As Westchester County Denies Interest in New Rochelle Armory, Supreme Court Judge Hears Different Story

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — As part of a proposed settlement to a “veterans lawsuit” over the New Rochelle Naval Armory, negotiated before Judge Charles Wood in the New York State Supreme Court, the developer of a project at the site agreed to provide space to what they believed to be the Westchester County Government.

The settlement deal fell apart after what one attorney called “outrageous 11th hour demands by plaintiffs” for complete control of the property and building — something he said went far beyond the demands in the lawsuit.

Asked about the proposed Stipulation of Settlement agreement, Westchester County Spokesperson Catherine Cioffi was adamant that the County Government under Westchester County Executive George Latimer has no role in the lawsuit and is not a beneficiary of the lawsuit.

“Westchester County Government has no direct or indirect interest in the development or the future use of the New Rochelle Armory. We are not a party or any discussions or agreement on the Armory; that is a matter to be decided by the leaders and the residents of the City of New Rochelle and its owner. Any presumption or association to the contrary is simple false.”

That association has been made by Michael Amodio, the attorney who filed a lawsuit over control of the Armory.

Cioffi was emphatic.

“The County is not now, nor has ever been, an interested party or beneficiary in any proposed use,” said Cioffi. “The County Law Department and those responsible for all real estate transactions conduct themselves with integrity and professionalism; they are the only official agents that can act on behalf of the County in Real Estate matters.”

Despite the unequivocal denials, something else entirely has been contemplated by parties to the lawsuit.

“Rumors that state otherwise are simply malevolent conjecture and should raise serious doubts about the objectivity of the source of such rumors,” she added.

The source is a lawyer representing a party to the settlement agreement, speaking on the record, who participated in the settlement conference called by Judge Wood, citing court records — hardly rumors or malevolent conjecture.

The central source of confusion between the County’s official position and what has been occurring in Judge Wood’s courtroom appears to be a high-level County official, Westchester County Veterans Services Agency Director Ronald C. Tocci.

Appointed originally by former County Executive Rob Astorino, Tocci was asked to stay on in the position by Westchester County Executive George Latimer in 2018.

Although not a plaintiff, Tocci is perceived by many to be the animating force behind the Armory lawsuit — leading a press conference at the Armory when the lawsuit was announced, sitting in on pre-trial conferences, telling the Court he actively sought to negotiate a settlement with New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson (which Bramson denies), going on the record in the proceedings to give unsworn testimony in front of a state judge, playing an active role in funding the lawsuit, appearing to use the resources of his County office to activate support for the lawsuit and doing so on taxpayer-funded County time, making presentations on the unfolding court proceedings to veterans groups, including two that believe they are plaintiffs in the case when they are not, and much more.

Mitchell Rutkin, the attorney representing the developer entrusted with the Armory site Pratt Landing Partners/ Twinings Properties described representations made by the plaintiffs’ lawyer in attempting to hash out a settlement of the lawsuit.

Rutkin said there was significant back and forth on the settlement agreement prior to reaching final terms on December 8, 2020, before Judge Charles Wood in the New York State Supreme Court. Ultimately, the developers agreed to provide space to either a specific organization, the “Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs” or another veteran organization.

There is no agency in the County government named the “Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs”. The department within the Country government that deals with veterans issues is the “Westchester County Veterans Services Agency” run by Tocci.

“The plaintiffs specifically asked that the space be set aside for the ‘Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs”, said Rutkin.

“Later in the negotiations, the plaintiffs requested the right to sublet space within the designated office space provided in the lease.”

Pressed on this in light of Cioffi’s denials, Rutkin said it was Pratt Landing Partners / Twinings understanding that the beneficiary of the settlement agreement was the Westchester County government.

“The only organization named by the plaintiffs was the Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs (WCOVA),” said Rutkin. “That is the organization that was then named in the settlement agreement. The understanding of my clients was that WCOVA is the County office that Ron Tocci heads.”

Tocci heads the Westchester County Veterans Services Agency.

With Cioffi adamant that the County was not involved in the lawsuit and correctly noting that the “Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs” is not the “Westchester County Veterans Services Agency” Rutkin was asked how something called the “Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs” was named sole beneficiary of the Armory lawsuit in the unexecuted Stipulation Agreement hammered out in front of Judge Wood.

“It was at (plaintiff’s) request that that organization, the name of which was taken verbatim from a letter from plaintiff’s counsel, was included as the preferred tenant in the Armory,” said Rutkin.

We previously reported on similar confusion over the original lead plaintiff which was filed as “Robert McGuirl, Westchester County Veterans Service Council”. No such organization exists. There is a “Westchester County Veterans Service Committee”, an ad hoc group of veterans that include Tocci which meets regularly with Westchester County Executive George Latimer to discuss veterans issues.

Although the so-called Westchester County Veterans Service Council was removed as a plaintiff after the death of McGuirl in 2019 and replaced with a new lead plaintiff (Dennis Starr, as an individual), Tocci and staff at the Westchester County Veterans Services Agency continue to claim that the Westchester County Veterans Service Committee (which they claim is the same as the Westchester County Veterans Service Council) is a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Words matter, especially in legal documents in the New York State Supreme Court, so confusing or misstating or conflating names or terms or misidentifying plaintiffs or parties to a settlement is a serious issue. Whether it is known as a committee or council, no organization by either name is a plaintiff in the lawsuit nor a beneficiary of the proposed settlement agreement.

American Legion Post #8 (New Rochelle) Commander Pete Poulus recently claimed Post 8 was a plaintiff in the lawsuit. It is not. Tocci is a member of the Post 8 Executive Committee and its former Commander.

