Phil... Craig... BUDDIES.

It's right there in public view on the Internet. Hiding in plain sight:

https://cms9files1.revize.com/piermont/document_center/Department/Planning%20&%20Zoning%20Board/Planning%20Board/Plan_Board_Documents/2022/5-9-22/Piermont%20Developers%20LLC%20Package.pdf

Sure, it's an ugly Internet URL and link - just like the ugliness of the 2019 signed and countersigned document below constituting the above-linked ".pdf" 19th page (or 14th page) - and just like the ugliness of the 14-unit excrescence which Piermont Developers "Limited Liability Company" seeks to cram-down on the residents of Piermont, New York under the guise of a "real estate development".

But look at the bright side. The above-linked full 26-page ".pdf" is tagged and titled as "Piermont Developers LLC Package" - so at least you're not forced to look at their Package, right?

Yet maybe you collect autographs. Maybe you are a Village historian. Maybe you are a homeowner who likes to see how your property tax dollars are being spent. And maybe you really want to have an answer ready, the next time that some "Friend Of Phil" in the Village of Piermont tries to suggest to you that, "Oh, Phil is OUT of it. Phil has nothing to do with that new 14-unit development placed right directly in the center of town".

In the words of Jim Gosger - "Yeah, Sure..."

In this letter, Craig R. Weis[,] Esq. appears to script words for Phil Griffin and "memorialize" Phil's consent, perhaps from an immediately-prior phone conversation or an in-person meeting between the two.  

 
In this letter, Craig R. Weis[,] Esq. also repeatedly references a revoked and therefore fictitious limited liability company which Weis calls "Piermont Developers, LLC", a non-entity entity which as we already know did not actually exist in the State of New Jersey from Year 2017 through Year 2024, and therefore could not possibly have existed as such at any time in Year 2019:

https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/04/piermont-developers-llc-does-not-even.html

In this letter Craig R. Weis[,] Esq. also memorializes what Weis characterizes as Phil's consent to the imaginary LLC's application to rezone the subject land at 447-477 Piermont Avenue in Piermont, New York.

In this letter Craig R. Weis[,] Esq. also memorializes what Weis characterizes as Phil's consent to the imaginary LLC's application to obtain site plan approval of the subject land at 447-477 Piermont Avenue in Piermont, New York.

In this letter Craig R. Weis[,] Esq. also memorializes what Weis characterizes as Phil's authorization for the imaginary LLC or its rep to appear before the Piermont Planning Board or other body "as necessary for an approval process". That's collaboration.

So why does Weis need Phil's signature on this letter so badly? Because a statutory provision in New York law commonly considered as a component-part of the so-called "Statute Of Frauds", requires that a conveyance of an interest in real estate must be memorialized in a writing signed ("subscribed") by the person against whom the obligation is to be charged. If you prefer the Albany-speak, then, here:

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GOB/5-703

Therefore, finally, in this letter - now clearly far more contract than correspondence - Craig R. Weis[,] Esq. asks Phil to counter-execute the document indicating Phil's acknowledgment of all these things, so that Craig's client may "proceed accordingly". 

 

And guess what? 

Does Phil reject this letter, presumptively and presumptuously sent to Phil with Phil's own full name already preprinted under the signature-line? Does Phil tell Weis to go scratch - while thereby defending his likely-unsuspecting Piermont neighbors and the integrity of their own homes and their beautiful and historic town?

No. Phil does not. 

Rather, Phil countersigns the letter agreement. Dutifully. As instructed by Jersey counsel touting a phantom LLC.

Phil then returns the countersigned letter agreement as Craig has asked him to do - so that the firm of Zarin and Steinmetz can then and thereby attach that same Phil-countersigned document as an Exhibit to a November 9, 2021 Zoning petition submitted to the Mayor and the Members of the Village "Board Of Trustees".

And with a stroke of his pen, Phil washes his hands of the Village, washes his hands of his neighbors, and thereby relegates the Village of Piermont, New York to what soon thereafter becomes the Ugliest Real Estate Development In The World.

Phil.

Craig.

BUDDIES.

- - - - -

Here is the Word scan of the operative text:

"August 26, 2019

RE: Piermont Developers, LLC

Dear Mr. Griffin:

AS[sic] you are aware my client is proposing to develop a certain parcel of land almost directly across from Boro[sic] hall[sic] on Piermont Avenue. A portion of that development would include land that is owned by you. This letter shall memorialize that you consent to my clients[sic] application to both rezone and obtain site plan approval. Further, this letter shall serve as authorization for Piermont Developers, LLC or an authorized representative to appear before the Piermont Planning Board or other such body as necessary for an approval process.

I would ask that you sign the bottom of this letter, indicating your acknowledgement, and return same to my office, so that my client may proceed accordingly.

Very truly yours,

/s/ 
Craig R. Weis, Esq.

/s/
Phil Griffin"

Piermont Developers LLC Does Not Even EXIST.

Here's a question for you. When is an LLC not an LLC?

Answer: When its ersatz principals have failed to pay its Annual Reports to the State of New Jersey for almost SEVEN YEARS, from 2017 to 2024.

