Law Office of John J. Tormey III, Esq.
John J. Tormey III, PLLC
1636 Third Avenue, PMB 188
New York, New York 10128 USA
(212) 410-4142 (phone)
(212) 410-2380 (fax)
jtormey@optonline.net
www.tormey.org
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
USDAFOIA@USDA.gov
Alexis Graves, OIA Director
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of Information Affairs (OIA)
Room 441-E - Jamie Whitten Building - Legal Staff
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20250-2308 USA
FSIS.FOIA@USDA.gov
Dexter Johnson, FOIA Officer
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
Room 441-E - Jamie Whitten Building - Legal Staff
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20250-2308 USA
FOIASTAFF@oig.USDA.gov
Alison Decker, FOIA Officer
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of Inspector General (OIG)
Room 441-E - Jamie Whitten Building - Legal Staff
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20250-2308 USA
Eric Womack, Deputy General Counsel
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of the General Counsel (OGC)
Room 441-E - Jamie Whitten Building - Legal Staff
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20250-2308 USA
Re: City of Elizabeth, NJ (Plenary) Liquor Retail License
No.: 2004-33-227-001
Business: “Front Street Smokehouse & Saloon, Inc.” – (908) 354-1818 –
www.frontstreetsmokehouse.com
Location: One South Front Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey 07206 USA (Elizabeth
Avenue and Front Street).
Possible
Aliases: a/k/a “Lava Lounge”, f/k/a
“South Seas Bar”.
Principal: Bruce Edward Tucker, [___] Piermont Place, Piermont, New York 10968 USA.
Principal: Philip Costanza, 523 3rd Avenue, Elizabeth, New Jersey 07202
USA.
Principal: Bruce L. Kain, 1147 Debra Drive, Linden, New Jersey 07036 USA.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/552
request is hereby made that you and your offices timely provide to this, my law office, full, complete, unredacted, and otherwise unexpurgated copies of each and every document and other item of material (collectively, “Records”) which may be at all responsive to the following:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/12/piermont-mayor-bruce-tuckers-foray-into.html
www.frontstreetsmokehouse.com
6. The Location. Specifically and without
limitation to the foregoing, I am seeking all Records reflecting, referencing,
or otherwise relating to the location of One South Front Street, Elizabeth,
New Jersey 07206 USA – found, as you know, at the corner of Elizabeth
Avenue and Front Street.
7. Lava Lounge. Specifically and without
limitation to the foregoing, I am seeking all Records reflecting, referencing,
or otherwise relating to “Lava Lounge”, an apparent alias of the bar and
restaurant.
8. South Seas Bar. Specifically and without
limitation to the foregoing, I am seeking all Records reflecting, referencing,
or otherwise relating to “South Seas Bar”, the apparent prior name of a
bar at the same location.
9. Bruce Edward Tucker. Specifically and
without limitation to the foregoing, I am seeking all Records reflecting,
referencing, or otherwise relating to one Bruce Edward Tucker, [___] Piermont Place, Piermont, New York 10968 USA. You may
recognize this individual's name, as he currently serves as the Mayor of the
Village of Piermont, New York, while at one point apparently maintaining an
ownership interest in the subject bar and restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
10. Philip Costanza. Specifically and without
limitation to the foregoing, I am seeking all Records reflecting, referencing,
or otherwise relating to one Philip Costanza, 523 3rd Avenue, Elizabeth,
New Jersey 07202 USA.
11. Bruce L. Kain. Specifically and without
limitation to the foregoing, I am seeking all Records reflecting, referencing,
or otherwise relating to one Bruce L. Kain, 1147 Debra Drive, Linden,
New Jersey 07036 USA.
12. The “Smokehouse Parties” – Possible Types Of
Records. Next, for your ease of reference, I will now refer to these
following people, places, and businesses, collectively, as, simply, the
“The Smokehouse Parties”:
- Retail
Licensee No.: 2004-33-227-001.
- Front Street Smokehouse & Saloon, Inc.
- One South Front Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey 07206 USA (Elizabeth Avenue and Front Street)
- “Lava Lounge”.
- “South Seas Bar”.
- Bruce Edward Tucker, [___] Piermont Place, Piermont, New York 10968 USA.
- Philip Costanza, 523 3rd Avenue, Elizabeth, New Jersey 07202 USA.
