How To File An Ethics Complaint With Orange County
Here's an Ethics Complaint you can copy, paste, and send to Orange County concerning Mr. Isaac Ekstein, president of the local hate group and unelected de facto co-mayor of South Blooming Grove.
A common response to Monroe Gazette posts is, “This is infuriating. Where are the authorities?”
And, there are a few answers to this:
Some of those authorities know, but don’t care and/or are too afraid of political repercussions to act. (See: Attorney General Letitia James)
Some of those authorities know, but are too understaffed and underfunded to pursue a criminal case (for example) in light of the other things they’re working on (see: The FBI)
Some of those authorities don’t know what’s going on. This is what happens when you live in a news desert.
So, my goal here with the Gazette is to essentially build the entire case for the FBI concerning South Blooming Grove, because they are the one organization that has consistently acted in Rockland, Sullivan, and Orange County.
The thing is, there are things I can’t (legally) do. For example, there’s definitely money laundering going on around these parts, but only law enforcement can access and evaluate that data.
All of this is to say, don’t give up.
It’s important to vote. It’s important to attend your local village or town board meetings and speak up. And it’s important to — as all those post 9/11 public service announcements asked us to — If you see something, say something.
And where there are mechanisms in place to take action, such as filing an ethics complaint with Orange County, it’s important that we all take advantage of these opportunities for justice when we find them.
Even if nothing comes from it.
I firmly believe that enough pressure can really change things for the better around here. For everyone. Haredi and non-haredi alike. Because remember, it’s not just you and I suffering from the behavior of hanhallah and their machers. Many from the haredi community come to our area to enjoy the environment. They are often shocked and saddened to learn that the housing available to them in places like KJ look no different than what they left in Brooklyn.
For clarity’s sake: “Hanhallah” refers to the leadership, like Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum, David Ekstein, Abe Wieder, Gedalya Segedin and those closest to the Rebbe.
“Machers” refers to people like Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein, who have influence in the community and the capability to get things done on behalf of hanhallah.
I prefer to use the yiddish terms because this is the same language our friends in the haredi community use to refer to these people behind their backs. Once again showing that we’re all in this together. Even if only some of us are able to speak up publicly without being ostracized from the community and losing family in the process.
This is why many in the haredi community, who feel the same way you do, can’t and won’t say anything publicly.
All of us, working together, can win against people like Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein.
So today, we’re going to take a quick look at how to file an ethics complaint with Orange County, and I’m going to use Mr. Ekstein here as an example.
In the next few days, I’ll also write up a complaint you can copy and send in for Mr. Stern.
Just do me a favor: Don’t use this complaint word for word. I’m always embarrassed when I find typos in these posts. I got a minor bit of dyslexia, so I’m always missing stuff despite my best efforts. So make sure to check what you’re sending and edit out what may or may not be appropriate for you.
Cool? You can get a copy of the Orange County ethics form here.
When Should I Contact The Orange County Board of Ethics?
If you live in the Town of Monroe, you’re (kind of) shit out of luck. That’s because, as corrupt as it is, we already have a Board of Ethics. So in an instance where you have a board, you can’t really bother the OC Board of Ethics.
I mean, you CAN, but if your local government has a board of ethics, then what OC’s does is help guide that board in making a decision. This may be very helpful. It may also be useless. I don’t know. I haven’t tried it yet. I will test this for you soon with my upcoming complaint concerning Town of Monroe Supervisor, Tony Cardone, and his voting on decisions that directly benefit him financially through the home he owns adjacent to Lake Sapphire.
But.
If you live in South Blooming Grove, and the Village Clerk fails to identify to both you and News 12 if there’s a Board of Ethics — true story! — that’s when you get in touch with the county.
Make sense?
So, let’s assume you do not have a Board of Ethics and you want to send an Ethics Complaint to Orange County HQ in Goshen.
You’re going to grab yourself this form, fill it out, and email it to: BoardofEthics@orangecountygov.com
Note: Each person requires their own separate form.
