South Blooming Grove & This Multi-Billion Dollar Corporation are Having a Team Up
Woodbury Common wants its Phase 5 Expansion so badly, it's going to make a deal with the (local) devil to get it.
We have a lot to talk about this week. And since our main story is absolutely insane, I’m going to blow by some of what this post was originally about:
On the National level, Congressman Mike Lawler — who represents a fair number of people who received benefits from Medicaid in his Rockland County district — just voted to advance a budget that could slash federal spending on the program up to $880B. (The budget also contains billions in proposed cuts to the federal food stamps program.) Mr. Lawler is counting on you not to remember this vote when he runs for governor against Kathy Hochul next year. Unfortunately for Mike Lawler, The Monroe Gazette exists. We plan to document every action Mike Lawler takes that enables President Musk’s dangerous, un-American agenda. (Mr. Lawler’s office did not reply to questions submitted by The Monroe Gazette.)
On the State Level, Assemblyman Chris Eachus — whose district covers Cornwall, a municipality still recovering from the historic flooding in 2023 — is backing a bill (A472) that would make the air in our region harder to breathe and flooding occur more frequently. How? By rolling back parts of New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, and promoting the burning of biofuels. Biofuels, despite advertising by the same fossil fuel companies responsible for setting this planet on fire, are not a “clean fuel.” Mr. Eachus apparently doesn’t know this, or doesn’t care. (Mr. Chris Eachus’s office did not reply to questions submitted by The Monroe Gazette.)
We also have State Senator James G. Skoufis, who approved South Blooming Grove’s Joel Stern’s illegal road construction through Orange County’s Gonzaga Park. At least, according to Joel Stern. Mr. Stern also alleged in his deposition* that Skoufis provided direct access to Stern to New York State Governor Kathy Hochul. So, now we know what Joel Stern’s $10,000 campaign contribution and Stern co-worker Isaac Ekstein’s $15,000 campaign contribution got them from State Senator Skoufis. Anyone who thinks the Democratic Party is going to stand up to Donald Trump and Elon Musk while James Skoufis is around has another thing coming. They want Trump gone, yes, but they do not want to change any of the reasons that Trump exists in the first place.
Joel Stern claims James Skoufis connected him with the Governor as part of a scheme to replace the Gonzaga Park land that Stern destroyed illegally. Skoufis, given that he reeks of Little Dick Energy, absolutely refuses to answer questions submitted by The Monroe Gazette. Maybe that’s because those questions include: Is it true you slept with one of your staffers, which caused you to get a divorce from your wife? And is it true you’re sleeping with a high-ranking member of the Orange County Democratic Committee, who is also not your wife? (One of these things 100% happened. The other is a rumor spread by friends of Mr. Skoufis.)
You should know that Governor Kathy Hochul does not comply with FOIL requests. We’ve been waiting about a year for our FOILs concerning the Blooming Grove land preservation bill that she vetoed, after being lobbied by Joel Stern (and others) to do so. The first time we FOIL’ed for this information, we had to wait six months, and then Governor Hochul’s office claimed no records existed. So we resubmitted a more detailed version of the FOIL in November of 2024, and the Governor’s office has extended the timeline to reply to the request at every opportunity.
(For the record: Mr. Skoufis and Mr. Eachus have resisted calls and emails sent to their office encouraging them to support updating the FOIL law to prevent abuses like this one. It's kind of hard to believe when the Democrats have a Super Majority across all three branches of government here in New York State. Unless … Yes. Say it with me, “The Democrats want Trump gone, but they don't want anything to actually change.”
Our new FOIL with Governor Kathy Hochul requests records concerning James Skoufis, Joel Stern, and Hochul’s Director of Jewish Affairs, Jacob Adler. Stern claims Skoufis and Adler connected him to the Governor and that Governor Hochul spoke to Stern directly about the Gonzaga Park situation. We expect to encounter the same amount of trouble with this FOIL request. That’s the bad news. The good news is, I have nothing but time these days, and I’m not afraid to sue the Governor if that’s what we need to do to get some answers here. As we just pointed out with the Democrats, how can the people of New York State expect them to stand up for integrity and accountability while exhibiting none of their own?
Alien Vs. Predator. Again.
And, finally, on the local level here in Southern Orange County, your local Republican and Democratic Committees are endorsing candidates for this Fall’s election. With a few exceptions, the slates thus far announced are underwhelming. For example, it’s nice to see the Orange County Democratic Committee didn’t go through with its plan to anoint Tyler Etzel Jr. — Yes. The wannabe Batman villain we wrote about last Fall — as their candidate for the new Orange County Legislative District covering Woodbury.
