Meet Joel Stern, Assistant TO The Mayor of South Blooming Grove
Mr. Joel M. Stern has operated as a de facto mayor in official communications with Marangi Waste Management, NYS DOT, Orange County, among numerous other parties.
There is a more than reasonable impression, based on interactions with Orange County public officials, Marangi Waste Management Inc., the New York State Department of Transportation — not to mention, residents of South Blooming Grove — that Mr. Joel M. Stern is acting as the Mayor of South Blooming Grove.
The thing is, Mr. Joel Stern is not an elected official. His official position with the village is “Confidential assistant to the Mayor,” despite referring to himself as the “Assistant Mayor” to News 12’s Blaise Gomez in the video below.
The public knows very little about Mr. Stern. Today, we’re going to fix that.
(The video above comes via Blaise Gomez’s Facebook Page. It was recorded on January 29th, 2023.)
It’s not clear when Mr. Stern first started working as “Confidential Assistant to The Mayor.” However, it was made official on July 29th, 2021, when Mr. Stern was announced, and then appointed, as an employee of the village.
The information below is based on publicly accessible data, and while there may be some errors, I am confident that the majority of it is accurate and actionable. I do also want to say, this rabbit hole is deep. So, this is not a comprehensive deep dive into Mr. Stern, as more information on him and his business associates are forth coming. This is just what I’ve been able to gather so far.
And what I’ve gathered so far is pretty damning.
Background
Mr. Joel Stern was born in 1986, and has potentially used the following aliases according to BeenVerified.com: M Stern Joel, Stern Joel, Joel M Stern, Monique Stein
He is married to Malky Stern, and his publicly listed profession is Chief Operating Officer at Windsor Global.
Interestingly, none of the emails or phone numbers I’ve used to contact Windsor Global seem to work. You can call Windsor Global yourself at +1 (973) 344-5700, but once you try to speak to any of the departments, no connection is made.
On Windsor’s website, their address is listed as 601 Lehigh Avenue, Union, NJ 07083
I may take a drive in the not too distant future to their corporate headquarters and see if it’s actually there.
Oh, wait, someone already looked into this and found:
In April 2021, the building was ordered closed by township officials because of safety violations. That business, known as Enterprise Realty Associates at 601 Lehigh Avenue, was shuttered when the township sought a court decree to enforce the closing of business operations at the site “as a result of defendant’s blatant disregard of the township’s Construction Code and Fire Code Orders". [Emphasis Added]
So, uh … Does this company actually exist?
2015-2020
In 2015, Mr. Stern moved to 13 Hamburg Way Unit, 302 Monroe, NY 10950, which he purchased from Beirach Moshe Gardens Inc. in May 2015 for $330,000
Mr. Stern then sold the condo to Isaac Wieder for $485,000 in August of 2018
Stern currently resides in South Blooming Grove at a home purchased in November of 2017 for $575,000 from Julius Sas. In 2024, at the high end of valuation, the home is listed as being worth $1.5M.
I don’t want to publicly list his home address here. I will say though that if you look for it, you’ll find it’s blurred out on Google Maps but not in Orange County’s Real Property Search database.
During this time, Stern formed United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove (UJC) with Issac Ekstein. We’ll cover Mr. Ekstein in a future post. Ekstein is listed as the Chairman of the UJC. Mr. Stern is listed as a Board representative.
Note: For the duration of this article, I abbreviated UJC of Blooming Grove as UJC. This should not be confused for the larger UJC / UJO organizations. I am only speaking about the division started by Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein here.
The UJC of Blooming Grove was formed in November of 2019 with the Department of State, DOS ID# 5658886. It is listed as a not-for-profit.
The UJC’s address is the same as Rapid Care Inc. and Rapid Properties LLC, which is 29 Merriewold Ln S, Monroe, NY 10950
The UJC of Blooming Grove does not, however, have a publicly available EIN #.
I have requested their three most recent Form 990s, which all not-for-profits are obligated to share with the public upon request, as well the organization's application for tax-exemption. This request includes all correspondence between UJC and the IRS related to this application. You are entitled to this information upon request under federal law.
Not long after I sent my request to UJC on March 15th, 2024, the UJC’s website disappeared.
Funny, that.
2020
During the start of the pandemic in 2020, Mr. Stern took out a loan for $500,000 from Bank of America to, according to Orange County property records, make improvements to the sidewalks around his home. The loan was taken out on February 18th, 2020.
