Touro College Sues State Over Shabbat Elevator, Claims Antisemitism

“This is not about civil rights. The problem is that Touro has made this building into a dormitory in violation of the building’s certificate of occupancy."

Touro College's late founder, Dr. Bermard Lander

Touro College Sues State Over Shabbat Elevator
Shmarya Rosenberg • Failedmessiah.com

The Orthodox-founded Touro College, which enrolls a large number of haredi yeshiva and seminary students seeking college degrees, planned to rig one of the two elevators in an Upper West Side apartment building it owns to automatically stop at each floor of the six story building from the beginning of Shabbat on Friday afternoon until Shabbat ends after sunset on Saturday night.

Jewish students occupy 43 apartments in the building. Rent-controlled, rent-stabilized non-student tenants occupy 39 others.

Those rent-controlled and rent-stabilized tenants object to the Shabbat elevator plan because they will have to wait longer for an elevator than they already do on the day of the week when many of them do their weekly grocery shopping and laundry and as a result have a greater need for the elevators.

The state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal blocked Touro’s plan and, as a result, the Daily News reports, Touro is suing the state.

Touro’s court filings reportedly claim that the delays these non-student tenants would experience are minor – 1 minute, 23 seconds at most.

But Touro went beyond technical claims – it also accused the tenants’ association of having a “discriminatory and anti-Semitic tone” because it says Touro’s students are young and therefore should be able to climb the stairs on Shabbat.

Tenants’ association president James Berry strongly disagrees.

“This is not about civil rights. The problem is that Touro has made this building into a dormitory in violation of the building’s certificate of occupancy,” he reportedly said.

[Hat Tip: adams.]

Update 2:03 pm CDT – A spokesman for the Touro College and University System sent me the following statement from Touro:

STATEMENT BY TOURO COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
 
Since the founding of Touro College in 1971, the college’s main campus has been based in New York City and many branches of the school are also based in Manhattan, where Touro provides affordable education to a diverse constituency.
 
Like other institutions of higher learning, Touro has faced challenges in providing affordable housing for its students.  To meet the housing needs of students at our West Side campus, Touro acquired 10 West 65th Street, which was approximately 50 percent vacant when we purchased it in 2008.  It always has been our intention to use the available units to house students from Landers College for Women – many or all of whom are Sabbath-observant. 
 
10 West 65th Street contains two elevators. To accommodate our students while respecting the other tenants, we followed the widely used practice of allowing one -- and only one -- of the elevators in the building to be operated as a “Shabbos elevator,” meaning that for 25 hours a week, it would automatically stop on every floor – adding a total of 1 minute and 23 seconds to a ride from the lobby to the sixth floor.
It is unfortunate that the state’s Department of Housing and Community renewal chose to intervene at the request of some of the tenants -- who, in the most offensive and discriminatory way -- objected to this practice.
We therefore are seeking relief through a judicial proceeding to allow us, as property owner, to operate the building in a manner that is compatible with the religious practices of its student tenants and which poses minimum disruption to other residents.
Ultimately, we believe this matter can be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties in an amicable manner. Our aim is for all residents to live in and enjoy this building.

Comments

[ruthie]

Touro’s court filings reportedly claim that the delays these non-student tenants would experience are minor – 1 minute, 23 seconds at most.

NOT TRUE
i minute, 23 seconds PER FLOOR is the delays the other tenants would experience.
and really! they can't walk up 5 or 6 flights? c'mon, they're not lugging baby carriages...
this is ridiculous.
i have nothing again shabbos elevators...but in this case...respect
the other tenants first or also. they're students. if you can't walk, stay home and davon.
there are so many walk ups in manhattan. my friend lives in a lovely building on 16th street by union square. she walked up five flights during two pregnancies. it's new york.
maybe touro wants to put shabbos elevators on the brochures and be able to charge more?
this will just breed more anti-jewish feelings. too bad.

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

"they can't walk up 5 or 6 flights?"

Are there any physically disabled students in this building?

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

The Shabbos elevator is another crock of frum shit.

It's a loophole by the frumma rabbis to circumvent their own arcane idiotic laws which they themselves admittedly can't or don't want to obey.

[Isa]

Nobody wants to compromise and keep this thing out of the court system

Have the Shabbos elevators only run 15 minutes each hour
PLAN your day

[Gevezener Chusid]

"real" haredim don't use Shabbos elevators.

[Gevezener Chusid]

The rent controlled and rent stabilized tenants are paying ridiculously low rent for ultra prime real estate and really should keep their fucking mouths shut.

I am a rent stabilized tenant and believe me when it comes to building issues I DO keep my mouth shut!

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

When I was religious, I did not 'hold' by Shabbos elevators or an eruv.
I felt that the letter of the Law and the spirit of the Law should be the same.
Trying to dance around God's Law seems disingenuous and downright dishonest. Can you fool God?
If the Law is too difficult for you to obey, then ok, just admit it and push the elevator button, or push the baby carriage to and from shul. Otherwise, don't push the electric button, and don't rely on others to do it for you while you pretend to look the other way. How dumb do you think God is?

[ruthie]

one day if i ever keep shabbos...again...
i would never consider using an elevator!!!
pardon...a shabbos elevator. the two do not mix.
the beauty of shabbat would be gone for me.
but that's just me.
i don't get it. walk up and down the stairs BECAUSE IT'S SHABBOS.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

Ruthie, agreed. The beauty of Shabbos was to get you back to basics.
It's supposed to be a day of rest from all the devices upon which we are so reliant.
The cell phone, computer, car, and electrical gadgets are put aside for the holy day.
Walking, with nothing in your pocket, no need for artificial devices to get you by, no concern about the mundane week before or coming up, are the beauty of the Day of Rest.
Instead, the frumma have turned it into a day of trying to fool God with all kinds of loopholes and schtick.

