Joint town and village hearing on Kiryas Joel draws vociferous response

By Nathan Mayberg

Kiryas Joel - Speaker after speaker on Monday at an annexation hearing in the village of Kiryas Joel between the village board and town of Monroe board, said they wanted to stop the divide between the village and the wider town.

Yet words of bridging divides were joined by language that reiterated the breadth of that divide between secular town residents affiliated with United Monroe who spoke out against the village's annexation proposal, and the members of the Satmar Hasidic sect of Judaism who live there.

The joint public scoping session was the first part in the review of of plans to annex 71 properties on 164 acres into the village.

Assaemblyman James Skoufis (D-Woodbury), directing his comments to the village board, said the plans should be withdrawn "if you are truly interested in peace and harmony."

The original proposal in December was for the village to annex 507 acres of surrounding property, but after the state Department of Environmental Conservation delayed a decision on who should review the plans, the plan was scaled down.

Several who spoke on Monday said the village board should await a DEC decision before moving forward.

Kiryas Joel Administrator Gedalye Szegedin said that village officials haven't heard from the DEC in months. "There is no sense in just keep waiting," he said after Monday's meeting.

Attorney Krista Yacovone, who was reprenting United Monroe, said the annexation proposal was illegal since the larger proposal hadn't been settled or withdrawn.

Szegedin disagreed, saying "each stands on its own legs."

Yacovone called Monday's meeting "an illegal hearing." She said the village couldn't sweep a lead agency dispute "under the rug."

About 200 people attended the hearing.

Emily Convers, a leading voice of United Monroe, brought up a conversation she had with Szegedin over Kiryas Joel separating from the town. That discussion ended when Convers demanded Kiryas Joel withdraw its annexation plans.

"You’re asking us to bow down and submit...with a gun pointed to our head," Convers said Monday. "I will speak to you as I speak to my child when he acts selfishly."

John Allegro, of United Monroe, called the annexation "illegal. We will fight for the law and fight for what is right," he said. "You are poor stewards of the environment."

"You incite fear," charged Barbara Connolly of Monroe. "You call us anti-semitic and bigoted," she said. "We're concerned about the rural landscape."

"I don't see peace and harmony being spread from any of the leaders of the town and Kiryas Joel," Connolly said.

"I really fear that the communities are going to divide and get worse, said Monroe resident Jason Gabari. "How can we have populations growing like this?" he asked.

"It does make us feel bad when we are painted as hateful people," said Debra Behringer of Monroe. "We're not. We just want to get along."

Behringer said her family moved to Monroe for the "open land" and "rural character." She asked how many homes would be built on the 164 acres. "We know that traffic already is a problem now."

Herman Waschal, a resident of Kiryas Joel, felt that the opponents of annexation were putting up "invisible barbed wire" against development in the community. "Don't spread, don’t grow, stay where you are... We have a constitution here."

There was chuckling and snickering from some members of United Monroe during the comments by several Kiryas Joel residents.

Abe Muller, a 22-year resident of Kiryas Joel, said the community's development had boosted the fortunes of the local economy and created jobs. When he moved into the village, there were rundown shopping centers around town, he said. Now, there are "more shopping centers and businesses" in the area, he said. "Property values are skyrocketing," Muller said.

Steven Pava, a local chiropractor who takes care of some Kiryas Joel residents, called on the village government to comply with Freedom of Information Law requests submitted by United Monroe. "I respect your families, please respect our families," he said. "I want our children to be comfortable coming back."

David Church, Orange County Commissioner of Planning, said his agency wants to lead the review or be part of the review as an interested party due to the proposal's potential impact on county services.

Monroe resident Chaya Wieder said she was looking to annex her property into Kiryas Joel so that she could have sidewalks and hook up to the village's sewer system. She questioned why so much attention was being paid to the annexation plans while "more impactful" casino proposals were being floated.

Assembly candidate Dan Castricone, of Tuxedo, urged village officials to wait a decision from the DEC. "There is no rush," he said.

Castricone expressed concern about the environmental impact on the Ramapo River. "We've been told the Ramapo River has reached the limit of effluent that it can carry," he said. Castricone worried that the annexation would ultimately increase the size of Kiryas Joel and add more sewer waste to the river, which supplies drinking water to New Jersey.

Mike Morgillo, a former candidate for Assembly, asked whether annexation was necessary in order to allow the development of the properties.

After the meeting, town councilman Richard Colon said he thought the hearing went well. "People want more communication," he said. "Everybody's concerned about the future."

Town of Monroe Supervisor Harley Doles could not be reached for comment.

Jacob Freund, a village of Kiryas Joel trustee, said "this is not the only hearing." There will be more hearings on the annexation, he said. "We're giving an opportunity for everyone to speak."

Moses Hirsch lives in Kiryas Joel but is part of a small group of the Satmar sect that doesn't follow the current village leadership. They opposed the annexation proposal, saying more should have been done to satisfy "the neighbors." Hirsch was among nine Kiryas Joel residents who held protest signs across the street from the meeting hall on Monday. They also oppose Kiryas Joel's public school on religious grounds since certain religious studies aren't allowed, in order to comply with federal education laws. Hirsch said they also oppose the mixing of girls and boys at the school on religious grounds.

Reporter Nathan Mayberg can be reached at comm.reporter@strausnews.com or 845-469-9000 ext. 359