In September of 2020, George Kalaj is elected Mayor of South Blooming Grove with the backing of the UJC.
Kalaj, in multiple Times Herald Record articles, refers to Mr. Joel Stern as his “campaign manager.”
Kalaj defeated the former mayor, James LoFranco, by 113 votes. Proving once again that, while the Bloc Vote does exist, its powers are greatly exaggerated.
Two additional candidates, also with the backing of the UJC, Abraham Weiss and Yitzchok Feldman, are elected to the board in this election. Since this happened during the pandemic, it was reported that people stood in line for up to 2 hours just to vote.
Also during this election, the Times Herald Record (THR) reported that:
[Joel] Stern and Yitzchok Ekstein, a fellow UJC leader, petitioned the state Supreme Court on Tuesday to preserve all ballots cast in the election, saying they may sue to challenge the invalidation of 86 absentee ballots. They said poll workers rejected those ballots after deciding the signatures didn’t match the voters’ registration signatures.
You can see the petition here, with Mr. Joel Stern listed as Chairman of the RSBM Party and Mr. Ekstein being listed as the Chariman of the Rlybss Party.
The Village Board and Village Planning Board in South Blooming Grove, during this time, are jointly overseeing the environmental review for Keen Equities and their Clovewood project.
You’ll notice in the video above that Mr. Eckstein steps in to speak with Blaise Gomez once Clovewood is mentioned, and he states:
Clovewood is completely in compliance with the DEC. This is a lie. At the time of the recording, Clovewood was not in compliance.
People saying Clovewood is not in compliance, he insinuated, are anti-semitic.
Kalaj’s campaign platform, again according to THR, stated the following at the time:
His campaign website had criticized the village's discolored water, its road conditions and other problems, and demanded a mayor who will "answer the questions he is asked, understand and sympathize with his residents, and delegate the work reliably and promptly." [Emphasis Added]
Also of note: Mayor Kalaj had been trying to sell his home since 2017. He took that home off the market prior to this election. (More on Mayor Kalaj’s shady home sale here.)
Oh. One more thing that happened in 2020 that’s worth your attention …
Mosdes Hatorah Vhachinuch of Blooming Grove Inc. is formed. The EIN# is 851579100. You can search the Form 990s here for this organization here.
Joel Stern is listed as the Treasurer. Yitzchok Ekstein as President. According to the Form 990 filled out by this organization, both men claimed to have received $0 in salary.
2021
In March of 2021, during another South Blooming Grove Village election, there are two more write-in candidates who get elected to SBG’s Village Board: Asher Guttman and Zalmon Rosner. The THR reported that Guttman received 684 votes and Rosner received 680 votes compared to the 280 votes for their opponents, Morrice and 272 votes for Belfort. Guttman and Rosner did not appear on the ballot for this election.
At this point, the Village Board has now been entirely taken over by write-in candidates.
In April of 2021, Mayor George Kalaj replaces the entire planning board of South Blooming Grove less than a year after taking office. Kalaj gave no warning to the now former Board members according to THR.
Joel Stern and his buddy Issac at this point insinuate that the previous government of South Blooming Grove was anti-Orthodox without citing any evidence. "We are here to work with all community members in the village, it doesn't matter religion or race.” Ekstein also stated, “We were nice enough for the last five years not to sue the village.”
Speaking of Lawsuits …
In July of 2021, Mr. Stern and the UJC sue the Washingtonville School District to provide busing for students attending non-public schools on days when the school district is closed. The last time I checked on this lawsuit, the UJC and Mr. Stern lost.
In August of 2021, the new South Blooming Grove planning board and Village government alter the zoning for the village, allowing residents to open synagogues or (more importantly for our purposes) turn their homes into synagogues, which would entitle those properties to receive tax exemptions.
Other changes including allowing for bigger houses and higher density housing. Despite Orange County asking for stringent guidelines on what is, and what isn’t a house of worship, that request is ignored. Also ignored are concerns about the water, which George Kalaj included as part of his platform during his first run for mayor.
How can you build more housing when South Blooming Grove is under tight water restrictions?
Mr. Stern, at this point, also gets a raise. Going from unpaid according to the THR to receiving an annual salary of $15,600.
By way of comparison, the elected Board members in the Town of Monroe (not counting the Supervisor) are paid $17,000 per year as of 2024.
The population in South Blooming Grove as of 2022 is listed as 3,921.
