"People or groups often open schools or houses of worship without
permits from the town or required safety and fire equipment. When they
are caught, administrators then spend the money installing the proper
equipment and then file site plans to legalized what was illegally. The
town and its judges allow the process. In other cases, houses
are subdivided illegally into small apartments to accommodate more
people and added rents for landlords."
In Ramapo, Haredi Housing Violations Are Common
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Ramapo Justice Court’s session Tuesday covered predominantly housing cases – which isn’t unusual.
The Journal News reports that the session was supposed to begin at 1:00 pm.
However, Justice Schoenberger reportedly did not take the bench until 1:37 pm.
But that was not much of a problem considering that the entire session once it began lasted only about seven minutes – also not particularly unusual for Ramapo.
In those seven minutes, Justice Rhoda Schoenberger and Assistant Town Attorney Anita G. Conklin dealt with 10 cases.
Only two of the 10 defendants were in the courtroom. The rest were no-shows – again, not unusual for Ramapo.
One of those two who did show up was a representative of Binyan Torah, Inc. in Monsey. He was reportedly appearing for violations charged in 2006, when Binyan Torah lacked a certificate of occupancy, had no site plan, and constructed without a permit.
The Binyan Torah representative reportedly told Justice Schoenberger that Binyan Torah is currently appearing before the town board that reviews site plans and related issues.
Justice Schoenberger adjourned the case until May 21 with the assistant town attorney’s consent.
So far, even though the case has dragged on for six years, Binyan Torah has not been fined, and Justice Schoenberger reportedly did not threaten to do so Tuesday, either.
Steve Lieberman of the Journal News writes that the Binyan Torah case “likely represents the typical of violation case in Ramapo.
"People or groups often open schools or houses of worship without permits from the town or required safety and fire equipment. When they are caught, administrators then spend the money installing the proper equipment and then file site plans to legalized what was illegally. The town and its judges allow the process.
"In other cases, houses are subdivided illegally into small apartments to accommodate more people and added rents for landlords."
Over the past two years, local firefighters – appalled and endangered by the neglect of town officials and judges – have demanded faster action from town inspectors and accountability and tougher penalties from judges, and have taken to monitoring as many cases as they can, often watching in court as judges like Justice Schonberger kick the can a bit further down the road.
Firefighters in Ramapo have entered burning buildings only to find exits blocked by walls built without permits.
The eight no-shows will be receiving what the Journal News calls “letter warrants,” although it is unclear what, if any, penalties would actually be given if they are ignored.
One of those no-shows, Divora Ben-Shimon, reportedly has unresolved violations issued in 2010 for construction without a permit.
[Hat Tip: Devorah.]