"Audits Are A Girl's Best Friend".

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
https://www.tormey.org
 
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
 
VIA FAX: 1-518-473-9104, U.S. MAIL, and E-MAIL:
lcrisafulli@osc.ny.gov
Laura M. Crisafulli, Esq. - Assistant Counsel
State of New York, Office of the State Comptroller (OSC)

Division Of Legal Services
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli
110 State Street, 14^th Floor
Albany, New York  12236  USA
 
Re:      

The Ongoing Audit Of Piermont, New York And Outgoing Mayor Bruce Tucker
Chairperson and VP Dan Sherman - “Dan Sherman Landscape Architect”
 
Dear Ms. Crisafulli, and OSC Colleagues:
 
As you know from my prior correspondence, as a concerned Town of Orangetown resident, I very much appreciate the fact that OSC is proceeding to audit the Village of Piermont and outgoing Mayor Bruce Tucker. I also appreciate the massive document-production of OSC Records which OSC furnished me several days ago pursuant to FOIL – thank you.
 
As I am sure that you have done already as well, I have since scoured the so-produced Mayor Bruce Tucker’s Village of Piermont “Cash Disbursements” logs (the “Check Logs”) - that is, the Check Log for 2023-2024 (65 pages):
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/08/new-york-state-comptroller-releases_1.html
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/08/curious-yellow-part-1.html
 
…and, the Check Log for 2024-2025 (interestingly, a more modest 54 pages):
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/08/new-york-state-comptroller-releases.html
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/08/curious-yellow-part-2-2024-2025.html
 
I specifically focused on individuals or companies that may be physically located within the 2,500-person Village of Piermont, or otherwise bear a connection to lame-duck Mayor Bruce Tucker or Piermont Village Hall government. I found a number of them in the Check Logs. Naturally I question whether these particular debits were generated out of appropriate procurement practices such as competitive bidding between multiple prospective vendors. After all, to say that Mayor Bruce Tucker’s Village of Piermont government has operated on the basis of inbred cronyism and the spoils system of patronage and token economy, would be a vast understatement. Tucker’s management “style” would best be described as “Tammany-on-the-Hudson”.
 
My understanding is that Piermont’s annual budget is US$7,000,000+. Through that lens, there are many payments in the Piermont Check Logs which appear excessive or otherwise questionable, as I am sure that you have noted too.
 
Yet one subject-matter category that struck me as particularly outrageous, is landscaping.
 
According to the Check Logs, Bruce Tucker’s Village of Piermont government-incurred taxpayer-payable landscaping debt was at least US$111,749.75 in 2023-2024 – then, that dollar figure more than tripled to at least US$351,043.18 in 2024-2025. That last debit figure appears to be about 5% of Piermont’s annual budget, and over a whopping 8% of Bruce Tucker’s journaled total Cash Disbursements for 2024-2025.
 
However, in my opinion, even more of a concern should be the role of one Dan Sherman of Piermont:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/08/dan-sherman-chairman-and-vice-president.html

Dan Sherman apparently billed the Village of Piermont in the following amounts, most or all of which appear to have been landscaping-related charges that he assessed:
                       

US$587.98 Debit: 

Dan Sherman (2023-2024).

US$19,600.00 Debit: 

Dan Sherman “Landscape Architect” (2023-2024).

US$983.68 Debit: 

Dan Sherman (2024-2025).

US$4,325.00 Debit: 

Dan Sherman “Landscape Architect” (2024-2025).

US$ 25,496.66 (TOTAL)

Here is the corresponding Dan Sherman excerpt from the 2023-2024 Check Log:

... And here is the corresponding Dan Sherman excerpt from the 2024-2025 Check Log:

When considering the twenty-five grand+ that Dan Sherman billed the Village of Piermont over the two-year period, it should be noted that Dan Sherman also maintains at least two official roles in connection with the Village of Piermont or its government. Dan Sherman serves as the Chairperson of the Piermont Parks Commission (PPC), a village commission in Piermont responsible for advising Bruce Tucker’s Piermont Village Board on matters related to park development and beautification:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/08/dan-sherman-chairman-piermont-parks.html

Dan Sherman also serves as Vice-President of the Piermont Historical Society (PHS):
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/08/dan-sherman-vice-president-piermont.html
Piermont Historical Society is a non-profit entity seeking to maintain the history and heritage of Piermont - working hand-in-hand with Mayor Bruce Tucker as an instrumentality of Piermont Village government.

