Congressman Pat Ryan Accepted Money From Some Shady Monroe Residents In 2023
Welp. Now we know why the Congressman won't reply to his constituents asking for intervention against Keen Equities LLC.
The other day, a lot of people accused Congressman Pat Ryan of taking money from hanhallah.
I didn’t know if it was true or not. So, I did some digging into Congressman Ryan’s donors. And …
Yes.
A lot of you were right.
The Congressman took a lot of money from hanhallah and people directly connected to what’s going on in South Blooming Grove.
Let’s meet those donors.
Oh, and stay tuned for a fun bonus about State Senator James Skoufis at the end of this post.
The Donors
Bernard Mittelman and Resi Mittelman
$11,600 was received by Congressman Pat Ryan from Bernard Mittelman and Resi Mittelman. Bernard is the owner of Forman’s Apparel and MBH Development Group. Of the donors, I know the least about Bernard, but I plan to fix that.
I know he is a major real estate developer in the area, currently specializing in warehouses, but formerly purchased large shopping plazas such as the former Caldor Plaza in Wallkill. This property is currently involved in a lawsuit between Mr. Mittelman, his numerous LLCs, and a snow removal company. The company, SnowX, is suing Mittelman for the non-payment of just over $30,000. There are four lawsuits, including this one, against Mittelman’s 360 Route 211 LLC.
Mr. Mittleman also donated $1,940 to Woodbury Town Supervisor Katrhyn Luciani’s previous campaign for State Assembly in 2022.
In 2020, 2021, and 2022, Mr. Mittelman donated $5,000, $10,000, and $10,000 to State Senator Skoufis’s pac, Friends of James Skoufis. More on that at the end of this post.
In October of 2022, Resi Mittelman also donated $10,000 to Friends of James Skoufis.
Akiva Klein
$11,000 was received by Congressman Pat Ryan from Akiva Klein, developer of the Veyoel Moshe Gardens complex on Nininger Road.
Veyoel Moshe, by the way takes its name from Vayoel Moshe, which is the name of the Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum’s infamous anti-Israel and anti-zionist screed.
I wonder how The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) feels about Mr. Klein’s donation and the name of his apartment complex. Especially given that AIPAC has donated $65,850 to Congressman Ryan dating back to 2017.
I’ve reached out to AIPAC’s Chief of Staff, Samantha Margolis, to help me figure this one out. I’ll let you know what she, or the PAC spokespeople, has to say.
If the Congressman is taking money and direction from anti-zionists and anti-Israeli Satmar factions, then why is AIPAC giving him all this money?
Wouldn’t votes in support of Israel anger this powerful constituency and voting bloc?
One would think.
BGRE Holdings LLC is also owned by Akiva Klein.
This LLC owns over 700 acres in South Blooming Grove after South Blooming Grove Mayor George Kalaj fired everyone on the planning board and replaced them with *drum roll* current Town of Blooming Grove councilman Simon Schwartz and friends.
One more thing about Mr. Klein: He donated $2,500 to Orange County District Attorney Hoovler’s 2017 campaign, and another $2,000 to Hoovler in 2020.
Mr. Klein has been involved with two lawsuits in New York State, one of which involves claims that Klein held back commission payments to an employee, Chaya Rubenstein.
Asher Horowitz
Asher Horowitz, is the neighbor of Kiryas Joel Village Administrator Gedalya Segedin. Segedin is also a recent attendee of Governor Kathy Hochul’s Chanukah party.
Mr. Horowitz is the owner of RTC Fashion. He donated $5,000 to Congressman Ryan. Asher has been in court for selling knockoffs via his company, RTC Fashion.
Joseph Landau & Livy Schwartz
Joseph Landau, of the controversial Chester Greens development, donated $6,3000 to Congressman Ryan. And Livy Schwartz, Joseph’s partner, donated $6,600 (along with his wife, who also donated $6,600)
You may remember Attorney General Letitia James intervening on Mr. Landau and Mr. Schwartz’s behalf, after they claimed opposition to their housing development was antisemitic.
