A Hudson Valley property owner and landlord long targeted by the Town of Ulster for code violations is now facing consequences in State Supreme Court.
According to a ruling by Judge Julian Schreibman, Catello Viviani used improper legal tactics to block a planned cleanup at his blighted 338 Glenerie Boulevard property in the Town of Ulster. Schreibman’s ruling, issued Friday, July 25, states that Viviani misled the court about a June 5 demolition attempt in order to halt the work.
Schreibman’s decision said Viviani falsely claimed the town had acted without notifying him, pointing out that Viviani had been present at a Feb. 11, 2025, court appearance related to the case.
“Viviani’s sworn claims that the town was acting ‘without notice’ to him were plainly false in light of Viviani’s personal presence at the court appearance,” Schreibman wrote.
The judge also criticized Viviani for using multiple addresses to argue he hadn’t received proper notice. After the town sent official notices to 961 Orlando Street — a residence Viviani had used in previous legal proceedings, including a lawsuit against his wife — Viviani submitted an affidavit in this case claiming to live at 2 Beers Drive in Middletown.
“He cannot claim to live at 961 Orlando Street when it suits him and deny it when it becomes inconvenient,” the ruling states. Schreibman further noted that the conflicting statements were made “under penalty of perjury.”
Additionally, the court found Viviani’s claim that he never received the notice because a tenant at 961 Orlando Street failed to pass it along was dubious.
“The court is skeptical that a tenant, upon receiving by hand-delivery, legal papers addressed to his landlord, would effectively discard them without ever mentioning the matter to his landlord,” Schreibman wrote.
The dispute between the town and Viviani is not new. At a Town Board meeting held Thursday, July 21, 2022, officials detailed an order to remedy notice covering 14 violations against Viviani dated July 13 and, according to town Building Inspector Warren Tutt, delivered by both certified and regular mail.
According to Ulster County records dating back to 2022, the property contains 10 buildings, nine unoccupied. Among the violations cited by the Town of Ulster were dumping and outdoor storage of waste; maintenance of grass lawns; weeds and other rank or noxious vegetation; general sanitation; and numerous issues with the structures themselves.
Each of the violations carries a per-day penalty of $250, according to town officials.
According to county records, Viviani purchased the property from the county for $104,000 on July 3, 2018.
On Aug. 4, 2022, the Town Board held a public hearing about the Glenerie Boulevard property, described by neighbors as a “debacle” due to its disrepair. At the meeting, Viviani claimed he had not received the violation notices filed by the town. He also chided his neighbors for their criticism.
“If my neighbors were that concerned, they could have knocked on my door and talked to me,” Viviani said. “Maybe they could have given me a hand. I would have paid them.”
In July 2022, some of those neighbors reported that Viviani had begun making cosmetic improvements in an effort to placate town officials, but they were skeptical that it would amount to much.
At the Aug. 4, 2022, meeting, Town Supervisor James E. Quigley III said he was unconvinced by Viviani’s improvements and said the process of bringing the matter before the New York State Supreme Court wasn’t likely to stop.
In May 2024, the Ulster Town Board authorized Town Attorney Jason Kovacs to commence a civil action in New York State Supreme Court on behalf of the town against Viviani for allowing his property at 338 Glenerie Boulevard to fall into disrepair. That request was granted in July 2024.
On June 6 of this year, cleanup crews arrived at 338 Glenerie and were allegedly met with verbal hostility by Viviani. Since then, the cleanup has stalled.
At a meeting of the Town Board held Thursday, July 24, officials correctly surmised a court decision was forthcoming, but they still seemed unclear as to what their next course of action would be if the ruling went their way.
“As the board is aware, in November of ’24, we received an order on default ordering the property to be cleaned up either by Mr. Viviani or, if he failed to do so, by the town, and the town’s expense to be added as a lien on this property,” said Kovacs. “Mr. Viviani has retained an attorney and he filed a motion to vacate our default order. He filed that motion in June. As part of the motion he filed, he requested a, what we call a temporary restraining order for everybody in the town from doing the work while the motion was pending.”
Kovacs said Viviani posted a $25,000 bond with the Ulster County clerk’s office and predicted — correctly, as it happens — that Viviani would also appeal the ruling.
At the same meeting, Town Supervisor James E. Quigley III said Viviani has “cured his default on his real estate tax payments.”
“He was three years in arrears approaching foreclosure, and he paid the taxes and fee,” Quigley said. “The county’s takeover of the property is no longer a threat to him.”
Town officials also discussed the possibility of Viviani selling the beleaguered property.
“He can sell the property tomorrow,” Kovacs said. “We can’t stop him from doing that, but our action is what we call an in-rem action,” meaning the town has targeted the property, not an individual.
“Whoever buys the property would be subject to that,” Kovacs said.
Quigley added that the ongoing issues are a matter of public record.
“In normal real estate transactions, there is an inquiry made by the title company to the building department seeking information on any issues that may be on record with the town as to code violations, outstanding building permits, anything of that nature,” Quigley said. “And the town building inspector usually writes up what’s called an abstract and sends it back to the title company in which our issues are recorded on title during the transfer. And most people use that as a question to the seller … Now I know (Viviani) has no compunction and that he would probably not disclose any of this. So we’ll have to see how it goes.”
Viviani could not be reached for comment.
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