Waterbury, CT – The Waterbury Talmudic Institute has failed to honor part of its contract with the city, the Board of Aldermen will be told tonight.
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However, the city will likely not take any action to force the Orthodox Jewish organization to comply with the 2001 agreement.
An official said the time for enforcement may have passed as the city was essentially sitting on a request to review the contract.
Critics of the institute say the Jewish sect has failed to deliver on promises to move families into the Hillside neighborhood and has allowed properties it owns to deteriorate.
Frustrated at the trends, the Hillside Historic District Neighborhood Association asked the city in July to review the 2001 contract that was designed to improve the neighborhood.
According to the 2001 contract, the 8-acre, seven-building former University of Connecticut campus was rented to the Waterbury Talmudic Institute for 50 years.
The institute was to pay the city $60,000 a year, increased by 3 percent each year. The institute’s Yeshiva Gedolah occupies the campus.
Since 2007, several buildings that were purchased by the yeshiva to be used as student housing have sat empty and are falling into disrepair. The yeshiva has been unable to sell the homes or pay the taxes on them.
The yeshiva also asked the city for a one-month extension on paying rent for the campus. Mayoral aide Steve Gambini said he was handed a check last week for $15,400, three months’ rent.
The city wants the yeshiva to succeed and is working with its leaders, he said.
Shalom Siegfried, the vice president of the yeshiva, did not return a call for comment on this story.
If families don’t want to move there, what is the yeshivah supposed to do? Force them?
its a GREAT Yeshiva, lets Daven and send them a donation…
they need a small part of Connecticut stimulus package overall the yeshiva & comm. is growing although not as fast as originally anticipated
This article has nothing to do with the yeshiva.There are groups trying to discredit the mayors office by saying “hey look the mayors office messed up again and now its to late to do anything about it. Its sad that the yeshiva was used as a pawn. Those who may know a little about the politics going on in the city will know how true this is.
Listen, work on what you have first. There are mosdos in the 5 boros that need help,.. communities in need of a “push”.. before you look elsewhere, fix your own backyard
there are actually about 200 families currently living there those criticd of the yeshiva are stereotype antisemites. the yeshiva ktana has close to 250 kids. thats an enormous accomplishment. kein yirbu
Number 8 is right about the politics. Also, why would anybody in their right mind want to move to that neighborhood? It is a jungle surrounded by a jungle. People get robbed there every week. I once davened at the Yeshiva at mincha time (not the middle of the night) and I did not feel safe inside my car stopped at a light. It is like driving through Bed/Sty. When I pulled into the parking lot I wondered whether there were so few cars because the students were not allowed cars, or whether those who showed up earlier than I had already had their cars stolen. Before the financial meltdown I know of people who bought houses there on speculation and for their children to eventually move into. Who has the money now? I know people who were pulling down huge Wall Street salaries who are now in trouble, having spent too much when they had it coming in, and who are now on the dole from chesed funds and tomchei shabbos.
If anybody knows the Hillside area, and the residential houses around the campus, they would understand why nobody wants to move there. just take a tour there at night..
The buildings on the yeshiva campus are kept in beautiful shape, and has chased away a lot of crime, and has brought up the neighborhood on a much higher level.
A little while back me and wife decided to see what all the hype was about and drove up there, i must tell you i have seen such an ugly looking run down city.
It’s the same problem for all Connecticut yeshivos. Look at Bridgeport Connecticut – the rosh yeshiva has been promising to pay his rebbeim for seven months and still hasn’t. He still has mortgages, loans, and other expenses that he hasn’t paid. It’s a big problem.
Rosh Yeshivos should have a plan and not just rely on gevirim to “bail them out” at the last minute.
Parents should not send their children to irresponsible yeshivos
reply to #11 its liberal and uneducated views like yours that have caused so much oain in klal yisroel. You are in denial of the fact that we are treated differently because we are jews and we have not only a right we have a duty to defend this right and we will do so.
