GerritsenBeach.net

It looks as though Stephen Jemal did not hold up his end of a bargain with Sheepshead Bay Plumb Beach Civic.

If you don’t already know, back in June Stephen Jemal threatened to sue GerritsenBeach.net and SBPBCivic.org over a post that was made on SBPBCivic.org. It’s a long story, so read about it here.

At last night SBPPBCivic meeting where Jemal was a no show; all of the details came out about what led up to their demand letter, the negations and the agreement that was eventually reached with SBPBCivic.

As part of an agreement between SBPBCivic and Stephen Jemal, SBPBCivic would reword their original post as an act of good faith. In exchange Stephen Jemal was to come down to the local meeting and explain his neighborhood projects.

As for what happened to me: I never wanted to deal with them. My web server was attacked and brought down bringing down 120 other websites. I’m planning my next move, over the matter.

SBPBCivic is expected to make a statement (via SBPBCivic.org) and I am expecting that they will be looking very closely at Stephen Jemals projects.

Here are the local meetings that are coming up. The Sheepshead Bay Plumb Beach Civic Association has invited STEPHEN JEMAL of SSJ Development to discuss his development on Knapp St. That should be an interesting meeting if he shows up. I should go and meet him.

• Sheepshead Bay Plumb Beach Civic Association, September 2 at 7:30 pm.; Baron DeKalb, Knights of Columbus, 3000 Emmons Avenue; 718-891-1937. www.sbpbcivic.org.

• Gerritsen Beach Property Owners Association, September 3 (and each fIrst Wednesday) at 7:30 pm.; St. James Lutheran Church, Gerritsen and Florence avenues; 718-648-6599.

• Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association, September 8 at 8 p.m.; Public School 195, 131 lrwin Street; representatives from the Office of Emergency Management will talk about hurricane preparedness; 917-747-5863.

• 61st Precinct Community Council, September 10 at 7:30 pm.; Bainbridge Adult Day Health Care Center, 3093 Ocean Avenue; 718-627-6847.

• Community Board 15, September’ 23 at 7 p.m.; Zoning Meeting September 16 at 7 p.m. Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Boulevard (in the faculty dining room) ; 718-332-3008

Looks as though SSJ Riviera  has sprayed down their plywood wall with:

“SSJ Development LLC Revitalized Waterfront Living”

Coming in via email

Tall poles, possibly for signs to advertise The Riviera at Gerritsen Beach which might offer 32 single and two family townhouses the 32 single and two family townhouses, have gone up at the property that used to be Danzas. I say might because the developer Stephen Jemal is being sued for $5.5 Million Dollar by his investment companies, so you never know.

Maybe SSJ development should be using its money to clean up the property at Lacon Ct instead of paying lawyers to send demand letters. I changed my mind…..they should keep paying their lawyers you never know when they are going to need them. *wink wink nudge nudge*

Looks like this “small blog” made the paper.

BY JOTHAM SEDERSTROM
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, July 24th 2008, 5:35 PM

Nobody beats the Wiz - not even a blogger.

The feisty founder of electronics behemoth The Wiz is threatening to sue a Brooklyn blogger who published jabs against the businessman on his small Web site.

Read more here

On July 18th 2008, my website came under attack from a now known source, which I believe, based on information received, the attacker is CLOSELY CONNECTED to Mr. Stephen Jemal of SSJ Development. Let’s recap.

I posted a story about Mr. Jemal being sued for an alleged non-payment of a loan connected to his real estate projects in our area. I later posted a story about a “DoS Attack” on GerritsenBeach.net after it was contained, informing everyone of the resulting down time. I reported the incident to Verizon, the attacking IP’s owner.

Later that night after the attack, I received a letter via email from Stephen Jemal’s attorneys, demanding that I take down my post, citing defamation. Here is that demand letter.

I believe that the demand letter makes completely ridiculous and unreasonable demands of me and the website, including:

1. Removing the entire publication about Mr. Jemal
2. Removing any reference of the publication from Google, all other search engines, and other blogs (like I run Google and control their root user name and passwords!),
3. Publish a retraction / clarification approved by Mr. Jemal and distribute that throughout the internet,
4. signing a “non-disparagement” agreement, and… oh yeah
5. Sign an immediate settlement of TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS for legal fees, and additional consideration to induce Mr. Jemal not to file a lawsuit.

Whew! Mr. Jemal’s representation conveyed that the article “painted” him badly. (This Article)

Here is the problem with all of this: What statement did I make that was false? What statement did I make that was defamatory? Oh, that’s right… NOTHING. Needless to say, that demand was flatly rejected.

This is where things take a very interesting turn.

After posting about the DoS attack, I received multiple emails from ####@SSJDevelopment.com stating that he knows that someone VERY CLOSELY connected to Mr. Jemal, used a “bash script” that he had taught this person.

Upon reviewing the website logs, the script described was indeed the script used to attack this website. Based on the connection between the two pieces of information, I have reason to believe the author of the email.

Mr. Jemal’s attorneys have since told me that the attack on the site was the work of a “renegade employee” who acted without knowledge or authorization of Mr. Jemal. They also told me that Mr. Jemal fired this employee.

While I am not in total agreement with this statement (the offensive IP originated from the Jersey Shore where the alleged offender claims to live, not in Brooklyn where this “renegade employee” worked), I accepted their statement. I was also accused of using this information in an attempt to extort a settlement, which I was not doing at all – I was simply adding information to the negotiations, attempting to give all a fuller view of the circumstances surrounding the blog entry, and released the information with no thought to how it would “be painted” or inferred.

Stay Tuned! We remain on Red Alert (but will take off the annoying red color)and anticipate negotiations ending shortly.

SSJ Development is ready to break ground on 3 sites in Brooklyn, including Bergen Beach, Knapp St. and Gerritsen Beach (Lacon Court), thanks to $100 Milliion loan from Amalgomated Bank.

The third project, which won’t break ground for several months, is planned for Gerritsen Beach (Lacon Court). The development, a three-story building with 64 units starting at $349,000, will be called the Riviera. The 3.25-acre site comprises 22 lots Mr. Jemal bought up over the past seven years and was once the site of a marina, a repair yard for boats, a billiards club, and a place where a local resident was collecting pigeons.

“It was really beat up,” he said. “It needed attention.”

Some residents of Gerritsen Beach said that while they believed the waterfront needed improvement, they were against Mr. Jemal’s project.

“It’s going to add congestion and change the character of the neighborhood,” a mother of three who grew up in the area, Margaret McCormick, said. Her husband, Kevin, said residents could do little to stop the development.

Still, they and other opponents are hoping that the cost of cleaning up the contaminated soil from the old boat yard will make it too expensive to build the project.

“What he wants to build is the equivalent of a 35-foot wall along a whole stretch of the waterfront,” Mr. McCormick said. “These are fourth-generation families living in houses on double lots. This isn’t Florida.”

Mr. Jemal contended that he is building within the zoning requirements for the area and that his buildings will add to the character of the existing neighborhoods.

“I’m reclaiming the waterfront and opening it up,” he said. “What I’m doing in South Brooklyn will be on line before anything they’re doing in North Brooklyn.”

(more…)

Without a plywood fence or any permits posted, construction/demolition has resumed at the Riveria Suites property. Today, there was lots of activity but it looked like there were mainly turning up the soil, but its too cold to watch them for more than a few minutes.

Still there is a concern about the creek side of the property. They are still bringing in heavy equipment without putting up any type of bulkhead, net or plywood to keep debris from falling into the creek.

DOB Property Link

Update: The next day. They put up the permits. Permit#1 Permit#2