Real, and Fake, South Blooming Grove Residents Sound Off At DEC Hearing
In the words of one resident speaking out against the Clovewood project, "The Math is not Mathing."
Hi.
Short post today. I just spent three hours listening to the DEC’s 2pm Public Hearing call concerning Keen Equities / Clovewood.
Some of you brave, brave, souls did the same, and some of you are even doing it twice. There is a 6pm hearing this evening as well.
Please enjoy these notes and observations made during today’s hearing. I’ll have more in-depth reporting for you tomorrow.
1. Attending this online hearing was a useful exercise in learning the tactics of the opposition. We saw three primarily used during the 2pm hearing:
A. People registered to speak, who then didn’t speak. (This is done to limit the amount of time others have to actually speak by making it seem like there’s a lot of people who want to participate.) There was a lot of this. I counted three names belonging to Mr. Joel Stern in the 2pm call, none of which actually commented when called.
B. People who were hired to read prepared statements praising the Clovewood development, saying the math in the FEIS is correct concerning well water usage, saying that Keen Equities is saving SO MUCH LAND for the Timber rattlesnake, and that the project will have NO impact on traffic. Many actual residents, correctly, pointed this astroturfing campaign out in their comments. You can identify these calls from their superior sound quality, the cheerfulness in which they’re delivered and how they weirdly say the project is in “Orange County, New York” (no fucking duh). They are almost word for word until the last sentence or two. If you plan to write comments in to the DEC, it’s worth noting to them this astroturfing campaign and encourage them to disregard these comments unless they can verifly be demonstrated to have come from actual residents of the community or neighboring communities.
C. Claiming anti-semitism. This only happened once at the 2pm hearing, and yes, we’re going to spend a lot of time talking about it tomorrow. For now, let me share a Pro-Tip: Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna LLP are hanhallah’s law firm of choice. Every time you see a lawyer pop up from that firm, you can safely bet they’re representing hanhallah. That was the case during today’s call, when Mr. Robert Rosborough joined the fray. He claimed to be representing the United Jewish Community of South Blooming Grove. So, of course, I immediately wrote to Mr. Rosborough to ask why his client is failing to comply with federal law, which allows for anyone to request the last three Form 990s filed by non-profit organizations. Surprisingly, he did not reply. I think it’s telling, and worth pointing out in the future, that the only person making the claim of anti-semitism just so happens to represent a non-profit (the UJC of Blooming Grove) founded by Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein.
2. A lot of residents mentioned suing the DEC if they approve these permits. Not a bad idea. But I’d encourage those of you considering legal action to pool your resources. Hanhallah’s got time, money, and lawyers. Their legal strategy since the early ‘90s is to win through attrition. So if we’re all just flinging lawsuits at them, it’s easy to swat it away or just grind you down and wait until you run out of money. If we are organized and working in concert with one another, that tactic will be less effective for them to try. I think the best course of action is a Class Action Lawsuit against Keen Equities, the shareholders, Mr. Stern, Mr. Ekstein, George Kalaj, The Village of South Blooming Grove, and all other associated parties. I also think you should all band together and start messaging District Attorney Hoovler. He’s up for re-election this Fall, and you can cite his lack of action against Keen Equities and Mr. Stern as the reason you’re voting against him and donating to his opponent(s).
3. I really came away impressed with the breadth and depth of the comments made by actual residents during the hearing, and those speaking on their behalf. This is way better than what I saw with United Monroe many years ago. I think people are catching on to the tactics used by the wealthy in America to get away with whatever they want, and it’s nice to see an organized resistance to a wealthy real estate developer. Because that’s what this is. Remember: Religion’s got fuck all to do with this. It just so happens that the wealthy real estate asshole in this situation happens to be Satmar.
4. I think Village of South Blooming Grove residents should have a word with Fusco Engineering & Land Surveying, P.C. Mr. Fusco was the last speaker for the 2pm call and said that aspects of the Clovewood project “exceeds New York State’s design standards" and that the wells would produce twice the average water demand as required by the Department of Health.
That is not at all what the Orange County Department of Health said in September of 2023.
5. Finally, on a personal note: I started my comments (found below) by saying shalom. I did this as a fuck you to the UJC attorney after he resorted to everyone’s favorite BS tactic here in Southern Orange County: Claiming antisemitism to deflect from actual crime and fraud being committed. So, if you ever hear me say shalom in a public setting, it’s actually me saying fuck you to the kind of people who would make all my fellow Jews look bad with their nonsense claims and bad behavior.
Shalom,
Mr. Jacob Gold is the second largest shareholder of Keen Equities LLC and is the president of Windsor Global.
Mr. Joel Stern, a South Blooming Grove Village employee, is the Chief Operating Officer of Windsor Global.
He is also a founder of the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove, whom we conveniently heard from earlier in this call.
Windsor Global was subject to a number of legal actions taken by Union County in the state of New Jersey, many of which involved an epic disregard for environmental regulations.
Here in New York, Mr. Stern is currently subject to numerous lawsuits alleging criminal behavior.
Some of Mr. Stern’s behavior includes tampering with medical specimens, creating an unauthorized road on Orange County owned land, and numerous failures to comply with the rules and regulations of the State DEC.
For example: In the months following a consent decree and stop work order in March of 2023, a lawsuit known as Guilmar Montufar vs. Keen Equities LLC was filed in Kings County.
This lawsuit alleges that, following the DEC consent decree and stop work order, Mr. Montufar was permanently injured in June of 2023 while working on the Clovewood property.
The DEC has wide latitude in revoking permits to companies who act unlawfully and their associates, which would include Mr. Stern
Therefore I am asking the DEC to deny the permit requests by Keen Equities, and to revoke all permits previously granted to this company.