The hasidic crowd, many who came from outside the county to try to get one of the very limited number of low income housing vouchers, woke up several residents in the apartment complex the housing authority's office is located in. They say those waiting in line overnight were loud, parked in spaces reserved for complex tenants, and were "very disrespectful." When police finally got to the complex Monday morning before the housing authority's office opened, they told the hasidim to move their cars to a nearby municipal lot. But some refused to so so, and some complex residents responded to that by having the hasidim's cars impounded by private towing companies.
The Times Herald-Record reports:
More than 650 people camped outside the Monticello [New York] Housing Authority on Evergreen Road for as much as 10 hours Sunday night to apply for one of the 50 available subsidized housing slots in Sullivan County. Many were Hasidic men and women from outside the county, according to Monticello Housing Authority Executive Director Anne Johnson.
Monday was the first day county and non-county residents could apply to be on the Monticello Housing Authority waiting list for Section 8 - or federally subsidized - housing, Johnson said. It was the first time people could apply to be on that list in five years.
The crowd formed around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to residents of the Evergreen Apartment complex, where the Housing Authority is located.
The authority's office didn't open until 8 a.m. on Monday.
The crowd woke up several residents in the complex. They say those waiting in line were making too much noise and parking in their privately-owned parking spaces. Other residents said there were too many cars blocking Evergreen Drive, preventing school buses from getting in and picking up children.
"They were very disrespectful," said Evergreen resident Elaine Williams, former president and current secretary for the Sullivan County NAACP.
Several Hasidic men and women declined comment.
Monticello Police Chief Robert Mir said police were on the scene early Monday morning. He said they stopped letting cars into the Evergreen complex around 6 a.m.
Police also tried to get some of those waiting in line to park in municipal lots.
But Mir said some didn’t follow police requests and began parking in spots owned by residents. Several residents exercised their rights to have those cars impounded by private towing companies, Mir said.…
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Video: Hundreds Of Hasidim Wait Outside Overnight For Chance At Low Income Housing.