"Said business was... REVOKED".

That's right. You are reading this correctly. According to the State of New Jersey, Department of the Treasury, Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, as of yesterday, April 11, 2024, the STUNADS that purport to own, manage, and represent "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company" had absolutely failed to maintain that ersatz "LLC" as a going concern. Why? Because for SEVEN CONSECUTIVE YEARS they failed to pay-in Annual Reports.

Offhand, one can think of at least five (5) possible reasons why these Champions Of Ugly Architecture failed to keep the 2013-filed LLC alive:

1. They forgot; or

2. They changed mailing addresses or e-mail addresses and were too inattentive to forward mail; or

3. They were either out of money or else too cheap to pay the regularly-occurring fees; or

4. The ersatz LLC had something to hide as of 2017 and therefore the failure to pay Annual Reports was deliberate; or

5. Their dogs ate their filings. Every year. For seven (7) consecutive years.

A few disclaimers. For one thing, the Certificate Number for this evening's blogged document has been redacted to prevent unauthorized access to certain information belonging to yesterday's document-requester. For another thing, do please keep in mind that, as of the moment that you are reading this, these so-called principals of the phantom "LLC" and purveyors of architectural tripe have probably by now scrambled to pay New Jersey the back fees and make the back filings, in embarrassment, after reading either this Blog or else the Facebook posts that correspond to it.

But now, let's look at the legal ramifications of this recidivist systemic goombah-gaffe that actually spans across not just seven (7), but eight (8), different calendar years - 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

I. Unless the "leadership" of "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company" somehow fully cured this default today - this "LLC" is a non-LLC and simply DOES NOT EXIST as a matter of law. Even if they cured the default today, the LLC did not exist for a period of almost seven (7) years. That's just ridiculous.

II. In theory, someone, be it the "entity's" principal, CPA, or otherwise, SHOULD have been making regularly-occurring, annual tax filings for this LLC corresponding to the period from 2017 through the current calendar year of 2024, including the filing of documents typically appended to someone's individual federal tax return, as well as perhaps a state tax return. We don't yet have copies of those tax returns if existing. But if those tax returns exist, if those tax returns were filed with the relevant and corresponding governmental tax authorities, and if anyone actually signed those tax returns purporting to government that the LLC actually existed at the time of any of those signatures, then one or more false representations were made by the phantom "LLC" and its enablers to the tax authorities. 

Uncle don't like that.

III. Following that thread then, by law, ask, "What IS an LLC comprised of one or more members which is not actually an LLC?". Well, for one thing, it is in trouble, because it is a violation of law to misrepresent an entity as an LLC when it is not an LLC. For some interesting war stories by way of analogy to California, you can read this gentleman's account of what happens to "fake LLCs":

http://www.ladegaardlaw.com/blog/beware-the-phantom-llc

We can save the New Jersey caselaw printed from LEXIS for the ensuing process to follow.

IV. But the reality is that an individual fronting with a fake LLC is actually a sole proprietorship, whether or not he is too brain-addled to know it at the time. And a combination of two or more individuals fronting with a fake LLC are actually operating - and I MEAN "operating" - as a de facto partnership, again, whether or not they are too synaptically-compromised to know it at the time.

V. Now we get to the part where the rubber meets the road. This pretend LLC touted as "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company", which at best was nothing more than either a sole proprietorship or a de facto partnership from July 16, 2017 to the present time-frame of April 2024, clearly did business during the period of time between 2017 and 2024. We have documents to prove that. And guess what? A sole proprietor, or the partners in a de facto partnership (read, "general partnership"), are PERSONALLY LIABLE for the debts, obligations, exposures, and liabilities of that business.

VI. Yet "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company" has been trying to ram its ugly, garbage real estate "development" through Village Hall in Piermont New York for years - apparently at least some of the same years as 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, and certainly in 2024. Whether they have yet figured it out or not, the principal or principals of Piermont Developers "Limited Liability Company" are personally liable for every single misrepresentation made by that "entity", and made by them, to the federal tax authorities, to the state tax authorities, to the Piermont Zoning Board of Appeals, to the Piermont Planning Board, to the good people of Piermont, and to every other person and entity to whom or which the non-entity entity fake "LLC" was misrepresented across those eight (8) sequential calendar years.

VII. Finally, for now, every single document and filing made by the phantom LLC known as Piermont Developers "Limited Liability Company" to the Village of Piermont, including without limitation any filing made to the Piermont Zoning Board of Appeals, and any filing made to the Piermont Planning Board, in which the "entity" was misrepresented as an "LLC", must be void ab initio - that is, a nullity from inception, and as non-existent as the fake entity itself. Moreover, any so-called "public official" foolish enough to accept and not reject any such fake LLC filing, would be acting outside of his or her jurisdiction and violating his or her duty to the Village and the governmental office that they hold. Aside from being a sure ticket to non-reelection and political suicide, it would be gross malfeasance for that "public official" to even respond to a fake LLC once apprised of the "entity's" non-existence, other than bouncing the fake filing back to its point of origin for good. It certainly was gross malfeasance for everybody in Piermont Village Hall who failed to bother to look up this LLC in New Jersey State records to see if the entity actually existed. Does the Piermont Planning Board even know what a limited liability company IS? It should never have taken this Blog to tell those so-called "officials" of the Village of Piermont to do their jobs. And those "public officials" wanted to trust this "LLC" to build a 14-unit monstrosity in the very heart of the Village? And those "public officials" wanted to trust this "LLC" to remediate potential toxicity on a site that may have once been home to a gasoline station? I wouldn't trust the principals of this fake LLC to know how to tie their own freaking shoelaces.

