Q&A: Is Monroe Letting Museum Village Go Under To Benefit A Developer? Dissolution of South Blooming Grove?
You have questions, I have answers in another installment of our reader mailbag.
I’m getting backed up with questions from readers, so if you don’t mind, today we’ll do a Q&A. But first, here is a reminder that two pretty important meetings are happening locally this evening.
The first is a meeting of the Woodbury Town Board, and the second is a meeting of the Village of South Blooming Grove Planning Board. Both are happening tonight (Thursday. August 15th.)
The Woodbury Town Board meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall (615 Route 32, lower level).
Tonight, they will schedule a public hearing for Local Law 3, which is the amendments to the Town Ethics Code.
The Town Supervisor, Katrhyn Luciani, when asked about moving the Town Police to the Village’s jurisdiction, said: “If it’s not broke why fix it? You know our police department’s doing great. They’re doing a great job. They’re doing a great job for the town.”
The Village of South Blooming Grove Planning Board meeting is at 8 pm at Village Hall (811 Route 208.)
At this meeting, the Planning Board will allow public comment — unlike the last meeting I told you about — but public comment will be limited to 3 minutes or about 330 words.
And yes, despite not having sewer capacity or enough water to support their current residents, the Planning Board will probably approve these projects regardless. But you should go anyway for reasons I’m about to explain.
Questions answered below have been submitted by readers / asked to me on places like Facebook. I’ve condensed them a bit for clarity but haven’t edited or changed the questions themselves.
And as a reminder, from now on, if you live in Woodbury and want to reach me or follow along with what I’m doing, the only place to get updates — aside from this newsletter — is on the Woodbury United Facebook Group. I will not post in the other group while they have an admin gaslighting people.
I think in Woodbury’s very unique situation, it’s important that we deal with reality and not opinion. Telling people that what Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum says doesn’t matter is an opinion; it’s not fact, and it’s the wrong kind of opinion to spread. What he says for his followers is everything. That’s the whole point of being an Aronnite of the Satmar Haredi sect. You choose to follow the Rebbe’s will.
It is not antisemitic to point out something that is factually true, and has been true as far back as the beginnings of the Satmar religious movement in Hungary. Monroe Gazette readers are encouraged to read the book “The Pious Ones” if they’d like to learn more about our Haredi friends of this sect, whom I’d like to stress are welcomed and loved in this community. There’s no room for bigots and antisemites here, but there is room for open-minded and honest communication, and that communication requires us to be able to ask difficult questions.
For example: If the Rebbe says to his followers that they do not live in Woodbury, but the City of Kiryas Joel, despite those residents physically living in what you and I agree is Woodbury, does that mean they are still residents of Woodbury?
That’s an ok thing to ask and have answered.
You can join the Woodbury United Facebook Group here.
Question: You mentioned dissolving South Blooming Grove as an option for residents, where the Village would simply be reabsorbed into the Town as Ward 4. Can you elaborate on this? How is this different from the Skoufis proposal for Woodbury?
Additional question answered here: What’s going on with that Falkirk Golf Course?
There’s a lot to unpack here. So, let’s do this in reverse order:
The Village of Woodbury and the Village of South Blooming Grove were created in the early 2000s due to resident concerns over the unchecked growth of the Village of Kiryas Joel. (Now known as Palm Tree, but it’s still called Kiryas Joel locally, and Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum refers to it in officially sanctioned publications as the City of Kiryas Joel. So I’m just going to call it Kiryas Joel for the sake of discussion.)
When I say “unchecked growth” what I mean is that the building of the Village / Town / City has been haphazard at best. We can factually show this by pointing to the $100M pipeline that was required to meet the Village / Town / City’s water needs as the municipality continued to build despite not having adequate water to meet the needs of its residents. The funding for that pipeline mostly came from Congress, and as of this writing, only Kiryas Joel can access that water. This means neighboring municipalities like South Blooming Grove and Woodbury, both on water restrictions, cannot access that water despite their tax dollars helping to pay for this pipeline.
