The application process devised by village officials forces residents to spend tens of thousands of dollars and several years to complete. Residents forced to ask the permission of village officials to use their home for worship are put through a substantially burdensome process. Unfortunately, it appears that city officials in Airmont have returned to their old ways of discrimination against the Jewish community. The religious residents of Airmont simply want to be left alone to peacefully worship and coexist without fear of criminal punishment. That is why worshippers gather in small numbers in homes that are within walking distance of one another. Orthodox Judaism prohibits believers from driving on the Sabbath or on holidays. Since that Consent Decree expired in 2011, the Village has returned to its discriminatory practices.ĭespite federal courts repeatedly penalizing Airmont, city officials continue its policy of government enforced religious discrimination.
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Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concluded, “there was evidence that the events leading to the incorporation of the town and the implementation of its zoning code ‘amply support a finding that the impetus was not a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason but rather an animosity toward Orthodox Jews as a group.”Īnother federal lawsuit against Airmont, filed in 2005, ended with a Consent Decree in which the Village promised the federal government that it would not use zoning laws to disrupt the religious exercise of the Orthodox Jewish community. That lawsuit was resolved in 1995 during the Clinton administration when the U.S. Barr filed suit against Airmont for religious discrimination against the Orthodox community. Bush’s then-Attorney General of the United States William P. The same year of its inception, President George H.W.
The Village of Airmont incorporated in 1991, and its discriminatory zoning policies have been the subject of civil rights lawsuits spanning five different presidential administrations. The New York Times and others have documented Airmont’s infamous, 30-year history of discrimination. Welcome to Airmont, NY, a village born in bigotry
First Liberty Institute and Norton Rose Fulbright LLP filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of several Orthodox residents alleging that government officials in the Village of Airmont, New York have engaged in a systematic discrimination to prohibit Orthodox Jewish residents from practicing their faith in the Village of Airmont. But 30 years of discrimination are enough. Throughout its 30 years of existence, The Village of Airmont has been the target of several lawsuits by the federal government for its discrimination against the Orthodox Jewish community. Their faith prevents them from driving on the Sabbath so these neighbors live close by so they can walk to their prayer meetings. But, for those Orthodox Jewish neighbors meeting for prayer in the homes of Airmont, NY rabbis, that has become normal.
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No one should feel like they have to worship “underground,” hiding from the government or fearing punishment for what is supposed to be the free exercise of religion.
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