By: Staff – firstliberty.org – June, 2018

Welcome to Airmont, NY, a village born in bigotry
The Village of Airmont’s infamous history has been well documented by the New York Times and others. Until 1991, Airmont was an unincorporated area of Ramapo, governed by the Town’s zoning decisions. In the mid-1980s, an organization called the Airmont Civic Association, Inc. (“ACA”), began to push for Airmont’s incorporation. At a September 1986 meeting, one of those attending referred to that purchase and stated, “Everybody knows . . . why the Airmont Civic Association was formed. What does the Airmont Civic Association and the proposed village plan to do to keep these Hasidim [sic] out?” LeBlanc-Sternberg v Fletcher, 67 F3d 412, 419 (2d Cir 1995)

Airmont was incorporated in 1991. The same year of its incorporation, the United States filed suit against Airmont alleging that the town had been incorporated for the purpose of excluding Jewish citizens through zoning restrictions on their places of worship. LeBlanc-Sternberg v Fletcher, 67 F3d 412, 419 (2d Cir 1995). After a jury trial on claims brought by private plaintiffs and a subsequent appeal, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that “the jury’s verdicts are consistent with fully supportable findings that…Airmont adopted a zoning code that was intended to, and would be interpreted to, curtail home synagogues, thereby deterring Orthodox Jews from purchasing homes in many Airmont neighborhoods….” LeBlanc-Sternberg, 67 F3d at 429.

Then in 2008, the United States and different private plaintiffs sued Airmont again. This time because of a ban it enacted on schools with residential facilities, meaning boarding schools or yeshivas. The United States claimed that “the practical effect of this rule was to prohibit Orthodox Jews or Hasidic yeshivas from operating anywhere in Airmont. U.S. v. Aimont 2008, US first memo of Law in Opp to MTD, p.14. The private plaintiff settled with Airmont. The dispute between the United States and Airmont settled in a Consent Decree.

Zoning used against Rabbi Berger

In July 2015, Rabbi Moishe Berger bought a home in Airmont. Upon requests of some of his neighbors, Rabbi Berger began inviting others to come to his home to pray. It is the sincerely held religious beliefs of Hasidic Jews that at least 10 men (age 13 and up) come together to pray. On the Sabbath or Jewish holidays, 20-30 neighbors come to pray for an hour on Friday night and two to three hours on Saturday.

Hasidic Jews also cannot drive on the Sabbath or on holidays so they must live close to their place of worship. Thus, it is vital for Hasidic Jews to pray in each other’s residences in order to adhere to the fundamental mandates of their faith.

The Airmont Zoning Code states that residential houses of worship are permitted as a matter of right. However, it also has a provision providing that Residential Houses of Worship must get approval. In November 2015, and in an attempt to comply with this law, Berger approached Airmont to get a Certificate of Occupancy to use a 3-car garage and other areas of his home as a legal place of worship. After two and half years and approximately $20,000 in costs related to this application process Rabbi Berger’s application has still not been approved.

On February 14, 2018, Rabbi Berger received a Notice of Violation from the Code Enforcement Officer, Corey Martin, informing him that he was in criminal violation of two Offense Codes because he was using his residence as a house of worship without Airmont’s approval. On March 19, 2018, Berger received an Appearance Ticket to appear in Airmont Justice Court on June 7, 2018 where he could face fines up to $1000 and up to one year in jail. Keisha Russell, Counsel for First Liberty Institute, will seek to have the violations dismissed.

“In a country founded on religious liberty, it is unconscionable that a municipal government would use its power for the purpose of discrimination against a religious minority.” Russell continued, “First Liberty Institute will pursue all available legal measures to protect our client and to put an end to the Village of Airmont’s anti-Semitic policies once and for all. The Village of Airmont has ignored the federal laws protecting religious freedom, and the First Amendment of the Constitution for twenty-seven years. Enough is enough.”

To see this article, click read more.

Source: Village of Airmont, NY | Cases | First Liberty