Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Don't Turn Around. This Is For Real.





Let Me Tell You How It Will Be.


NOTE AND UPDATE: IN ALL LIKELIHOOD IN RESPONSE TO THIS AND OTHER RELATED BLOG ENTRIES, CRAIG WEIS, ESQ. AND FRANK DECARLO (1) REINSTATED "PIERMONT DEVELOPERS LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY" FROM A 7-PLUS YEAR FILING DEFAULT, (2) THEREBY SOUGHT TO PURGE JERRY POLIDORO FROM THAT LLC'S RECORD, AND (3) CHANGED THE LLC'S ADDRESS FROM NORWOOD NJ TO HACKENSACK NJ. HOWEVER, AS LAST-KNOWN, JERRY POLIDORO STILL APPEARS ON THE DEED FOR 475 PIERMONT AVENUE IN PIERMONT NEW YORK, AS SHOWN HERE: 

Law Office of John J. Tormey III, Esq.
John J. Tormey III, PLLC
1636 Third Avenue, PMB 188
New York, NY  10128  USA
(212) 410-4142 (phone)
(212) 410-2380 (fax)
jtormey@optonline.net
https://www.tormey.org
 
NEW REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW (“FOIL”)
 
VIA U.S. MAIL and E-MAIL:
bkenney@orangetown.com
 
Monday, April 29, 2024
 
Brian Kenney, Town Assessor
Town of Orangetown
Orangetown Town Hall
26 West Orangeburg Road
Orangeburg, NY  10962  USA
 
Re:     
FOIL Request - Regarding “447-477 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, New York, 10968 USA”

The Deliberate Paving-Over Of A Former Sunoco Gasoline Station And Suspected Toxic Site

The People Of The Village Of Piermont, New York adv. The Village Of Piermont Planning Board, Daniel Spitzer, “Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company”, And Gerard M. (“Jerry”) Polidoro
 
Dear Mr. Kenney:
 
As you are already aware, I am an attorney in New York, and a citizen and resident of the Town of Orangetown and the County of Rockland. Under the New York State Freedom of Information Law:
http://www.dos.ny.gov/coog/foil2.html
and, as may be applicable, its state, federal, and other counterparts, including without limitation New York Public Officers Law, Article 6, Sections 84-90, and Title 5 of the United States Code, Section 552 (collectively herein referred to as “FOIL”), request is hereby made that provide to this, my law office, full and complete copies of each and every document and other item of material (collectively, “Records”) which may be at all responsive to the following requests:
 
1. 447-477 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, New York, 10968 USA. All Records relating to that certain real property located at 447-477 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, New York, 10968 USA [Tax Assessment Map of the Village of Piermont Section 75.55, Block 1, Lots 14.1 and 14.2, and Lot 13, apparently “in the CB §61.6 C zone”], and without limitation to the foregoing, any tax issue or tax matter which may be related thereto. My understanding is that the reason for the hyphenated “447-477” address, is the fact that this location is comprised of three or four smaller plots which were deliberately-combined fairly recently and as I understand it, may be intended to be re-mapped and re-zoned for the purpose of development activity by the below-described “LLC”.
 
Therefore, your search and response should cover, at minimum, each of the following addresses or sub-addresses:
 
- 447-477 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, New York, 10968 USA.
- 447 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, New York, 10968 USA.
- 475 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, New York, 10968 USA.
- 477 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, New York, 10968 USA.
 
The subject location and each and all of the above addresses are collectively hereinafter referred to as the “Site”.
 
3. Tax Matters. Without limitation to the foregoing, I am seeking any and all Records which could possibly indicate any of the following, if and to the extent at all occurring:
 
-Any assessments.
-Any estimates.
-Any appraisals.
-Any analyses.
-Any payments.
-Any collections.
-Any demands.
-Any deficiencies.
-Any defaults.
-Any arrears or arrearages.
-Any warrants.
-Any foreclosures.
-Any forbearances.
-Any proceedings.
-Any notices or notifications.
-Any correspondence.
-Any documents or materials of any other kind relating to the Site.
 
