The plan to fold the tiny 420-person Bloomingburg into the larger neighboring Town of Mamakating was proposed in large part to deal with a deceptive high density 396-unit townhouse development originally pitched to the rural village, through an alleged straw man, as a low density retirement and vacation home development complete with a golf course. But the actual developer eventually turned out to be controversial Modern Orthodox developer Shalom Lamm, and his high density 396-unit townhouse development was marketed (likely illegally) as Kirays Yated Lev, a new Satmar-only hasidic “shtetl,” village.
Bloomingburg: Petition To Fold Tiny Village Into Neighboring Town In An Effort To Control Deceptive Hasidic Development Allegedly Illegal
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
A resident of the tiny upstate New York Village of Bloomingburg filed a complaint in Sullivan County Supreme Court August 20 to stop a scheduled referendum seeking approval to dissolve Bloomingburg and merge it with the adjoining Town of Mamakating, the Times Herald-Record reported.
The plan to fold the tiny 420-person Bloomingburg into the larger neighboring Town of Mamakating was proposed in large part to deal with a deceptive high density 396-unit townhouse development originally pitched to the rural village, through an alleged straw man, as a low density retirement and vacation home development complete with a golf course.
But the actual developer eventually turned out to be controversial Modern Orthodox developer Shalom Lamm, and his high density 396-unit townhouse development was marketed (likely illegally) as Kirays Yated Lev, a new Satmar-only hasidic “shtetl,” village.
Lamm, his family and a group of almost 100 Satmar hasidim tried to vote in Bloomingburg’s local election earlier this year, even though none of them were really Bloomingburg residents. The move drew sharp criticism from elections officials and legal experts, and the votes were tossed.
Lamm filed legal papers in an unrelated matter in December 2013 claiming an address in West Hempstead, New York – many miles from tiny Bloomingburg and in an entirely different county – as his legal residence.
His daughter and son-in-law, who also tried to vote in Bloomingburg, both live and work full time in Israel and had never actually lived in the village.
A normal-sized home in the village, one of many local properties owned by Lamm, was reportedly used by at least 20 adults as their place of residence for purposes of voting.
Lamm’s local office and many of his properties were raided by the FBI on March 13, and Lamm and his company, Black Creek Development, are thought to be under active criminal investigation.
Lamm is a son of Rabbi Norman Lamm, the former dean and chancellor of the Modern Orthodox flagship Yeshiva University.
Bloomingburg resident Samantha Boodram contends that a July New York State Supreme Court 2006 ruling that the annexation of some of the Town of Mamakating’s land by Bloomingburg was illegal because no proper vote was held means that anyone living on that land is not a legal resident of Bloomingburg and therefore should not have been able to sign the dissolution petition that led to the referendum.
Boodram also claims the signatures from residents living on other land annexed by Bloomingburg in 2000 are invalid for the same reason, even though the court did not specifically rule on that annexation.
She says that 20% of the 328 registered voters in Bloomingburg had to sing the dissolution referendum for the referendum to be held. And while 82 people did sign, 23 of those signatures are invalid because those people live in the illegally annexed areas.
Boodram also claims that the actual population of Bloomingburg can't be determined because of the alleged legal uncertainty surrounding those areas.
Meanwhile, a Mamakating planning board meeting about a proposed Satmar hasidic girls' school is reportedly scheduled for tonight.
Mamakating’s leaders overwhelmingly oppose Lamm’s development as do Bloomingburg’s.
Bloomingburg’s previous mayor was given valuable considerations by Lamm in what many locals believe was a quid-pro-quo arrangement equivalent to a bribe, and while this understanding has not been supported by a state court, the corruption allegations are likely a part of the federal investigation believed to be taking place.