Letter To New York State Governor Kathy Hochul.
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
Thursday,
April 18, 2024
VIA
FAX: 1-518-474-3767, and U.S. MAIL
The
Honorable Kathleen C. (Kathy) Hochul - Governor of New York State
Stacy
Lynch – Chief of Staff
NYS
State Capitol Building
Albany,
NY 12224 USA
VIA
FAX: 1-518-474-3767, and U.S. MAIL
The
Honorable Antonio Delgado
Lieutenant
Governor of New York State
NYS
State Capitol Building
Albany,
NY 12224 USA
VIA
U.S. MAIL and E-MAIL:
lizamiz@rcn.com
Elizabeth
Ruth Fine, Esq. - Counsel to the Governor
New
York State Executive Chamber
633
3rd Avenue, 39th Floor
New
York, NY 10017-6706 USA
VIA
U.S. MAIL and E-MAIL:
info@kathyhochul.com
The
Honorable Kathleen C. (Kathy) Hochul
Governor
of New York State – Attn: Press Office
P.O.
Box 1463
New
York, NY 10021 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
Governor Hochul, Lieutenant Governor Delgado, Attorney Fine, and Colleagues:
Thank
you for your attention to this letter. It is my carefully-considered opinion
that this matter is appropriate for referral to your office, for the reasons
which I set forth hereinbelow upon information and belief.
What
has prompted my letter to 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 a former Sunoco gasoline station site believed to be toxic -
on a small property in the very center of the picturesque and historic Village
of Piermont, New York:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/04/bringing-it-on-home-sunoco-gasoline.html
Piermont
is directly appurtenant to the Hudson River, as you of course 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 hyphenated address,
is the fact that this location is comprised of three or four smaller plots
which were deliberately combined for the purpose of the wrongful development
activity in question.
The
developer entity threatening to build over and on top of 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 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
It
is therefore beyond comprehension to the citizens of Piermont how lightning
could be allowed to strike twice in this regard.
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/
I
am writing to you to therefore try to stop a potential environmental nightmare-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 Gubernatorial
attention paid to this serious environmental and health threat. Both the
developers and the soft Village of Piermont government thusfar appear to be
steamrollering ahead to pave over this likely-toxic site deliberately. Until
most of the site was fenced-off yesterday, the site has been 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 raises serious environmental concerns in
this context.
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 folding-girlfriend luggage infamy:
https://www.recordonline.com/story/news/2007/03/25/dan-spitzer-gov-s-brother/52945306007/
I
am asking you to please do everything lawful and appropriate stop the
development of the property at 447-477 Piermont Avenue in Piermont, New York, to
compel the environmental remediation of that site, and to cause the investigation
of the Piermont Village Planning Board and Piermont Zoning Board of Appeals for
its participation in and facilitation of this toxic nightmare. I urge you and
your colleagues to please attend to this matter, and use every possible and
available resource to protect the residents of 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 for your careful consideration of this letter.
Respectfully submitted,
John J. Tormey III, Esq.