- Bruce L. Kain, 1147 Debra Drive, Linden, New Jersey 07036 USA.
(collectively, “The Smokehouse Parties”).
I am seeking, in each case to the extent as may be
existing:
(a). Food-Related
Licenses, Permits, And Renewals. All Records reflecting, referencing, or
otherwise relating to any food-related or other licensure, licenses, permits,
or renewals of, by, for, or otherwise concerning The Smokehouse Parties or any
of them.
(b). Alcohol
Licenses, Permits, And Renewals. All Records reflecting, referencing, or
otherwise relating to any alcohol-related or other licensure, licenses,
permits, or renewals of, by, for, or otherwise concerning The Smokehouse
Parties or any of them.
(c). Applications
And Renewals. All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating to
any applications or renewals for licenses, permits, or other permissions, of, by,
for, or otherwise concerning The Smokehouse Parties or any of them – including
without limitation the applications themselves.
(d). “Retail
Licenses”, Permits, And Renewals. Specifically, all Records reflecting,
referencing, or otherwise relating to any “retail licenses”, licensure,
permits, or renewals of, by, for, or otherwise concerning The Smokehouse
Parties or any of them – including without limitation the licenses themselves.
(e). Adverse
Actions Against Licenses Or Permits. All Records reflecting, referencing,
or otherwise relating to any license, permit, or other suspensions,
cancellations, revocations, or terminations, of or otherwise concerning The
Smokehouse Parties or any of them – if any.
(f). License
Transfers. All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating to
any transfer of any retail license or other transfers of, by, for, or otherwise
concerning The Smokehouse Parties or any of them.
(g). Premises
Expansions. All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating to
any premises expansions of, by, for, or otherwise concerning The Smokehouse
Parties or any of them.
(h). Objections.
All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating to any objections to
expansions, transfers, or other proposed or completed actions by, of, for, or
otherwise concerning The Smokehouse Parties or any of them.
(i). Stock.
All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating to any “stockholding”
or stockholder information or changes thereto, of, by, for, or otherwise
concerning The Smokehouse Parties or any of them.
(j). Property
Documentation. All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating
to any property record, property title, or other property documentation of, by,
for, or otherwise concerning The Smokehouse Parties or any of them.
(k). Insurance
or Bonding Documentation. All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise
relating to any insurance or bonding documentation of, by, for, or otherwise
concerning The Smokehouse Parties or any of them.
(l). Tax
Documentation. All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating
to any tax, tax payment, tax history, tax credit, tax arrearage, tax warrant,
or other tax-related documentation of, by, for, or otherwise concerning The
Smokehouse Parties or any of them.
(m). Fee
Documentation. All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating
to any fee, fee payment, fee history, fee credit, fee arrearage, or other
fee-related documentation of, by, for, or otherwise concerning The Smokehouse
Parties or any of them.
(n). Inspections.
All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating to any inspections
of, or otherwise concerning, the subject location of One South Front Street,
Elizabeth, New Jersey 07206 USA, or otherwise relating to The Smokehouse
Parties or any of them.
(o). Incidents.
All Records - if any - reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating to any
accidents, incidents, citations, tickets, deficiencies, unsafe conditions,
hazardous conditions, other conditions, injuries, health matters, environmental
matters, or other untoward occurrences - including without limitation in
connection with any contamination, infection, food poisoning, other poisoning,
other unsanitary condition, ambulance call, EMS call, hospitalization, medical
attention, contagion, “spreader” event, epidemic, pandemic, hazardous material,
hazardous waste, sewage, garbage, sanitation, pollution, waste, or other refuse
- at the subject location of One South Front Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey
07206 USA, or otherwise relating to The Smokehouse Parties or any of
them, whether relating to food processing, preparation, storage, handling,
dressing, sale, quality-control, quality-assurance, disposal, or otherwise.
(p). Employment
And Labor Matters. All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise
relating to any other labor or employment matters of, or otherwise concerning, The
Smokehouse Parties or any of them.
(q). Complaints.
All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating to any customer, patron, consumer, or other complaints about,
concerning, or otherwise relating to The Smokehouse Parties or any of
them – if any.
(r). Proceedings.
All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating to any administrative,
legal, or other proceedings about, concerning, or otherwise relating to The
Smokehouse Parties or any of them – if any.
