Where's Attorney General Letitia James on South Blooming Grove's Numerous Controversies?

The Attorney General's office was last seen in our area warning Village of Monroe Mayor Neil Dwyer about a law that her office felt was targeting Orthodox Jews in September.

You should know something about me. I don’t care if someone is a Democrat. I don’t care if someone is a Republican. I don’t care what God you worship. I don’t care if you worship no God at all.

Here’s what I care about: That the promise of the 14th Amendment is upheld. And right now in Southern Orange County, it hasn’t been.

No. I’m not talking about Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, although personally I think the Supreme Court whiffed on enforcing that one.

(Elie Mystal, who is my go to source on all things Supreme Court in America, totally called that one back in November. Even if you don’t agree with him, his columns for The Nation on the Supreme Court are a must read.)

I’m talking here about Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, which reads:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. [Emphasis Added]

Back when I was a substitute history teacher at William S. Hackett Middle School in Albany, I taught multiple students that Section 1 of the 14th Amendment is the single most important part of the Constitution.

That’s because it guarantees, on paper anyway, that all of the laws of the United States are applied equally to everyone, no matter who you are, where you come from, or who you worship. (Among other things.)

If we review the facts of what’s happening in South Blooming Grove, I think it’s clear the residents have been denied their life, liberty, and property without much, if any, due process on the part of New York State’s government. In particular, on the part of the Attorney General in enforcing criminal penalties for laughably obvious crimes.

Just look at the intentional environmental degradation, corrupt local government, and complete and total lack of enforcement of the law.

Yesterday, I sent a set of questions to the DEC concerning how their enforcement mechanism is supposed to work, because it’s pretty clear that whatever they’re doing isn’t enough to stop Keen Equities LLC and Mr. Yehoshua Chaim Rubin.

I’ve also asked them if the DEC actions that have been taken preclude Attorney General Letitia James from taking any action independent of their office. I’ll let you know what the DEC says.

But today, I’d like to follow-up on something that the Attorney General’s office continues to remain silent about.

Let’s Talk About South Blooming Grove Mayor, George Kalaj

In brief: Fort Worth Holdings LLC, located at 13 Apple Hill Drive in Highland Mills, purchased South Blooming Grove Mayor George Kalaj’s home for ten times its market value one week prior to the 2022 election in the village.

According to property data provided by Orange County, 13 Apple Hill Drive is owned by Hindy Werzberger. Martin Wezberger is also listed as a resident. (Hindy Werzberger, according to BeenVerified, also owns 11 Apple Hill Drive.)

Libertyville Capital Group II sold the land for 13 Apple Hill Drive in November of 2015. 3 Days later it was sold to Goldstone Associates, LLC. Two years later it was sold to Independent Capital Solutions, whom at some point acquired the land and building from Goldstone Associates, LLC.

I will have more on Fort Worth Holdings LLC this weekend when I do one of our LLC deep dives.

The letter was sent to Attorney General Letitia James on February 27th, 2023 by State Senator Skoufis.

No response, either publicly or privately, has been provided by the AG’s office. I called Senator Skoufis’s office and they confirmed they had not heard anything from AG James’s office in the year since sending this letter.

One year later, I have sent multiple requests for comment to the Attorney General’s office about Senator Skoufis’s letter.

Thus far, I have not received a response.

So, it’s worth asking:

Someone clearly alerted the Attorney General to a proposed law in the Village of Monroe, and she acted swiftly on that alert. The law in question was passed in December, which I wrote about here in The Photo-News.

But AG James didn’t reply, in over a year, to a letter from a State Senator about what appears to be a fairly obvious crime?

As a Jew, I appreciate the AG’s concern about laws that may appear (but actually aren’t) anti-semitic.

There is no doubt that anti-semitism exists in this community.

I see it all the time when I try to explain to people that what’s happening in Orange County is being driven by a few wealthy individuals.

And even though those individuals may be Haredi, those individuals do not reflect an an entire community.

But often you hear people say shit like “Them” and “The Hassids” and that just drives me crazy.

Because those few, specific individuals that I’m talking about, whether they be Haredi or not, have proven to be bad actors.

And if you approach what they’re doing with even a tinge of anti-semitism, you’ve already lost the battle.

Those few bad actors will win every single time because of the ignorance of others.

We can’t let that continue to happen.

Because this isn’t about religion. This is about transparency and making sure the laws are applied equally to everyone.

And it’s clear that they’re not in South Blooming Grove.

Tzedakah

A cornerstone of Judaism is Tzedakah (making the world a fair and more just place.)

So, when a few members of our community do shitty things, like ignore multiple stop work orders from the DEC, bribing the mayor of a small town, or commit one of the largest acts of voter fraud in American history, we are not doing our job of making the world a fair and just place by letting them get away with it.

The 14th Amendment guarantees that, regardless of religion, that the laws of this country are applied to everyone equally. No exceptions.

It’s pretty clear that AG James has completely failed at providing due process to the people of South Blooming Grove.

Because if the laws of this country were being applied equally, we would hear about it. The AG is very good at getting publicity for herself, with frequent announcements of what her office is doing.

So I encourage you to contact AG James’s office. There’s a form you can fill out here, but it’s more powerful if you give her office a call: 1-800-771-7755.

Then ask why she hasn’t replied to Senator Skoufis in over a year.

I think that’s a fair question to ask given the AG’s interest in our neck of the woods.