The following is my personal compilation and does not represent EPCAL Watch
--John McAuliff
There are many reasons that the procedure of creating the
contract with EPCAL is so flawed that it borders on fraud and merits
investigation by legal authority at the County or State level. Beyond that the impact of the Ghermezian
family becoming our largest and wealthiest landowner should be of concern to
not only the people of Riverhead, but also of the East End and all of Suffolk
County.
1)
Then
Supervisor Sean Walter and Frank Isler deliberately withheld from the Town
Board that there were other potential offers for the land despite the
obligation to share that information in a timely fashion.
2)
The
contract emanated from the computer of the prospective purchaser, not from that
of the town or its legal representative.
3)
The addition of 1,000 acres without any change
in cost was not debated and specifically voted on by the Town Board. The former Supervisor in collusion with
Daniel Preston simply announced the change and entered it into the Letter of
Intent. Although the Town Board acting
as the CDA did unanimously authorize the Supervisor to sign the LOI which
included the 1000 acres via CDA Res. #7, of April 4, 2017, there was no
discussion about the inclusion of the gifted property. https://saveepcal.blogspot.com/2019/11/how-1000-acres-were-added.html
4)
How much of the land is undevelopable is not
written into the contract and has been interpreted in various ways. https://saveepcal.blogspot.com/2019/11/how-much-land-is-developable.html
5)
The resolution of the previous Board that
ostensibly agreed to the contract was described by John Dunleavy, its sponsor
and an essential vote, to be only for procedural purposes and not a final
document but when the new Board took office it was characterized as final and
unchangeable. https://saveepcal.blogspot.com/2019/10/john-dunleavy-on-epcal-contract-vote.html
6)
Jodi Giglio’s secret and private meeting with
the Ghermezians during the hearing procedure was cleared by the Ethics Board on
the technical grounds that town code did not forbid such a meeting and State
law did not apply. Her undeniable
conflict of interest required her to abstain of the Qualified and Eligible vote
which would have led to a tie and therefore defeat. https://riverheadlocal.com/2018/04/06/a-public-officials-poor-choice-has-real-consequences-for-all-of-us/
7)
The
Ghermezians hid from the Town Board the real estate fraud of Stuart
Bienenstock,their director of business development and representative to the
Board, https://riverheadlocal.com/2019/02/24/court-triple-five-executive-intentionally-defrauded-buyer-in-n-j-real-estate-deal/
8)
The Ghermezians also hid from the Town Board the
financial and technological bankruptcy of their partner, Daniel Preston and
Luminati, and his withdrawal from operations at EPCAL until reported by the
Riverhead Local and the News Review. The
Ghermezians paid his debt to the town in order to maintain the fiction of his
participation with good standing in the contract. https://riverheadlocal.com/2019/04/23/luminati-aerospace-ceo-says-hes-moving-his-company-upstate/ 
9)
Luminati was the sole beneficiary of the covert
addition of 1,000 acres at no cost. By
becoming Daniel Preston’s partner in Calverton Aviation and Technology, the
Ghermezians shared his privileged and suspect position. The earlier exposure of dishonesty about his
resume and aerospace accomplishments by Riverhead Local led to his neutering as
a non-voting 25% owner of Calverton Aviation and Technology although the
Ghermezians continued to pretend he was their inspiration and technical
expertise.
https://riverheadlocal.com/2018/02/27/past-full-outrageous-claims-broken-deals-luminatis-daniel-preston-coming-riverhead/
10)
The
Ghermezians have been charged with corruption connected to their original
entertainment mall in Edmonton, Canada and gambling investments in Las
Vegas. They made substantial political
contributions to Republicans in New Jersey during the unfinished development of
the American Dream entertainment mall.
They use political and economic leverage to obtain public bonding and
tax abatements. Their contributions
sought to defeat members of the Miami Commission who opposed their
entertainment mall and even one who voted to approve it but challenged any
public subsidy. They are under investigation by Canada’s IRS for international
financial and tax transgressions. The
Board majority is indifferent to this record.
https://saveepcal.blogspot.com/2019/11/ghermezians-record-in-las-vegas.html
https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/sierra-cub-eda-task-force-investigate-american-dream-xanadu/
https://saveepcal.blogspot.com/2019/11/ghermezians-political-games-in-miami.html
11)
In the
qualified and eligible process, the Ghermezians refused to provide important
economic information on the grounds they were a private family company. The Republican majority said additional
information was not needed.
12)
The
Ghermezians exploit local government resources to fund their projects, examples
from Florida and New Jersey
Money owed to local government in NJ
In East Rutherford, where [the
Ghermezians'] American Dream is located, officials, including former Mayor
James Cassella, said the mall owes $1 million in payments for last year and an anticipated
$2 million in payments in 2020 that are outstanding.