The population in the Town of Monroe as of 2022 is listed as 9,548.
But Wait, 2021 Isn’t Over Yet
One single home address was used for 700 people to apply for an absentee ballot for the Fall 2021 elections.
The Town Supervisor from Blooming Grove, and other council members, was up for election during this time.
Given the 700 people requesting a ballot and using one address to receive them, and that a lot of people used a stamp for the earlier write-in elections, it’s worth questioning how many of those ballots and voters in the past two SBG elections are legitimate.
This is very similar to actions taken by Shalom Lamm, which led to charges by the US Attorney’s office.
So, it’s entirely possible that the current Board of South Blooming Grove was elected through fraudulent means. I have been in touch with the Board of Elections for additional information.
The address used for the registrations was 2 Arlington Drive in South Blooming Grove. Lazar Schvimmer bought this home for $650,000 in July of 2021 from Mary Green according to Orange County’s Real Property search. Mr. Stern was contacted by the paper and declined to comment about this activity. State officials rejected 391 of the applications that were filed. At the time, Orange County District Attorney Hoovler was said to be investigating this situation, but there’s no word on if the case ever moved forward.
Mr. Schvimmer also declined comment to the THR. He is listed as a Real Estate Broker for Blooming Realty.
At the July 29th, 2021 Village Board Meeting, Trustee Guttman suggests extending the length of a Village Trustees terms from 2 years to 4 years. This is the same meeting where Mr. Stern is appointed as confidential assistant to the mayor. That resolution is then passed unanimously on September 13th, 2021.
Finally in 2021, Mr. Joel Stern and Mr. Isaac Eckstein, among others, had a private meeting with Lt. Governor Brian Benjamin in December of 2021. Mr. Benjamin would later be charged by the US Attorney’s office for an unrelated criminal act.
The substance of the meeting involving Mr. Stern and Mr. Benjamin was described as follows by The Jewish Press:
“We spoke about some of the antisemitism that creeps into the broader society and specifically we spoke to him [Benjamin] about the bill passed by the state legislature regarding the town of Blooming Grove, which is right near Kiryas Joel. Legislation has been passed making it more difficult for Jews to move into the neighborhood and that’s on Governor Hochul’s desk right now,” Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel told The Jewish Press shortly after the Manhattan meeting with Benjamin. “We told him how important it is to our community that she veto that bill. [Emphasis Added]
The legislation being referred to here was a tax on home sales that would collect funds to help preserve the local environment of Blooming Grove.
Rabbi Zwiebel went on to tell The Jewish Press:
“It would make it difficult for Orthodox Jews in particular. It’s targeting Orthodox Jews. In broad outline, whenever there would be a sale of a property then a certain amount of it would be put into a special tax fund to preserve the character of the community. The real purpose of this bill was to prevent the growth of the Chasidic community around Kiryas Joel; then that’s something that should be seen for what it really is. It was motivated by antisemitism or anti-Chasidism and should be vetoed by the governor,” Zwiebel added.” [Emphasis Added]
As always with the hanhallah, no evidence was ever presented to support their claims of anti-semitism.
How wanting to fix the water supply, by preserving the environment so people don’t have brown, contaminated drinking water is “Anti-semitic or anti-chasidism” is also anyone’s guess.
Maybe Rabbi Zwiebel, Mr. Stern, and company are unfamiliar with the concept of pikuach nefesh, which basically states that it’s the obligation of all Jews, Haredi or not, to save and preserve human life above all else. As it says in Leviticus 19:16: “You shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor.”
Either way, Governor Hochul vetoed this bill on December 22nd, 2021, despite its bipartisan support in both the NYS Assembly and Senate.
(Seriously. Even the January 6th guy supported it, and he barely did anything when he was in the Assembly.)
2022
In Brief:
At the end of February 2022, a company called Fort Worth Holdings LLC was created. A week later, Fort Worth Holdings purchased the home of South Blooming Grove Mayor, George Kalaj. Mayor Kalaj’s home was valued at $464,300.00 by Orange County.
The home was purchased for at least $4.6M, but potentially for as much as $7.5M. This purchase took place just prior to the village election, in which Mayor Kalaj ran unopposed for a second term. Later that year, an Israeli company known as Golden Bridge LLC loaned Fort Worth Holdings LLC $3.5M, potentially covering nearly the entire reported purchase price of Mayor Kalaj’s home.
