ALBANY (VINnews) — Orthodox leaders are praising New York Governor Kathy Hochul, after she vetoed a bill that would have hurt an upstate Chassidic community.
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The bill, which passed the state legislature, would have established “community preservation funds”, an alleged code word for keeping out the Jews.
It would create a real estate tax to collect money to preserve agricultural land and parks. It appears that the real motivation of its supporters is to prevent the land from being purchased by frum developers.
Brooklyn Assemblyman Simcha Eistenstein praised the governor on Twitter: “Yesterday
@GovKathyHochul showed true leadership by vetoing a bill that was disguised as land preservation but ultimately was designed to block Chasidic Jews from moving into Blooming Grove. Thank you Governor for doing the right thing. There is no room for discrimination in NYS.”
Yesterday @GovKathyHochul showed true leadership by vetoing a bill that was disguised as land preservation but ultimately was designed to block Chasidic Jews from moving in to Blooming Grove
Thank you Governor for doing the right thing. There is no room for discrimination in NYS pic.twitter.com/x8CMOjLDYp
— Simcha Eichenstein (@SEichenstein) December 23, 2021
Community leader David Greenfield echoed the sentiments, saying: “@GovKathyHochul
vetoes a bill that was viewed as a tax on Chasidic Jews moving into Blooming Grove because of “well documented tensions” between local officials and Chasidim.”
News: @GovKathyHochul vetoes a bill that was viewed as a tax on Chasidic Jews moving into Blooming Grove because of “well documented tensions” between local officials and Chasidim https://t.co/mCihs7bbPw
— David G. Greenfield (@NYCGreenfield) December 23, 2021
Rabbi Yeruchim Silber of the Agudath Yisrael was quoted in Hamodia, saying “the fund buys up land. Basically, it’s a euphemism to keep the Jews out. They buy up open space, the communities can’t expand.”
He added that they “lobbied the governor hard.”
In her veto explanation to lawmakers Hochul said: “There have been well-documented tensions in Orange County between local elected officials and members of the Hasidic community. Similar tensions in the nearby Town of Chester resulted in litigation. It would be inappropriate to sign this legislation at this juncture, while facts are still being gathered about the situation.”
In 2019 a developer sued Chester, claiming the town deliberately attempted to prevent Orthodox Jews from moving in, by weaponizing taxes and zoning laws against developers, and limiting construction hours.
Attorney General Letitia James joined the lawsuit, which was settled in June, calling it “blatantly antisemitic”.
Good Morning ,Elections are coming and she needs the hasidic vote.
What is she really all about? This is still unclear.
They just want to preserve their way of life. Unfortunately Frum Jews have a very bad track record of moving into existing communities, by the thousands, and then work to change zoning laws etc. Its overwhelming for the locals. You have people who have lived in these communities their whole lives, and then Boom, thousands of people move in and act as if it’s their community with little respect to the culture that exists there.
She certainly has no problem discriminating based on jab status.
Kudos to Gov. Hochul and to AG James for standing up for what is right.
Who is this Hochul ? Who ever heard of her ? Why did Cuomo pick her as his Lt. Gov ?