3. Health And Environmental Matters. Without limitation to the foregoing, I am in addition seeking any and all Records which could possibly indicate any past or present health or environmental problem, issue, or other matter as relating to the Site, such as sewage, emissions, run-off, drainage, stormwater, gasoline, petroleum, BTX, carcinogens, underground tanks, “phantom tanks”, remediations, spills, clean-ups, permitting, soil testing, test results, soil contamination, air quality, water quality, water table, radioactivity, flooding, threats to protected watersheds, and threats to endangered species – in addition to any matter that could possibly end up in Tax Assessor jurisdiction.
 
4. “Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company”, and “Piermont Developers, LLC”. Additionally and without limitation to the foregoing, I am seeking all Records relating to any developer and developer entity threatening to build over and on top of this potentially-toxic Site:
https://cms9files1.revize.com/piermont/document_center/Department/Planning%20&%20Zoning%20Board/Planning%20Board/Plan_Board_Documents/2022/5-9-22/Piermont%20Developers%20LLC%20Package.pdf
The developer entity as identified to the people of the Village of Piermont is known as “Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company” alias “Piermont Developers, LLC”, a New Jersey LLC whose status was revoked for seven (7) years or more by the State of New Jersey for failing to file and pay its Annual Reports (the “LLC”).
 
5. Gerard M. (Jerry) Polidoro. Additionally and without limitation to the foregoing, I am seeking all Records relating to the last-known Manager, Member, and Managing Member of “Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company” of which I am currently aware, and who was the only individual on-record with the New Jersey Secretary of State as owning the LLC at the time that the LLC filed its November 9, 2021 Zoning Petition with Piermont Village government relating to the proposed development – that is, one Gerard M. (Jerry) Polidoro, an individual who was slammed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) about a decade ago for failing to remediate a (different) toxic gasoline station site in Bergenfield, New Jersey:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/04/flashback-to-2015-polidoro-properties.html
Mr. Polidoro is also apparently referred to by the following alternate names, according to public-record sources including the Internet:
 
- Gerard M. Polidoro.
- “Gerard Polidoro”.
- “Jerry Polidoro”.
- “Gerald Pollidoro”[sic].
- “Gerard D[sic] Polidoro”.
- “Gerard M Polido[sic]”.
 
While a recent communication from a representative of Village of Piermont government indicates that there may be a second owner of the LLC, to date the Village of Piermont government appears to be trying to conceal the identities of any LLC owner or owners.
 
Additionally, while a “Frank DeCarlo” of Cresskill, New Jersey has been suggested by some to be a developer bearing a connection to the subject project, Mr. DeCarlo actually appears to be primarily a general contractor or other form of contractor:
http://www.fdccontracting.com/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/decarlo-frank-cresskill
https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-decarlo-8a585078/
https://www.buzzfile.com/business/Fdc-Contracting-Co-Inc-201-569-3864
https://www.thebluebook.com/iProView/1667188/fdc-contracting-co-inc/general-contractors/locations-contacts/
 
6. Other Jerry Polidoro Addresses. For your convenience of reference while searching, other public-record information indicates that Gerard M. Polidoro, the last-known record owner of the LLC of which I am aware, has been associated with the following eighteen (18) different addresses over the past several decades:
 
A.        ____________, Norwood, NJ 07648 USA.
B.        ____________, Norwood, NJ 07648 USA.
C.        ____________, Norwood, NJ 07648.
D.        ____________, Old Tappan, NJ 07675 USA.
E.         ____________, Norwood, NJ 07648 USA.
F.         ____________, Norwood, NJ 07648 USA.
G.        ____________, Alpine, NJ 07620 USA.
H.        ____________, Norwood, NJ 07648 USA.
I.          ____________, Demarest, NJ 07627 USA.
J.         ____________, New Milford, NJ 07646 USA.
K.        ____________, Norwood, NJ 07648 USA.
L.         ____________, Monroe Township, NJ 08831 USA.
M.       ____________, Dayton, OH 45417 USA.
N.        ____________, Norwood, NJ 07648 USA.
O.        ____________, Piermont, NY 10968 USA.
P.         ____________, Northvale, NJ 07647 USA.
Q.        ____________, Blauvelt, NY 10913 USA.
R.        447-477 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, NY 10968 USA.
 