Also in 2022 …
During a Village Board meeting held at 12pm on August 9th, 2022, the SEQRA for Clovewood was unanimously approved by Kalaj and the Village Board. During the meeting, the DEIS is described as “voluminous” by Village Engineer Al Fusco. Despite this, Mr. Ekstein said at the meeting that it was only distributed to the village board and planning board “a few days ago,” and they are just going over it at this meeting for the public.
How many members of the public knew about this meeting, or that it was being held at 12pm in the afternoon, is not known as this time.
The Clovewood DEIS is not present online despite a link existing to it on the South Blooming Grove website. A search online does not return the full DEIS, only parts of it or comments submitted by residents, including ones detailing the damage Clovewood would have on the area’s already strained water supply.
2023
Despite not having permits, permission, or even environmental studies, the Village of South Blooming Grove begins cutting into Orange County owned Gonzaga Park.
On December 15th of 2022, Mr. Joel Stern emailed the New York State Department of Transportation stating the new road was needed. According to THR …
Stern said the route that South Blooming Grove residents must take in order to reach Seven Springs Mountain Road − a short stretch of State Route 208 − is a "life safety issue" due to heavy traffic and winter weather. The new road, he wrote, would alleviate up to 90% of "'local” vehicles, trucks and buses frequenting and traveling through that intersection daily." It is unclear how this percentage was calculated. [Emphasis Added]
This case is still developing. I will have more to report on it soon. According to Orange County officials I spoke with, work has stopped on the Orange County property. However, they noted, that work continues on the land owned by the Village that is adjacent to Gonzaga Park.
2024
Congressman Pat Ryan is pictured here with Eckstein and Stern, among others, at the opening of a grocery store in South Blooming Grove. The picture and story comes from the Mid-Hudson News.
Congressman Ryan “presented the village officials and the developers with a congressional award for their work and dedication on behalf of the village constituents,” according to Mid-Hudson News.
I have reached out to Sam Silverman, who is the Communications Director for Congressman Ryan to explain the nature of this award and what his connection to tMr. Stern is, if any. I have not heard back from him as this article went to press.
Worth noting here is that Mr. Joel Stern also told Mid-Hudson News:
“This project was going nowhere for three years, and as soon as this administration took over village hall, we worked with the developer to make this beautiful building a reality,” said Stern. “We had to work with the state Department of Transportation for approval off of the state road, and with their cooperation we made it happen. Now, we have several other similar commercial buildings in various stages of planning and we look forward to moving those projects along as well.”
Stern also claimed to Mid-Hudson News: “the building was built utilizing local suppliers and subcontractors thereby boosting the local economy and business enterprise.”
There’s no evidence publicly available to suggest whether or not that is true.
Last but not least, this building that opened includes medical offices. Why does that matter?
The Lawsuit
Mr. Joel Stern and Mr. Eckstein are business partners in a company called Rapid Care Inc. Stern and Eckstein are now being sued by Forme Medical Center Inc. and its owner, Gina Cappelli, for what she alleges were practices that wrecked her business. One of those claims includes …
“They [Stern and Eckstein] allegedly told the chief medical officer and an obstetrics and gynecology physician that the sale was imminent and they would have to transfer part of their work to Monroe. [Emphasis Added]
“Rather than treating them as partners, as had been the practice at Formé,” the complaint states, “they would henceforth be treated as mere employees with little or no say in Formé’s business, policies or procedures.”
So, whether or not the offices in the building Congressman Ryan is standing in are those same medical offices Forme would have moved to is unclear.
Forme’ is now suing Mr. Eckstein and Mr. Joel Stern for between $7M and $10M.
This lawsuit is incredibly similar to a complaint that was filed in Brooklyn against Mr. Stern and Mr. Eckstein.
In this complaint it was revealed that Mr. Stern and Eckstein not only own Rapid Care Inc, but they are also owners of Rapid Properties LLC, Preferred Estates Realty LLC, and Five Star Medical Group Inc.
There are a lot of questions raised from this. I don’t have the answer just yet. But one that needs investigating is this:
Of the new properties being built in South Blooming Grove, including the medical offices that are opening up, how many of them are tied up with Mr. Stern’s businesses?
Another question to ask is: How much money, if any, has Mr. Stern made off real estate developments in South Blooming Grove since becoming assistant to the mayor?
There’s much more to unearth, but I think all of the above is more than enough for the people of South Blooming Grove — and interested parties — to begin an investigation of their own.