VIII. Speaking of "doing their jobs", I will leave it to you, the reader, to answer the question of what we call any high-priced representative of Piermont Developers "Limited Liability Company" who files papers and makes arguments on behalf of that phantom "LLC" in any proceeding - also apparently without ever bothering to look up the entity in public records first. But whatever your answer, I will have synonyms. Not to mention, I also have the remedy.

I always expected these characters to fail.

Yet I never expected to see these characters fail so dramatically, and so quickly, as I did when I first saw this two-page document last night.

Again, by now, the so-called principal or principals have probably scrambled to try to "cure" the "LLC" default of almost seven (7) years running. Yet it's too late. Their filings pending before the Village of Piermont, New York, are void. You the court of public opinion can decide the fate of those who sign and submit filings which make misrepresentations to governmental authorities. Or perhaps, other guests are coming.

Good luck, Piermont Developers "Limited Liability Company", peddling your tacky and tasteless "architectural plans" and "artist renderings" elsewhere.

FOUND It: Meet Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company Of Norwood, New Jersey.

No, this is really the place.

When you run "1100 Blanch Avenue of Norwood, New Jersey" through Google Maps, you get this photographic image. This is what 1100 Blanch Avenue of Norwood, New Jersey looked like as of September 2021, anyway.

So, thusfar, it appears that "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company" of Norwood, New Jersey is run out of a stonemason company storefront. On Google Maps, this image is tagged with two entity-names: "Northern Valley Stone LLC", and "MT Embroidery and Promotions". A Google search reveals a third business apparently tied to the same address - "Reiner Air Conditioning and Heating". A further Google Search reveals that "Northern Valley Stone LLC" is owned by an apparent stonemason named William (Billy) Falkenstern.

At least it now looks like Craig R. Weis Esq. may not be the principal of "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company", as opposed to just the LLC's "Agent". Maybe he represents the LLC. Or Falkenstern. Maybe he'll tell us. Or maybe he won't. 

So assuming that the information on Google Maps and Google generally is still current and correct - query, what POSSIBLE profit-motive could a stone mason qua air conditioning company have in a behemoth construction project? And does this mean that all the high-priced rental or condo residents of the disgusting building intended for 447-477 Piermont Avenue in Piermont, New York, will at least get some nice embroidered promotional jackets to wear to advertise their respective roles in permanently destroying Piermont's aesthetic and character?

Craig R. Weis Esq., And Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company.

Even if the principal (or principals) of "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company" are inclined to play "hide-the-ball" with the homeowners and residents of Piermont, New York, as to who is really behind the awful plan to build 14 ugly eyesore residential units making the center of beautiful Piermont look like a Motel 6, Super 8, and Ramada Inn rolled into one abhorrent construct, one thing is still for sure.

Public filings, government filings, leave a trace.

Culled just only today from the publicly-available Internet resource of "fastpeoplesearch.com", below you will find a read-out indicating that a lawyer named "Craig R. Weis Esq." is the "Agent" - or, in the more full legal parlance to which I am accustomed, the "registered agent for service of process" - for "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company". It is not yet clear whether Mr. Weis is also a principal or at least one of the principals of "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company", too, but that additional information should be unearthed shortly. For that matter, maybe the residents of the Village should send Mr. Weis an invitation to the next upcoming May 13, 2024 Piermont Planning Board meeting, so that he can tell everybody in attendance what the actual answer is, and for whom he is really "agenting".

Incidentally, ignore the multiple misspellings below of "Weis" as "Weiss"[sic] instead - because "our" Craig Weis really does spell his last name like the former New York Mets infielder, with one letter "s". You'll see that once you look up the other references to him on the Internet.

We also learn valuable other information from these below documents, assuming that "fastpeoplesearch.com" is accurate and updated, that is.

Piecing it all together from the below raw information, the address of "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company" is apparently:

Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company

1100 Blanch Avenue

Norwood, New Jersey 07648-1509 USA

Attn: Craig R. Weis Esq., Agent

Additionally, Craig R. Weis Esq. has apparently served as "Agent" for "Piermont Developers Limited Liability Company" since December 2013 - that is, for over a decade.

Finally for now, I should add that, given the background of Mr. Weis as a former criminal prosecutor, I should not be surprised that one of the other entities with which "fastpeoplesearch.com" says Mr. Weis is associated in some way, is "Big Lou's Bail Bonds LLC" in Closter, New Jersey.

Sometimes, this stuff writes itself. It's the Bad News Bears all over again.