Update on Bayside Cemetery Litigation – October 22, 2009
Dear Bayside Cemetery Litigation Friends:
Phew. It’s been a whirlwind few months since I last wrote to you. There is much to bring you up to date on - some of it good and some of it not so good – or at most frustrating.
So let me start with the frustrating news and then I will tell you the encouraging news.
Frustrating News: Chief Judge Dearie of the federal court where my lawsuit had been filed, dismissed my lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds and sent me to NY State Court. Two years wasted. He kind of apologized for it in the dismissal order and admitted that Bayside Cemetery was in horrible condition but he claimed he didn’t have jurisdiction over the case. Oddly it took him two years to figure this out. Oddly he had promised me personally to expedite the case. My read of this is that he’s busy and he didn’t think my case was worth his time. Federal judges are important people and a disrespected desecrated Jewish cemetery owned by a synagogue that misappropriated the cemetery’s money may not be the kind of case that some chief judge wants to deal with - not when Chief Judge Dearie gets to work on exciting cases like the Denver terrorist trial (Najibullah Zazi). (http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202434182416&NY_Federal_Court_Braces_for_Trial_of_Terror_Suspect )
To see some articles about this event, go to:
And the judge’s order can be read at:
http://site.baysidecemeterylitigation.com/uploads/AR-M620N_20091006_051528.pdf
The judge’s apology, such as it is, reads as “As the Court has noted from the outset of these proceedings, all agree that Bayside Cemetery’s state of decay and disrepair is disheartening and in need of a prompt repair. As unfortunate as this lingering dispute is, and fully appreciating the frustration and anger of the affected families, the Court must conclude that it is without jurisdiction to act.” So there you go… 2 years after the lawsuit was filed. That’s a long time to wait to have a judge decide he shouldn’t be hearing the case (regardless of the merits of his decision).
I was recently interviewed by a reporter about this development in the case and I prepared some written comments for him that I thought I would share with you all:
“I’m deeply disappointed that Chief Judge Dearie did not follow through with his personal, on-the-record, promise to me to expedite this case to trial after I agreed, at the judge’s request, on two separate occasions to temporarily delay the case for a total of 9 months. After 2 years of judicial delays, Chief Judge Dearie concocted a reason to dismiss the case from Federal Court when neither party asked for a jurisdictional review and both parties agreed or relented that the court had the necessary jurisdiction based on evidence and expert witness reports. Chief Judge Dearie clearly did not seem to want to work on this Bayside Cemetery case.
In the meantime Bayside Cemetery continues to be in a horrific disgraceful condition and Congregation Shaare Zedek continues to not be held accountable for their misappropriation of the cemetery’s monies – all in total disrespect of the memories of the 35,000 Jewish people buried there.
Also, the NY Attorney General’s Office continues their 6+ year investigation (under two administrations) of this matter without a publicly disclosed resolution or enforcement – this mystifies me as the AG’s office routinely investigates and prosecutes much less complex cases in months, not years. I have asked the AG’s office, as have other concerned citizens, what’s taking so long? We have been told that the investigation is ongoing.
As a result of Chief Judge Dearie’s ruling, I will soon be filing the class action lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of NY with additional defendants named.”
If you want more legal background on what led up to this event, goto http://site.baysidecemeterylitigation.com/About_the_Litigation.html and read the documents from my last email to you on August 18 until the current time.
So Now The Encouraging News: Far be it for me and my attorney Michael Buchman to let adversity get to us! On October 21, 2009 we refiled the class action lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of NY. We have redrafted portions of the lawsuit and we have also added CAJAC (Community Association for Jewish At-Risk Cemeteries) as a co-defendant. You can read the suit at:
http://site.baysidecemeterylitigation.com/uploads/AR-M620N_20091022_043220.pdf
I will not allow the defendants to stall and delay the case like they did in federal court. I am particularly galvanized on this after visiting Bayside Cemetery last week.
My Visit to Bayside Cemetery on October 13, 2009: I wrote to you a few months ago that CAJAC, as an apparent arm of Congregation Shaare Zedek, was doing a one-time cleanup of Bayside Cemetery. Their cleanup was being performed without a permanent recurring plan to ensure that the cemetery stays clean each year after.
CAJAC has made grandiose statements and has publicly communicated plans that they would complete the cleanup of Bayside Cemetery by November 2009. Well tick tock… because they’ve got 2 weeks to complete a project that isn’t probably 15-20% completed. When I visited the cemetery and spoke with some area people who watch what goes on at the cemetery, I learned that the landscaper who was contracted by CAJAC to cleanup the cemetery hasn’t done much of anything for nearly two months.
The cemetery is an absolute mess. In some ways it’s worse than it was before the cleanup in many parts of the cemetery. Vast quantities of debris are strewn everywhere both in piles and just randomly laying everywhere. Piles of wood chips cover graves. Mountains of brush and twigs lay decaying; the cut branches are brown and dead showing how long they have been there since they were cut down. Areas where the invasive Chinese Bamboo weed was cut down are growing back (as the bamboo will grow back quickly if not chemically killed) and it is already 2 feet tall since being cut. Trees have been cut down and the fallen timbers lay across graves and stones. Trash is strewn throughout the cemetery. Small trees and shrubs were cut down but not chemically treated so they are already growing back. Plus some of the trees that were cut down were cut within a few inches of the ground rather than removed below the ground and chemically treated and the weeds have grown over the stumps so the cemetery is one giant tripping hazard. Basically the place is barely better off than it was before the cleanup. The cleanup seems to have done more to clear the way for new growth this year and ongoing years. If this is a professional cleanup, I’d like to see the contractor’s credentials!
And interestingly, my family’s burial Gate 19 looks no different than it did two years ago. It is still a mess, uncared for and overgrown despite the Perpetual Care contract that my grandparent’s burial society purchased and the Congregation acknowledged existed in the papers they provided in the earlier federal lawsuit.
So the reasons for my lawsuit are even stronger than before. My family has perpetual care and we’re not getting any care!
To see my pictures from my October 13th visit to the cemetery, goto http://photos.baysidecemeterylitigation.com/GallerySlideshow.aspx?gallery=267916
I think that about updates you on the latest news about my lawsuit.
As always, please visit my website for the latest news and information:
Go To: http://www.baysidecemeterylitigation.com/
Sincerely,
John Lucker, Plaintiff
I visited Bayside Cenetery in mid October 09, and it is worse than ever. Bags of garbage were strewn over my wifes grandfathers grave. This cemetery is a disgrace to to the Jewish heritage.
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