October, is unknown at this time.
Resolution 3: The date of the referendum is set for June 23rd from 12pm to 9pm at Joel Stern’s property (The Blooming Realty Offices). Nobody here mentions that this referendum is during the Village Board meeting, nor do they object to the unusual location of the referendum.
The Monroe Gazette has requested security camera footage via FOIL for the June 9th, June 10th, June 23rd, and June 24th dates at Village Hall. We suspect this footage will be mysteriously unavailable if and when the Village gets around to fulfilling that FOIL. We have also FOIL’ed for all documentation between January 2025 to the present concerning South Blooming Grove’s communications with the Orange County Board of Elections to confirm what they knew, if anything, about the referendum.
Resolution 4: Joel Stern and fellow United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove member, Shmaya Spitzer, are assigned as election inspectors for this public referendum. There is little to no discussion about the conflict of interest here with Election Monitors also representing the RSBM Party, and that all of the potential candidates are RSBM Party members. (Joel Stern’s political party. See: RSBM Party et al vs. Dougherty, Kerry et al (Case Index #EF005187-2020)
Mr. Ekstein’s name appears as the Village Deputy Clerk at the end of these meeting minutes; however, when The Monroe Gazette asked Mr. Kalaj to confirm when Ekstein was appointed Deputy Clerk, Kalaj said “a few months ago.” This statement came in October. When we asked Kalaj, Dougherty, and Ekstein to confirm the date of Ekstein’s appointment to Village Clerk, all three declined to comment.
The June 10th meeting then adjourns thirty minutes later. At no point is the general public noticed concerning the referendum, as far as we know.
What appears to have happened is this: According to files sent to State Senator Skoufis’s committee, either Isaac Ekstein or Joel Stern (it’s unclear from the photo) put up a flyer on the door of the Monroe Dental Group Office — which closes at 4pm — at 3:59pm on June 10th, 2025. (The Monroe Dental Group Office is located right next door to Village Hall.)
This is the only evidence provided by the Village concerning notice of the “Special Meeting” held at 5pm. This is a violation of NYS’s Open Meetings Law.
June 12th, 2025
Joel Stern — not Isaac Ekstein — using his Village email address, purchases an ad noticing the referendum in the Wallkill Valley Times. This is the first time that someone other than Village Clerk Kerry Dougherty does an election notice since Stern and Ekstein came to power.
June 13th, 2025
Stern and/or Ekstein (it’s not clear from the photos) put up flyers and then photograph them. The flyers are put up between 8:16pm and 8:35pm. How long the flyers remain posted is unclear. The flyers promote the referendum and list the location as Joel Stern’s Rapid Care / Blooming Realty Office.
June 22nd, 2025
On Sunday, June 22nd, 2025: An unknown “Deputy Clerk” (the emails are unsigned) asks the Orange County Board of Elections for the most recent pollbook. They are then told they (Stern and Ekstein) can pick up the pollbook after 2pm that day. Allegations are made that Stern and Ekstein wanted the pollbook in order to forge signatures.
Before getting the pollbook, between 1:50pm and 2:21pm, Stern and/or Ekstein put up flyers in several locations around the Village announcing the referendum. The photos are taken by either Stern or Ekstein, which is unusual as this is not common practice to photograph postings of Village news. It is unclear how long these postings stayed up, or if Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein removed them after taking the photos. One of the locations where the flyer is posted is at the former Rapid Care / Blooming Realty office owned by Stern and Ekstein. There are no other notifications sent to or received by Village residents. What actions are taken to certify the results, if any, of this referendum are not clear.
June 23rd, 2025
The regularly scheduled June 23rd meeting happens next. George Kalaj, Isaac Ekstein, and Joel Stern are absent from this meeting. No mention is made concerning the referendum that is allegedly happening. In fact, no notices are sent out to residents about it at any point beyond the flyers.
Mrs. Dougherty routinely records video of South Blooming Grove meetings, and we have placed a FOIL request for the footage she filmed from this and the other June meetings. We doubt we’re going to get it.
Mrs. Dougherty makes no mention of the referendum at this meeting.
Worth noting: Simon Schwartz, as mentioned, is a member of the Town of Blooming Grove Board. At each meeting, Mr. Schwartz and other Ward representatives are given time to update the community on important matters happening within their ward. During the month of June, Mr. Schwartz says nothing about the alleged referendum. Mr. Schwartz has not replied to ‘ for requests for comment as to why he did not inform his residents, using this time, of a referendum to change the date of the local election from March of 2026 to October of 2025.
