FREEDOM AND JUSTICE FOR ALL:

 

 

On a cold day in later February 2016, a friend called me to say his home was gone.

I said… "What do you mean your home is gone"? he said GONE. He decided to report

the incident to the NY State Police as the value of both the Home and the 20 K he had

just put in to the Mobile home, in a full remodel complete with new appliances and a

long term tenant looking to rent the home, meant that his losses were in the high 5

figures. In doing so the police did little in the way of investigation as the alleged

responsible party was a government Town entity. 

• On March 23rd, 2016 the owner Jeffrey Ghiazza, sought to obtain information on his unlawful home destruction.

Mr.  Ghiazza sought public information on the non-consented demolition from the Public

Town offices and officials, while waiting for the investigative response from the NY State

Police. He then filed a Freedom of Information Request  made pursuant to 5 USC 552

(“Freedom of Information Act”) and pursuant to the New York State Public Officers law

found at  Article 6 [§§ 84-90]. “The  New York Freedom of Information law ” (FOIL). ”

• Kathleen Herman was the lessee of the land property, granted use and enjoyment by a life time license. (until she sold the home).

That license was for and Indeterminate lease term, quoting: “until the lessee sells

mobile home” as terms of the lease granted in the license by the lessor. by and between

Kathleen Herman and alleged Hudson River Waterfront property Owner James M. W.

Martin" on 10/2/1996.

• Previously, the Town sent numerous letters offering to purchase the plaintiffs property.

The offers of which were refused by the Kathleen determined by the very existing value

Of the home, in addition to the extensive renovations and upgrades, that the Town’s

offer was not practical considering loss of new long term rental income was justifiably

not worthy of further consideration.

• Further Kathleen had been renting the home to a tenant during and in accordance with the Lease

By the Rights afforded by the lease agreement with the lessor. The home was rented to

for 850.00 per month and a valuable asset as a home generating rental income annually

of $ 10,200.00, further making any Town offer justifiably unpalatable economically,

compared to income generated, the existing value and all the upgrade renovations

further increasing the value of the home to the home owners, Kathleen and her life

partner Jeffrey Ghiazza. They who used that income to create supplement funds for use

in paying their primary home mortgage on a 6 acre property located in Pleasant Valley,

NY.

• The collective efforts, decisions, conduct by the Town of Cortlandt were irreversible.

The home owners among others in the mobile home park suffered and continue to

suffer into the future financially, emotionally and in fear of further malicious conduct

mentally depressive by the deprivation of their due process rights secured under the

1. S. and NY Constitutions; and by such conduct by the Public officials, agents and

employees left in their wake, destruction of property and lives among past, current and

financial loss damages into the future, by Town's total disregard to their rights or

realistic and proper compensation. The demolition was done in secret over a weekend

The same fate happened to a well-known elderly man's home in the same Mobile Home

Park, who was away in a hospital having a kidney dialysis treatment only to come home

to find his home gone, and his valuable life-long baseball card collection destroyed.

That elderly man passed away shortly after loosing his home to the draconian and

Gestapo like tactics of the Town.

• NY State Troopers failed to respond properly after the Home theft report on 2/23/16.

Other than a cold "its a civil matter" as one Trooper stated no other action took place. 

"Since when is felony Grand Larceny by a public entity using public resources and tax

payer money to commit the acts a civil matter, regardless who commits the acts."   "The

first thing that seems to come to mind is a violation of the RICO Act ."

Surprised that the State Troopers were not aggressively investigating the losses which

appears on the high 5 figures or low 6 figures was mind boggling and disturbing to say

the least. I decided to contact the senior officials of the NY State Police in Albany, New

York and ask why the local State Troopers were failing to properly investigate and

prosecute the perpetrators.On May 2, 2016, I in fact at 10:00 that day, called the Deputy

Superintendent of the State Police, at the time, Terrance O'marra at the Headquarter

Office of the NY State Police (518-457-6622) and spoke to his assistant Mary

Kogelman. At several times, she was very concerned after I reported the  experience by

the lack of action by the local Trooper barracks. The Troopers again investigated after

making the inactivity report which resulted in the Town's attorney Thomas Wood to

Declare The Town made the Mistake by means of a (quoting) "clerical error." The State

troopers refused again to make any arrest or to prosecute the parties responsible.