(s). Claims
And Litigations. All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating
to any claims, mediations, arbitrations, or litigations about, concerning, or
otherwise relating to The Smokehouse Parties or any of
them – if any.
(t). Enforcement
Actions. All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating to any enforcement
or comparable actions against, about, concerning, or otherwise relating to The
Smokehouse Parties or any of them – if any.
(u). Fines
Or Other Penalties. All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise
relating to any fines or other penalties assessed against or otherwise imposed
upon The Smokehouse Parties or any of them – if any.
(v). Violations.
All Records reflecting, referencing, or otherwise relating to any violation or
claimed violation of any other laws, statutes,
ordinances, regulations, rules, requirements, or standards by, concerning,
or otherwise relating to The Smokehouse Parties or any of
them – if any.
(w). E-Mails
And Correspondence. All Records of any e-mails, memos, notes,
correspondence, or other writings to, from, referencing, or otherwise relating
to The Smokehouse Parties or any of them.
(x). Land
Use. All Records of planning, certified plans, engineering, zoning,
applications, approvals, permits, permissions, variances, inspections, code
enforcement, compliance vel non, stop-work orders, land use, intended
land use, soil conservation, erosion, sediment control, sedimentation,
stormwater management, land disturbance, environmental concerns, building,
construction, insurance, bonding, escrows, taxation, financing, complaints, or
neighborhood opposition, including inter alia e-mails, minutes,
resolutions, and deliberative materials, relating to The Smokehouse Parties
or
any of them.
(y). All
Other Records. All other Records of any other kind or nature relating to The
Smokehouse Parties or any of them.
13. Violations Of Laws – IF Any. Specifically
and without limitation to the foregoing, I am hereby seeking, to the extent if
at all existing, each and every Record reflecting any “violation”, “reporting
violation”, or other past, present, future, or anticipated violation, breach,
or other transgression of 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 or otherwise relating to or concerning the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), Centers For Disease Control (CDC), Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry (ATSDR), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA),
National Institutes of Health (NIH), 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. 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) including without limitation its division known as
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of the New Jersey Governor
(NJ GOV), New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP), New
Jersey Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM), New Jersey Office of the
Attorney General (NJAG), New Jersey Department Of Environmental Protection
(NJDEP), your United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), New Jersey
Department of Health (NJDOH), Union County Department of Health Management
(UCDOH), City of Elizabeth New Jersey Health Department (Elizabeth Health), Union
County Utilities Authority (UCUA), New Jersey Office of the Attorney General
(NJAG), State of New Jersey, Department of Law & Public Safety, Division of
Alcoholic Beverage Control (NJABC), Municipal Board of Alcoholic Beverage
Control of the City of Elizabeth, New Jersey (Elizabeth A.B.C. Board),
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), United States Department
of Labor (USDOL), New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
(NJDOL), NJAG Division of Consumer Protection/Regulated Business Section
(DCA/OCP), State of New Jersey Department Of Banking And Insurance (NJDBI), New
Jersey Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors (NJBEEC), all other New
Jersey state and local agencies, and any other potentially-relevant authority.
14. 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, 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.
15. Headings. The headings and sub-headings for
numbered Items #1 through #18 herein are for purposes of your convenience of
reference only, and should not be construed to be words of limitation or
otherwise of any substantive significance relative to this FOIA request.
16. Costs. If there are any copying or other
fees for this, please let me know what they are and how they are calculated,
before fulfilling the request and forwarding the Records to me. As this FOIA
request should be considered a matter of public importance, and as its results
will be shared with the general public, I am asking that any
otherwise-applicable fees be waived for this production of Records. I am also
asking that all Records be provided to me electronically to the full extent
possible, so as to obviate the need for any photocopying expense.
17. 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.
18. Additional FOIA Requests. This FOIA request
is not intended to be exhaustive, and I may need to make additional or
follow-up requests.
I will appreciate a response from you and your office
as soon as possible. I look forward to hearing from you shortly.
Respectfully submitted,
John J. Tormey III, Esq.
- Front Street Smokehouse & Saloon, Inc.
- One South Front Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey 07206 USA (Elizabeth Avenue and Front Street)
- “Lava Lounge”.
- “South Seas Bar”.
- Bruce Edward Tucker, [___] Piermont Place, Piermont, New York 10968 USA.
- Philip Costanza, 523 3rd Avenue, Elizabeth, New Jersey 07202 USA.