7. Other Jerry Polidoro Entities. Additionally and without limitation to the foregoing, I am seeking all Records relating to the following entities with which Mr. Polidoro has been associated in public-record documents. Approximate year-dates in which these entities were created or otherwise existed are indicated in parentheses next to the entity-names:
 
A. The above-referenced “Polidoro Properties LLC” of Norwood, NJ (2003).
B. “Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company” of Norwood, NJ (2013).
C. “10 Bluehill Road Limited Liability Company” of Norwood, NJ (2015).
D. “Transport Consulting Limited Liability Company” of Norwood, NJ (2015).
E. “Tri-[T]ech Builders” of Norwood, NJ (2007).
F. “Public Service Electrical Contracting Limited Liability Company” of Norwood, NJ (2014).
G. “207 River Vale Road LLC” of Norwood, NJ (2007).
 
8. The Deed, And A Map. For your convenience of reference while searching, according to a Deed for a component portion of the 447-477 Piermont Avenue property, the recent buyers and current owners of that portion of the property identified as “475 Piermont Avenue” appear to be the same “Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company” alias “Piermont Developers, LLC”, and Gerard M. (Jerry) Polidoro:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/04/piermont-new-york-meet-your-new-475.html
A map of 475 Piermont Avenue can be found here:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/475-Piermont-Ave-Piermont-NY-10968/102074354_zpid/
 
9. Time-Frame. I am researching this property back to a time-frame pre-dating the 1940s. I am therefore requesting the production of any and all Records from Year 1940 forward. At least a portion of the Site was a Sunoco Gasoline Station in the 1940s:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/04/bringing-it-on-home-sunoco-gasoline.html
 
10. Affiliates. The foregoing requests include without limitation each and every Record created, generated, materializing, or otherwise existing which reflects any communication by, to, about, or otherwise referencing in any way, the following:
 
A. Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company (the “LLC”), itself; and
B. Frank DeCarlo a/k/a Frank De Carlo, of Cresskill, New Jersey;
C. Mr. DeCarlo’s company, “FDC Contracting Co., Inc.”;
D. Another entity which also appears to be Mr. DeCarlo’s company, “FDC Development, LLC”;
E. Stephanie DeCarlo Pantale, Frank DeCarlo’s sister, who is the architect of the subject development;
F. “Collazuol Engineering and Surveying Associates, LLC”;
 
or any of its or their executives, principals, officers, managers, members, managing members, employees, contractors, attorneys, agents, representatives, or any other of their direct or indirect affiliates (collectively, “LLC Affiliates”), as well as Mr. Polidoro or any of his associates (collectively, the “Polidoro Affiliates”).
 
11. Violations Of Laws, If Any. The foregoing requests include each and every Record reflecting any “violation”, “reporting violation”, fine, penalty, or other past, present, future, or anticipated violation, breach, or other transgression – if any - of any federal, state, county, town, local, or other ordinance, rule, regulation, requirement, or other law or standard, including without limitation any violation of rules, regulations, or other laws enforced by, relating to, or otherwise concerning the following agencies and authorities:
 
Federal Agencies
-U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (USHHS).
-Office of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services (OIG).
-U.S. Department of Homeland Security (USDHS) especially but without limitation its division known as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
-Centers For Disease Control (CDC).
-Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
-Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
-National Institutes of Health (NIH).
-Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
-United States Department Of Justice (USDOJ).
-U.S. Department Of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD).
-U.S. Attorney’s Office (USATTY).
-Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI).
-U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers (USACE).
 
New York And New Jersey State Agencies
-New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP).
-New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).
-New York State Department Of Health (NYSDOH).
-New York State Department Of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC).
-Office of the New York State Governor (NYS GOV).
-New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (NYSDHSES).
-New York State Office of Emergency Management (NYSOEM).
-New York State Attorney General’s Office (NYSAG).
-New York State Department of Public Service/New York State Public Service Commission (PSC).
-New Jersey Department Of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) as well as all other New Jersey state and local agencies.
 
Rockland County, New York Agencies
-Rockland County Department Of Health (RCDOH).
-Rockland County, Office Of The County Executive (C.E.).
-The Rockland County Legislature (RCL).
-Rockland County Solid Waste Management Authority (RCSWMA).
 
Orangetown, New York Agencies
-The Town Of Orangetown, New York (OTOWN).
-Orangetown Sewer District (OSD).
 