But if the Democratic committees wanted to demonstrate to area residents that they can stand up to the interests of the wealthy and well-connected, they have failed.
If the Republican committees wanted to demonstrate that they’re as concerned as you are about the ongoing coup, they have failed.
In both cases, the local Democratic and Republican Committees demonstrated that they are both beholden to their party's wealthy and corporate interests—Wayne Corts for the Republicans (and Woodbury Democrats, who are preparing to endorse the Republican candidates), and State Senator James Skoufis for the Democrats.
So, once again, you can look forward to a whole bunch of Alien vs. Predator situations up and down the ballot.
For example: In the race between Crooked Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus vs. Mike Sussman, we know factually that Neuhaus is a habitual liar — and is in the process of getting the county sued because of those lies. But do you really trust Mike Sussman? Because many of you have loudly said to The Monroe Gazette you sure don’t.
All we will say, for now, about Mr. Sussman is that if he can’t stand up to James Skoufis, we’re not convinced he can stand up to the various elements in Orange County who wield more money and power than you and I do either.
We’ve seen talk from Kathy Hochul. We’ve seen talk from Hakeem Jeffries. And we’ve seen talk from Chuck Schumer. How is all that talk working out so far concerning the coup?
Talk is great. But talk is cheap. We’ll wait and see what Mr. Sussman actually does, versus what he says, between now and November.
As far as the Monroe ticket goes, all I’ll say for right now is that if Tax Hike Tony Cardone and Soft on Crime Dorey Houle are re-elected, there will be one person you can all hold accountable: Our State Senator. You know, the one who works on behalf of the Real Estate Industry?
One of the people Mr. Skoufis hand-selected for Monroe Town Board has already posted misinformation on Facebook concerning when Palm Tree is allowed to make annexation requests of its neighbors. (This person has also demonstrated a profound inability to listen to people answer the questions he asks them. Instead, continuing to ask the same question. So if you think Woodbury Village Trustee James Freiband is annoying as an elected representative, hold on to your ass, Monroe.)
We shouldn’t be surprised by this strategy, given Skoufis’s whole deal is to criticize, complain, and even do a little bit of fear-mongering about the Satmar when politically expedient in public. But as soon as that door is closed? He’s running ads in Yiddish language newspapers talking about how he’s pro-school choice, pro-vouchers, and pro-schools that do not provide an adequate equivalency education to their students. So, the behavior of this hand-selected Monroe Town Board candidate shouldn’t shock anyone.
Mr. Skoufis is also working directly with Tim Mitts as part of Mitt’s campaign to be Supervisor. So, if you’re like, “Why is this crazy ass old man constantly posting about Monroe Councilwoman Maureen Richardson” the answer is simple: Because Mr. Skoufis asked him to attack and harm Mrs. Richardson’s candidacy for the position.
Oh, one other thing, and I’m just sharing this because I found it to be really funny:
There’s an electronic sign next to The Castle over in Chester. If you’re driving east on Route 17 you’ll see it. On that electronic sign is an ad for Tim Mitts. Given that Tim Mitts is a Convicted Felon, and that he routinely posts photos of me as a fifteen-year-old boy on the Internet, the juxtaposition between the Family Fun Center at The Castle and an ad for Tim Mitts is just a Chef’s Kiss.
Sometimes, life is far, far funnier than any comedic genius could conceive.
*I was initially going to share with you Joel Stern’s complete deposition in the ongoing lawsuit between Orange County and South Blooming Grove. But then something crazy happened involving South Blooming Grove and Woodbury Common. So our main story today is going to be about that.
Regarding Stern’s deposition, I will share this picture with you. We’ll get to the annotations from the deposition next week.
The picture below, presumably after they were done smoking cigars (according to Stern), depicts Crooked Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus posing for photos with Stern and Ekstein after (allegedly) observing the destruction Stern had done to Orange County’s Gonzaga Park—something that was done without any authorization or approval by the county.
In the text messages that Orange County claimed did not exist, but actually do, Neuhaus repeatedly asks Stern to speak with County Attorney Rick Golden. Mr. Golden and Mr. Neuhaus are actively fighting to prevent themselves from having to testify as part of this court proceeding concerning Gonzaga Park.
But Mr. Golden, because I guess he couldn’t help himself, did say to The Monroe Gazette:
I will this once advise you that I do not recall ever speaking with Mr. Stern at that time and a search of my own records does not reveal any document that indicates that there was any such communication with him.
Mr. Golden is mentioning a search here because we put in a FOIL request asking for all emails he’s ever sent to Joel Stern.