Also: Schwartz is a Village of South Blooming Grove Planning Board member as well as Town of Blooming Grove board member. Mr. Schwartz is also a member of Joel Stern’s United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove organization.
June 24th, 2025
There is no agenda posted for June 24th, 2025’s meeting, allegedly held at 9pm. The Town of Blooming Grove Police Department are not requested for any meetings held on this day.
The meeting minutes for June 24th, 2025, were created on or around November 20th, 2025, by Kerry Dougherty according to meta data pulled from the document. Five months later.
At this alleged meeting, Ekstein claims the referendum was successful in moving the election from March of 2026 to October of 2025; however, no totals are presented.
The Board then unanimously, and again, approved Joel Stern and Spitzer to serve as election inspectors for an election to be held on October 22nd from 12pm to 9pm at Village Hall. Once again, The Monroe Gazette has requested security camera footage from Village Hall for that day. We do not expect this request to be fulfilled.
When we asked Clerk Dougherty to print out the local law affirming the change in dates for the election, she refused to do so. We have this on video. Mrs. Dougherty stated she would answer all of our questions, and as of this writing — nearly three months from the day we sent our email — Mrs. Dougherty has not replied to our email.
The alleged June 24th meeting is then adjourned twenty minutes later at 9:20pm.
No mention is again made, anywhere, about the referendum or the change in election date in any meeting agenda or minutes. Nor is it mentioned anywhere in the newsletter released by Joel Stern in the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove newsletter or in the KJ Weekly newspaper. The KJ Weekly is usually quick to run news, as they are the only newspaper that was aware of, within a day, the fraudulent election held in October of 2025.
We also want to flag here that we spoke with representatives for the Department of State. They provided us with all the local laws submitted to them by the Village of South Blooming Grove starting in 2025. Among them, none were found involving the election or any of the resolutions I just listed for you here in this section.
When we asked Clerk Dougherty directly why the Department of State had no resolutions or local laws concerning the change in election date, she replied only by flipping us off. (This may still be on the Preserve Blooming Grove video from November.)
From this point forward, there is zero mention of the election, including in the September 2025 meeting minutes and agenda a month prior. Mr. Schwartz, in his capacity as Town Board member in Blooming Grove representing Ward 4 (South Blooming Grove) also makes no mention of the election.
June 24th, 2026
Isaac Ekstein, as Deputy Clerk, sends a letter to the Orange County Board of Elections stating the totals for the referendum were 61 yes, 10 no, to change the time of the election from March of 2026 to October of 2025.
June 26th, 2025
Isaac Ekstein, as Deputy Clerk, and/or Joel Stern post flyers announcing the October 22nd election. The sign also says that independent nominating petitions should be submitted to the Deputy Village Clerk (Isaac Ekstein, presumably) between September 10th and September 17th. Whether or not Mr. Ekstein or another member of the Clerk’s team receiving additional signature ballots or nominating petitions is unclear.
The Fraudulent Election
Pictured Above: Yitzchok “Isaac” Ekstein’s sign outside Village Hall on October 22nd, 2025 informing people of the location of the polls. However, residents are told to go to the fire house to vote, while others are summoned to Stern’s Rapid Care / Blooming Realty property according to residents. Like the other signs photographed by Stern and/or Ekstein, it’s not clear how long these signs stayed up after they were photographed.
July 2025 to September 2025:
No word is mentioned about ballots, nominating petitions, or any of the other policies are procedures that typically involve getting on the ballot. How the Referendum is certified, if at all, is also unknown.
On August 27th, 2025
Levi Freedman and Joel Stern begin collecting signatures for the RSBM candidates: George Kalaj for Mayor, Abraham Weiss for Deputy Mayor, and Yitzchok Feldman for Trustee.
Levi Freedman claims to have gathered signatures on his ballot for these candidates from residents of 1233 State Route 208, which is a Yeshiva. All 31 names and signatures come from this address. The Monroe Gazette is in receipt of the voting records for all 31 names, and is currently waiting on the rest of the voting history by the Orange County Board of Elections which were FOIL’ed by us months ago. When The Monroe Gazette went to investigate 1233 State Route 208, we were stopped by a man who said his name was Avi. Avi then told us the first home is available at a rate of $5,000 a weekend, and that the other building was a school that was also available for rent during the summer at the same rate. Levi Freedman also claims on his signature ballot form to live at this address.
