Illegal School Holding Classes In Stadium Funded Through Fraud

RAMAPO, NY — To keep the 400 girls in the Ateres Bais Yaakov Academy in class, school officials and local politicians came up with a quintessentially-Ramapo plan. The kids, forced to leave trailers without legitimate sources of water and electricity, are temporarily studying at the stadium whose financing led to the conviction of two town officials on federal fraud charges.

That would be the Palisades Credit Union Park, the baseball stadium owned by the Ramapo Local Development Corporation. The stadium voters didn't want. The stadium for which then-Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and then-assistant town attorney Aaron Troodler, executive director of the RLDC, devised a complex securities fraud scheme so they could hide public funds being used.

And the students are there because the private religious school had to temporarily vacate its own property once county fire and safety officials found out what was going. So town officials offered the stadium as a stopgap.

The school had been issued a Certificate of Occupancy even though the school is being built and the students were attending classes in 17 trailers in the middle of the unsecured construction site, with a jury-rigged un-certified electric system, a fake fire hydrant and water system composed of a garden hose from an unapproved well. The Village of New Hempstead contracts out its building inspection services to the Town of Ramapo.

"How is this possible?" said Rockland County Executive Ed Day in a column on New City Patch. "The immediate cause is obvious. But the planning failures that led to such an absurd situation have festered for years."

New York state officials acknowledged that they have monitors in place in Ramapo but said their authority is limited or non-existent.

According to the New York Department of State, which has a monitor at the Ramapo Town Offices to oversee enforcement of building and safety codes, the decision to issue certificates of occupancy belonged to New Hempstead village officials:

“The oversight officer is in place to observe and review the Town of Ramapo’s enforcement of the minimum standards of the Uniform Code, and in that capacity provides technical guidance as to what is allowed under the Uniform Code, in the same way the Department ofState’s Division of Building Standards and Codes would respond to inquiries of a similar nature. The Department fully expects the Village of New Hempstead to treat the issuance of certificates of occupancy, whether temporary or permanent, in conformance with the Uniform Code and all applicable laws and regulations for the school located in its jurisdiction.”

And State Education Department spokesman Jonathan Burman said the situation at the Ateres Bais Yaakov Academy was a concern but their powers are limited.

"We continue to monitor this situation and look forward to receiving additional information from state and local officials so we can work with them to ensure a plan is put in place that ensures the children’s safety," he said. "It’s important to understand, however, that the Department’s oversight of nonpublic schools is statutorily limited. For example, nonpublic schools are subject to local code enforcement and it was the local enforcement agency, and not the State Education Department, that issued a temporary certificate of occupancy to Ateres Bais Yaakov. Again, we will continue to work with state and local officials – and within our statutorily prescribed oversight authority – to ensure the students at Ateres Bais Yakov are provided a safe learning environment.”

The SED monitor is on site to oversee officials in the East Ramapo school district. That's the district featured in numerous state and federal investigations and reports documenting a continuing pattern of fiscal mismanagement and neglect.

One slate of candidates running for office in town on the New Direction For Ramapo slate aren't all that pleased with the county or the state reactions about the school. They propose a thorough overhaul of Ramapo's zoning and building policies with special concern for the community's needs for private religious schools etc.

Noteworthy: The Journal News story about the legal troubles of 15 Rockland officials, most of whom are from Ramapo.

SEE ALSO:

• Ruling on Takeover of Spring Valley Democratic Committee
• Ramapo Town Supervisor Verdict in Fraud and Conspiracy Case
• Plea in Ramapo Development Agency Fraud Case
• St. Lawrence Resigns Chairmanship of County Boards
• Reaction to Ramapo Indictments: Calls for Review, Reform
• Senate Passes Legislation to Fight Illegal Housing in Ramapo
• Rockland Throws Down the Gauntlet to Ramapo, other Rockland Developers
• Town Supervisor Stadium Fraud Verdict: Officials, Prosecutors Respond
• Ramapo Demands Outsize Payments from School Districts
• FBI Raids New City Test Lab
• FBI in Spring Valley Again
• Desmaret Sentenced in Spring Valley Bribery Scheme
• “Corridor of Corruption” Scandal Nets Another Guilty Plea
• Spring Valley Building Inspector, Businessman Indicted
• SEC Charges 4 in Ramapo; Seeks Financial Penalties, Court
• Ramapo Planning Director Indicted
• State Slaps Ramapo on Private-school Fire Inspections
• Firefighters, Officials Call for State to Intervene in Ramapo, Spring Valley Code Enforcement
• Tress Resigns from Ramapo Town Board as Part of Plea Bargain
• East Ramapo Trustee Accused of Using Fake In-District Address
• County, Suffern Officials Dislike Ramapo's Legoland Plan
• Director Takes Plea in Ramapo Development Agency Fraud Case
• East Ramapo Parents Sue to Compel State to Act
• NYCLU Appeals to State over East Ramapo School Trustee 'Oversight'

Patch file photo