So Mr. Isaac Ekstein, our example, would be the subject of the first form you submit.
You would have to submit an additional complaint that’s specific to Mr. Joel Stern.
How Do I Fill This Thing Out?
There are four key questions you need to answer. The rest of the form is (hopefully) self-explanatory. Let’s use our example of Isaac Ekstein, Legislative Aide to South Blooming Grove Mayor George Kalaj and President of the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove.
After you fill out your personal information, you’ll get this batch of questions:
Who is the complaint against? Yitzchok “Isaac” Ekstein
What is your association or affiliation to the person(s) you are filing a complaint against?
I am a concerned resident of Southern Orange County. Mr. Ekstein’s numerous conflicts of interest and actions as South Blooming Grove’s de facto co-Mayor have led to multiple situations that can cause me, my family, and my neighbors physical (bad water), financial (illegal contracts for second garbage pickups), and emotional harm (being yelled at and gaslighted at Village meetings by Mr. Ekstein and associates including Village Attorney, Scott B. Ugell.)
How is this person associated with Orange County? (Check appropriate box):
Here just check the box that’s closest. Mr. Ekstein is an unelected, paid Village Employee who essentially runs South Blooming Grove along with Joel Stern.
So I’d just select the “Board/Committee/Commission/Council Member” option.
The Most Important Questions…
Date and Time Alleged Violation Occurred: (Multiple, See below)
Location and Address:
South Blooming Grove Village Hall 811 NY-208, Monroe, NY 10950
United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove, 29 Merriewold Ln S, Monroe, NY 10950
There is photographic evidence, shared in official village publication The Blooming Grove Report, of South Blooming Grove CDRC meetings being held at the UJC HQ. Mr. Thomas J. Shepstone, a Village Contractor, has also confirmed that the Village Planning Board meets at the UJC outside of public view.
Please explain your complaint fully, if insufficient space is provided additional sheets may be attached, providing a detailed description of the facts and the actions of the person(s) named on page 1 of this form. Include relevant date and the names and addresses of persons who you believe may be witnesses.
Witnesses:
(For this specific complaint, I’m going to list the people who saw the email thread between Joel Stern, Isaac Ekstein, and Mayor George Kalaj where they were caught lying, and people made aware of the Green Space’s deed. Your witnesses may vary. Either way, put your witnesses at the top of your answer here.)
B.J. Mendelson - The Monroe Gazette
Chris Maderia - SBG Resident
Tiawana Perez - SBG Resident, Owner of 6 Roanoke
Blaise Gomez - News 12
Steven Gagnon - Orange County Department of Health
Michael Kolka - Orange County Employee who confirmed Green Space Deed contents
Then, tell your story:
In addition to his role as a paid Village Employee, and unelected co-mayor of South Blooming Grove, Mr. Yitzchok “Isaac” Ekstein is also the president of Congregation Yetev Lev D' Satmar in Blooming Grove.
Although listed as residing at 40 Virginia Avenue, Mr. Ekstein is actually staying in a basement apartment at 2 Arlington Drive in a building owned by Lazer Shvimmer of Blooming Realty. At no point has Mr. Ekstein publicly acknowledged that Mr. Shvimmer is his landlord. Nor has Mr. Ekstein disclosed whether or not he is paying rent to Mr. Schvimmer to live there.
Mr. Schvimmer, and his partner Moche Halpern, have numerous projects before the South Blooming Grove Village Board, Village Planning Board, and Community Design Review Committee. Moche Halpern and Mr. Isaac Ekstein are founding members of the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove. An organization that, according to both the FBI and Southern Poverty Law Center’s definition, is a hate group. This hate group is currently suing the Washingtonville School District in federal court. Mr. Ekstein is still, despite participating in this lawsuit, serving as the liaison for the Village of South Blooming Grove with that same school district. The UJC’s not-for-profit status was revoked in May of 2022 but continues to operate and hold fundraisers in the community. When Mr. Ekstein was directly asked to provide the last three Form 990s for United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove — where he serves as president — Mr. Ekstein replied by deleting the english language version of the UJC’s website. When asked to provide the last three Form 990s for the United Jewish Community of Orange County, where he is also listed as president, Mr. Ekstein declined to respond. Under Federal Law, not-for-profits are required to provide, upon request, their last three Form 990s submitted to the IRS.
