Observant Jews Win Hamptons Eruv Battle
Image by WIKIPEDIA
It’s another win for the Jews in the Hampton eruv wars. A federal judge has ruled that religious boundary markers called “lechis” may be attached to telephone poles in the Southampton municipality. The decision comes a little over a year after a similar ruling was made in Westhampton beach, and clears all legal obstacles to construct an eruv.
The case is part of an ongoing legal battle between three Hamptons municipalities, Westhampton Beach, Quogue, and Southampton, which have sought to prevent the eruv from being built, and the East End Eruv Association, a local group of Orthodox Jews.
Still, Verizon New York and the Long Island Lighting Company (LIPA), the two utility companies in the area, must now grant licenses to install the lechis on the telephone poles they own throughout the region. Until now, the companies have been apprehensive to issues the licenses because of the sharp opposition to the eruv by the town.
Robert Sugarman, the senior pro-bono council for East End Eruv Association, said he was “gratified by the decision” in Southampton and “looks forward to a similar decision with respect to the village of Quogue.”
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