- Bruce L. Kain, 1147 Debra Drive, Linden, New Jersey 07036 USA.
(collectively, “The Smokehouse Parties”).
John J. Tormey III, Esq.
- - - - -
EXHIBIT A – FEE WAIVER
REQUEST
Freedom Of Information Act – Fee Waiver Request
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Under 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6), 17 CFR §200.80(f)(1):
1.
I assure you and the USDA that disclosure in this case is not at all in the interest of me, the requester. 5 U.S.C. Section 552(a)(4)(iii). The disclosure will not further any commercial interest of mine. While I am an attorney in New York, I am not pursuing this matter for any client. Rather, I volunteered to assist the small Village of Piermont, New York out of my own initiative without being asked, pro bono and solely out of my own pocket, as an environmental and community advocate, watchdog, and private citizen - once I realized in April 2024 that Piermont was being threatened by a crooked village government, a corrupted mayor, over-development, and environmental harm. To date I have spent thousands of dollars out of my own hard-earned money for expenses to pursue the matter at hand, and I will not see any of it back. See, e.g., Coalition for Safe Power v. U.S. Dep't of Energy, Civ. No. 87-1380PA, slip op. at 7 (D.Or. July 22, 1988) (citing Better Gov't Ass'n v. Department of State, 780 F.2d 86, 94 (D.C. Cir. 1986)).
Therefore, the public interest in disclosure is far
greater than my non-existent commercial interest as requester under 17 CFR §
200.80(g)(12). I have no commercial interest whatsoever in this matter.
2.
I also assure you and the USDA that disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest, and disclosure will contribute significantly to operations and activities of the government, both federal and state. Again, I am in the process of exposing a corrupted local village government and local village mayor in the State of New York. The mayor is named Bruce Edward Tucker, and he had an ownership interest in the subject Elizabeth, New Jersey bar and restaurant within your USDA jurisdiction. Whenever I obtain results relating to the Piermont matter, I blog them to my own Google Blogger blog, to between 10 and 300 local Facebook pages, to Twitter/X, to BlueSky, and to Quora, at minimum. I also e-mail the blogs to individual Piermont residents, and they are approximately 2,500 in number. Examples of such blog entries are below, and many thousands of readers have viewed these entries:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
I assure you and the USDA that disclosure in this case is not at all in the interest of me, the requester. 5 U.S.C. Section 552(a)(4)(iii). The disclosure will not further any commercial interest of mine. While I am an attorney in New York, I am not pursuing this matter for any client. Rather, I volunteered to assist the small Village of Piermont, New York out of my own initiative without being asked, pro bono and solely out of my own pocket, as an environmental and community advocate, watchdog, and private citizen - once I realized in April 2024 that Piermont was being threatened by a crooked village government, a corrupted mayor, over-development, and environmental harm. To date I have spent thousands of dollars out of my own hard-earned money for expenses to pursue the matter at hand, and I will not see any of it back. See, e.g., Coalition for Safe Power v. U.S. Dep't of Energy, Civ. No. 87-1380PA, slip op. at 7 (D.Or. July 22, 1988) (citing Better Gov't Ass'n v. Department of State, 780 F.2d 86, 94 (D.C. Cir. 1986)).
I also assure you and the USDA that disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest, and disclosure will contribute significantly to operations and activities of the government, both federal and state. Again, I am in the process of exposing a corrupted local village government and local village mayor in the State of New York. The mayor is named Bruce Edward Tucker, and he had an ownership interest in the subject Elizabeth, New Jersey bar and restaurant within your USDA jurisdiction. Whenever I obtain results relating to the Piermont matter, I blog them to my own Google Blogger blog, to between 10 and 300 local Facebook pages, to Twitter/X, to BlueSky, and to Quora, at minimum. I also e-mail the blogs to individual Piermont residents, and they are approximately 2,500 in number. Examples of such blog entries are below, and many thousands of readers have viewed these entries:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com
See, e.g., Friends of the Coast Fork v. U.S. Dept. of
Interior, 110 F 3d. 53, 55 (9th Cir. 1997).
Moreover:
3.
The subject matter of the records that I requested of USDA concern the operations and activities of the federal government – namely, the manner in which your USDA interacted with and oversaw, or did not interact with and oversee, “Front Street Smokehouse & Saloon, Inc.” and Bruce Tucker on meat, poultry, and food matters.
