Would You Drink This Water? Let's Ask The FBI

Read the FBI eFOIA request and ponder the mystery of what's in this poop colored water.

The above was sent in by a resident of South Blooming Grove. This is what this resident’s water sometimes looks like, and the photo was taken recently.

Would you drink it?

I mean, some of you might like to live dangerously. In that case, you do you.

Would I drink it? Hell no.

The thing is, this resident is not alone. A common sight in South Blooming Grove is the Spindler water truck.

Spindler Bulk Transport, Inc. is a Washingtonville based company — next door to the Town of Blooming Grove — and, like the name implies, they deliver water in bulk. One truck can hold up to 6,000 gallons.

Since April 8th, 2019, the Village of South Blooming Grove has been operating under water restrictions.

Here’s a News 12 report from 2022 about the situation:

But the water issues go back much further in this area, pre-dating the creation of the village in 2006.

An Imminent Danger

Now, I’m not a lawyer. I was set to start working on my J.D./MBA at the University at Buffalo in August. So, I don’t have my law degree yet.

I need to tell you that before you read the following letter I sent to the FBI this morning.

What follows is my interpretation of a federal statute. One which allows the FBI to release documents on living persons, without their consent, when there is an immediate danger to someone’s health and safety.

I don’t know about you, but I think brown drinking water and the Village’s intentional ignoring of that over the last several years constitutes an imminent danger and threat to the safety of village residents.

I guess we’ll find out if the FBI agrees when they respond to this letter.

Date: 3/23/24

FBI
Record/Information Dissemination Section
Attn: FOIPA Request
170 Marcel Drive
Winchester, VA 22602-4843

Dear FOIA Officer: 

The Monroe Gazette (“Gazette”) submits this request for records pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act for access to and copies of the records collected by the FBI regarding the requests as described below involving the Village of South Blooming Grove, located in upstate New York, and Keen Equities LLC. 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b)(8) grants an exception to rules preventing the release of records involving another living individual(s) without their consent if compelling circumstances are shown that affect the immediate health and/or safety of an individual. 

This request is submitted on behalf of residents of South Blooming Grove who have been under mandatory water restrictions since April 8th, 2019. Since that time, numerous residents have publicly complained about “brown drinking water” at village meetings, often attributed to rust, other chemicals, and elements yet to be identified. Since the Spring of 2020, South Blooming Grove Mayor George Kalaj, South Blooming Grove Confidential Assistant to the Mayor Joel M. Stern, and Legislative Aid Isaac Ekstein aka Yitzchok R Ekstein have participated in an alleged criminal conspiracy to push through building and development of high density housing units straining the water supply even further, despite water quality concerns raised by the residents; further endangering both current and future residents of the Village due to the possible consumption of carcinogens. 

These issues involving the drinking water were known to all three identified individuals, as George Kalaj made the water quality a part of his campaign platform in the Spring of 2020 when first running for mayor, where Joel M. Stern served as his campaign manager according to numerous articles published in the local paper, The Times Herald Record.

One property, known as “Clovewood,” has been cited numerous times by New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation concerning damage to South Blooming Grove’s water supply. The property was fined $228,000 by the State DEC on March 14th, 2023 for ignoring numerous stop work orders and other notices of violations issued by the DEC, three years after Mayor Kalaj took office and four years after the water restrictions were put in place. One year after the DEC fine, in March of 2024, the DEC again had to investigate issues concerning the village’s water and pollution of it by property developers linked to Mayor George Kalaj, Confidential Assistant to the Mayor Joel M. Stern, and Legislative Aid Isaac Ekstein. 

In the specific instance of Clovewood, the property is identified as belonging to a company known as Keen Equities LLC. The point of contact for Keen Equities is a man known as Y.C. Rubin aka Yehoshua Chaim Rubin. Mr. Rubin is identified in public documents as working for a company known as Windsor Global, which lists a fake business address according to the township of Union, New Jersey, where the company claims to operate at 601 Lehigh Avenue. Mr. Joel M. Stern is publicly listed as the Chief Operating Officer of Windsor Global, demonstrating a connection between Mr. Stern, Mr. Kalaj, and Mr. Rubin involving the approval of this development and their potential financial interest at the expense of residents of South Blooming Grove. Just prior to Mayor Kalaj’s re-election as mayor of the village, his home sold for 890% above its market value. Mayor Kalaj then, a month later, removed all members of the village’s planning board, which shared lead agency status with the Village Board concerning the Clovewood project. Then, in August of 2022 at a meeting held in the early afternoon, Mayor Kalaj and the Village Board — and newly installed planning board members — approved the Clovewood project.

Given the ongoing water restrictions, water discoloration, and village residents dependency on Spindler Bulk Transport, Inc. — a company that distributes water in bulk in Orange County — There may be a clear and present danger to current and future residents concerning the village’s water supply; and the disregard of these dangers in the name of profit by the identified individuals in this letter. For that reason, these files are being requested by your office and we ask for their release under the exemption granted by 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b)(8).

Date range of request: 1/1/2019 to 3/23/2024

Description of request: I am requesting any and all documents concerning the below identified individuals between the dates provided above. 

Please search the FBI’s indices to the Central Records System for the information responsive to this request related to:

-Mr. Joel M. Stern

-Mr. Frank Kalaj

-Mr. Isaac R. Ekstein aka Yitzchok Ekstein

-Mr. Y.C. Rubin aka Yehoshua Chaim Rubin, representative of Keen Equities LLC

-Simon Gelb, Clovewood Developer

-Keen Equities LLC

Please provide this information electronically in .pdf format where possible.

As a reporter, I am seeking this information to better inform the public and this information is not requested for commercial purposes.

Thank you for your consideration,

Name: B.J. Mendelson

Title: Editor

Business: The Monroe Gazette

Street Address: PO BOX 452

City/State/ZIP Code: Harriman, NY, 10926

Country: USA

Telephone: 646-331-8341

E-mail: bj@bjmendelson.com