Before holding a hostel takeover of the South Blooming Grove Village Board, Mr. Ekstein was subject to legal action taken by the Village concerning the frequent abuse of local zoning codes and regulations at the building. See: Village of South Blooming Grove, New York v. 1 Roanoke Drive, LLC and In the Matter of the Foreclosure of Tax Liens by Proceeding In Rem Pursuant to Article Eleven of the Real Property Tax Law by the County of Orange v. 1 Roanoke Drive, LLC et al. On paperwork submitted to the Department of State, Mr. Ekstein is identified as the organizer for this LLC on June 23rd, 2017.
Not long after taking over the Village Board, Mr. Ekstein presided over the passage of Local Law 1 of 2021. This law created a separate and unequal path, based entirely on religion, for applicants to have their property become tax exempt. There is no question this law violates the Establishment Clause of New York’s Constitution.
Five days before the passage of this law, Mr. Ekstein transferred ownership of 1 Roanoke Drive to Yetev Lev D' Satmar in Kiryas Joel. This property was then quickly granted permission to be zoned as a house of worship, creating a more than reasonable impression that Mr. Ekstein pushed for the creation of a local law that he would benefit directly from.
Mr. Ekstein is a member of the CDRC (Community Design Review Committee), and liaison to the Village Planning Board. He is also present at virtually every Village Board meeting when the elected mayor, George Kalaj, is not. Mr. Ekstein can often be seen in video from Village meetings operating the proceedings.
To date, Mr. Ekstein has never disclosed his connections with Blooming Realty or recused himself from discussions concerning them and their projects. This includes instances such as with 1 Roanoke Drive where Mr. Schvimmer has submitted paperwork on behalf of Mr. Ekstein, with Mr. Ekstein playing dumb at meetings when asked about his involvement with the project. It is not clear from the signature provided on these documents if Mr. Ekstein has appropriately disclosed his interests in the project at 1 Roanoke.
As mentioned, on September 8th, 2021, Mr. Ekstein, via his LLC 1 Roanoke Drive LLC, sold 1 Roanoke to David Ekstein’s Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar in Kiryas Joel. (It is not known at this time if Mr. David Ekstein and Mr. Isaac Ekstein are immediate family.) This is the flagship congregation of the Village of Kiryas Joel / Town of Palm Tree. Mr. Ekstein did not disclose his relationship with the main congregation, and its president David Ekstein. Nor did Mr. Ekstein respond to questions concerning whether or not he divulged private and confidential Village information — Which he would have serving as a liaison in every available assignment and operating as de facto mayor — with Grand Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum. Mr. Teitelbaum, through a newspaper publication where he and a rabbinical board approve all of its contents, has consistently referred to South Blooming Grove as a neighborhood in the city of Kiryas Joel.
As you are no doubt aware, Kiryas Joel is not yet a city, and South Blooming Grove is not a neighborhood within it.
Given the Rebbe’s oversight and approval of all events within the borders of Palm Tree, there is a more than reasonable impression that the Rebbe is now also overseeing events in South Blooming Grove through Mr. Isaac Ekstein in his capacity as president of Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar in Blooming Grove.