4.
The requested records will be meaningfully informative on those operations or activities so that their disclosure will contribute to increased understanding of specific operations or activities of the government. Right now, there are 2,500 residents of Piermont, New York, many of whom are waiting to see what USDA will reply to today’s January 1, 2025 FOIA request. They read my blog and my other social media posts on a regular basis, as indicated by my Google Blogger statistics. Many of them want to know what oversight the federal government, in the form of your USDA, may or may not have exercised over Mayor Bruce Tucker’s bar and restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey. See, e.g., Better Gov't Ass'n v. Department of State, 780 F.2d 86, 88-89 (D.C. Cir. 1986); McClellan Ecological Seepage Situation v. Carlucci, 835 F.2d 1282, 1284-1286 (9th. Cir. 1987).
5.
Disclosure will contribute to the understanding of the public at large, rather than the understanding of the requester or a narrow segment of interested persons alone. My blog, for example, is worldwide, and not just limited to Piermont, New York residents:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com
How the Piermont matter resolves will be precedential with respect to every other local village government in New York State, and indeed every other local village government within the United States of America. My cause to bring out the truth about Piermont village government and Mayor Bruce Tucker’s malfeasance, has already been picked up by media, and these news outlets also transmit world-wide:
https://rocklandnews.com/unhand-piermont-mayor-bruce-tucker/
https://patch.com/new-york/nyack/discussion-continue-controversial-piermont-apartments-proposal
6.
Disclosure will contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations and activities - namely, the manner in which your USDA interacted with and oversaw, or did not interact with and oversee, “Front Street Smokehouse & Saloon, Inc.” and Piermont Mayor Bruce Tucker. The residents of Piermont, and members of the public generally, want to know and have a right to know what oversight the federal government in the form of your USDA may or may not have exercised over “Front Street Smokehouse & Saloon, Inc.” and Mayor Bruce Tucker.
In closing, I have borne the burden under FOIA of
showing that the fee waiver requirements have been met. I have provided you
substantive information relating to all of the six (6) factors to be considered
under the statute.
I am not a “Commercial Use” requester.
Respectfully submitted,
John J. Tormey III, Esq.
The subject matter of the records that I requested of USDA concern the operations and activities of the federal government – namely, the manner in which your USDA interacted with and oversaw, or did not interact with and oversee, “Front Street Smokehouse & Saloon, Inc.” and Bruce Tucker on meat, poultry, and food matters.
The requested records will be meaningfully informative on those operations or activities so that their disclosure will contribute to increased understanding of specific operations or activities of the government. Right now, there are 2,500 residents of Piermont, New York, many of whom are waiting to see what USDA will reply to today’s January 1, 2025 FOIA request. They read my blog and my other social media posts on a regular basis, as indicated by my Google Blogger statistics. Many of them want to know what oversight the federal government, in the form of your USDA, may or may not have exercised over Mayor Bruce Tucker’s bar and restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey. See, e.g., Better Gov't Ass'n v. Department of State, 780 F.2d 86, 88-89 (D.C. Cir. 1986); McClellan Ecological Seepage Situation v. Carlucci, 835 F.2d 1282, 1284-1286 (9th. Cir. 1987).
Disclosure will contribute to the understanding of the public at large, rather than the understanding of the requester or a narrow segment of interested persons alone. My blog, for example, is worldwide, and not just limited to Piermont, New York residents:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com
How the Piermont matter resolves will be precedential with respect to every other local village government in New York State, and indeed every other local village government within the United States of America. My cause to bring out the truth about Piermont village government and Mayor Bruce Tucker’s malfeasance, has already been picked up by media, and these news outlets also transmit world-wide:
https://rocklandnews.com/unhand-piermont-mayor-bruce-tucker/
https://patch.com/new-york/nyack/discussion-continue-controversial-piermont-apartments-proposal
Disclosure will contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations and activities - namely, the manner in which your USDA interacted with and oversaw, or did not interact with and oversee, “Front Street Smokehouse & Saloon, Inc.” and Piermont Mayor Bruce Tucker. The residents of Piermont, and members of the public generally, want to know and have a right to know what oversight the federal government in the form of your USDA may or may not have exercised over “Front Street Smokehouse & Saloon, Inc.” and Mayor Bruce Tucker.
John J. Tormey III, Esq.
