Law Office of John J. Tormey
III, Esq.
John J. Tormey III, PLLC
1578 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, June 10, 2026
VIA FAX: 1-914-422-8706, U.S. MAIL, and E-MAIL:
nysag@ag.ny.gov
Letitia James, Attorney General
Office of the New York State Attorney General
The Capitol
Albany, New York 12224-0341 USA
VIA U.S. MAIL, and
E-MAIL:
anna.brower@ag.ny.gov
Anna Brower,
Chief Of Staff
Office of the
New York State Attorney General
28 Liberty Street, Floor 16
New York, New York 10005 USA
VIA U.S. MAIL and E-MAIL:
aida.vernon@ag.ny.gov
Aida Vernon, Esq. -
Assistant Attorney General
Public Integrity Bureau
28 Liberty Street, Floor 16
New York, New York 10005 USA
Re:
Anti-Semitism Within The
Piermont Democratic Committee (PDC)
The Village of Piermont, New
York – Rockland County, New York
Ms. Marthe Schulwolf, PDC
Member And PDC Candidate For Re-Election
Dear Ms. Vernon, Chief of
Staff Brower, and Attorney General James:
As I believe each of you
will recall, I am an attorney and reside in the Town of Orangetown, New York.
As I believe you will also recall, I have contacted you in the past with disquieting
findings regarding the Village of Piermont, located in the Town of Orangetown
and Rockland County, New York. My understanding is that Village of Piermont
government is still under New York State Comptroller Audit and law-enforcement
investigation relating to Piermont’s finances, as of this day. Yet this new discovery
came as a surprise. I will explain.
Below-linked is a full
transcript (“Transcript”) of the Piermont Democratic Committee (PDC) Candidate
Forum called “Meet the Committee Candidates”, held last Thursday, June 4, 2026
(the “Forum”):
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2026/06/full-pdc-transcript-thursday-june-4.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Eya_AhJads
The Forum was held because,
for the first time in memory of many Piermont residents, there is a contested
choice between 7 PDC candidates for 4 openings on the PDC.
When reviewing the
Transcript, I was appalled to discover blatantly antisemitic remarks made by
one Marthe Schulwolf. Marthe Schulwolf is a current member of the Piermont
Democratic Committee and is seeking to remain on the PDC. Although some other
remarks in the Transcript you will find to be ageist, sexist, and otherwise
offensive - here is Marthe Schulwolf’s specific hate-speech in question and the
reason for my letter to you today:- - - - -
“Marthe Schulwolf: … But let me just
say this. At the town and county level, what hurts us, what sometimes kills us…
is that we have a severe... distortion in Rockland County politics. We have the
town of Ramapo, and… also Haverstraw to a degree, where you have the
Ultra-Orthodox voting blocs. Register as Democrats, they put Democrats in the
County Legislature so they can control the majority and be the majority, and
then they vote, exclusively, to a like 90, 95% for Trump and Lawler. And they
also are, of course… very authoritarian, structured, cultish societies that do
what the rabbis tell them to do. Their values are far more in tune with the
Republican Party. They don’t believe in gender or racial equality. And the fact
that they control the local… they have taken over the Rockland County
Democratic Party. We have worked very hard in Orangetown, and we hope that this
Fall we can take it back. They did get one of their people to become the
Democratic Commissioner of Elections. Hopefully she’s following the law. She is
the daughter of the…
John J. Tormey III, PLLC
1578 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
nysag@ag.ny.gov
Letitia James, Attorney General
Office of the New York State Attorney General
The Capitol
Albany, New York 12224-0341 USA
anna.brower@ag.ny.gov
Anna Brower, Chief Of Staff
Office of the New York State Attorney General
28 Liberty Street, Floor 16
New York, New York 10005 USA
aida.vernon@ag.ny.gov
Aida Vernon, Esq. - Assistant Attorney General
Public Integrity Bureau
28 Liberty Street, Floor 16
New York, New York 10005 USA
Anti-Semitism Within The Piermont Democratic Committee (PDC)
The Village of Piermont, New York – Rockland County, New York
Ms. Marthe Schulwolf, PDC Member And PDC Candidate For Re-Election
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2026/06/full-pdc-transcript-thursday-june-4.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Eya_AhJads
[Moderator] Chris Sanders: Time.
Marthe Schulwolf: Ramapo Chair…
[Moderator] Chris Sanders: Time, Marthe.
Marthe Schulwolf: …who is an ultra-Orthodox.
[Moderator] Chris Sanders: Thank you.
Marthe Schulwolf: Severe problem.”
[Bold-face emphasis added].
Piermont Democratic Committee (PDC) Candidate Forum.
“Meet the Committee Candidates”, June 4, 2026:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2026/06/full-pdc-transcript-thursday-june-4.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Eya_AhJads
Time-Code: [01:04:06,960 et seq.]
- - - - -
I know not what Marthe
Schulwolf’s own religious, ethnic, or cultural background may be, but it does
not matter here. After all, she expressly excluded herself from the calculation of “they” and “their people” when referring to “Ultra-Orthodox”[her words]. She spoke as a member of the Piermont Democratic Committee, ostensibly
for your own Democratic Party generally, and as a candidate for renewed public
office as a public official in New York State. Even in the heat of a political contest, Marthe Schulwolf had absolutely no right to willfully and
intentionally disparage the “Ultra-Orthodox”[her words] as “cultish
societies that do what the rabbis tell them to do”, and “who don’t believe in
gender or racial equality”. Her reference to “one of their people” was
similarly repugnant and wholly dissonant with respect to traditional Democratic
Party principles. I am surprised that not one Piermont resident in the room
stopped Marthe Schulwolf, or apparently even sought to stop her, as she was
making these loathsome comments. Perhaps they were all too shocked by Schulwolf’s comments to do so.
In any event, Marthe
Schulwolf had no right to demean, degrade, and disparage an entire group of
people, an entire class of people – my own neighbors in Rockland County - particularly
for the purposes of her own self-serving political benefit. Her intolerant
comments made in that setting violate the U.S. Constitution, the New York State
Constitution, and, I have to believe, federal and state civil rights laws as
well.
250 years ago this country
was founded by those seeking free exercise of religion. I was born the son of
two New York City artists in show business who remained life-long Democrats,
and raised me in the spirit of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Dr. Martin
Luther King. My father was U.S. Army crypto and intel. JFK was his
Commander-in-Chief. Years later, JFK Jr. and I became schoolmates in Manhattan.
The Democratic Party that I grew up knowing, always purported to stand for
equality and non-discrimination. Those values should be restored in 2026. I am
asking that your office of the New York State Attorney General please commence
a plenary investigation of the so-called “Piermont Democratic Committee” and an
investigation of Ms. Marthe Schulwolf individually, given Ms. Schulwolf’s
wholly-wrongful and repulsive remarks publicly-made as a member of the Piermont
Democratic Committee.
Thank you for your consideration
of this matter.
Respectfully submitted,
John J. Tormey III, Esq.
Thank you for your consideration
of this matter.
Respectfully submitted,
John J. Tormey III, Esq.