This reasonable impression is also given further credence when you consider that Mr. Ekstein and Mr. Stern may be approving all of these new buildings for their associates because they are under the reasonable impression that, as a neighborhood of Kiryas Joel, they would have access to the KJ Catskill Aqueduct Connection Project. This impression may also explain why they’ve continued to ignore the Orange County Department of Health’s warnings about South Blooming Grove’s water supply. To date, the Department of Environmental Conservation has not received, or approved, an application from South Blooming Grove to access the water from this pipeline. Kiryas Joel, which also has to authorize access to the pipeline, has not publicly disclosed if it has made such authorization for South Blooming Grove to do so.
Mr. Isaac Ekstein registered 1 Roanoke Drive LLC with the Department of State on June 23rd, 2017. Less than a month later, he purchased 1 Roanoke Drive for $350,000 from Dudley E. Thorpe. Mr. Ekstein has not clarified where that $350,000 came from given that Congregation Yetev Lev D' Satmar in Blooming Grove did not receive its tax exempt status until 2022. Did it come from Mr. Teitelbaum and Mr. David Ekstein? If so, the public has a right to know what influence, if any, these two men may have over decisions made in South Blooming Grove.
Mr. Ekstein has also been made aware, numerous times in Village meetings and via email from Village residents, of a September 2020 transaction between the Village and Town of Blooming Grove. This transaction provided the village land that was deeded (according to Orange County) for the express purpose of remaining green area. More specifically, this area was set aside to aide in the village’s storm water drainage. The land had previously belonged to the Town of Blooming Grove, where it was transferred to them by a company that had held it as green space going back to the late ‘90s. There is no doubt or question concerning this property’s intended purpose or history, despite Mr. Ekstein’s claims to the contrary. This includes explicitly lying to the resident of 6 Roanoke Drive, Tiawana Perez, about the green area on April 16th, 2023 via email. Mr. Ekstein states, “as far as we researched, there was nothing recorded on this property to make it Green land, In fact, the property only changed ownership to the village in 2021 it was owned by the original developers until then.” None of that statement, as you now know, is true. When asked about the illegal tree cutting and other construction work taking place in this area, Mr. Ekstein again lied, stating, “As far as tree cutting we have no knowledge of any land clearing going on at the site, if you do see any actual land clearing happening please call our Building Department so we can take care of it.”
I believe Mr. Ekstein, and associates, are providing false information to the public because Mr. Ekstein’s congregation has plans to cut into this green area to establish a large parking lot. One that’s meant to serve the synagogue he is constructing at 1 Roanoke Drive.
Further evidence of this active deception can be found in the minutes of June 13th, 2022 South Blooming Grove Village Board where Trustee Guttman claims a representative of the congregation Mr. Ekstein runs (but did not identify Mr. Ekstein) is interested in acquiring part of the land in the dedicated green area via a lease with the village. Mr. Joel Stern, Mr. Ekstein’s co-mayor and founding board member of the UJC, then lied to the public describing the green area as surplus that was “just sitting there.” At no point did Mr. Ekstein recuse himself from this discussion or divulge his role as president of the congregation looking to lease the property from the village that employs him.
In documentation concerning 1 Roanoke, provided to the village by Mr. Ekstein’s landlord, Mr. Lazer Schvimmer, it was also indicated that there was Indiana Bat, Northern-Long Eared Bat (both endangered) and timber rattlesnake (threatened) in the green area.
Nowhere was it mentioned if Mr. Ekstein or his associates spoke with the Department of Environmental Conservation about these endangered species. Nor has he or his associates discussed with US Fish and Wildlife the potential for habitat disruption of the Indiana Bat. On Wednesday, May 15th, 2024, The US Fish and Wildlife Service contacted the Village Planning Board, and Mr. Shepstone, Mr. Fusco, and the Village Planning Board Attorney, of guidelines they are obligated to follow concerning the protection of the Indiana Bat.
