Let’s be honest, the Jewish community in Rockland County has had enough of the County Office of Consumer Protection,
and who can blame us?
Ask any contractor, handyman, or small business owner, and they’ll tell you the same story, dealing with Consumer Protection in Rockland is an absolute nightmare. It’s nearly impossible to get a license without jumping through endless hoops, facing constant red tape, and spending weeks chasing documents that no one else in the state seems to need. And once you finally get licensed, you live in fear of being fined for something completely trivial, things that don’t even make sense to normal people running honest businesses.
So yes, the anger is real, the frustration is justified, and the feeling that the Jewish community is being unfairly targeted is not paranoia, it’s our lived reality.
But here’s the part that makes no sense.
After months of complaints, the County announced a public hearing to discuss changes to the home improvement regulations. As Monsey Scoop reported, that hearing was held on Chol Hamoed Sukkos, which was obviously a slap in the face to the very community most affected by these rules. People were furious. Comments flooded in across social media, “Why would they do this on Yom Tov week?” “It’s impossible for us to attend!” “This is ridiculous!”
So, under pressure, the County scheduled a second hearing, announced here, for Thursday night, October 30th, a regular weeknight, perfectly accessible to everyone who claimed they wanted their voices heard.
And then what happened? Crickets. Practically no one showed up.
Not ten people. Not even close.
We can scream all day that we’re being targeted, that we’re being treated unfairly, that we can’t do business in our own county without being harassed by inspectors, but when the moment comes to actually show up and speak up, we’re nowhere to be found.
That’s not just embarrassing, it’s self-defeating.
How can we expect change if we don’t even fill a room when given the chance? The County officials look at an empty room and think, “Guess no one cares that much,” and then the same broken system continues, because the people most affected are too busy complaining on WhatsApp instead of standing up in person.
If we want Consumer Protection to stop unfairly targeting our businesses, if we want the licensing process to be reasonable and transparent, if we want the constant harassment of honest contractors to end, we have to show up when it matters.
Typing angry messages doesn’t change policy, sitting at home doesn’t fix regulations, showing up does.
So next time there’s a hearing, let’s prove that our voices matter, not by complaining after the fact, but by being in the room when the decisions are made.
Because if we don’t, we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves when the same agency keeps making our lives miserable.
Chaim M., New Hempstead, NY
The views expressed in this letter do not necessarily represent those of Monsey Scoop. Have an opinion you’d like to share? Send it to us for review at monseyscoop@gmail.com.
LIES “Not ten people. Not even close”, I was there and clearly photoshopped out of the picture. The victim mentality is a joke.
I was there as well. This looks like one hour in.
I was at that meeting sitting in the third row to the left . My friend was in front of me it appears we have been photoshopped out! Disturbing.
The rudeness displayed toward the board was a complete disgrace. Rules are rules abided by them and won’t have a problem.
You never cease to amaze me with your hysteric comments. You were not photoshopped, and I guess you have a background in construction or have recently applied for a license, so you can make your comments about the “rules”.
I don’t think this photo was photoshopped I believe this photo was taken in the beginning when less people were there so I guess you were not there yet. Plus I believe this letter was to show that people from the Orthodox community did not show up and that is true it’s an empty room with less than 10 people and very few from the Orthodox Jewish community.
I think people fear showing up because they fear being targeted. If you are unlicensed you don’t want the board to know your face. This board does nothing to protect the consumer. It should be up tho the discretion of the consumer to decide who they want showing up to their home. Whether that contractor has a Rockland county license or not is no ones business. People should have their freedom of choice and not be limited to whoever the county decides to license. There are many expensive licensed contractors who do a poor job and unlicensed who do a great job at a better price. The choice should be left to the consumer. I’ve seen a contractor like Gold Medal who bought Design Air come to people’s homes and absolutely rip them off. $30k for AC in a high ranch and trying to scare them into a new boiler with a $10-30k price tag when there was nothing wrong with the boiler. They shut the gas off and left them in a cold house. At another home they tried to sell a new boiler when all it needed was a $10 thermocouple to fix it. Where is consumer protection for these things? This is a licensed company. Bottom line is that there is no consumer protection in this county. The only function is to stifle choice and competition. Their regulations only skyrockets consumer cost for vital services. It’s a scam and shameful.
You are absolutely right about Gold Medal
There have been very few complaining for year! Just recently people have been complaining they are being targeted. I don’t buy it.