Take a moment to lock that door, as someone around the village has apparently developed a case of the hot hands.

There have been recent whispers and rumors of a rash of break-ins throughout Sloatsburg. Mayor Carl Wright said that the Ramapo Police Department met with him Monday to give a brief report of two official incidents in the Pine Grove Lakes neighborhood that took place on Friday, August 23, on Hazelwood and on Ann Place. Continue Reading

There may be sewer blasting on a street near you — if you live in the vicinity of Sloatsburg Elementary School.

Calls from the Rockland County Sewer District 1 rang around Sloatsburg Friday evening. The alerts were part of an information effort by the District related to continuing sewer project work in the neighborhood of Grant Street and the area adjacent to the elementary school. The call from Sewer District Asst. Director Mike Saber’s office alerted residents about possible upcoming blasting for sewers. Additionally, the call mentioned a home inspection company called PEACE, which is working with the Sewer District on the Sloatsburg project and may be soliciting home inspections related to the upcoming work. Continue Reading

The court gavel has officially hammered down the feisty bid by Suffern Mayor Dagan Lacorte to win the Democratic nomination for Rockland County Executive.

Updated Monday, August 22

Sometimes you’re in the moment. And sometimes it is your moment to shine. Mario Marchese, known in most circles as Mario The Magician, was the focus of a recent successful Kickstarter fundraising campaign and will now be the subject of a documentary film. For Mario, the magic moment is at hand. Continue Reading

It was back in March of 2012 that a massive fish kill at Four Corners Pond occurred. Dead fish floated on the surface of the pond, washing ashore and the pond smelled foul. Continue Reading

Ramapo residents were storming the barricades Tuesday evening, August 7, when some 100 people gathered at the Town of Ramapo’s Town Hall (50 people according to Airmont Scoop). Promoted by activist political organization Preserve Ramapo, the rally aimed to raise support for the group and help frame local land use and other Ramapo issues.

“We are protesting just bad government,” said Hillcrest resident Michael Miller, who felt the town’s current policies are affecting the quality of life in Ramapo, with special mention of schools and property values. “This town, it’s in bad shape. And we can’t go back to where we were. But if we don’t do something, it’s only going to get worse,” Miller said to LoHud writer Mareesa Nicosia.

The general attitude of the protest was that Ramapo is mired in a mix of corruption and favoritism, with a war cry of “regime change.”

The rally comes on the heels of LoHud’s recent expose by LoHud writers Mareesa Nicosia and Steve Lieberman on the Town of Ramapo land use and building code violations by private schools operating in residential neighborhoods — which itself is part of the duo’s larger coverage of illegal housing throughout the town. Both reporters have written extensively on the subject.

Illegal housing in Ramapo has been a sore spot for Rockland County due to the associated fire and safety hazards, according to county fire and emergency services coordinator Gordon Wren Jr., who also served as a former Ramapo building inspector.

Tuesday’s Ramapo rally coincided with a visit from state code enforcement officials to Town Hall. The rally’s theme of a “regime change” in the town was a topic tailored to Preserve Ramapo’s political agenda. The activist group is currently in the process of a November ballot petition drive in support of Preserve Ramapo candidates. The group also endorsed Rockland County Executive candidate Ed Day and is expanding that endorsement under the umbrella Preserve Rockland moniker.

The group is running a slate of candidates at the county, town and village levels this election cycle.

The town Planning Board was scheduled to meet at 8 p.m. yesterday to review a private religious school site plan approval. Residents at the rally protested Ramapo’s permissive land-use laws that allow the creation of home schools on small single-family residential lots — the schools often start small and then begin to sprawl.

The issues involve taxes (or tax exemptions), property values, municipal services, and cultural collisions.

Michael Miller had specific concerns related to the issue of private schools allowed in residential areas. Miller’s concern focused on an ultra-Orthodox boys’ school on Eckerson Lane in Hillcrest that has been granted temporary approval from the town to operate out of a converted single-family home with 40 students.

According to LoHud, the Mosdos Sanz Klausenburg congregation of Monsey has been looking to build a larger school on the property for 250 students in the residential neighborhood.

The town’s Planning Board has repeatedly adjourned the matter, which it did again Tuesday night when the protesters appeared hoping to voice their opinions. The town Planning Board can either grant the school final site plan approval or vote the issue down.

“Our government here is not representative of all of the people,” said Miller in a LoHud video interview shot by videographer Peter Carr. “It’s reached a point where it’s affecting everyone. It’s affecting our ability to have decent schools, to have decent homes, to be able to buy and sell our homes at a decent price, to determine the land use within our communities.”

“This government,” said Miller about the Town of Ramapo, “does not listen to us. It has another interest that they are pursuing.”

Photos of Town of Ramapo Rally courtesy of Peter Carr and The Journal News.

As in that old Timex watch advert, Suffern Mayor Dagan Lacorte takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

When we last left the Rockland County Executive race, Lacorte’s candidacy had apparently been KO’d by the Rockland Board of Elections ruling that he lacked the necessary 2,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot. Fellow Democratic candidate David Fried, a former county legislator himself, had challenged Lacorte’s signatures, leaving Lacorte a scant 24 short . (Note: the court sent a down a second, corrected ruling Tuesday, August 6, which narrowed Lacorte’s ballot margin) Continue Reading

As with many things, news reports often only capture part of the story.

A back brake fire on a tanker truck carrying milled zinc oxide, a flammable liquid, south on the NY Thruway set into motion a night of action for many Suffern residents and those rescue agencies that serve them. The tanker reportedly carried some 4000 to 6000 gallons of the liquid. Continue Reading

The Rockland County campaign season is nothing if not colorful, where every silver lining has its own dark cloud.

Rockland County Executive hopefuls have been maneuvering lately behind the scenes, with nominating petitions under review at the County Board of Elections, recent fundraising results reported and endorsements wrangled. Continue Reading

While Harmony Hall undergoes a major restoration project throughout the summer and into the fall, the spotlight was recently turned on Village of Sloatsburg Historian Harrison Bush. Continue Reading