New York AG Gets Mysterious $64,000 Donation, Then Attacks Forestburgh Over Zoning
Once again, Letitia James takes action on behalf of hanhallah at the expense of all residents of the Hudson Valley, Haredi or not.
Just a short post today. Responding to emails, and sending out more as a reporter, is a full time job.
So, what I’d like to do is point your attention to a $64,768.09 donation received by New York State Attorney General, Letitia James.
This donation was received in January of 2024 and remains vague in terms of who gave it to her. If you’d like to join me in making a complaint with the Public Campaign Finance Program concerning the incomplete information reported by the Attorney General’s James for NY 2026 PAC, you can do so here or by calling 518-473-2797.
This January 2024 donation is the second largest donation ever received by Letitia James, and is the largest she’s received since a $65,000 donation received in 2018 from the New York State Conference of the International Union of Operating Engineers.
Not surprisingly, Mrs. James has now popped up in Sullivan County, demanding that Forestburgh change its zoning because it discriminates against “the Jewish community.”
Zalman Teitelbaum has recently declared to his followers that Bloomingburg is to be the new home for his division of the Satmar community beyond its headquarters in Williamsburg. This, of course, led to the largest, documented, case of voter fraud ever recorded in American history.
As a member of the Jewish Community, I felt compelled to respond to yet another one of Letitia James’s spurious letters to a Hudson Valley municipality on behalf of hanhallah.
You may remember she sent a similar letter to the Village of Monroe last year in September. This intervention in Monroe followed a donation of $54,219.66 in July of 2023 that, like this January 2024 donation, remains unclear as to who gave it to her.
James also previously intervened on behalf of wealthy real estate developer, Joseph Landau, in Chester. Mr. Landau, you’ll recall, gave $10,000 to State Senator Skoufis on the same day as hate group members, Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein in May of 2022.
In both Monroe, Chester, and now Forestburgh, the Attorney General claimed discrimination against the Jewish Community.
In every case, she was wrong. I’ll tell you why in a moment.
Funny how the AG’s office hasn’t said or done anything about Keen Equities LLC, but she’s got the time to send these letters, right?
Tell Me If This Sounds Familiar …
“In a 2022 interview, Steven Barshov, a co-counsel for the property owners, Lost Lake Holdings LLC and Mishconos Mazah LLC, said the opposition comes down to an effort to block religious Jews from moving into the town.
“There is no mystery. The owners of the property are Hasidic Jewish and the allegations in the complaint go into great detail as to why it is the result of anti-Semitism,” he said." (Source)
Mr. Barshov was also the attorney for the Greens of Chester, which was a Joseph Landau project.
He was/is also the attorney for Herman Wagschal, who was the one leading the push for the Village of Seven Springs.
Now. I’ve already put on my kippa before. So, I won’t subject you to that again.
Here’s what I want to tell you though, as a member of the Jewish community.
For almost 50 years, we now have heavily documented evidence across New York State, from Brooklyn to Monroe and beyond, of an absolute reckless disregard on the part of Hanhallah towards the laws of the state and the country.
And that reckless disregard endangers the lives of both Haredi and non-Haredi alike.
Hanhallah, the nephews of Joel Teitelbaum, who founded Kiryas Joel and the modern Satmar religious sect. Who was liberated from a concentration camp by American soldiers. Who came to Brooklyn (via Israel) to take advantage of the opportunities present in America that would not be afforded to Haredi and non-Haredi Jews anywhere else on this planet. He admonished his followers and urged them to follow the laws of New York State and the American government.
Those laws include zoning and building regulations.
And for 50 years, after the Grand Rebbe passed on and his nephews took over, this admonition went right out the window.
This behavior, specifically by hanhallah (his nephews Aaron and Zalman) have done far more to cause and spread antisemitism throughout New York State than any single source in the last half-century.
This behavior does not represent the people who identify as Satmar.
This behavior does not represent the people who identify as Jewish.
It is not “on behalf of the Jewish community” that Letitia James chooses to act.
It’s Aaron and Zalman Teitelbaum and the rest of the leadership class known as Hanhallah.
It is a grave disservice to Jews everywhere for the Attorney General to conflate the two in order to further their agenda, and her own.
After I published this post, I reached out to Jill Faber, Chief Deputy Attorney General for Regional Affairs, with the following letter. Mrs. Faber is the one who wrote the actual letter on behalf of Mrs. James that went to Forestburgh:
Dear Mrs. Faber,
I have reviewed your letter to Town Supervisor Hogue in Forestburgh, New York.
The Attorney General's office in recent years has sent similar letters to Chester and Monroe.
While I commend your office's interest in protecting the members of the Jewish community, which I count myself among, there are a couple questions I'd like to ask you about concerning these actions.
1. Attorney General James received a donation of $64,768 in January of 2024 which preceded this most recent action. In most circumstances, I wouldn't think much of this. However, prior to the AG office's letter to the Village of Monroe in 2023, the AG received $54,219.
In both instances, AG James did not disclose who contributed this money according to her pac, James for New York 2026's filing with the New York State Board of Elections.
This creates a more than reasonable impression that the AG's office is for hire in matters concerning Aaron and Zalman Teitelbaum, given their respective interests in Orange County and Sullivan County real estate.
Can you clarify if these anonymous contributions influenced the decision of the AG's office in investigating the happenings in Monroe and Forestburgh?
2. The Attorney General's office has demonstrated a keen awareness of issues facing Haredi residents of Orange and Sullivan County. However, at no point has the AG office intervened concerning the repeated and verifiable criminal behavior of a company known as Keen Equities LLC. This is despite a record, near quarter of a million dollar fine issued by the DEC against this company for repeated violations of stop work orders. Violations that continue as of the time of this writing.
I spoke with the DEC and they stated their work does not preclude, in any way shape or form, the AG's office from taking action against Keen Equities.
This is troubling, as Keen Equities LLC consists of members of a dissident Satmar faction who failed in a lawsuit against the Village of South Blooming Grove, claiming the same discrimination in terms of zoning that your office is writing to Monroe and Forestburgh about. In addition, The KJ Press, an official publication of Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum, has announced on more than one occasion the "new neighborhood of South Blooming Grove" within the "city" limits of Kiryas Joel.
Can you explain why the AG's office has remained silent and inactive on issues involving Keen Equities LLC? Is it because the company is building a new neighborhood for Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum?
As a member of the Jewish Community, of whom you wrote on behalf of in your most recent letter to Forestburgh, I believe we are owed an explanation.