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
Wednesday,
April 17, 2024
VIA
U.S. MAIL and E-MAIL:
Section
Chief Deborah Harris
U.S.
Department of Justice
Environment
and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), Environmental Crimes Section
950
Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001 USA
VIA
U.S. MAIL and E-MAIL:
Assistant
Attorney General Todd Sunhwae Kim
U.S.
Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD)
950
Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington
DC, 20530-0001 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
Chief Harris and Assistant Attorney General Kim:
Thank
you for your attention to this letter. 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 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:
Piermont
is directly appurtenant to the Hudson River, as you may 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 that I believe is 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status has been revoked for seven (7) years or more by the State of New Jersey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:
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:
A
map of 475 Piermont Avenue can be found here:
I
am writing to you to therefore try to stop a potential environmental debacle-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 USDOJ
attention paid to this serious environmental and health 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. Until most of the site was
fenced-off today, 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 should also raise 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/
https://www.recordonline.com/story/news/2007/03/25/dan-spitzer-gov-s-brother/52945306007/
I
urge you and your USDOJ colleagues to please attend to this matter, and use
every possible USDOJ 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 again for your careful consideration of this letter.
Respectfully submitted,
John J. Tormey III, Esq.