At minimum, and to the extent that OSC may have not done so already, I believe that an inquiry should be made as to: (A) whether, in either of his official roles noted above, Dan Sherman may or could have steered the Village of Piermont in a direction that could have resulted in the enhancement of his bank account as “Dan Sherman Landscape Architect” or individually – and (B) the degree to which outgoing Piermont Mayor Bruce Tucker or others in Piermont Village Government may have been complicit in any such arrangement if occurring. The above degree of inter-connectedness simply does not look right to an outside observer. Was that US$25,496.66 earned appropriately?
 
For example, during the period of time from 2023 to 2025, did any Piermont Parks or Piermont Historical Society decisions or actions, involve landscaping? If so, did Dan Sherman recuse himself in advance from any such decisions or actions? If so, was recusal alone an adequate response - or alternatively, should Dan Sherman simply have forgone the US$25,496.66 in billings instead? While true, I cannot speak for the Piermont residents, I am nevertheless certain that many of them must now have these same questions in mind.
 
While I suppose it is possible on the other hand that all landscaping charges during this 2023-to-2025 time-period were properly-invoiced as arms-length transactions pursuant to proper and appropriate procurement practices fully-consistent with the Piermont Code of Ethics and applicable law – on the other hand, Piermont is a small 2,500-person village in New York State which, according to its own financial records yet to be fully audited, just blew almost half a million dollars on landscaping alone during a brief two-year time-period.
 
On that same note, in late June of this year, I received several harassing phone calls from Dan Sherman’s spouse. One of the disparaging voicemails that Dan Sherman’s spouse left for me, sought to glean information from me and, as I interpreted it, also sought to disrupt or stop the forward progress of my research and publication of Piermont government malfeasance. The caller did not leave his name. Yet my Caller ID clearly identified the caller by his “845” area-code phone number as Dan Sherman’s spouse:

https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/miracle-of-miracles-sunrise-sunset-gets-a-gay-makeover/
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/07/photos-new-yorks-first-gay-married-couples/353203/
 
Once I researched the caller and learned that he profiles himself as a professional Carol Channing impersonator (no, I kid you not), I then took the malicious phone calls a lot less seriously - although I did then wonder why Dan Sherman’s spouse did not instead elect to phone me in character:
https://cabaretscenes.org/2019/07/23/richard-skipper-theres-nothing-like-this-minute/
 
However, and all joking aside, what I do think should be considered by OSC, is whether these phone calls of late June from Dan Sherman’s spouse to me were triggered by or otherwise connected to the OSC audit or perhaps the perceived imminence thereof. I have received no such similar calls since it became publicly-known that the Piermont audit is ongoing and the Piermont Check Logs were released by OSC – and Dan Sherman likely already knows that his name and the name of his landscaping company both appear in the Mayor Bruce Tucker Village of Piermont Check Logs. That said, hopefully no one has called any of you and sung “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” into your voicemail lately.

Finally, for now, although I know that you have this data already, below are the landscaping-related charges that I could discern from Bruce Tucker’s Piermont Check Logs:
 
2023-2024
Arbor Hill: US$1,500
Dan Sherman: US$587.98
Dan Sherman Landscape Architect: US$19,600
Guardia Landscape & Masonry: US$62,401
Jane Kim (planters): US$894.77
Sarvis Tree: US$8,600
Yaboo Fence: US$18,166
US$111,749.75 (TOTAL)
 
2024-2025
Arbor Hill: US$900
Belleville: US$202,605
Dan Sherman: US$983.68
Dan Sherman Landscape Architect: US$4,325
Guardia Landscape & Masonry: US$111,980
Sarvis Tree: US$28,950
W.G. Lawn: US$600
Yaboo Fence: US$699.50

US$351,043.18 (TOTAL)
 
Thank you, all, for your continued attention to this matter.
 
Very truly yours,

John J. Tormey III, Esq.
Resident of the Town of Orangetown, New York

cc:
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Matthew P. (Matt) Colangelo
State of New York, Office of the State Comptroller (OSC)
Division of Local Government & School Accountability
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli
33 Airport Center Drive - Newburgh Regional Office
New Windsor, New York  12553  USA
 
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New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli
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State of New York, Office of the State Comptroller (OSC)
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli
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New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli
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New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli
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New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli
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