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)
URGENT
Tuesday,
April 16, 2024
VIA
FAX: 1-518-357-2291 (1-518-402-8830), U.S. MAIL, and E-MAIL:
Karen
Przyklek, Director
Division
of Law Enforcement
New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)
625
Broadway
Albany,
NY 12233 USA
VIA
FAX: 1-518-402-8541, and U.S. MAIL
Sean
Mahar, Interim Commissioner - and Erica Ringewald, Chief of Staff
Office
of the Commissioner
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233 USA
VIA FAX: 1-518-402-9018, U.S. MAIL, and E-MAIL:
Thomas (Tom) Berkman, Esq. - Deputy Commissioner and
General Counsel
Office of General Counsel, Environmental Permits,
Internal Audit, Internal Investigations
New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)
625
Broadway
Albany,
NY 12233 USA
VIA
FAX: 1-518-402-9016, U.S. MAIL, and E-MAIL:
Patrick
Foster, Deputy Commissioner
Office
of Remediation and Materials Management
New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)
625
Broadway
Albany,
NY 12233 USA
VIA
FAX: 1-518-402-9016, U.S. MAIL and E-MAIL:
Maureen
Wren, Deputy Commissioner
Office
of Communication Services, Press Office, Constituent Relations (DEC Press
Office)
New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)
625
Broadway
Albany,
NY 12233 USA
Re:
The Deliberate Paving-Over Of A Former Sunoco Gasoline Station And Suspected Toxic Site
Location: 447-477 Piermont
Avenue, Piermont, New York, 10968 USA
Dear
Director Przyklek, Interim Commissioner
Mahar, Chief of Staff Ringewald, Deputy Commissioner Berkman, and Deputy Commissioner
Wren:
I
write to you as a group for now, because it is not yet manifest as to which particular
individual and particular office would assert jurisdiction over this matter.
However, an external threat like this would I am sure be considered a threat by
all of you. It is my carefully-considered opinion that this matter is ripe for pursuit by your offices as a criminal one, for the reasons which I set forth hereinbelow upon information and belief.
What
has triggered my letter to each of you today are the unsavory activities of a New
Jersey real estate developer and its individual associates, seeking to place a
behemoth, overstuffed 14-unit residential building - while at the same time
potentially paving-over what is currently 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. The location of
the property at issue is 447-477 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, New York, 10968
USA. My understanding is that the reason for the hyphenate address, is the
fact that this location is comprised of three or four smaller plots which were
deliberately combined for the purpose of the development activity in question.
The
developer entity that I believe is threatening to build over this potentially
toxic site is known as “Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company” alias
“Piermont Developers, LLC”, 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 Reports. 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 your ancestral counterparts at 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:
According
to a Deed which I just reviewed for a 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:
I
am writing to you to therefore try to stop a potential environmental calamity-in-the-making
which is unfolding before my eyes and the eyes of the people of the Village of
Piermont. At minimum, the residents of the Village of Piermont need immediate NYSDEC
attention paid to this environmental threat. The reason that, in my opinion, I believe this matter is ripe for pursuit by your offices as a
criminal one, is because both the developers and the soft Village of
Piermont government thusfar appear to be steamrollering ahead to pave over this
likely-toxic site deliberately:
The site is currently being used as a parking
lot for about 24 to 35 cars at a time, and has been used as such from at least as far
back as the 1990s – which alone should also raise serious environmental
concerns.
While
I do not believe that politics should play a part in anything like this, you actually
should be made aware in this case, to the extent you are not already aware,
that the Chair of the Village of Piermont Planning Board is one Daniel Spitzer,
brother of disgraced former New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer of “Client
9”, black socks, and hotel girlfriend luggage infamy. Being that most if not
all of you are in Albany, this is something worthy of note, particularly:
I
urge you and your colleagues to please visit Piermont, New York immediately -
attend to this potential cataclysm-in-the-making - and use every possible
resource of the New York State government to protect the New Yorkers who live
in the Village of Piermont, New York. The people of the Village need you, and
the people of the Village are counting on you.
Thank
you, each of you, for your careful consideration of this letter.
Respectfully submitted, and Excelsior,
John J. Tormey III, Esq.
