New York DEC Approves Clovewood Project Despite Proof of Fraud

Official confirmation from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation provided exclusively to The Monroe Gazette.

Above: While I’m happy for Harriman, there were some seriously awful, gaslighting narcissists from Woodbury who joined the celebration of the opening of the new Village Hall. Can you spot them? One of them is your state senator on the far right.

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New York State Senator James G. Skoufis took money from Keen Equities—including $10,000 from the South Blooming Grove De Facto Mayor and known Keen Equities associate, Joel Stern—and then publicly lied about having done so this week in The Photo-News. You can catch up on that story here.

I’ve already stressed that the correct thing to do would be for someone in the New York 42nd State Senate district to step forward and announce their intention to primary Mr. Skoufis as soon as this election is certified.

That person should then immediately start raising money, gathering signatures, and hounding Mr. Skoufis every day from the start of his last term in office to the end, so that he never knows a day of peace.

I would have ads running every single day from January 1st, 2025 to the end of his term on every little thing that he says and does.

But that’s just me.

I prefer you didn’t vote for Dorey Houle given literally all of this, but … You do you.

Just know that State Senate Candidate Dorey Houle and Monroe Town Supervisor Tony Cardone work with Lipa Deutsch, and along with Woodbury Supervisor Katrhyn Luciani and her Town board, they are all currently trying to figure out how they can build a road through the Town of Woodbury’s forever green space in order to get the project Mr. Deutsch represents, Monroe Commons, approved.

So, if you’re mad at Skoufis for selling you out, and you should be, I want to stress that Mrs. Houle isn’t going to provide you with the viable alternative she’d like to make you think with her racist YouTube ads.

Now let’s get to the bad news, straight from the DEC about the Clovewood Permit Requests:

DEC subjects all environmental permit applications to a rigorous and transparent review process to ensure the protection of public health and the environment.

During DEC’s thorough review of the Keen Equities LLC permit applications, DEC held a 45-day written public comment period, two virtual public comment hearings on April 3, 2024, and reviewed approximately 450 written and verbal comments. DEC has determined that the applications met all regulatory criteria necessary to issue the permits. In response to public comments, DEC has included a condition in the water withdrawal permit requiring the permittee to prepare and implement a well monitoring, complaint response, and well mitigation plan approved by DEC to address any impacts to wells or water supplies in the vicinity of the project. (Emphasis Added.)

Given the pages and pages of reporting concerning Joel Stern’s Village of South Blooming Grove, you and I both know that no such well-monitoring, complaint process, and mitigation plan exists, and based on how the local government currently behaves with the hydrogen sulfide issue, no such functional version will ever exist.

EVER.

Also, I think it’s telling that when the DEC was asked about the hydrogen sulfide issue, they repeatedly blamed Orange County and said they were investigating them, not South Blooming Grove.

But when the EPA was told about the situation in the Village of Monroe, they directly and specifically knew about South Blooming Grove from other investigations, and referred to South Blooming Grove as “The Violator.”

Take that for what it’s worth, given the DEC’s Clovewood approval. Something tells me the EPA would not have done the same.

Also take that for what it’s worth, should one of you reading this decide to file an Article 78 against the DEC demanding they overturn their decision. (Because, as the headline says, the DEC was made aware at multiple occasions of the criminal activity occurring in South Blooming Grove on behalf of Keen Equities, and decided to grant the permit request regardless.)

Speaking of an Article 78: The Village of South Blooming Grove is about to find itself at the ass end of Article 78, the first week of November, for multiple instances of failing to respond to FOIL requests.

So, if they can’t even do FOIL right, do you really think this group is going to be able to handle the DEC’s permit conditions here?

Nope!

But that won’t matter, because Mr. Stern is going to proceed and do whatever he wants, knowing he has a State Senator — and governor — in his pocket.

You might be asking, so what can I do about this?

Well, I’m going to share you the first, and easiest, thing you can do …

Towns & Villages Need to Mobilize Immediately

“Love when communities work together” says the Town Supervisor, and Woodbury Town Board members, who decided to gaslight her residents at the most recent meeting about the Town and Village of Woodbury’s Intermunicipal agreement.

Well, I have good news for Supervisor Luciani. Thanks to the DEC’s decision to approve the Clovewood permits, every single resident of Southern Orange County is going to find out, in real time, who works for The People, and who works for The Developers.

And since Katrhyn Luciani took money from South Blooming Grove’s Fusco Engineering, and frequent flyer at SBG planning Board meetings, Hartman Design, AND Ziggy Brach — who is the largest shareholder in Keen Equities the company behind Clovewood — I highly doubt she’s going to love working with the community in opposing Clovewood.

What? Did you think I was going to not look at Mrs. Luciani’s financials for her failed attempt at becoming a New York State Assemblyperson?

I recommend every Woodbury resident do so. Because you’ll also find money donated to Mrs. Luciani by alleged arsonist Wayne Corts and Bernard Mittelman.

(For the record, Mrs. Dorey Houle has also accepted financial contributions from Mr. Wayne Corts.)

Mr. Mittelman is not an arsonist. He is, however, a member of Hanhallah and one of State Senator James G. Skoufis’s top donors, and wouldn’t you know it, but in that picture above, we again see Mrs. Luciani (far left) and Senator Skoufis together again.

(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. In October of 2022, Resi Mittelman also donated $10,000 to Friends of James Skoufis.)

You know the saying, “Be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it? Luciani is about to get it.

What Does This Have To Do With You?

Like I just said, every single Southern Orange County resident is about to find out who works for the developers and who works for the people.

What you need to do is go to an upcoming Woodbury Town & Village Board meeting, Blooming Grove Town Board and Washingtonville Village Board meeting, Cornwall Town & Village Board meeting, Chester Town & Village Board, Monroe Town & Village Board meeting and request that they ALL write letters to DEC Commissioner Sean Mahar appealing the DEC’s decision to grant these permits to Clovewood, and formally requesting that all Clovewood permits be rejected on the grounds of the illicit and continued criminal activity perpetrated by Mr. Joel Stern, his local hate group, and Keen Equities.

It sounds simple, and it is, but getting your local government to respond when they work for the developers isn’t so easy.

Woodbury Town Supervisor Katrhyn Luciani and Town of Monroe Supervisor Tony Cardone won’t do this, because that would mean upsetting the developers that they work for.

So, what you’re about to see, is every local community — except Mr. Cardone & Mrs. Luciani’s — all working together to begin the long, long process of fighting back.

And FYI: The Town of Monroe has a board meeting tomorrow (Monday.)

If you’re a resident of Southern Orange County — you do not need to be a Monroe resient to speak — I am urging you to attend and use public comment to demand the Supervisor, and Mr. Skoufis’s challenger Dorey Houle, write and send a letter to the DEC making this request.

And make sure they have a deadline. Because when Mr. Cardone doesn’t want to do something — just look at how long it took to pass that updated Tree Code — he will drag it out.

Ask your local municipality to draft a letter, and give them until the next meeting to read, approve, and send it. Anything longer than that second meeting is stalling.

And we all know how our elected officials who work for the developers like to stall.

Right Mrs. Luciani?