[Jake]

You guys drank the cool aid.
BTs or Lubabs gotta be.

Orthodox Judaism in any form is not about feeling.
It is a nice benefit to feel the spirituality of Shabbat.
But you can't mandate feeling in a religion
You can talk about it. But you can't canonize into a religion or its law.

Shabbat observance is ultimately about following Jewish law.
People who have a minimal Jewish Education talk about loopholes.

There are two different issues about elevators on Shabbat.
1.if there is anything mechanical electrical. Or technical that violates Halacha in its myriad of legitimate understandings.
2. There is a issue dealing with the רוח of Shabbat. Spirit of Shabbat.
There are two opposing opinions. One says you can do things like pay basketball,play monopoly take elevators on Shabbat and there are those who say you can't.

People with a superficial knowledge of Jewish Law even if sabbath observant rarely get intricacies of Jewish law..

@ G Husid. I see you know about issues involving rent control in NY. I am jealous you have one and keep your mouth shut. LOL

Columbia University. And Yeshiva University and NYU own lots of apartment real estate around their schools.

YU and Columbia ha ve residential buildings that are used by students/faculty / and tenants. I don't know about their zoning issues..

[Pieter Filter]

Jake, you are completely missing the point here. It's not about the Shabbos elevator per se. It's about their imposing this crap on the other tenants, and the environment for that matter, how much electricity is wasted for this nonsense. I say nonsense because, what you don't comprehend nor does touro, is this modern 'device' this method of using the elevator on Shabbos was intended for the elderly.

May have most likely started in Jerusalem hotels, (not sure), but was not meant for
healthy teens.

I have a teen that age, he can work for you a whole day in the hot sun and then take an evening job no sweat.

I beileve this was the intension of your somewhat rambling post.

It's quite an embarrassement and Chilul Hashem, and causes Jew Hatred.

And there is not an actual need. If there is a handicapped person they can take the elevator anyway, they are patur from that issue.

[David]

++++Nobody wants to compromise and keep this thing out of the court system

Have the Shabbos elevators only run 15 minutes each hour
PLAN your day

Posted by: Isa | June 27, 2013 at 01:32 PM+++

Good idea but I would have the elevator stop on every floor ONCE per hour (or two) so if they can't or won't walk they know to go the elevator on the hour and wait for it.

In any case, how often do they have to use an elevator on Shabbos? On Friday night they leave for shul before shabbos starts and later return, and on Shabbos day go to shul, return and *maybe* leave and return in afternoon.

If they don't like it they can walk. (It wouldn't hurt, it would burn off some of the fatty peasant food they eat on Shabbos).

They just don't understand that the goyim have been kind to us thus far but as the frumma take more and more liberties and commit more and more crimes that tolerance is running out rather rapidly.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

Jake 7:50,
I appreciate your explanation. However, you underscore exactly why Orthodox Judaism is such a turnoff.
"Orthodox Judaism is not about feeling."
It's about lengthy arguments over arcana that you think is pleasing to God. Your God seems to enjoy this; mine doesn't. Jewish Law is supposed to promote life; your version chokes the life out of religion.

Have a technically correct Shabbos.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

Silly me, thinking the Jewish religion was something to be enjoyed.

[David]

+++Have a technically correct Shabbos.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed | June 28, 2013 at 12:14 PM +++

I have seen some horrible violations of the spirit of Shabbos among those who pretend to observe a "technically correct" Day of Rest. This includes "hinting" at Goyim to move cars, adjust heating or cooling and perform various cleaning tasks. And once, in the frumma village of Betar Illit in Israel I saw the Arab Shabbos Goy driving around all day looking for work to do and, of course, he had no shortage. I find it particularly offensive and absurd when I see the frumma hold a young child next to a light switch and encourage them to play with it so as to turn it on or off.

And finally, I was once visiting a certain Chabad establishment in the Washington DC (or adjacent) area and was asked to carry something to shul for the kiddush because the frumma didn't carry on Shabbos or go by the Eruv but they thought I would - and I did - they made me into a Shabbos Goy, Their problem, not mine.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

David,
As Jake said earlier, orthodox Judaism and the orthodox Shabbos have nothing to do with common sense, the spirit of the holy day of rest, or feelings of any kind.
It is only about "intricacies of Jewish law" that simple-minded folks like you and me can't possible understand.
Beautiful religion, isn't it? And they wonder why they are held to ridicule.

If I was an attorney, and I knew my client did something immoral and unethical, but technically it was not illegal, I would argue on behalf of my client to win his case, because that's what my professional duty was. Would I be concerned about my client being a sleaze bag? Yes, but my duty was to protect his legal standing. The rest is up to his conscience.
In some similar way, you have the orthodox. Their idea of the Jewish Law is also based entirely upon getting away with whatever you can through technical manipulations of laws. So what if ethics, feelings, and spirit go out the window. Get away with whatever you can. That's today's orthodox Judaism. So sad. They actually think such actions are pleasing to God.

[Jeff]

"They actually think such actions are pleasing to God."

Well, when you put it that way, I'm tempted to say they should continue, because if God exists, he is utterly undeserving of either our devotion or our respect.