Unhand Piermont!: Audit Piermont Hose!

Law Office of John J. Tormey III, Esq.
John J. Tormey III, PLLC
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Monday, September 8, 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: NEW FINDING: The Ongoing Audit Of Piermont, New York And Outgoing Mayor Bruce Tucker

Dear Ms. Crisafulli, and OSC Colleagues:

As a resident of Orangetown, New York, I continue to be very grateful to you and all your OSC colleagues - for your collective hard work on the Risk Assessment, and for the ongoing Audit of the Village of Piermont New York and outgoing Mayor Bruce Tucker.

As you know, pursuant to FOIL, OSC recently furnished to me, inter alia, the Village of Piermont “A/P Cash Disbursements Journal” for 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 (herein, “Piermont Check Registers”). I had never seen these documents previously - and I am certain that most Piermont residents had never seen these documents before, either. Mayor Bruce Tucker certainly never posted these documents to the “transparent” Piermont village website previously.

Upon careful examination, it is shocking that the Piermont Check Registers reveal the following Year 2023 and Year 2024 activity in connection with the following two individuals:

1. Daniel Goswick Jr. - 05 22 24 - $535.57
(Credit: Unexplained “Bill”).

2. Daniel Goswick Jr. - 08 14 24 - $535.57

(Debit: Unexplained “Bill Pmt.”).

3. Michael Bettman, Jr. - 08 15 23 - $175
(Credit: “Eyeglass Reimb.”, “Bill”, “Bill Pmt.”).

4. Michael Bettman, Jr. - 09 10 24 - $197
(Credit: “Eyeglass Reimb.”, “Bill”, “Bill Pmt.”).

The “Eyeglass Reimb.” reference alone suggests that Mr. Bettman may maintain some work or official role with or in connection with the Village of Piermont. Indeed, the surnames “Goswick”, “Bettman”, and “Kropp” (see below) appear, as of today, on a publicly-posted Piermont Fire Department page, and it is possible that the “Goswick” and “Bettman” references correspond to the two recipients of the above-noted payments:

https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/09/httpspiermontfd13.html
https://piermontfd13.com/members/

Although I realize that the subject events cited to you below occurred well prior to the pending OSC Piermont audit period, and perhaps even well prior to the commencement of each of your own respective tenures with OSC - the names “Daniel (Danny) Goswick Jr.” and “Michael Bettman(, Jr.)” are already well-known to Piermont residents, to local Rockland County and New York City media, and to the public record. As you will see in the below previously-published links to various news sources, these two individuals along with an individual named “Sam Kropp” were named as defendants in civil litigation filed with the United States District Court, Southern District of New York (Bernstein v. Village of Piermont, Civil Complaint, 11 Civ. 3677 (SDNY 2011, J. Karas); see also Bernstein v. Village of Piermont, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180392, Bernstein v. Village of Piermont, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151004), Village of Piermont v. American Alternative Insurance Corporation, 151 F. Supp. 3d 438, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169475 (SDNY 2015):

https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/09/bernstein-v-piermont-2012-us-dist-lexis.html
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/09/bernstein-v-piermont-2013-us-dist-lexis.html

https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/09/village-of-piermont-v-american.html

https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/09/httpspiermontfd13.html

https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/09/exclusive-new-york-state-comptroller.html

https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/09/exclusive-new-york-state-comptroller_32.html

The three individual defendants were therein alleged to have engaged in a pedophilic hazing ritual in which they restrained, battered, and forcibly sodomized a young firefighter volunteer.

To the extent that your OSC Audit materials furnished to me via FOIL indicate or suggest that either of these two individuals or third individual defendant “Sam Kropp” maintain any current connection to Piermont village government, assuming the veracity of the federal court allegations filed with SDNY by plaintiff-side counsel pursuant to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and assuming the veracity of statements made by the minor plaintiff’s father to the press - then that would suggest severe lack of judgment, conflict of interest, and indeed base corruption on the part of that selfsame Piermont village government. Piermont village government enables and maintains control over the Piermont Fire Department alias “Empire Hose Co. No. 1”. The gruesome details of the ritualistic Piermont Fire Department sexual abuse perpetrated upon the minor volunteer firefighter, are cited at these below previously-published links. The details are not for the faint of heart:
https://patch.com/new-york/nyack/orangeburg-man-my-son-was-sodomized-as-part-of-piermo3a8b6170ec
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2025/09/exclusive-new-york-state-comptroller.html
https://patch.com/new-york/nyack/fire-coordinator-hazing-not-tolerated-at-rockland-fire-houses
https://www.firelawblog.com/2011/06/09/ny-suit-alleges-sodomy-hazing-induction-in-fire-department/
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/cbs-2-exclusive-marc-bernstein-speaks-out-about-sons-alleged-sex-assault-in-rockland-county-firehouse/
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/firefighters-to-face-rockland-judge-after-alleged-hazing-of-teen-volunteer/
https://gothamist.com/news/firefighters-gone-wild-volunteer-fire-dept-accused-of-homosexual-hazing
https://nyacknewsandviews.com/blog/2011/06/piermont_fd_sexual_assault/
https://nypost.com/2011/06/09/teen-says-firemen-the-depravest/
https://www.courthousenews.com/fire-department-accused-of-forcible-sodomy/
https://mdafny.com/global_pictures/MUNICIPAL_LAW_UPDATE_WINTER_2014__-_VOLUME_35.pdf
https://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2011/06/10/fire-dept-accused-sexual-abuse
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/theerant/piermont-vol-fd-rockland-members-charged-with-sodo-t41934.html
https://www.dreamindemon.com/community/threads/lawsuit-firefighters-forced-teen-volunteer-to-fondle-genitals-during-hazing.46924/
https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/almID/1202625054353/

True, no one in the Town of Orangetown would ever expect OSC to function as a de facto Special Victims Unit with respect to a decade-and-a-half old series of offenses. However, it would be absolutely unacceptable if any individuals culpable of the sexual abuse of a minor derived - much less continued to derive - any profit or other advantage from the Village of Piermont given this sordid and disgusting history. Therefore, I am respectfully requesting that the following steps be taken, to the extent that OSC may have not done so already:

(1). Investigation. A complete OSC inquiry and investigation should be made, as part of the pending Audit, into the four above-cited specific journal entries in the Piermont Check Registers; and

(2). Findings Of Fact. A complete textual explanation of the findings of fact resulting from that specific inquiry and investigation should be explicitly rendered in any issued OSC Audit Report arising out of the currently pending and ongoing plenary OSC Audit of the Village of Piermont and outgoing Mayor Bruce Tucker.

In my view, the residents of Piermont deserve to know where their money is going, and particularly, whether and why any of their money is paid out to any known on-record sex abusers of a minor.

I am not asking that you re-litigate. But I am asking that you please find out the truth and fold it into your OSC Audit Report.

Thank you, this time in particular, for your careful consideration of this newly-discovered and painfully-difficult matter.

Very truly yours,

John J. Tormey III, Esq.

cc:
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