It’s a mistake to claim that the population of Kiryas Joel is entirely Satmar, but that is the predominant group that lives there. Of the Satmar, there are three main groups: Aronnites who follow Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum, Zallies, who follow Zalman Teitelbaum, and Bnei Yoel, who follows Joel Teitelbaum. Bnei Yoel is worth noting here because it was Joel Teitelbaum who admonished his followers to follow the laws and rules of America as that was in compliance with what the Talmud commands when it says, “Dina d'malkhuta dina” (the law of the land is the law.) So many of the issues faced by non-Haredi residents in their interactions with the Satmar comes from Aaron and Zalman’s decision to claim that they do not live in America, and it stems from there why you have a lot of Haredi from these groups who simply don’t obey the laws and rules, such as zoning.
With me so far?
Woodbury and South Blooming Grove are intertwined for a lot of reasons. But the one we’ll touch on today is that Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum and his brother Zalman have been involved in a dynastic feud that began after the passing of Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum’s wife, Faige. Aaron, who runs Kiryas Joel, has not treated followers of Zalman and Faige well. In fact, there have been numerous documented instances of discrimination against Zallies and members of Bnei Yoel.
That discrimination led to a group of Zallies looking to strike out on their own. Led by Ziggy Brach, this group first sued the Village of South Blooming Grove in order to dissolve it after the Village was formed in part by large land purchases by Brach and this group. When the lawsuit failed, the plaintiffs formed the company known as Keen Equities, which is the driving force behind the Clovewood project and a lot of the other projects in and around that property.
What you have happening in South Blooming Grove, and the Town of Blooming Grove and Washingtonville to an increasing extent, is a race.
The Zallies believe that if they can build up fast enough, they can use Blooming Grove (all of it, Town, Village, Washigntonville) to surround Kiryas Joel and limit Aaron Teitelbaum’s power and influence. In response, Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum is racing to annex as much land as he can into Kiryas Joel (see: ACE Farms, Falkirk Golf Course, Highland Lake Estates, Country Crossing, Woodbury Junction). The theory goes, the bigger Kiryas Joel can get, the less likely Zalman — and a developer named Avrum Bur Jakobowitz — can create a larger surrounding municipality.
So, why dissolve one village but fight to keep another?
These paths diverge because the Village of South Blooming Grove, specifically, has been completely taken over by two men working on behalf of Zalman Teitelbaum: Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein. After 2020, the Village Board, the Village government, and its employees stopped being responsive to the secular residents of the Village.
So much so that you have situations like tonight, where one secular resident has been unable to get her questions answered for over a year, while the Planning Board continues to rubber stamp new projects despite not having water and sewage to support them. Why? Because they are in a race against Aaron Teitelbaum.
In Woodbury, you still have a healthy and functioning Village Board. In fact, the Village, unlike the Town, has been responsive in rooting out corruption, like we saw with Richard Cattagio and Mike Panella being shown the door.
In Woodbury’s case, and as I’ve explained elsewhere, the problems that exist aren’t from “infighting” between the Village governments. The problems that exist are driven by politicians (Supervisor Luciani and her board, Trustees Jim Freiband and Matthew Fabbro on the Village Board) working on behalf of Aaron Teitelbaum, and the Village working on behalf of the secular residents.
It’s not Town against Village. It’s theocracy versus everyone.
So the solution to dissolve the Village of South Blooming Grove is different from the solution to dissolve the Village of Woodbury. The Village of South Blooming Grove is no longer a functional, democratic organization. It’s a theocracy.
Congress, empowered by the Supreme Court, can intervene under the Guarantee Clause and ensure that the Village of South Blooming Grove provides its residents with a representative government that works for all the people, Haredi and non-Haredi alike.
Now, that said. There’s a separate question here: Is dissolution the right tactic for South Blooming Grove residents?
The honest answer is: I don’t know.