In Mr. Schvimmer’s form submitted for Mr. Ekstein’s 1 Roanoke Drive project, the form also indicated that 1 Roanoke Drive will connect to the existing public water and sewer infrastructure. This is despite Mr. Ekstein’s firsthand knowledge, via a letter from the Orange County Department of Health’s Steven Gagnon submitted in September of 2023, that the Village was out of compliance with numerous rules and regulations concerning the water supply, and that the village does not appear to have enough water to provide for its current residents, let alone any future ones the congregation may attract. At no point has Mr. Stern specifically addressed the concerns raised by Orange County’s Department of Health in their 2022 and 2023 letters to South Blooming Grove. Nor has Mr. Ekstein clearly explain to residents of South Blooming Grove how much they are paying each month for water provided to them via Spindler Bulk Water Transportation. (These trucks continue to come despite Orange County’s Department of Health requesting the village stop recharging the wells with the imported water.)
This is only a small sampling of the actions taken by Mr. Isaac Ekstein since becoming a paid village employee and de facto co-Mayor of South Blooming Grove.
Under the South Blooming Grove Village Code of Ethics, there are provisions in place for the removal of individuals (including unelected village employees) for behavior as demonstrated above. However, the Village Clerk has declined to respond to requests to identify members of the South Blooming Grove Village Board Ethics Committee, nor has she confirmed or denied that such a governing body exists.
Finally, individuals known to have willfully violated the South Blooming Grove Code of Ethics are subject to legal penalties, including charges of a Class A Misdemeanor. Upon a proper review and investigation into these claims, I urge your office to refer this complaint to the District Attorney for prosecution of Mr. Ekstein. Such a prosecution would bar him, as per Village Code, from all Village Business for a period of five years.
Identify below any supporting documents, i.e. Emails, contracts, photographs, invoices, statements of witnesses, and audio/visual recordings. Attach all supporting documents to this form.
(My recommendation is to download all of these files, upload them as a folder into Proton Drive, and include a link to the Proton Drive in your ethics complaint email. Otherwise the email is way too big to send successfully.)
Proof of Mr. Ekstein’s residence at 2 Arlington Drive confirming Mr. Ekstein and Mr. Lazer Schvimmer’s connection.
Articles of Incorporation for United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove confirming Mr. Halpern and Mr. Ekstein’s connections.
Mr. Ekstein’s affidavit on behalf of United Jewish Community v. Washingtonville School District.
Confirmation of Mr. Ekstein’s role as president of Congregation Yetev Lev D’Satmar of Blooming Grove.
Additional statements by Mr. Ekstein confirming his role as president.
Legal Action taken against Mr. Ekstein’s 1 Roanoke Drive LLC by the Village of South Blooming Grove
Mr. Lazer Schvimmer’s Village Planning Board Submission for 1 Roanoke Drive where it is unclear if Mr. Ekstein signed to disclose his interest in the project.
Short Environmental Assessment Form where Mr. Ekstein’s interest is not disclosed in the 1 Roanoke Project.
1 Roanoke Drive Parking Lot plan that would cut into land Mr. Ekstein knows is protected green space for the Village.
Village Residents questioning Mr. Joel Stern and Mr. Isaac Ekstein’s role as unelected co-mayors of South Blooming Grove
Local Law 1 of 2021 which Mr. Ekstein directly benefitted from as president of the congregation.
Village Resolution Granting 1 Roanoke Drive a house of worship permit
6.13.22 Village Board meeting discussion where “someone” from the congregation asked Trustee Guttman to request the village lease the land to it.
Photographic Evidence from The Blooming Grove Report of a CDRC meeting held at the UJC HQ.
2023 Inspection Letter from Orange County Department of Health re: The Water
Video of 5/7/24 Village Board meeting where Mr. Ekstein did not disclose his role as the applicant of 1 Roanoke Drive despite questions concerning the green space.
Probably the hardest thing with the ethics complaints for Orange County is sending all these documents. If you don’t want to use Proton Drive, you can also include a link to this post if that’s easier.
Here’s a copy of what the final thing should look like:
Example OC Ethics Complaint Form
Example OC Ethics Complaint Document
So, send away! I’m sending my complaint in as soon as I hit publish.