Despite frequent sympathy for the housing needs of the hasidim, many locals bemoan the loss of the area’s bucolic almost rural ambiance that would come with annexation by Kiryas Joel and complain about various attempts by Satmar hasidim to use their bloc vote to run roughshod over non-hasidim.
New Annexation Petition By Monroe, NY Homeowners Could End Satmar Hasidic Village's Annexation Attempts
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
17 homeowners in Monroe, New York have petitioned to have 336 acres of northeastern Monroe annexed into neighboring Blooming Grove. These are some of the same tracts of land Satmar hasidim are trying to have annexed by the Satmar hasidic village of Kiryas Joel, which adjoin it.
The Blooming Grove petition was submitted Tuesday to the towns of Monroe and Blooming Grove and the Village of South Blooming Grove, the Times Herald-Record reported. The governing boards of all three three municipalities’ must vote to approve the annexation request for it to become law.
The land that would be annexed into Blooming Grove overlaps the land in the original 507-acre Satmar annexation petition. The annexed land will likely be used for high-density housing for Satmar hasidim.
Blooming Grove would almost certainly keep the land zoned low-density residential.
The original Kiryas Joel 507-acre annexation petition stalled in bureaucratic red tape early this year, likely permanently. Satmar hasidim then launched another annexation petition for 164 of those 507 acres. Reportedly none of the 52 parcels of land in the Blooming Grove annexation petition was included in the second Kiryas Joel annexation request.
The new Blooming Grove annexation petition drive was led by John Allegro, a member of the United Monroe advocacy group. Allegro lives in the annexation area.
The annexation area and other unincorporated parts of Monroe rely on state police coverage because the Town of Monroe, as opposed to its constituent villages, does not have its own police department.
"I'm two houses down from the Town of Blooming Grove, and I see the Blooming Grove P.D. many more times than I see state troopers," Allegro told the paper, also noting that the annexation by Blooming Grove would also improve fire fighting for the area.
Kiryas Joel is also reportedly considering forming a new 1,140-acre hasidic village outside its current border to proved housing for its rapidly expanding population.
Despite frequent sympathy for the housing needs of the hasidim, many locals bemoan the loss of the area’s bucolic almost rural ambiance that would come with annexation by Kiryas Joel and complain about various attempts by Satmar hasidim to use their bloc vote to run roughshod over non-hasidim.