Haredi residents have stated the Yeshiva’s ownership provides Joel Stern with names and signatures in exchange for favorable treatment when their projects come before the Village Planning Board.
These documents from Levi are stamped as received by South Blooming Grove on September 16th. Whether or not Isaac Ekstein stamped this document as Deputy Village Clerk is unknown, but it is likely.
On September 3rd, 2025
Joel Stern claims to have gathered signatures for these same candidates at 17 Sleepy Hollow Road, which is not a residence but also a Yeshiva.
Haredi residents have stated the Yeshiva’s ownership provides Joel Stern with names and signatures in exchange for favorable treatment when their projects come before the Village Planning Board.
Abraham Weiss’s name is oddly written in on the Signature Ballot form, and not printed.
Like with the above voter histories of the people who signed these signature ballots, we have NYS’s voter history of them but not Orange County. We are waiting on Orange County to send us the history via our FOIL.
At the bottom of Stern’s last signature ballot for this address, Yitzchok Isaac Ekstein also signs using his 40 Virginia Avenue address. Whether or not Ekstein also stamped the documents as received on behalf of the Village is unknown.
On September 13th,
Stern submits another signature ballot from the Jacobowitz family’s 20 Shannon Lane. It is unclear if this is a permanent residence or a second home for members of the family claiming to live here. This signature ballot had everything pre-printed on it except the signatures. They were signed on September 15th and submitted and stamped as received by the Village the next day. Again, it’s not clear if Mr. Ekstein is the one stamping the signature ballots as received, but it’s very likely given the language used on previous notices about the signature ballots.
On Oct. 9, 2025
Joel Stern — from his Gmail account — sent an ad to the Wallkill Valley Times announcing the Oct. 22, 2025, election. The Wallkill Valley Times provided a copy after searching their records; we thank them for their help. We also want to note here that, despite Mr. Ekstein’s complaints about having to manually email notices to the Times-Heralrd Record, Joel Stern — using his personal gmail account — manually sends in a notice to the Wallkill Valley Times announcing the election for October 22nd.
And again, if Ekstein is the Village Deputy, why is Mr. Joel Stern sending in and paying for the advertisement?
(One note: The village’s alleged posting of the election’s new date in July was also done inappropriately and outside the four month window legally required to notify residents.)
There are no minutes provided for the October 20th, 2025 Village of South Blooming Grove meeting, but worth also flagging is this agenda item: “Resolution of the Village Board of the Village of South Blooming Grove authorizing the Mayor to enter into agreements with 58 Fort Worth Place pertaining to the Site Plan.”
How exactly can the Mayor, who resides at 58 Fort Worth Place, vote on or enter into an agreement with the owner of 58 Fort Worth Place? If the Mayor does not actually reside at this address, or if there is concern he does not reside there, what steps (if any) did the Village take to verify George Kalaj’s true residence?
On Oct. 16
From his United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove email (not his official village address), Joel Stern requested the complete South Blooming Grove voter roll from the Orange County Board of Elections. We obtained this and related emails via FOIL. Recall here that Stern and Spitzer have been appointed Election Inspectors for this October 22nd election.
On October 20th
Isaac Ekstein, now identified as the deputy clerk, sends an email to the Orange County Board of Elections stating that the referendum in June went well with 61 yeas and 10 nays. There are over four thousand residents in the Village of South Blooming Grove. Only 71 of them voted to change the election date.
There are no attachments to this email. There is no request for clarification by the OC BOE on what election Ekstein is discussing here or how it was certified. There’s nothing. Just this vague statement. Mr. Ekstein, what we do know, is referring to the alleged June referendum to change the date of the election. Why Mr. Ekstein did not provide that 61 people voted yes, and 10 voted no — if they voted at all — during the 9pm June 24th meeting is not clear. We’ll also point out here that there’s about 4,000 registered voters in the Village of South Blooming Grove, meaning just above 3% of voters voted in this referendum to change the date of the election.
Between 6:59pm and 7:58pm, Isaac Ekstein and/or Joel Stern post three flyers around the Village to remind people of the October 22nd election: 5 Mangin Road, 1197 State Route 208, and 1200 State Route 208. No other notices are sent either physically or electronically.