The Town then began to bring eviction proceedings against the remaining 

Residents and Home Owners in the park in July 2016 while paying off some more

fearful residents and owners who were coerced into accepting payments despite a

clause in the lease and the NY Constitution, lease item 13 of page 5 of the lease states

in the second paragraph, quoting: 

"the parties acknowledge the provisions of Article 8 of the Constitution of the State of

New York specifically prohibit the TOWN from expending any public funds for a private

purpose when that is exactly what the Town was doing with tax payer funds to acquire

private property rights and interests."

• The Town began a series of evictions aside the forced evictions accomplished and coercive buy- outs.

Many cases were brought by the Town nearly all of which were dismissed or withdrawn

for one or more defects or another and yet they continued in abusing the RPAPL

process over and over in their own Court, appeared to be in direct conflict of interest

and ethics as the Town was the Petitioner party in all cases, while the Town paid the

Judges who were presiding over all the cases are paid by the Town who was the

interested party in the proceedings. 

This continued over a year while the Town continued to demolish homes, interrupting

utilities, water services, and while willfully creating and exposing residents, owners and

the general public to unsafe conditions lurking unmarked on and about the property in

their wake. 

• Town Scheme to Defraud Association into paying water bills after Town caused damages to the underground water pipe infastructure.

The Town even went as far as to bring separate Eviction proceedings against the

Riveredge Owners Association, seeking water bill payments after they broke

underwater pipes in multiple locations, were videoed and photographed doing so , not

only leaving the underground water pipes broken, but to continued to permit the release

of billed metered water underground, and also photographed and videoed at attempts to

cover up the damage they left in the wake of the demolitions.  The Town then had

the audacity to attempt to recover exuberant water bills accruing from the broken pipes

permitting underground free flowing water from July 2016 to the present date of this

writing. Mr. Calley, actually stocked the the small pond created by surfacing ground

water with "Gold Fish" in water fed by the broken pipes. The gold fish were used to

combat in the water, what became an infested larvae mill and  breeding ground for 

mosquitoes, so bad at times, residents could not sit outside without being repeatedly

bitten. 

Fortunately, Mr. Calley's idea was sound, and the Gold fish did not mind at all as they

swam briskly about eating the buffet of waterborne mosquitoes and their larvae

offspring.

Town Scheme to Defraud Association in forced upgrades to electrical supply system for future benefit to the Town.

After Hurricane Sandy came to visit the Town of Cortlandt, some of the electrical

systems were damaged at the former Peekskill Sea Plane Base adjoining the Park. The

Town required under the alleged guise of a code violations that the entire Mobile Home

Park required new electrical systems from flooding despite no loss of power to the Park.

On or about November 17 of 2012 work began as an electrician began the installation of

new overhead wiring systems in which the Town approved the scope of work under the

electrical permits issued. 30 days later the Town then forced a change in their approved

scope of work, resisted by the licensed Electrical Contractor as of being unnecessary as

work approved was already underway, and then ordered that the new Electrical system

be buried underground and that New NEMA Plugs were to be added and installed at

each mobile home lot at their expense despite no loss of power during Hurricane

Sandy. It was later discovered after review of the Town's Published 2015 Waterfront 

Master Plan, See: (Phase D) showing the area of the Park 's New NEMA plugs for the

remaining Mobile homes are situated, had a future intended use in mind of being an

area designated to future concession stands that required such NEMA Plugs for the

operation of future Vendor food trucks, costing some $ 80,000.00 to the Association.

and the cost individually to the Home owners for the NEMA Plugs and is is shown on

Phase D of The Waterfront Master Plan for the Town of Cortlandt. The Town was also

photographed destroying a brand new privacy fence put back up By Mr. Wayne Calley

which was posted with his phone number as being privately owned, after I checked with

"Lisa" at Town Building Department and getting approval as no permits were required

provided the good side of the fence faced the public which it did.