I cannot stop laughing,or maybe crying is the more appropriate term. Several months back, ads were being run in the Torah papers that familises should come settle in the “beautiful” Waterbury. Now I am reading these comments and they all say the place is a BIG DUMP. Make up your mind. WHich one is it??
i was in waterbury for a shabbos several months ago that place is so warm and leibidik it was one of my most enjoyable shabbosim
blue ridge was one of the biggest flops in jewish developments.
The yeshivah has a lousy sense of business. At an increase of 3% a year they will be paying rent of $100, 000 in the 15th year! The yeshivah miscalculated about the whole deal from the start. Even an increase in the community by 100% (200 families)
they wouldn’t have enough money to to continue to pay that kind of rent and renovate too.
Waterbury has overtaken as the hocker centeral
With just over 115 families, and shrinking (last year 6 families left), it’s difficult for new families to view Waterbury as a viable destination. Also real estate prices used to be unbelievably good. Then greed set in – local investors chewed up homes, pushing prices up. Next thing everyone in the neighborhood saw the value of their home at $250k instead of $150, where in reality it should be. Plus the lack of parnosa opportunities makes things even more difficult. A lot of things need to change for Water bury to really become a destination. IYH they should get there.
Where does everyone get their info?
Between Blue Ridge, Bochrim who got Married, and others who moved in for school and jobs, roughly 30 people managed to slip into the community since the summer months. As far as Blue Ridge is concerned It has been far from a flop. It is a wonderful community nice housing and is actually growing faster then any other community in this financial crisis. Clearly nobody remembers what Far Rockaway looked like 20 years ago. the hillside area is cleaning up alot faster then F.R. did. Besides most of the community lives in the overlook section which is next to the Hillside area, its like the five towns next to Far Rockaway
As far as jobs go if have a college education you will have a much easier time getting a job then Brooklyn (unless the shver made you the ceo without graduating high school) and even without degrees there are still jobs
i agree with #15 , speculation has driven up the market!! Of cousre, the yeshiave cant stop those who want to make a profit from real estate “flipping”, but in an out of town commnity , that shoiuld have been more affordable than those in suburban nyc, this was not supposed to happen…perhaps the yeshivah should have taken a stronger stance on this.
Reply to #’s 14 &29
Have you ever heard of Torah Umesorah, Morris Wolfson, Abe Fruchtandler, Howard Balter, Jack Rajchenbach? All those names along with many Roshie Hayeshivois, and Askanim were the ones who “Planned” the yeshiva and then found a Rosh Yeshiva for it. Be very careful when deciding to put your two cences in that you know what your spewing, because in reality your no different then the Rep-am who can never get any facts close to right. There is always more information that none of us will know and we base our facts on what we see and not what we know
Does anyone else agree that there are simply too many yeshivos that are diluting the financial resources of the communities at large? Yeshivos compete with one another, rather than pool their resources to take advantage of economies of scale. I think the Ohr Reuvein/Darchei Noam merger in Monsey is a good example of progress. The budgets of the two yeshivos far exceed the combined expeditures of the new entity.
I was a bochur there in yeshiva for 5 yeays! Its the most amazing place in the world! R kaufman is the most unbleivable rosh yeshiva! The community is soo special! So be4 u start saying things why don’t u drive up there its less then 2 hours away and I promise u will leave there saying I wish I could live in such a special place!!
facts are that blue ridge was not neccesarry and was created by money mongling greed I believe. its choking the waterbury community.
i was in the yeshiva for 3 years and i loved it, i still continue visiting. please donate your maaser to this yeshiva it’s a true kiddush hashem what ther doing. between the new mikvah, the kiruv in hartford, the new school, the yeshiva ketanah etc… in 7 years it’s amazing what their accomplished. every dollar that you send goes to tzedaka…
ps:(i dont even think that the rosh yeshiva owns a car.)