On October 21st,
Ekstein again emails Orange County Board of Elections asking for the signatures on the voter roll to make sure the right person is voting. Keep in mind, both Stern and Spitzer, like Ekstein, are members of the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove, and Stern and Spitzer also inspectors for this election. From this point on, allegations follow that Ekstein wanted the signature book so that he, Stern, and Spitzer could forge signatures.
I need to rewind for a second. There is a building located across from the SBG Village Hall owned by Stern and Ekstein. We’ve mentioned it a few times. Until recently, it was a Rapid Care. now it’s a Blooming Realty office. It’s owned by Joel Stern.
Blooming Realty is a company that is alleged to have provided housing to Isaac Ekstein at 2 Arlington Drive while his home on Virginia Drive was under construction. In 2022, and apparently still ongoing, the FBI has been looking into a large number of voters being registered to Isaac Ekstein’s address at 2 Arlington Drive. In 2024, both Stern and Ekstein were reported to the Orange County Board of Elections for walking members of the Haredi community into the rapid care, filling out the ballots for them, and then walking them out. Mr. Stern and Ekstein were also alleged to have been going door to door in 2024 to collect ballots, claiming they would then deliver them.
The Orange County Board of Elections and the Orange County District Attorney took no action on these claims, as far as we know. The Orange County District Attorney did report the large number of absentee ballot requests in 2022 from 2 Arlington Drive to the FBI. The District Attorney’s office claims their investigation into South Blooming Grove is ongoing, but we find that hard to believe given Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus and District Attorney Hoovler’s close relationship. (Stern and Ekstein were pictured at Neuhaus’s 2025 Victory party in Chester, NY, on Election Night. The photo of them posing together ran in the KJ Weekly with a caption describing Stern and Ekstein as “Co-Mayors” of South Blooming Grove. Hoovler has posed for campaign photos seated next to Mr. Stern.)
Also on October 21st, at the Town of Blooming Grove meeting, Simon Schwartz makes no mention of the election happening the next day.
On October 22nd (Election Day)
This is what has been alleged to have happened: Joel Stern called his business associates and friends to Village Hall. He did not tell them why. When they arrived, Stern is said to have informed them that they are voting in a Village Election. It is not clear if all of these men were inhabitants of South Blooming Grove, or if Ekstein or others forged signatures to make it look like they were.
The votes then broke down as follows:
129 votes for Mayor Kalaj, 132 votes for Abraham Weiss, 130 votes for Yitzchok Feldman. All running on … You guessed it. The RSBM Party.
So I want to make sure you have this picture: Joel Stern is the Chairmen of the RSBM Party. Joel Stern is the Election Inspector of this alleged October 22nd election. Joel Stern called his friends and associates to vote in this election, on a date he selected and had approved by his Village Board, wherein he, Ekstein, and Spitzer may have forged signatures.
No voting machines or other equipment or assistance was requested by the Village of South Blooming Grove to the Orange County Board of Elections.
On October 23rd, 2025
Joel Stern and Shymaya Spitzer, as Election Inspectors, sign a document stating George Kalaj received 129 votes, while Abraham Weiss and Yitzchok Feldman received 132 votes and 130 votes. Village Clerk Kerry Dougherty signed another document that same day with the same results and sent it to the Orange County Board of Elections. What methods were taken to certify these results remain unclear, despite the fact that people were alleged to have voted over at Joel Stern’s Rapid Care / Blooming Realty office (despite the “Vote Here” sign put up at Village Hall on October 22nd), as well as the firehouse, and that in a village of just over three four thousand people, only 132 of them may have voted.
(It’s unclear where people voted, but The Monroe Gazette was told directly by members of the Satmar community that voting took place at Village Hall, and those were the people summoned by Stern to vote.)
October 24th, 2025:
On October 24th, a brief, vague mention of the South Blooming Grove election is made on the cover of the KJ Weekly, but no mention is included in the paper. Just the announcement on the cover announcing the re-election of the incumbents.
During this time, State Senator James G. Skoufis claims that he is investigating the election; however, texts shared with The Monroe Gazette from a source shows Isaac Ekstein stating Skoufis wasn’t upset that an election occurred, he was upset that he wasn’t given the heads-up about it. For that reason, and because Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein are large donors of Mr. Skoufis, we do not believe the State Senator is taking any sort of real action.
