Yeshiva fight with Ramapo gets intricate

Legal battles and contempt-of-court accusations against a Ramapo-based yeshiva and the Ramapo Planning Board continue in state Supreme Court and U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The legal fights revolve around Mosdos Chofetz Chaim's 12 buildings with 60 apartments and a separate religious study center on 4.7 acres on Grandview Avenue outside New Hempstead.

On Friday, a Bankruptcy Court trustee added to the cases by opposing the yeshiva's filing for bankruptcy protection, calling for the case to be dismissed, according to court documents.

At the same time, state Supreme Court Justice Francis Nicolai is considering contempt charges against Mosdos Chofetz Chaim for violating his order limiting the adult student housing project to 16 tenants.

Ramapo building and fire inspectors and lawyers for four villages contesting the housing provided Nicolai with evidence that the yeshiva filled at least 22 of the 40 other apartments in violation of town regulations and his order.

Nicolai also is considering holding the Ramapo Planning Board in
contempt for approving the housing project last month and legalizing the apartments without fulfilling his order for a limited environmental study.

Lawyers for the Planning Board and yeshiva argued Nicolai's decision didn't order a study but told the board to decide if a study was needed. Ramapo's town attorneys told the board the judge ordered the study.

The state cases got more complicated last month.

Nicolai told lawyers in the case to provide him with case law on whether he can consider contempt charges against the Planning Board while a higher court hears the town's appeal of his decision ordering the environmental study.

Ramapo has filed legal papers appealing Nicolai's decision ordering an environmental review of the Grandview Avenue housing project's impact on traffic and the character of the single-family neighborhood.

Nicolai upheld the legality of the town's adult student housing zone a few years ago. The judge also found the Planning Board didn't do an adequate environmental review of the project's impact on traffic and the character of the single-family neighborhood.

The town appealed his finding, Ramapo Town Attorney Michael Klein said.

"The judge now wants the parties to provide legal briefs on whether the town's appeal automatically stays (the) contempt hearing," Klein said.

Attorney Michael Zarin for the villages seeking the contempt hearing will argue Nicolai can move ahead. He will be opposed by the yeshiva's lawyers.

Last month, the Planning Board reversed itself again, held a hearing for the yeshiva and found no need for an environmental study. Zarin took the decision before Nicolai seeking a contempt ruling and reversal.

The former Nike missile site has been the
subject of litigation since the yeshiva bought the property from the federal government two decades ago. The yeshiva has filed several civil rights lawsuits, including one pending in federal court.

The yeshiva has been jousting in court for several years with the villages of Chestnut Ridge, Montebello, Wesley Hills and Pomona and a local family.

In an attempt to block Nicolai's contempt hearing on accusations of illegal apartments, Mosdos Chofetz Chaim filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.

The yeshiva claimed a $16.4 million debt arising from the housing development.
On Friday, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee asked the judge to dismiss the yeshiva's bankruptcy claim or convert it to Chapter 7, which would dissolve its corporation.

Attorney Greg Zipes, representing Trustee Tracy Hope Davis, argued in papers that the yeshiva and its rabbi, Aryeh Zaks, can't produce a reorganization plan to fund the housing complex or get the yeshiva out of debts.

The legal filing also says the yeshiva "did not file its initial monthly operating report and has failed to provide information about its tenants."

The trustee's legal papers said Zaks responded in February that the yeshiva is paying the rent of the tenants, but would not disclose the number of leases.

The trustee told the judge it appears all issues can be resolved in state court.

The trustee's legal paper also said that the Bankruptcy Court order does not prohibit Nicolai from considering contempt charges against the yeshiva for violating his order limiting the tenants to 17.

The Bankruptcy Court judge's stay order also allows the four villages to seek legal fees from a $75,000 surety bond put up by the yeshiva.