Now, if Mr. Golden has no problem telling The Monroe Gazette that, surely there should be no problem testifying as well, right?
… Right?
Pictured Above: Yitzchok “Isaac” Ekstein (left), Crooked County Executive Steve Neuhaus (center), and “Village Executive” of South Blooming Grove, Joel Stern (right). It’s unclear whether County Attorney Rick Golden is holding the camera or someone else. You will have to decide whether or not you believe Joel Stern to figure that one out.
The Photo-News Loves Clovewood Kathryn
Not too long ago, we put in a FOIL request for emails between Straus News and Clovewood Kathrny (Woodbury Town Supervisor, Katrhyn Luciani.) We call her Clovewood Kathyrn because, when she ran for Assembly, Clovewood’s primary shareholder, Ziggy Brach, gave Mrs. Luciani a lot of money.
Well, wouldn’t you know it? Mrs. Luciani also seems pretty chummy to our friends at Straus News. This really isn’t a surprise because, as The Monroe Gazette has pointed out numerous times, Straus News does little to no fact-checking and often depicts this particular Woodbury Town Board in the most favorable light it can. (Remember: The Photo-News ran a false headline stating that the Town of Woodbury would stop giving VTL fees to the Village of Woodbury, something that the Town has NEVER done in the nearly 20-year history of the Village of Woodbury.)
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So, Is Woodbury Common Going to Expand or What?
This is a developing story.
So today, I’m just going to tell you what we know for sure. And you should know that I am not the only local news reporter looking into this story.
On Monday, the Village of South Blooming Grove passed a resolution allowing the “Mayor” to negotiate with Simon Property Group. As you know, since March of 2024, there is NO duly elected Mayor in South Blooming Grove, as a result of the Village’s failure to hold an election as legally required. So everything South Blooming Grove has done since March of 2024 is null and void. That would include any negotiation and agreement it reaches with Simon Property Group. (The Monroe Gazette reached out to representatives of the New York Department of State to comment on whether or not such an agreement would be legally valid. When previously asked whether or not everything happening in South Blooming Grove was null and void, the State Department shrugged its shoulders and basically said to us, “You should sue and find out.”)
The negotiation would involve Woodbury Common funding(?) a couple of studies related to South Blooming Grove’s sewer infrastructure in exchange for South Blooming Grove leasing its “excess” sewer capacity from Orange County Sewer District 1 to Simon Property Group. The resolution is unclear as to whether Woodbury Common will fund those sewer studies, or if this is only hoped for by SBG. This agreement would last for five years, or about as long as it will take for Orange County to build the new Orange County Sewer District 1 plant.
(Assuming that new project runs on time, of course. During the Orange County Sewer District 1 Advisory Committee meeting this week, below, a rosy assessment was provided about the availability of federal funding to support that project. But that rosy assessment sounds a lot like the Republican Congressman and Senators who didn’t expect Trump and Musk to harm their constituents with all these layoffs and funding cuts, only to find that’s exactly what happened. Even Jesse Waters cried about this on the air during a recent Fox News broadcast. So, don’t hold your breath that the County will get that federal funding.)
By the way: Some of you sent in letters to OCSD1 Advisory Committee Chair, Peter Tuohy, to address the poisonous gas being emitted on the playground in the Village of Monroe. Mr. Tuohy did NOT answer a single question submitted to him. Nor did he answer any of the questions he received about the failing sewer infrastructure of South Blooming Grove. The infrastructure he tried to cover up for recently at a Monroe Town Board meeting. Now we know why: He wants to protect the Woodbury Common deal.
At the very end of the meeting, you can hear Mr. Tuohy ask for an update on the South Blooming Grove project. That means we won’t get an official update from the county until April on the hydrogen sulfide issue and the village’s contribution to it.
Thus far, Mr. Tuohy has not addressed discrepancies in Joel Stern’s story about the ANUE hardware.
Mr. Tuohy recently, in 2025, told Monroe residents that Stern is waiting to purchase the ANUE hardware because of an “unrelated” sewer issue. Mr. Tuohy did not disclose what that sewer issue was. But back in December of 2022 (pictured above), Stern told the Village of South Blooming Grove Board of Trustees that the test of the ANUE system worked and then asked for a resolution to be introduced to purchase the hardware.
This is half-true. The ANUE Hardware worked, but there was a sewer emergency in South Blooming Grove upon activation. We know this because The Monroe Gazette sued South Blooming Grove for documents relating to the sewer system that it refused to release. So there are a lot of unanswered questions here.
Particularly:
Why did Stern lie to the public and ask to purchase hardware that he knew triggered a sewer emergency?
