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
URGENT
Monday, April 15, 2024
VIA FAX: 1-212-680-3681, U.S. MAIL, and E-MAIL:
FEMA-R2-ExternalAffairs@fema.dhs.gov
David Warrington, Regional Administrator, FEMA Region II
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a division of the United
States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
26 Federal Plaza, Suite 1307
New York, NY 10278-0001 USA
VIA U.S. MAIL and E-MAIL:
fema-newsdeskpr@fema.dhs.gov
Deanne Criswell, FEMA Administrator
Office of the Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
a division of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Federal Center Plaza
500 C Street SW
Washington, DC 20024 USA
VIA U.S. MAIL
Federal Emergency Management Agency
FEMA National Processing Service Center
P.O. Box 10055, Hyattsville MD 20782-7055
Hyattsville, MD 20782-8055 USA
Re: The
Regularly-Occurring Flooding Of Piermont, New York, In Rockland County
The
Dangerous Safety Conditions And Substantial Property Damage Regularly Thereby
Caused
Dear Administrator Criswell, Regional Administrator Warrington, and
Colleagues:
What has
triggered my letter to you this evening are the unsavory activities of a real
estate developer and its individual associates, seeking to place a behemoth and
overstuffed 14-unit residential building - while at the same time paving-over what
is believed to be a toxic former gasoline station site on a small property - in
the very center of the beautiful and historic Village of Piermont, New York, in
the Hudson Valley. Piermont is directly appurtenant to the Hudson River, as you
likely know.
However, I
believe that your offices are already well-aware of the seemingly-constant
flooding in Piermont in recent months particularly, that threatens to destroy
this Village. At least the Mayor of the Village told me that you are aware of
it, anyway.
Some Piermont
residents have already commenced plans and/or sought approval to raze their
homes and rebuild them on stilts, because of these regularly-occurring flooding
disasters – as if in Malibu.
The developer
entity that I believe is threatening to incrementally and dramatically increase
the flooding of Piermont, New York thereby, is known as “Piermont Developers
Limited Liability Company”, a New Jersey “LLC” whose status has been revoked for
seven (7) years or more by the State of New Jersey for failing to file and pay
its Annual Report. The last-known Manager, Member, and Managing Member of “Piermont
Developers Limited Liability Company” 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
I am writing
to you to therefore try to stop a potential environmental catastrophe-in-the-making
which is unfolding before my eyes and the eyes of the people of the Village. At
minimum, the residents of the Village of Piermont need immediate FEMA
attention paid to the tremendous flooding, as there must be some available
solution such as adding landfill and drainage. Unless the flooding problem is
fixed immediately, innocent people could be hurt and even die, especially children,
the elderly, and the infirm.
Additionally,
the potential disaster is exacerbated because this real estate developer, “Piermont
Developers Limited Liability Company”, is about to make the Piermont flooding
problems much worse, by inter alia substantially subtracting from the
Piermont soil and natural terrain that would otherwise facilitate drainage, while
in all likelihood substantially increasing run-off as well, thereby further
flooding the village. FEMA cannot allow development to happen when it threatens
to drown out the Village’s residents.
I urge you
and your colleagues to visit Piermont, New York immediately - attend to this
nightmare-in-the-making - and use every possible resource of the federal
government including the good works of your colleagues in the United States
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to protect the Americans who live in the
Village.
The people of
the Village of Piermont need you, and the people of the Village are counting
on you.
Thank you for
your careful consideration to this letter.
Very truly
yours,
John J.
Tormey III, Esq.
cc:
VIA U.S.
MAIL and E-MAIL:
erik.hooks@fema.dhs.gov
Erik A. Hooks, Deputy Administrator
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a division
of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Federal Center Plaza, 500 C Street SW
Washington, DC 20024 USA
VIA U.S.
MAIL and E-MAIL:
michael.coenjr@fema.dhs.gov
Michael A. Coen, Jr. - Chief of Staff
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a division
of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Federal Center Plaza, 500 C Street SW
Washington, DC 20024 USA
VIA U.S. MAIL and E-MAIL:
jenna.peters@fema.dhs.gov
Jenna Peters, Deputy Chief of Staff
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a division
of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Federal Center Plaza, 500 C Street SW
Washington, DC 20024 USA
VIA U.S.
MAIL and E-MAIL:
jeffery.afman@fema.dhs.gov
Jeffrey Afman, Director, Intelligence and Threat
Analysis
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a division
of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Federal Center Plaza, 500 C Street SW
Washington, DC 20024 USA
VIA U.S.
MAIL and E-MAIL:
malia.collins@fema.dhs.gov
Malia Collins, Deputy Director (Acting), Intelligence
and Threat Analysis
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a division
of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Federal Center Plaza, 500 C Street SW
Washington, DC 20024 USA