12. Definition Of “Records”. “Records” should be construed in the broadest sense and manner possible and should include “any information kept, held, filed, produced or reproduced by, with or for (your agency or office)... in any physical form whatsoever...” (FOIL,§86[4]) including without limitation all audio recordings, blog posts, correspondence, data maintained electronically, data, e-mails, executive summaries, extracts, faxes, instant messages, Internet posts, letters, log-book entries, memos, paper records, personal messages, social media communications, spreadsheets, summaries, synopses, telephone records, test-reports, visual recordings, and any other materials:
http://www.dos.ny.gov/coog/foil2.html#s86
 
13. Headings And Subheadings. The headings and subheadings used in this letter are for convenience of reference purposes only, and should not be construed to be words of limitation or otherwise of any substantive significance relative to this FOIL request.
 
14. Costs. If there are any copying or other fees for this, please let me know what they are and how they are calculated, before filling the request and forwarding the Records to me. As this FOIL should be considered a matter of public importance, and as its results will be shared with the general public and published, I am asking that any otherwise-applicable fees be waived for this document-production. I am also asking that all documents be provided to me electronically to the full extent possible, so as to obviate the need for any photocopying expense.
 
15. Denials And Appeals. In the event that any portion of my request is denied, please inform me of each of the specific reasons for any such denial in writing - and provide me with the name, address, and other contact information of the person or entity to whom an appeal should be directed.
 
16. Additional Requests. This FOIL request is not intended to be exhaustive, and I foresee making additional and follow-up requests.
 
17. No Fundraising. I hereby certify, pursuant to NYS Public Officers Law §89(3)(a) - a/k/a NYS Freedom of Information Law or “FOIL” - regarding this FOIL request, that I will not use any lists of names and addresses provided by the Town of Orangetown in response to this FOIL request, for solicitation or fund-raising purposes; and will not sell, give, or otherwise make available such lists of names and addresses to any other person for the purpose of allowing that person to use such lists of names and addresses for solicitation or fund-raising purposes. I certify that I will not use my FOIL for any of the above-listed fund-raising purposes.
 
I will appreciate a response from you and your office as soon as possible. I look forward to hearing from you shortly. Thank you.
 
Very truly yours,

John J. Tormey III, Esq.
 
cc:
VIA FAX: 1-518-474-1927, U.S. MAIL, and E-MAIL:
coog@dos.ny.gov
NYS Committee on Open Government (COOG)
Department of State
One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Suite 650
Albany, NY 12231 USA
























Spitzer - Quit, Sir.


 

Monday, April 29, 2024

How To Access The (First) Court File.


This is a reminder of how to access the many documents already filed with the Court in Janice Young et al. v. Village of Piermont et al., (Case Number/Index No. 032252/2024, Rockland County Supreme Court, April 24, 2024) – the litigation concerning the awful proposed 14-unit residential development planned for 447-77 Piermont Avenue in Piermont, New York, intended to be built on top of the site of a defunct Sunoco Gasoline Station with underground gasoline tanks:

Step #1: Please point your browser to this New York State Unified Court System website home page:
https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/HomePage

Step #2: Then, please go to “Search as Guest” at the lower left-hand corner of the website’s home page.

Step #3: In the dialogue-box reading “Case Number” now appearing at the upper left-hand corner of the new page that opens up, please then type-in this number:
032252/2024

Step #4: Please then click on the “Search” button directly to the right of the “Case Number” dialogue-box that you just filled in.

Step #5: Please then click on the blue-underlined hotlink reading “032252/2024”, in the upper left-hand corner of the new page that opens up. You will now see a sequence of at least 52 separate blue-underlined hot-linked documents for your review, listed on the left-hand side of the page.

Additionally, each public-record document can be downloaded and saved as a “.pdf”, and then converted to “jpeg” or to a Word document as you may wish. 

Your independent observations about each of these court-filed documents will be welcome.
- - - -
To bypass the above protocol and arrive at the Court-filed documents more quickly, you can also try this link:
https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/DocumentList?docketId=RJq7nHtE18Bw8zpsaHieVw==&display=all&courtType=Rockland%20County%20Supreme%20Court&resultsPageNum=1

Thank you for your continued attention to this important matter.

John J. Tormey III, Esq.

Thursday, April 25, 2024

THIS JUST IN: The Borough Of Bergenfield, New Jersey Produces OPRA Records On LLC-Owner Jerry Polidoro.


