The Village of South Blooming Grove is Literally Hazardous to Your Health
A 40-year resident finally investigates what's really happening in South Blooming Grove
Before we get to our video, I want you to take a moment and remind you of a couple of things.
First:
Deep Breath
Orange County is currently suing the Village of South Blooming Grove over “Village Executive” Joel Stern and “Co-Mayor” Isaac Ekstein attempting to build a road through Gonzaga Park, which is owned by the County.
A road that would connect to the Village of Kiryas Joel, a.k.a. the Town of Palm Tree.
Stern and Ekstein have made numerous attempts to claim New York State Route 208 is dangerous—which it only became after Stern and Ekstein tried to speed run construction of a city on rural infrastructure. Beginning with a potentially fraudulent election held during the pandemic in fall 2020.
The reason for this road—”The Mangin Bypass”—however, is not safety.
It’s because a man named Avrum Ber Jakobowitz is funding Stern and Ekstein’s efforts to build this city through Stern and Ekstein’s United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove.
Above: The Avraham Jacobavich Building at 58 Fort Worth Place. These structures are all temporary until Joel Landau #2 builds a new permanent school for Moise Ostreicher in exchange for being allowed to operate a helipad at 58 Fort Worth Place. You can read more about the helicopter saga here.
United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove lost its tax exempt status in 2022 for failure to disclose its records, yet continues to operate and has become an integral part of the Village government.
So much so that the DEC “recognized” the existence of a “Village of South Blooming Grove United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove Emergency Response Division.” Their task? To care for endangered rattlesnakes that may be found on the Clovewood mega development. A development that is the specific cause for the Village of South Blooming Grove’s existence in the first place.
The people living there did not want the former Lake Anne Country Club to be turned into a mega development given that people move to Orange County to escape the high density housing of New York City.
And, if we’re being honest, a lot of those people also did not want the Satmar as neighbors, given the near fifty year history, at that time, of Satmar real estate developers running afoul of local government, zoning, and other laws. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes not. For people like Ziggy Brach, lead shareholder of the Clovewood project, always not.
This is something that was reported as far back as the 1970s when Joel Teitelbaum’s people left Brooklyn to settle in Monroe. Grand Rebbe Zalman Teitelbaum and his brother Aaron Teitelbaum are nephews of Joel Teitelbaum.
We also have to acknowledge here that yes: There are a whole lot of dumbass bigots that live up here. The good news, speaking as a resident of this area for 40 years, is that there are far fewer dumbass bigots now than there were when we first got here.
The bad news: the dumbass bigots are empowered, especially right now with President Trump, and they make any sort of discussion impossible with our Haredi brothers and sisters about how we can plan to provide housing while also preserving our area.
Still with me? Good.
Stern and Ekstein are working on behalf of Grand Rebbe Zalman Teitelbaum to construct a city that is large enough to close off the growth of Kiryas Joel. This is because Kiryas Joel is run by Zalman’s brother, Aaron Teitelbaum, and the two brothers are dueling for who will control the Satmar. This may sound like a science fiction novel, until you remember that the Satmar—one of over thirty different types of Haredi—are known to be the most aggressive toward other Haredi and non-Haredi, and represent thousands of votes and hundreds of millions of dollars that can be donated to “Populist” James G. Skoufis and other New York State Democrats who refuse to ban private contributions over $100.
Men such as Joel Landau and other real estate developers are making hundreds of millions through getting their permits approved rapidly and without oversight through the Stern and Ekstein controlled Village Planning Board and Village Board. The helicopter and helipad, for example, never appeared on any documents approved by the Village Planning Board. Despite this. Code Enforcement Officer and Building Inspector Al Fusco Jr. and his crack team can’t be bothered to do anything about it.
Stern and Ekstein still control these boards due to the fact that South Blooming Grove has not, factually, had a legitimate election since 2023. (The 2020-2022 elections are disputed but still under investigated on my part.)
Despite having full awareness of the situation—because a South Blooming Grove resident sued her over her inaction—New York State attorney general has refused to step in. She again refused to step in after a phantom election was held in October 2025, which was investigated by the New York State Investigations and Government Operations and referred to her office. (Don’t get us started on the comptroller audit New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is trying to bury.)
And I bet you thought watching a Phase 6 Marvel Cinematic Universe movie was confusing
Second:
Picture 1: The distance to 4 Sears Road and 58 Fort Worth—yes, the fucking helicopter pad—is a five-minute walk.
But don’t you think it’d be just a bit easier to get from one place to the next if there was a road?
You’re not the only one who thinks that.
You notice that thin strip above 58 Fort Worth and on the other side of those trees from 4 Sears?
Now take a closer look at where the road is going…
It's here we remind you that village executive Joel Stern attempted to purchase land from Mr. Javier Dam (above, listed as Peruvian Trading Company) so that Joel Landau No. 2 could get to and from the road from the helipad.
(There are two Joel Landaus, as far as we can tell. Joel Landau, the real estate developer and Joel Landau, the vulture capitalist who buys nursing homes, ruins them to the point where patients died, and then sells the real estate under the nursing home. He is the dipshit in the helicopter.)
If Orange County won’t let you build a road through Gonzaga Park, you can always make one yourself, without anyone noticing, that connects to Seven Springs Mountain Road and right into Kiryas Joel.
Bonus: You own all that land, not your rivals in KJ.
See how this work?
Oh. Yes. One more thing. Moishe Ostreicher. You know, the guy Javier Dam went to State Senator Skoufis about for help concerning the helipad, and Skoufis wound up pocketing $5,000 from Mrs. Ostreicher instead of helping Mr. Dam? That guy. Mr. Ostreicher owns much of the land around this new “road” and had plans, originally, for stores and other retail outlets that would pay rent to him.
So when Mr. Stern and Ekstein try to tell you this road here is simply to connect Kiryas Joel to South Blooming Grove because 208 is dangerous, that’s only half the story.
The other half is that they know the guy who owns all the land and the guy who’s going to do all the development and the guy who’s going to do all the construction, and the guy who’s going to sell those units to the Rebbe’s followers in Borough Park looking to leave New York City.
Everyone is getting rich. Except for you. How much did it cost at Shoprite this week?
Now keep that in mind when you look at the background of the following video. Taken at 4 Sears, which again highlights that Al Fusco Jr. and Fusco Engineering have a no-show job with the Village of South Blooming Grove that should probably be investigated by our dear friend, District Attorney Michael Hoovler.
You know, the guy posing for a photo with Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein below? He’s on the left.
The Monroe Gazette is ad-free and paywall-free, covering local news in Monroe and surrounding towns as well as county, state, and national issues that impact those residents.
Want to help keep the lights on? We’re looking to recruit 994 paid annual subscribers between now and June 24, 2027. If you’re new here or already a free subscriber, press that beautiful button below to upgrade.
And now, our video from an anonymous reader of The Monroe Gazette.
We present: “Al Fusco Jr. Has a No-Show Job as Code Enforcement Officer”
Take in the disregard for safety by RSBM Excavating, the same company Orange County is suing because of their alleged role in trying to build a road through Gonzaga Park.
And then check out all the trees cleared and what’s being built in the background