baysidecemeterylitigation.com

Here is another periodic email from me to you to keep you informed on what's new with the Bayside Cemetery situation:

Topic 1:  On May 12, 2009 we were informed of a court date for oral arguments for the two previous motions (defendant’s motion to dismiss and the court’s issue of jurisdiction).  The next court date is now scheduled for June 29, 2009 at 2:30 PM before Chief Judge Raymond Dearie in Courtroom 10A-S.  http://site.baysidecemeterylitigation.com/uploads/Court_Document-May_12_2009.pdf

Topic 2:  The defendants have repeatedly questioned the legal standing of plaintiffs’ (my and the two other plaintiffs) perpetual care (PC) claims.  One plaintiff (Fran Goldstein) has a perpetual care contract because she was the purchaser of the contract.  On June 29^th one of the things the court will evaluate is the validity of Plaintiffs’ perpetual care claims.  On May 20 and 21, affadavits were filed attesting to the validity of perpetual care claims from the two other plaintiffs (Lynn Cohen and John Lucker et al).  Supporting material for this proof was made possible from the defendant’s own records submitted by the defendant through preliminary document discovery.  In my affadavit, I stated that it was disturbing that the Defendant is trying to argue that my grandparents don’t have a perpetual care contract when the Defendant’s own documents prove that they do have a PC contract – the record is right there in their own documents!  I argue that it is troubling that the Defendants could argue to the Court for a motion to dismiss on the grounds that no contract exists when their own documents prove otherwise.  I believe that the Defendant is trying to be deceptive which is, in my opinion, a dishonest position to take with the Court.  I hope the Court recognizes the Defendant’s attempts to be deceptive and holds them accountable for such actions.

See http://site.baysidecemeterylitigation.com/uploads/AR-M620N_20090520_034447.pdf and http://site.baysidecemeterylitigation.com/uploads/Affidavit_of_John_Lucker.pdf

Topic 3:  Three additional articles have been published and one TV story was broadcast about the Bayside Cemetery situation and my litigation.  A219 Magazine, AM New York newspaper and WCBS published articles and WCBS-TV broadcast a story about the Bayside situation.

See the following:

219 Magazine: http://219mag.com/2009/05/grave-issues-in-nyc-cemeteries/

AM New York newspaper: http://weblogs.amny.com/entertainment/urbanite/blog/2009/05/nyc_cemeteries_dying_from_negl.html#more

WCBS:  http://wcbstv.com/seenon/dead.cemeteries.friends.2.1033486.html

WCBS TV Broadcast video:  http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=128612@wcbs.dayport.com

Topic 4:  INTERESTING ITEM #1: As in prior emails I want to make various observations which I find disturbing, curious and outrageous.  For this email, it is unambiguous that Congregation Shaare Zedek has outrageously and neglectfully failed to maintain Bayside Cemetery for a very long time.  A simple viewing of pictures taken of the cemetery makes this unarguable.  The synagogue has publically admitted to misappropriating cemetery trust funds and using them to maintain the synagogue.  They have failed to honor perpetual care contracts as evidenced by the overgrowth and disrespectful conditions at the many hundreds or thousands of graves at Bayside Cemetery marked with Perpetual Care stickers.  Yet on a recent visit to Bayside Cemetery, I was struck by one very well maintained gated area at the back left of the cemetery.  Guess whose name is on the gate at this section of the cemetery?  The name on the gate is Congregation Shaare Zedek.  They certainly seem to maintain the area of the cemetery where synagogue members are buried.  I wonder if Congregation Shaare Zedek deposited perpetual care funds for maintenance of this part of the cemetery in the Bayside Cemetery trust funds?  Why are they maintaining the area of the cemetery with their name on it but not most of the rest of the cemetery?