"East Rutherford in 2020 could
be shorted $3 million if you count the million dollars that we should have
received” last year, Cassella said. The mayor lamented his home borough may
never see the $2 million owed in 2020.https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/east-rutherford/2020/01/27/east-rutherford-nj-voters-ok-35-5-m-school-bond/4591726002/
Within this story is reference to
the effort by the Ghermezians to get public funding for their Miami supermall
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article236994859.html
This story describes the maneuvering to get around legislated restrictions to
provide $15 million in sewer construction.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article223062075.html
13)
The
description of the Ghermezians development plan in the contract of sale is so
general as to be meaningless. Their public relations spins have included power
points which promote aspirations to recreate the aerospace industry in
Calverton, to become an east coast Silicone Valley, to feature an eco friendly
building that is a community asset.
There is suspicion that their goal
may be creation of a gambling casino complex based on deep involvement in Las
Vegas and the great success of Jakes 58.
A promo by the Ghermezians about their engagement with native
Americans includes these lines about what Triple Five offers:
NATIVE AFFAIRS
WITH A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ATTACHMENT TO THE LAND OUR
FIRST PEOPLES OF NORTH AMERICA HAVE, AND THEIR STRONG DESIRE TO CREATE ECONOMIC
WEALTH FOR THEIR PEOPLE, TRIPLE FIVE WILL BE OFFERING THE FOLLOWING EXCITING
SERVICES AND OPPORTUNITIES TO FIRST NATIONS IN CANADA AND THE NATIVE TRIBES OF
AMERICA. ...
Development of casinos, residential,
commercial and industrial - on or off reservation.
https://triplefive.com/en/pages/native-affairs-division
This is not conclusive, but merits an official
question from the Supervisor about whether they would agree to a permanent
prohibition in the final sale document on use of EPCAL for a casino.
Of linked concern is the lobbying
campaign of MGM Resorts which owns the Yonkers race track and casino (slots
only) for legislation that will allow full scale casinos downstate, note
the plural which may only refer to Queens, but their map includes Jakes 58..
https://www.mgmresorts.com/en/hotels/united-states/empire-city.html
See page 12 where their survey focuses on Long Island opinion
https://www.mgmresorts.com/content/dam/MGM/mgm-empire-city/resources/reports/mgm-empire-city-resources-nys-october-gaming-survey-deck.pdf
14)
The
corona virus crisis has introduced new even more serious questions about
whether the Ghermezians are financially qualified to purchase the EPCAL
land.
My Op Ed published in the
Riverhead News Review on January 20, 2020
https://riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com/2020/01/97775/guest-column-new-board-must-revisit-this-project/
My
Op Ed published in Riverhead Local on April 14, 2020
Mr. Ghermezian
said he "just spent $14 million" on the former Dowling College school
of aviation in Shirley to help the EPCAL project.
Other areas
are "begging" them to come there, he said, and said Riverhead should
appreciate that they are interested in EPCAL.
"You
have to hug us. You have to kiss us," he shouted. "This is
dirty. This is politics."
2)
In order to find the Ghermezians qualified and eligible, the Board would need
to adopt a resolution to suspend its own requirement for full financial disclosure
by the prospective purchaser. It would be irresponsible to let the
Ghermezians evade their obligation to provide complete financial and pro forma
statements.
3) The
Q & E decision has been suspended pending a finding by the Board of Ethics
about Councilwoman Jodi Giglio's secret private meeting with the
Ghermezians. It the Ethics Board recommends Ms. Giglio recuse
herself from voting on the Ghermezian contract, we need to know whether she
will accept its conclusion.
4)
It has become obvious from prominent Republican supporters of the deal that all
1,643 acres are intended for commercial use, not only the 600 currently listed
as developable. Deceptive statements that only 600 acres will
be developed must be exposed.
-- In his op
ed in the May 24 News Review, former Republican Congressman Hochbruechkner
argues that all of the land within the EPCAL fence should be used for
"economic benefit" because other land outside it has "already
been deeded to New York State for environmental protection." In his
view "...environmental goals in the Calverton area have already been
addressed...quite successfully."
-- Former
head of the Republican Party Mason Haas commented similarly on-line in the
Riverhead Local that, "The land within the fenced area was to be off
limits to DEC restrictions, as it was to be part of the economic generator for
the east end. ... The acreage you speak of if within the fence always was to be
off limits to regulations. As we have seen, over regulating does have its down
side."
New Jersey’s American Dream Megamall Is Once Again Sinking in Debt
(Bloomberg) -- Since its groundbreaking nearly two decades ago, the megamall built in New Jersey’s Meadowlands has done little except hemorrhage cash. Now, less than two years after its much-delayed opening, the complex known as American Dream is threatening to dash the lofty ambitions of yet another developer.
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