Entertainment Properties Trust Letter to City of New Rochelle Terminating Cappelli’s New Roc Management

Talk of the Sound broke the news of the falling out between Entertainment Properties Trust and Capelli Enterprises in June 2010.

Investor Terminates Capelli Management of New Roc, Seizes Accounts After Discovering $700,000 Unauthorized “Loan to Itself”

Entertainment Properties Trust Grossly Misrepresented New Roc Deal to Wall Street Analysts Says Capelli, Demands Retraction

A Freedom of Information Law request was made at that time in order to obtain a copy of the formal notification from EPT and the City of New Rochelle. Here is EPTLetter.pdfthe letter:

April 29, 2010

To whom it may concern:

Effective as of the date hereof. New Roc Associates, L.P. a New York limited partnership (“New Roc Associates”) and the owner of New Roc City
entertainment retail center (the “Center”), has terminated New Roc Management, LLC as the manager of the Center and appointed C Richard Ellis, Inc.

Accordingly, CB Richard Ellis, Inc. is authorized to act o. behalf of New Roc Associates and the Center with respect to all matters relating to the operation of the Center and you are entitled to rely upon this letter as evidence of such authority. Future notices and communications to the manager of the Center should be directed to CB Richard Ellis, Inc., ATTN: Pau Allegretti, 200 Park Ave., NewY ork, NY 10166.

In addition, you are advised that Robert J. Drumm and Michael J. Rusche are the duly authorized representatives of the EPT New Roc GP, Inc., the General Partner of New Roc Associates, who will have primary responsibility for matters relating to the transition. Please feel free to direct any questions y may have to Robert or Mike, at (816) 472-1700.

Sincerely,

NEW ROC ASSOCIATES, L.P.

By New Roc GP, Inc.

Gregory K. Silvers,
Vice President

Talk of the Sound is happy to report that City Manager Chuck Strome provided a copy of the letter several weeks ago. Although the publication of the letter is no longer timely, Talk of the Sound believes it is useful to publish it anyway both to record what took place last Spring and to show that the City of New Rochelle’s professional management did fulfill the request shortly after it was made to them.

The two laws that do the most to protect the functioning of our Democratic system in New York State are FOIL and the Open Meeting Law. Without them, New York State residents are left in the dark about the functioning of their elected government. Any person appointed to an administrative position with responsibilities for carrying out these laws ought to be intimately familiar with them.

The reason for the delay in publication is that the request was repeatedly and illegally ignored by City Clerk Bennie Giles, a woefully unprepared political appointee, who serves at the pleasure of the City Council (i.e. Mayor Noam Bramson). Mr. Giles has repeatedly demonstrated an utter lack of knowledge about his obligations under the New York State FOIL. It seems to us that anyone in that position ought to be required to attend a training program on FOIL.