When Mrs. F. and her husband decided to move away from Kiryas Joel, the upstate New York shtetl where they grew up, they went to their rebbe to ask for advice. The couple couldn’t move just anywhere. Both are members of the Satmar Hasidic group, and like all ultra-Orthodox Jews, they had special requirements: a…
A federal judge indicated that she will dismiss a federal racketeering lawsuit filed against an Orthodox Jewish developer building a housing development in the upstate New York village of Bloomingburg. The civil lawsuit by the Town of Mamakating and the Village of Bloomingburg alleged that developer Shalom Lamm engaged in fraud, bribery, racketeering, voter fraud…
A federal judge ordered two New York municipalities in the Catskills foothills to face a lawsuit accusing them of discriminating against Hasidic Jews by trying to stop them from moving in. U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest said Bloomingburg, a village in Sullivan County with about 400 residents, must face claims by the developer of a…
Sullivan County’s Board of Elections has backed claims that more than 100 residents of the upstate New York village of Bloomingburg — including Orthodox developer Shalom Lamm and his family — were not legally eligible to vote in last month’s contentious local elections. Lamm announced Wednesday that he would end his fight over the election…
Shalom Lamm, the Orthodox developer behind a controversial project in the upstate New York village of Bloomingburg, has denounced a local election after his right to vote in the hamlet was challenged along with more than 100 other voters. Incumbent Mayor Mark Berentsen, who backs Lamm’s plans for a 396-home development marketed at Hasidic Jews,…
The mayor of a tiny upstate New York village who supports a massive development aimed at Hasidic Jews trails far behind a challenger — although many ballots were challenged and have yet to be counted. Bloomingburg Mayor Mark Berentsen, who backs the sprawling development, got just 25 votes in the election, compared to 81 for…
The upstate New York village of Bloomingburg heads to the polls today for a contentious election that could determine the future of the one-stoplight village. Amid a bitter brawl over a planned 396-home Hasidic development, the election has become a battleground for both the Orthodox developer set on seeing through his large-scale development and fired-up…
FBI agents have descended on properties owned by Orthodox developer Shalom Lamm in the upstate New York village of Bloomingburg, according to eyewitness accounts and a report in the Time Herald-Record, a local newspaper. Between 50 and 60 FBI agents have swarmed the town, with 20 FBI vehicles parked outside the Bloomingbug headquarters of Lamm’s…
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