A housing complex owned by the haredi president of the scandal-plagued
haredi-controlled East Ramapo school board, Yehuda Weissmandl, was found
to be illegally subdivided, village housing inspectors reportedly said
today.
Hasidic President Of Scandal-Plagued School Board Caught With Illegally Subdivided Rental Property
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
A housing complex owned by the haredi president of the scandal-plagued haredi-controlled East Ramapo school board, Yehuda Weissmandl, was found to be illegally subdivided, village housing inspectors reportedly said today.
Walls were built to illegally add three apartments to at least one of the townhomes in an eight townhome complex at 29 Bethune Boulevard in Spring Valley owned by Weissmandl’s New-Square-based company, Prestige Builders, the Journal News reported.
The illegally subdivided property was discovered last night when Spring Valley firefighters responded to a fire call.
But despite discovering the illegal subdivision, fire inspectors were unable to inspect the other seven townhomes in the project, which are all attached.
The illegally subdivided unit also lacked working smoke detectors.
Weissmandl’s property manager, Jonathan Weiss, reportedly told Spring Valley’s Assistant Fire Inspector Frank Youngman that the smoke detectors were the responsibility of the tenants. That contention appears to violate local law.
Youngman reportedly said he would issue summonses for not having working smoke detectors.
Weiss also reportedly claimed he was unaware of illegal subdivision before the fire call and that the illegal subdivision was done by the tenants, not by Weissmandl’s company. He claimed he told the tenants to remove the illegal walls.
Youngman reportedly said all seven rooms in the townhome had separate locks, and that an illegal addition to the building’s second floor appeared to have been professionally constructed – without a permit.
Rooming houses are prohibited in the village.
According to Youngman, Weiss claimed the townhome brought in $2,200 in rent per month. However, tenants reportedly claimed to pay $400 to $600 per room – meaning the property would have brought in about $3500 per month in rent – and the Youngman reportedly said that tenants insisted that Weiss was aware of the illegal subdivision.
Weissmandl is the son of a New Square administrator. He was sharply criticized several years ago when he tore down a fence separating the Village of New Square from the Hillcrest Elementary School and trees that blocked easy access from New Square. Weissmandl attempted to claim that a storm toppled the fence and the trees.
The school was sold to New Square’s Congregation Avir Yakov in a sweetheart deal that was voided by the state and that has led to a criminal indictment against the property’s appraiser, Avi M. Vardi, who allegedly was paid by Sqvere hasidic officials under the table to vastly undervalue the property. The indictment also names other unnamed co-conspirators.
So far, only Vardi has been charged – with grand larceny and filing a false instrument.
[Hat Tip: Contente.]