For example: Mr. Ostreicher, within weeks after the June referendum was held in June, also donated $5,000 to State Senator Skoufis. Ostreicher testified in court about his strong friendship with Joel Stern.
And again, Skoufis has known about this voter fraud and missed elections since 2022. Why he waited until after a screwy election took place, that he may have had forknowledge of, is something to ask yourself when he’s up for re-election in November.
According to Skoufis, he had a phone call with Isaac Ekstein on October 24th, 2025. Skoufis claims in a letter to Attorney General Letitia James that Ekstein said the following: “There was a lot of people on the outside trying to do a lot of shit…we did everything that we had to do…we made our research and it [October 22, 2025] was less time for anyone to organize to bring in a yeshiva here [laughter from Mr. Ekstein]...the main reason why is all the yeshivas are still closed in October. And I want to keep it at that.” (So, it should be incumbent on Mr. Skoufis to release the full recording of his conversation with Isaac Ekstein.)
According to published exchanges between Skoufis and Nora Murphy of Monaco Cooper Lamme and Carr PLLC, Ekstein’s statement, contradicts Mrs. Murphy’s.
Skoufis also claims in his letter the following was shared with his office:
“Some village supporters contacted residents — including myself — and asked us to request absentee ballots and then hand the blank ballots over so they could fill them out. I was personally called several times and asked to do this, but I refused and said I only vote in person. Some other residents did agree, and as a result, they were unable to vote in person on Election Day. ”-email to my office dated October 30, 2025
“I personally heard from a couple of voters, that [Joel] stern called them approx 8:20 pm and said come over to village hall urgent, when they asked what for, stern said i cant tell you, come here and i will let you know… when they arrived, stern and [Isaac] ekstein [sic] both brought papers to them and said sign here, today is a village vote. some walked out saying this is fishy but others did sign and voted. also, there was an event that night for the new members of their new fire department, and at the event they called them out one by one saying sign here, today is the vote…one guy who was supposedly a poll watcher, when he was challenged by people why he stood with this evil act, he said. I was called over in the evening and they didnt even tell me for what, while i showed up they said an election is held today and they offered me money so i couldnt refuse it.” -email to my office dated November 7, 2025.
“Those in favor of the current Village Board received calls to come vote at the firehouse. This resident said he did not receive a call because it is known he is not in favor of the current Village Board.”-phone call summary to my office dated October 30, 2025
“She just found out today that the Village held an election for mayor and two trustees yesterday. She received a call from a friend today that there was an election. There was a meeting this Monday [October 20, 2025] and there was no mention of an election occurring Wednesday.” -phone call summary to my office dated October 24, 2025
“I absolutely would have voted if I was afforded the opportunity. I was never contacted, read or heard at any board meetings about a potential election. I was under the impression that elections would be in March. This year wouldn’t have been different except for the fact they held a secret election.” -reported by News12
October 27th
The Monroe Gazette went to Village Hall, as well as other residents of South Blooming Grove. This election was not noticed anywhere. Clerk Kerry Dougherty claimed it was noticed on the bulletin board outside the building. I inspected this bulletin board and did not see any notice for the election. Mrs. Kelly Parzer also went to Village Hall to confront Mrs. Dougherty, and she did not view a flyer in the bulletin board either. The flyer for the election only appeared in early November, after our coverage and News 12’s coverage of the phantom election.
Present
Letitia James – according to Skoufis — is also said to be looking into the issues with the election; however, as noted in the Maderia case, the New York State Attorney General, as well as other offices such as the Comptroller and Governor, are well aware of the issues in South Blooming Grove. At no point has Letitia James demonstrated any interest in investigating the situation.
Personally, we’re giving her until February 1st. At that point, we’re going to take legal action against her. Again. And when it fails (because it will) we’re going to take this baby to federal court.
As of this writing, this is the most complete picture I can paint for you. We still have a lot of FOIL requests pending with multiple State agencies and the Village of South Blooming Grove. Not to mention the new lawsuit. But I hope there’s enough here for you to [redacted.]
-BJ
Mind boggling!
What an amazing job you are doing with such little support.
Thank you for using your sleuthing skills to fill in so much of the details and contradictions.
Hopefully, you will get more support and funds to consider your very valuable work.