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Judge Issues Temporary Restraining Order To Keep Daycare Center Shuttered
A Judge on Friday granted the Town of Clarkstown with a Temporary Retraining Order that will keep a child daycare center at 86 Maple Avenue shuttered for at least a month. However, the landlord also owns the adjacent building at 96 Maple Avenue, which houses a vape shop and tailor, both of which are allowed to continue operating.
Morah Chany, an illegally operating and unlicensed daycare center at 86 Maple Avenue in New City was locked down last week by Rockland County Child Protective Services and the Clarkstown police after building and fire inspectors uncovered a raft of code violations.
Rockland County Supreme Court Justice Larry Schwartz, with the consent of both parties, and pending a final hearing, ordered defendants Congregation Morah Chany, and the LLCs that own the properties, “restrained from the use and occupancy of the premises located at 86 Maple Avenue, except as a house of worship in conformity with a Certificate of Occupancy, and 96 Maple Ave, except as two retail establishments.”
The House of Worship has an occupancy limit of 33 people.
Should Morah Chany decide to move forward to cure its violations and pursue a daycare center, it would need state licensing, a Special Permit from the town, and a raft of variances from the Clarkstown Zoning Board of Appeals.
The court also ordered the defendants to remove the U-Haul operation at 86 Maple in the front parking lot of the daycare center.
The town will continue to seek compliance and fines on a raft of building and fire code violations at Town Justice Court this week.
Town Supervisor George Hoehmann described the conditions as “egregious” and “dangerous” at a press conference last week, saying the daycare operator Morah Chany put the lives of 70 children “at severe risk.”
The Supervisor said the town is pursuing “civil, criminal, and administrative remedies,” adding that circumstances like these will not be tolerated.
Petition To Dissolve the Village of Spring Valley Rejected By Village Clerk
Spring Valley will remain a Village, for now. The Village Clerk on Friday rejected a petition that aimed to dissolve the village. Inside sources say the petition, with some 2,600 signatures, was deemed invalid because many of the signatures were invalid, including those collected from people outside the village.
The petitioners had hoped have the village absorbed into the towns of Ramapo and Clarkstown. They needed 1,300 legitimate signatures, which represents 10 percent of the village’s 13,000 registered voters, to prevail.
It is no secret that the Village of Spring Valley has long been a den of dysfunction, depriving residents of the two-square-mile municipality a reliable raft of public services including street maintenance, road repairs, snow plowing, and more.
“People are so frustrated with the mismanagement of the village,” said a source, adding that petitioners canvassed people at shopping centers and in other public places. “In the past, there had always been pride and people were willing to pay an additional $5,000 to $7,500 for Village taxes in return for services. But with so much chaos and lack of responsiveness, who wouldn’t sign a petition?”
But petitioners did not find enough signers with legitimate standing.
Who initiated the petition was something of a parlor game, with fingers pointed at Republican operatives who want to shake things up in a village of 33,000 people, where the main two demographic majorities are split between Caribbean Islanders, with a large population of Haitians, and factions of Hasidic Jews.
Dr. Joan H. Facelle Elected Chair of Dominican University Board of Trustees
Joan H. Facelle, M.D. was elected Chair of the Dominican University Board of Trustees, effective July 1, 2025, replacing Steven T. Sabatini, who stepped down after serving in the position for six years.
“I am honored to serve as Chair of the Dominican University Board of Trustees and will work with the Board to support President Manuel Martínez, the administration, and faculty to continue Dominican’s proud tradition of promoting educational excellence, leadership, and service,” said Facelle. “This requires the Board to assure the University’s fiscal stability and academic responsiveness to the ever-changing higher educational environment.”
Facelle served with Sabatini as Vice Chair since 2019, and been on the Board of Trustees since 2015. Prior to that, she was the Commissioner of Health for Rockland County from 2001 until her retirement in 2013. As Commissioner, she oversaw more than 240 employees in a department of county government devoted to chronic disease prevention, operation of public health clinics, communicable disease control, administration of early intervention and pre-kindergarten programs for children with developmental disabilities, emergency preparedness, and environmental health and safety. Facelle received her medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. After serving in the United States Air Force for three years as a general pediatrician, she practiced pediatrics in Suffern and Central Valley, N.Y. In 2003, she received a Masters of Public Health at the New York Medical College School of Public Health.
In an email to faculty and staff, Manuel Martínez, Ph.D., President, Dominican University New York, congratulated Facelle on her appointment and thanked Sabatini for his remarkable service to the University. “Steve worked tirelessly to ensure the success of Dominican University and provide the best for our students,” Martinez wrote. “During his time as Chair, the institution successfully navigated the COVID pandemic, received approval to change from Dominican College to a Dominican University, completed the new O’Brien turf field, and oversaw the transition to a new president.”
Sabatini, who is the retired Chief Financial Officer of Modern Bank’s holding companies, will remain on the Board of Trustees and Chair the Audit Committee.
Photo credit: Studio Eleven Production