Why hasn’t South Blooming Grove purchased the equipment?
What happened to the money South Blooming Grove budgeted to buy the ANUE Hardware?
This is a long way of saying, it’s unclear if South Blooming Grove has any excess sewage capacity to give Simon Property Group, let alone permission to do so.
Does SBG have excess sewer capacity?
Flow reports are tricky, and you can see deceptively low levels in the winter months, only to find the climate change-driven rainfalls in the Summer and Fall to exceed the allotted sewage capacity each municipality is provided. You’re also depending on “Village Executive” Joel Stern — because everyone knows “Mayor” George Kalaj won’t be conducting these negotiations — to be truthful and honest with Simon Property Group, and I think it’s something you can say with factual certainty at this point that Mr. Stern is less than truthful about everything. The fact that he refers to himself as Village Executive, itself, is an act of fraud.
There’s also another question concerning sewage capacity. South Blooming Grove, under Joel Stern, has allowed for rampant permitted (and often, unpermitted) building throughout the village. The Village Planning Board has never provided a positive SEQRA declaration — According to the South Blooming Grove Village Planning Board Attorney — allowing Village Planner Tom Shepstone to enrich himself on application fees before the planning board, often improperly filled out, which then received unanimous approval by the Planning Board.
The original South Blooming Grove Planning Board was fired, without notice and cause (which is illegal, by the way) after Mayor George Kalaj first came into office. They were then replaced by people who we can factually report were receiving WhatsApp messages by Stern and Ekstein throughout the meeting, telling them how to vote. Not that the vote is ever in question. You will find a “no” vote on any project to be exceedingly rare from this group.
So over the next five years, in a hypothetical arrangement between Woodbury Common in South Blooming Grove, it’s fair for Southern Orange County residents to ask whether or not that excess sewage capacity exists, and what impact Mr. Stern’s attempt to graft a city on top of rural infrastructure will have at Orange County Sewer District 1. Remember: The plant is overcapacity now. The DEC entered into a consent decree with Orange County in 2018 over problems with this sewer plant. And Orange County refuses to allow The Monroe Gazette to tour the plant with a camera crew. So nobody knows how operational this place really is, and whether or not it’s illegally discharging into the Ramapo at the exact moment you read this story.
Also on the Orange County end of things, some of you may remember our county’s attempt at securing a casino license. Part of that scheme involved South Blooming Grove leasing its excess sewer capacity to the company looking to build the casino. The Village of Kiryas Joel sued, stating that South Blooming Grove did not have the ability to lease its excess sewer capacity without the approval of Orange County. Whether or not Mr. Steve Neuhaus smoked another cigar with Mr. Stern up on the mountain, and gave this new arrangement his blessing is not known. Both County Attorney Rick Golden and Crooked Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus have not responded to requests for comment on this matter by The Monroe Gazette. Thus far, David Mistretta, General Manager at Simon Property Group, has also not responded to requests for comment about Woodbury Common and its arrangement with South Blooming Grove.
How Does This Impact Woodbury Residents?
We’ve covered the proposed expansion of Woodbury Common quite a bit last year. (I’m for it, as long as there is a train station.) But most Woodbury residents oppose the mall’s expansion.
The Village of Woodbury is looking to implement a sewer moratorium because its sewage allotment is overcapacity. If passed—and Orange County and Clovewood Kathyrn and Local Bigot / Mayoral Candidate Brandon Calore have been working overtime to stop it—the sewer moratorium would stop Woodbury Common from expanding.
That is … unless Woodbury Common can get its sewage from someone else. That someone else being South Blooming Grove.
So we sent the following letter to Woodbury Planning Board Attorney Kelly Naughton, the Village of Woodbury Mayor, and the Village of Woodbury Planning Board Chair. We also sent a copy of this letter to the Town of Chester Board of Trustees since Legislator Tuohy has made it a point to blame Chester for the hydrogen sulfide problem afflicting residents in the Village of Monroe:
Hi Kelly,
As you know, the Village of South Blooming Grove passed a resolution last night allowing Mayor George Kalaj to enter into negotiation with Woodbury Common (we assume this is David Mistretta, the General Manager).
The negotiation would center on South Blooming Grove leasing its excess sewage capacity to Woodbury Common for a period of five years. It is not clear what benefit would be received by South Blooming Grove. But the benefit to the Common is very clear: This agreement would allow for the Common to proceed with its expansion.
We want to alert you to the following facts:
1. In or around March 2021, South Blooming Grove passed a resolution extending the term of office for South Blooming Grove Mayor George Kalaj and the Village Board from a 2-year term to a 4-year term. This resolution was only provided to the NYS Department of State in November 2024. The Monroe Gazette has reviewed the document submitted to NYS and found numerous inconsistencies and errors, calling into question whether or not it was properly submitted and valid.