The Town Privacy fence removed disturbed the animals and residents from the traffic,

and foot traffic. The Town then came in with Chainsaw crews and cut the new fence

Down startling the animals by the Chainsaws, and when confronting the workers taking

this private property; after obtaining permission to build it, were threatened to be

arrested if we interfered with the Town’s work crew by Westchester County Police

Officer, Coffee and others who were present. All were photographed and were

witnesses to the felony seizure and destruction of that private property, after obtaining

Town permission to build the fence for the animals. Town claimed, they did so they

could put up a guard rail, despite approval given to build it. There was plenty of room for

the fence and the guardrail.

The Town removed the privacy fence exposing the back yards of the roadside mobile 

homes, after having been in place over 10 years exposed the private areas of the

effected homes permitting rear entry to their properties despite providing the privacy to

the owners back yard functions, activities and yard equipment and possessions now

exposed to theft by the public passing along a public road meant to intimidate and

embarrass those remaining residents and homeowners along Riverview Avenue. 

To add insult to injury, the Town of Cortland used public tax payer money, resources,

equipment and employees to take, initially 6 refuse containers purchased by the

Association, unlawfully. Then after a resident complained the town returned just one

refuse container and kept the other 5 containers. In doing so the Town violated NY

Penal Law 155.35 of felony grand larceny in the third degree as the containers  were

valued at $ 5,400.00. Although that incident was also reported to the NY State Police on

May 15, 2017 and is documented as such in NY State Police "Report # 7563024 of

Incident Verification also refused to investigate, in which again, I contacted NY Head

Quarters after which State Trooper Kranic is now alleged to be investigating

although we have not heard back from him since. These matters were also reported to

the NY State Office of the State Comptroller and the NY Inspector General on May 15,

2017 and June of 2017 with no response other than a generic answer again. 

Fortunately, The Supreme Court saw merit in the claims we presented through legal

counsel, and issued a Temporary Injunction and Restraining Order prohibiting further

attempts to evict the residents on 8/14/17 and until the Supreme Court addresses all of

these issues, up to now having been ignored by the local Court, appearing to subtly

favor the Town's agenda. It is a tough and expensive battle to get Justice to right the

many wrongs and patterns of due process violations and patterns of criminal behavior

demonstrated by the Town of Cortlandt that seems to say, "We are the supreme

authority, you will succumb."  They seemed to reiterate that mindset as they continued

proceeding in their Court on 9/14/17 allegedly in violation of the Temporary Restraining

Order signed by NY Supreme Court Justice, Hon. Terry Jane Ruderman on 8/14/17. If

we do succumb it would set a dangerous precedent for other communities and Home

Associations similarly plagued or subjected to similar wrongdoing by Public officials who

routinely abused the powers bestowed upon them when in such positions of public

trust. 

Our goal is to hold these public officials accountable for their crimes against the public,

the members of the association, and send the message that no one in Public service

is above the law, particularly public officials in positions of Public trust who are elected

or appointed to discharge their sworn duties of office with integrity within the bounds of

law and observance to the laws generally holding them to higher standards of

compliance because of their Public Official statuses. If you believe such accountability is

essential to a free and fair society based on law and justice, this is a cause for core

principals this country was founded upon and worthy of your support.

The significance? Verplanck Point in July of 1779 is the very place George Washington

and amassed Troops, and was protected staging area in the Battle of Stony Point

during the American Revolutionary War. Corruption and official felony conduct should

not be tolerated much less permitted to demean or otherwise taint this area’s sacred

history, and its significance to the Park resident patriots of the United States of America.

In the words of George Washington who wrote to his friend George Mason in the spring of 1779.

“But I have beheld no day since the commencement of hostilities that I have thought her liberties in such eminent danger as at present.” Political corruption and economic weakness had spurred a wildfire of inflation that threatened to bring the country to its knees.”

I concur...

Thank you all in your donation considerations of this just cause.

 

Patrick Garvey, Secretary, and Designated Liaison to Legal Counsel

Riveredge Owners Association, ROA-2.0.

19 Middle Lane, PO Box 28

Verplanck, New York 10596-0028

914-257-8571

E-mail: roofersrwe@aol.com