NOTE AND UPDATE: IN ALL LIKELIHOOD IN RESPONSE TO THIS AND OTHER RELATED BLOG ENTRIES, CRAIG WEIS, ESQ. AND FRANK DECARLO (1) REINSTATED "PIERMONT DEVELOPERS LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY" FROM A 7-PLUS YEAR FILING DEFAULT, (2) THEREBY SOUGHT TO PURGE JERRY POLIDORO FROM THAT LLC'S RECORD, AND (3) CHANGED THE LLC'S ADDRESS FROM NORWOOD NJ TO HACKENSACK NJ. HOWEVER, AS LAST-KNOWN, JERRY POLIDORO STILL APPEARS ON THE DEED FOR 475 PIERMONT AVENUE IN PIERMONT NEW YORK, AS SHOWN HERE: 

You will recall that Gerard M. (Jerry) Polidoro is the last-known on-record Manager, Member, and Owner of "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company", the New Jersey LLC which the New Jersey Secretary Of State revoked into non-existence for the LLC's failure to file Annual Reports from 2017 through 2024, and the same New Jersey LLC now threatening Piermont, New York with the Ugliest Real Estate Development In The World.

Finding the correct spelling of Jerry Polidoro's name as deduced from that originally-misspelled New Jersey LLC record, led to the discovery that yet another Jerry Polidoro LLC was hammered by the New Jersey Department Of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) in 2015 for failing to clean up the toxic outflow of a former gasoline station with underground gasoline tank storage in Bergenfield, New Jersey - the former Bergen Auto location at 160 North Washington Avenue. The soil and the groundwater there were badly contaminated. You will see below that Jerry is on record as associated with that Bergenfield NJ property as far back as 2003. In 2015 Jerry Polidoro pled poverty to the NJDEP as an "excuse" for not cleaning it up. The NJDEP fined Polidoro Properties, LLC almost US$60,000 and ordered Polidoro Properties, LLC to clean it all up anyway. The real estate appears to have then changed hands in 2017.

Well, guess what? The Borough of Bergenfield, New Jersey just produced OPRA records to me today. Copies of those records are below. 

It appears that Jerry Polidoro keeps his business all in the family. (Surprised?).

None other than a "Karen [C.] Mujica Polidoro" is all over these below documents relating to the toxic clean-up of the Bergenfield site in 2015 and its aftermath. And this is the best part. Karen Mujica Polidoro is publicly-identified as a "Licensed Site Remediation Professional" - LSRP #584134 - and a Senior Project Manager for "EnviroTrac Ltd.". That's right. Karen Mujica Polidoro is someone who has handled and apparently still to this day handles toxic clean-ups for a living. She was still trying to help clean up the Bergen Auto property as late as the end of Year 2020. Query whether that is because Jerry was still on the hook for the clean-up wholly five years after the NJDEP nailed his LLC for failure to remediate. I am sure that Jerry will tell us either way.

It is not yet clear how close a contact remains between Jerry Polidoro and his apparent relative by marriage, Karen Mujica Polidoro. Eventually, maybe Jerry will tell us that, too, if he ever actually surfaces and introduces himself to the homeowners and residents of Piermont, New York who would absolutely love to meet him in person.

Yet perhaps a Karen Mujica Polidoro connection is one of the reasons why Jerry Polidoro's Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company is so keen on paving over the property at 447-477 Piermont Avenue in Piermont, New York. After all, it may be difficult to find a property in the Town of Orangetown, New York likely to be much more toxic than 447-477 Piermont Avenue. Piermont used to be a paper mill town. A Sunoco Gasoline Station with underground gasoline tanks used to sit on the site which is now 447-477 Piermont Avenue in Piermont, New York. The recent constant flooding in Piermont spreads all the stuff around. And 447-477 Piermont Avenue has been regularly used as a parking-lot for between 24 to 35 motor vehicles at a time, at least as far back as the 1990s.

It sure sounds like Jerry Polidoro and Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company have all the family help that they need, to try to circumnavigate any and all possible toxicity arising out of the Village of Piermont's development nightmare at 447-477 Piermont Avenue.

The raw documents from the Borough Of Bergenfield, New Jersey OPRA production, follow below. You are welcome to e-mail your further observations about and interpretations of these documents, to:
jtormey@optonline.net