(Huh. That one sounds familiar.)
Also worth noting about Mr. Landau is that he donated $10,000 to State Senator Skoufis’s campaign on May 15th, 2022. That same day, South Blooming Grove’s de facto Mayor Joel Stern, also donated $10,000 to Friends of James Skoufis. Ditto with Isaac Ekstein, South Blooming Grove’s Legislative Aide and founder of the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove.
Chaim Oberlander
And finally, we have KJ Poultry’s Chaim Oberlander who donated $6,600. You may know KJ Poultry as the company that keeps polluting the Ramapo River and getting away with it.
More on KJ Poultry some other time. You can write a book on the DEC and EPA violations alone.
A Quick Word About State Senator Skoufis’s Big Day of May 15th, 2022.
Over the course of this investigation, I found something very odd concerning Sate Senate Skoufis.
On May 15th, 2022, Friends of James Skoufis received $70,000 in a single day.
Among that money raised are some pretty familiar names:
Joel Stern ($10,000)
Yitzchok aka Isaac Ekstein ($10,00)
Joseph Landau ($10,000)
In addition, Senator Skoufis received donations from …
- $5,000 from Canadvance Toisim LLC, 25 Francis Place Apt C Monsey NY 10952 United States. This condo appears to belong to a trust set up by Samuel David Gluck.
- $10,000 from Chaim Schwartz, 19 Prag Blvd. #202 Monroe NY 10950 United States. Chaim owns property in South Blooming Grove at 13 Houston Avenue.
- $10,000 from Chayim Piekarski, 510 E 7th Street Brooklyn NY 11218 United States (Chayim is Akiva Klein’s business partner at C+A Global Inc.)
- $10,000 from Esther Klein, 30 Van Buren Drive Unit 201 Monroe NY 10950 United States. Esther is Akiva’s wife. Esther also owns property in the Town of Blooming Grove at 28 Kings Point Lane.
-$5,000 from Kisvarda Equities LLC, 6 Premishlan Way #302 Monroe NY 10950 United States. This address is connected to a Tovia M Jacobowitz. Tovia owns 6 properties in South Blooming Grove: 4 Red Bird Drive, 316 Lake Shore Drive, 321 Lake Shore Drive, 30 Merriewold Lane N, 32 Merriewold Lane N, 8 Tanager Road.
I reached out to the Senator’s office concerning Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein’s donations.
I asked if they were returned to those donors, given Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein’s verifiable criminal activities. I was told no.
While it is true Senator Skoufis has spoken out about Keen Equities, and his office did have a representative on the April 3rd DEC call to voice their opposition to Keen’s permit requests …
There are some serious questions here.
Why did Senator Skoufis receive $70,000 in a single day from at least two known criminals involved with multiple lawsuits, and a shady real estate developer?
In addition, State Senator Skoufis is the chair of the New York State Investigations And Government Operations Committee.
I’ve reached out to every member of the Committee, as well as the State Senator, and asked why the committee has not investigated Attorney General Letitia James’s inaction concerning Keen Equities LLC.
It is true that Mr. Skoufis sent a letter to the Attorney General asking her to investigate some of these activities a couple of years ago.
But it is also true that the AG ignored his request, and continues to ignore requests from residents of South Blooming Grove to investigate Keen Equities LLC, two full years — and multiple DEC violations — later.
The DEC stated that their enforcement actions, all of which have been ignored, do not prohibit the Attorney General from taking action.
Thus far, she has failed to do so.
I spoke with famed civil rights attorney, Michael Sussman, to see if the Committee has the ability to investigate the AG’s office.
He stated, “I know of no limitations on the Committee.”
I have also reached out to Andrea Stewart-Cousins, New York State Senator and Senate Majority Leader, to answer a simple yes or no question: Can the Committee investigate the AG’s office?
At this time, I have not yet heard back from her office.
There are questions here that need to be answered, and I will continue to work to get them answered for you.
That’s what advocacy journalism is all about.