2. In March of 2024, the Village of South Blooming Grove was supposed to hold an election for Mayor and the trustees. We spoke to NYS BOE and OC BOE who stated the Village Clerk, Kerry Dougherty — same person responsible for filing the 2021 resolution 3 years late — was responsible for conducting an election at that time for the village. She failed to do so. In a deposition concerning Orange County's lawsuit with SBG, Joel Stern* said the Mayor's term of office ends in 2026." This is also incorrect.
(Mr. Stern, for the record, falsely identifies himself as Village Executive, a title that does not exist anywhere in New York State, and the use of which may constitute fraud. We are alerting you of this fact, because we have proof of it, given that Mr. Stern is likely the one that will be negotiating with David Mistretta. In his deposition, Mr. Stern claimed the use of the title Village Executive is done to avoid "confusion" because people did not know what a Confidential Assistant to the Mayor was.)
After speaking with our council and local attorney Susan Shapiro (also copied), it was determined that all actions rendered by the Village of South Blooming Grove following the March 2024 election are null and void. (The Department of State did not agree or disagree with this assertion when asked by Blaise Gomez of News 12, but instead recommended SBG residents seek legal counsel and file a lawsuit for a judge to decide whether or not this null and void argument would be upheld and then enforced.)
South Blooming Grove was first made aware that their decisions were null and void by Mrs. Shapiro in late 2024.
As part of The Monroe Gazette's lawsuit with the village in 2025, we requested a written explanation from Mayor Kalaj about the failure to hold an election and when the next one will be held. We received no response.
The fact pattern surrounding Mr. Stern's behavior as "Village Executive" is clear and disturbing.
Public comment has been removed, FOILs require Article 78 actions to be responded to (and even then, not completely or honestly), final agency decisions are often rendered outside of public view and with no regard to their impact on the public*, and anyone who gets in his way is described as evil and anti-semitic.
You can find the latest example of that here (please use Google Translate): https://www.ujcbg.org/town-of-blooming-grove-planner/ <-- We spoke to Blooming Grove Town Supervisor Robert Jeroloman who stated absolutely none of what Mr. Stern published, in what is now the only official Village of South Blooming Grove channel of communication, is true in any way shape or form.
*We spoke with the SBG VIllage Planning Board attorney who stated that, at no point since Stern became "Village Executive" has the Village Planning Board ever issued a positive SEQRA declaration.
While there are discussions underway over suing Mr. Stern and the Village for failure to hold an election, what was previously a SBG problem is now a Woodbury problem.
Woodbury Common is utilizing Mr. Stern's illegitimate government to subvert the will of Woodbury residents who adamantly oppose any expansion of Woodbury Common.
We want to alert you to another thing: Mr. Stern has permitted (and often allowed unpermitted) rapid building and construction within South Blooming Grove. We know from FOIL'ed documents and our reporting that the EPA and DEC are both investigating the crumbling municipal infrastructure of the Village, which involves the sewer system. The sewer infrastructure failures have also contributed to the release of a poisonous gas on a children's playground in the Village of Monroe. So it is not clear what "excess" sewage capacity South Blooming Grove has to offer Woodbury Common, nor is it clear that it has enough "excess" sewage capacity to provide Woodbury Common, given the projected growth of the Village into a city of its own.
We are alerting you to these facts, as well as the Mayor and Chair of the Planning Board, and requesting intervention on behalf of the Village of Woodbury, given the widespread impact this negotiation will have on its residents and the larger Southern Orange County community.
What happens next?
Well, if I were an enterprising Woodbury resident, I’d write to Amy Lavine (The Monroe Gazette’s attorney) at liberty@libertystreetlegal.com with the subject line I Want To Sue.
Clearly, South Blooming Grove’s decisions are about to have a tremendous impact on Woodbury residents, as are Simon Property Group and Orange County’s.
If you think the agreement being entered into by Simon Property Group with South Blooming Grove is null and void, that’s definitely something to discuss with Amy. After all, that’s exactly what New York’s Department of State suggested:
“The Village or any other interested party concerned about the validity of a local law should consult with private counsel, who can comment on all applicable laws, and appropriate next steps for the Village to follow or potential legal issues that might exist for projects or decisions made by village boards and officers.”
As this story develops, we will bring you the latest information. For right now, that’s where everything stands.
Whether or not you want to do something about it is up to you. For all the reasons we established, none of your local Democrats or Republicans are going to help us get out of this one.