Kiryas Joel, NY – Residents living next to a Hasidic Jewish village in the Hudson Valley have voted to allow its expansion.
Monday night’s vote in the Town of Monroe involves the annexation of 164 acres into Kiryas Joel, which local officials approved in September.
Monroe Town Clerk Mary Ellen Beams said referendum passed by a vote of 40 to 12 in favor of expansion.
A state judge in White Plains last week rejected a request from opponents to put a hold on the annexation vote. But she granted an injunction that keeps the annexation from taking place while the legal challenge proceeds.
Leaders of the densely settled enclave of ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jews say the village of 22,000 is bursting at the seams. Opponents of the annexation fear increased congestion from more apartment buildings in the suburban area about 50 miles north of New York City.
As reported by Vos Iz Neias