What I do know is that South Blooming Grove residents should be made aware of ALL their possible options, and they should decide which one works best for them. Dissolving the Village is not so cut and dry, and could lead to opportunistic attempts at annexation by Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum, looking to seize land from his brother Zalman. This would happen if the Town of Monroe or the Town of Blooming Grove decided not to take in the former Village.
Here’s where I stand on this: I think we should gather all possible options for the residents of South Blooming Grove, discuss them, and then act on the best one. I want to stress that I’m not advocating for one tactic over another at this time. What I want to do is make sure everyone is aware that they DO have options and that this isn’t a hopeless cause that requires them to move away to solve it.
Hope. Not despair. Hope comes in bringing people options and vision. Despair comes from trying to control people’s speech or by framing any sort of questioning of my Haredi brothers and sisters as “antisemitic.”
Hope comes in going to village meetings and holding your “elected” representatives accountable. Despair comes from leaving comments on Facebook saying “nothing you do is going to matter anyway.”
Hope comes from confronting a nationwide movement to subvert democracy on behalf of religious extremists. Despair comes from sitting at home and doing nothing, labeling such discussions as “political,” or telling people we can’t have this conversation because bad faith actors will use it against you.
Of course they will. That’s why they’re called bad-faith actors. But you can’t, and won’t, defeat hate with silence.
Question: Are Aronnites American? Or, put another way, if you believe you don’t live in America (as the Rebbe says), then why are you taking an oath to uphold the Constitution and saying the pledge of allegiance before every meeting? How can you uphold the rules of America while saying you’re not an American? And what’s this about not wanting the Israeli flag hanging off buildings in Rockland?
There are 30 different types of Haredi.
In the SPECIFIC case of the Satmar (who are the predominant faction in Orange and Sullivan), the Aronnites who follow Rebbe Teitelbaum are VERY anti-Israel.
In fact, the VMG gardens (V'yoel Moshe Gardens, VMG) going up in Monroe / Central Valley are named for an infamous anti-Israel publication authored by Joel Teitelbaum, who founded KJ. The book is called Vayoel Moshe, and residents of the area who are supporters of Israel should probably be concerned about such a large apartment complex going up that’s named for an anti-Israeli screed. (Of course, I have my own problems with Israel right now, and there’s nothing anti-semitic in being critical of the Netanyahu government, much in the same way there is NOTHING antisemitic about questioning the actions of the Teitelbaum brothers. Again, you don’t defeat hate and corruption with silence or demurring about what the bad faith actors will think about your statements. You defeat it with speech and action.
I can't speak for followers of Zalman Teitelbaum or the B'nei Yoel (whom don't follow either Rebbe.) As far as citizenship goes, Rebbe Teteilabum, despite the wishes of his uncle Joel who said the law of the land is the law, as mentioned, and his followers are obligated to follow that law, Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum has told his followers they do NOT live in America.
So, yes. There is a potential constitutional issue here in that regard specific to his followers serving in government capacities and representing both secular and Haredi residents, such as the case is with South Blooming Grove and Blooming Grove.
How we fix that? That requires Congressional action not seen since Reconstruction.
Question: What’s the Deal with Senator Skoufis? Do you just not like the guy? Do you not like (insert name of local politician here.)
“I don’t think about you at all.”
Here’s my general position regarding ANY politician: It’s my job to hold them accountable. So, if I have to bully, harass, and cajole any of them to get them to act on your behalf, I will.
It’s not a question of liking or disliking any of them. I don’t care. I don’t even think about them at all. That’s not the job.
If someone tells me they’ve called the Senator’s office, and the Senator hasn’t replied to them in months despite his newsletter saying, “My team and I are always available to lend a hand -- be it connecting with state agencies, disputing utility bills, or helping you work through other complex issues. Please don’t hesitate to reach out by phone (845-567-1270), email (skoufis@nysenate.gov), or on social media (@JamesSkoufis) if you or someone you know could use assistance.”
I’m going to call him out. That’s the job. And yeah, they’re going to piss and moan about it. They’re going to say I’m out to get them, or I have an agenda, or or or or or or.