Topic 5:  INTERESTING ITEM #2: Second, an organization called Community Association for Jewish At-Risk Cemeteries (CAJAC for short) has allegedly organized and funded a cleanup of Bayside Cemetery.  Under the name CAJAC they have created a website, created a presence on Facebook, created a presence on Wikipedia, claimed to have received seed money from the UJA Federation New York, and are soliciting cash donations from contributors.  I have received emails from several people informing me of the cleanup that is underway at Bayside Cemetery.  There is supposed to be a landscape contractor doing the primary work to clean the cemetery and there is also a small group of volunteers who have worked for several weekends to do some limited cleanup activities to the best of their abilities.  To, anyone who volunteers their precious time to help cleanup Bayside Cemetery, I applaud you.  But let’s keep the effort in context.  While a cleanup will help remediate the problem for now, unless a permanent solution is found for the perpetual maintenance of Bayside Cemetery, then the cemetery will return to its overgrown state in a few years.  And let’s not lose sight of the most important point – that the cemetery belongs to Congregation Shaare Zedek, that they were paid significant monies over the years to maintain the cemetery and that they admitted to illegally taking the perpetual care money and using it for the synagogue rather than for the cemetery which is what they were legally obligated to use it for.

So, now that I’ve written briefly about CAJAC, let’s shed a bit more illumination on the issue:

1) Go to http://appsext8.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY_INFORMATION?p_nameid=3417729&p_corpid=3416136&p_entity_name=%63%6F%6D%6D%75%6E%69%74%79%20%61%73%73%6F%63%69%61%74%69%6F%6E&p_name_type=%41&p_search_type=%42%45%47%49%4E%53&p_srch_results_page=0

Do you see what I see?  The address for CAJAC is the same address as Congregation Shaare Zedek!!!

2) Now go to Facebook if you have access to it and look at who is on the board of CAJAC.  There are 4 people on the board.  One is Ethan Klingsberg who is listed as the Founding Member.  Mr. Klingsberg is also listed on the Congregation Shaare Zedek website (www.sznyc.org) as the Cemetery Chairman.  Gary Katz is also listed as the President of CAJAC.  He is also a member of Congregation Shaare Zedek and is on the Board of Directors of the Hebrew Free Burial Society along with Daniel Werlin who is the past president of Congregation Shaare Zedek.  It appears that Congregation Shaare Zedek, CAJAC (which appears to be either an off-shoot or a shadow arm of Congregation Shaare Zedek) and the Hebrew Free Burial Society are intertwined.

3) CAJAC claims that they got a seed-money grant from the UJA Federation of NY to perform a one-time cleanup of Bayside Cemetery.  But was it really CAJAC who got the money?  In a 2005 Form 990 Income Tax Return for UJA Federation of NY, there is a listing for a $145,000 grant to Congregation Shaare Zedek.  In court documents listed at http://site.baysidecemeterylitigation.com/uploads/SMA_to_MMB_-_Dec._28-WEB.pdf , the congregation reports that they have received this money as a grant from the UJA Federation.  So now it appears that this money may have flowed from Congregation Shaare Zedek to CAJAC.  Is CAJAC just a way for Congregation Shaare Zedek to sidestep the issues that they created at Bayside Cemetery with regards to the cemetery’s care and the monies that were taken from the cemetery?

4) CAJAC repeatedly refers to itself as a not-for-profit organization.  One would presume that with such a claim comes the benefit for a contributor that they can deduct their generous donation from their taxes.  NOT SO!!!  CAJAC is not a legal 501(c)(3) organization and donations made to it are not tax deductible.  One person contacted me about their $100 donation to CAJAC.  Their check was cashed, they never received a letter thanking them and acknowledging the gift and then they felt so uncomfortable about the whole thing that they decided not to deduct the money from their taxes as a charitable contribution.  Yet I notice that CAJAC has a website where people can donate money to them but do not disclose that they are not a 501(c)(3) organization and that donations are not tax deductible.

I will continue to keep you posted on what happens with the litigation and the website.  My intentions are to continue in my efforts to force Congregation Shaare Zedek to do the right thing.  I am convinced that without such efforts, the Congregation would never honor their sacred obligations to respect the dead given their long history of neglect and disrespect at Bayside Cemetery.

Please check the website often for current information.

Also, as I've asked before, please generate as much awareness as possible about this important case and the terrible conditions at Bayside Cemetery by forwarding this email to all of your friends, relatives, colleagues, etc. to inform them about this situation at Bayside Cemetery and what Congregation Shaare Zedek has done.  Send them to www.baysidecemeterylitigation.com for information.

Please also leave me comments about this whole situation on the blog at http://blog.baysidecemeterylitigation.com/

Thanks for your interest and support.
John Lucker
Plaintiff - Lucker et al vs. Bayside Cemetery and Congregation Shaare Zedek
www.baysidecemeterylitigation.com