The common thread running through all this confusion is Tocci and Amodio.

“I think the question should really be posed to Ron Tocci and/or plaintiffs counsel (Amodio),” said Rutkin.

We did.

After two days we have yet to receive a reply to the following email:

From: Robert Cox

Date: Feb 5, 2021, 6:01 PM -0500

To: Michael P. Amodio, Tocci, Ronald

Subject: Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs???

Mr. Amodio,

I am reporting out a story which will say the Stipulation Agreement your clients declined to execute to resolve the Armory lawsuit per a conference in front of Judge Wood on 12/8/20 conveyed words to the effect that office space and parking spots would be provided by Pratt Landing/ Twinings to the “Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs”.

I am told that the Stipulation Agreement uses the term “Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs” because that term was taken verbatim from a letter you wrote.

There is no such thing as “Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs”.

There is a Westchester County Veterans Service Agency of which Ron Tocci is the Director.

https://veterans.westchestergov.com/

This appears not dissimilar to confusion over the Westchester County Veterans Services Council and Westchester County Veterans Services Committee which I discussed with Ron.

As these are legal documents filed with a court in a lawsuit, to dismiss differences between terms like Westchester County Veterans Services Council and Westchester County Veterans Services Committee or Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs and Westchester County Veterans Service Agency as semantics is nonsensical. Words matter and a legal agreement for a party to receive something of value from another party in a settlement requires that all parties need be precisely and unequivocally articulated in writing.

What exactly is the “Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs”?

Can you provide the Stipulation Agreement and the letter where you use the term “Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs”?

Under that agreement, inaccurate terms aside, who did you understand would be provided space by Twinings/Pratt Landing Partners? Was it, in fact, meant to be Westchester County Veterans Service Agency of which Ron Tocci is the Director?

Be advised, Latimer’s office has unequivocally denied any involvement or being the beneficiary of anything to do with New Rochelle Naval Armory.

Thank you,

Robert Cox

Publisher and Managing Editor

talkofthesound.com

Judge Charles Wood of the New York State Supreme Court appears to have been led to believe a settlement agreement would include the Westchester County Government.

On January 28, 2021, Michael Amodio sent a letter to Judge Charles Wood informing the Court that his clients declined to execute the final version of the Stipulation of Settlement “for reasons too lengthy to explain in this letter”.

That agreement had been negotiated six weeks earlier.

On December 8, 2020, Judge Wood presided over a virtual Settlement Conference in the New York State Supreme Court to resolve the lawsuit filed by Michael Amodio.

Under the agreement, Pratt Landing Partners/ Twinings Properties agreed to not only not to tear down the Armory but to rehabilitate the structure (work already begun at the time the lawsuit was filed in the summer of 2019), provide the so-called Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs up to 4,000 square feet of space and an estimated 18 parking spaces. In addition, “the veterans” (i.e., the Westchester County Office of Veteran’s Affairs) could sublet the space. The offer was for 2,000-4,000 square feet, depending on which floor of the building “the veterans” occupied, which would be at the plaintiffs’ choice.

Why a New Rochelle businessman and a retired firefighter from Peekskill, the two remaining plaintiffs, would have a say in decisions over allocating space at the Armory has never been made clear.

Also unclear, why would the plaintiffs accept a settlement that gives them nothing and the Westchester County government, as understood by parties to the lawsuit, everything — denials by the County aside.

Finally, why would the City of New Rochelle accept a settlement agreement that does nothing to prevent future litigation by other parties?

The City had declined to respond to our questions on the Stipulation Agreement but anyone other the two plaintiffs could file an identical lawsuit regardless of whether Starr and Boddie sign a Stipulation of Settlement.

The lawsuit, and the shoddy way it was filed, has been at issue from day one.

Michael Amodio filed a complaint in 2019 against the City of New Rochelle, New York State Attorney General Tish James and Twinings Properties claiming to represent American Legion Post # 8 (New Rochelle), Robert McGuirl as representing something called the Westchester County Veterans Council and Robert Boddie, Sr., a retired firefighter from Peekskill supposedly representing the Westchester County American Legion.

Post #8 did not agree to be a plaintiff in the lawsuit, according to then-Commander Thomas O’Keefe who instructed Amodio to remove Post #8 from the lawsuit.

The Westchester County Veterans Council does not exist.

Boddie did not respond to requests to provide records to show the Westchester County American Legion had empowered him to file a lawsuit.

McGuirl died shortly after the case was filed.

McGuirl and the mythical Westchester County Veterans Council were “replaced” by Starr, as an individual. Starr is a Vietnam veteran who resides in New Rochelle. He is a member of the American Legion Post #8 (New Rochelle) Executive Committee.

Within the first few months, two of Amodio’s three putative clients, were no longer plaintiffs.

The developer is not Twinings Properties but rather a special purpose company called Pratt Landing Partners. Amodio got that wrong too.

Rutkin expressed frustration that Amodio’s “clients” refused to sign off what had been negotiated and agreed to in front of Judge Wood.

“Despite the dubious merits of the lawsuit, my clients took the input of the veteran community seriously and, ultimately, the settlement my clients agreed to included everything the plaintiffs asked for in their lawsuit and more,” said Rutkin.

“What derailed the settlement was the 11th hour demands for control of the Armory, which would benefit a few individuals personally, but not the veteran community as a whole,” he said.

“Additional demands made after a settlement was reached in front of Judge Wood, demands that my clients relinquish control of the development of the Armory, demands that had nothing to do with the causes of action in the plaintiffs’ lawsuit, are completely outrageous.”

More to follow. Stay tuned.