None of that matters. Not to me anyway,
The job is to hold powerful people accountable and give voice to the voiceless.
I’m not doing this to make friends. Any good journalist will tell you that they don’t have friends just by virtue of what they do for a living.
If I’m upsetting people? Awesome. That means I’m on the right track.
If I’m getting things done for people? Even better.
But I’ve got zero interest in playing nice with these people. The stakes are too high. People in South Blooming Grove do not have access to clean drinking water. People in Woodbury are watching their village government slowly sleepwalk its way into a Theocracy. People in Monroe have a bunch of comically inept fascists running their town.
I’m not here to be nice to any of them.
That said, there are some politicians who are cool in my book locally. You know why? Even if we don’t like each other or don’t agree with each other, they’ll give me a straight answer. If the Senator ever grows a set of balls and wants to give people a straight answer, I’d be thrilled to say he’s cool in my book.
So far?
He’s not.
One other thing about Skoufis: He raised over 100,000 dollars in PAC money since the start of 2024. Despite this, before opening his new office in Chester, he was asking people for donations of items which include stuff like laptops.
His nearest challengers for the 42nd District have not raised anything close to that much money. In fact, Skoufis has another $200,000 or so that he raised since the start of the year.
So … Why the fuck is he asking people to donate items to his Chester office — which just opened — when he’s got all that money?
Maybe something to ask him.
The new Chester office, opened for the campaign, can be found at: 69 Brookside Ave, Suite 208, Chester, NY 10918. There is an event being held to celebrate the grandopening on Sunday, August 18th, 12pm - 3pm
Sure would be something if all the upset residents in Blooming Grove and South Blooming Grove, who have yet to see the senator himself appear at these meetings, come out to this event and ask the Senator why he hasn’t asked the DEC to revoke the permits granted to Keen Equities.
Question: What’s going on in Monroe? You’ve been quiet on that one.
There are things I’m looking into, like the sale of 15 Lake Street to Somni, despite there being no public hearing about the sale of the building or vote to approve the sale of the building. You can see the sale contract here. (I should be clear: There is no evidence online of a public hearing or vote on the SALE of the building. There was a discussion on leasing the building. How this went from a lease to a sale is, at the moment, anyone’s guess. We are looking into it.)
The Comptroller’s office would not comment on whether or not the sale of this building is illegal outside of the context of an audit, which like the Town of Woodbury, I feel the Town of Monroe desperately needs to undergo.
There are other specific issues with Monroe. For example, I need to file a bunch of Article 78s, and there’s a limited budget to do that sort of thing. (Each one costs a minimum of $6,000. I don’t have that lying around as a reporter.)
Then there’s what’s going on with Museum Village. Specifically, is the Town going to let Museum Village die so that a bunch of Haredi developers working on behalf of Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein can develop it? There’s certainly evidence to suggest this.
Just look at the number of projects related to Museum Village Road that are before the South Blooming Grove planning board (including on the agenda for tonight’s meeting).
Is that truly what’s happening? I don’t know for sure yet. But I do know that this is the speculation from the people who would know, and it’s my job to determine and report to you on whether or not it’s true.
One question to ask right away: Why aren’t Congressman Ryan, State Senator Skoufis, and others racing to get Museum Village the funding it needs to stay in operation?
Couldn’t she use some of that money to help get Museum Village back on its feet financially? Yes.
Right now I’m looking at things like this: South Blooming Grove is the immediate story, Woodbury is the next story going into the Fall with the election (Etzel and Keleman, if successful, would give Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum a majority on the board and would likely vote to approve Senator Skoufis’s plan, since Mr. Etzel has already publicly stated support for it at the most recent Village Board meeting.)
Monroe is the next one up. 2025 will be a crazy year for the Town since Cardone is up for re-election, and there are A LOT of people who do not want to see him get re-elected.
So, as we get closer to 2025, you’ll hear more and more about Monroe. But for now, it’s SBG, then Woodbury, then Monroe in terms of my timeline for coverage.
See some of you later tonight.