A Long Island city dubbed the “New Hamptons” has been sued for anti-Semitism by a Jewish sect that claims officers have blocked actual property purchases.
Located simply 22 miles from Manhattan in Nassau County, Atlantic Beach has change into an up-and-coming vacation spot for younger professionals on the lookout for beachside lodging.
But the town is now making headlines for all of the flawed causes after a report revealed that the Chabad of the Beaches sued officers for non secular discrimination a 12 months in the past.
The lawsuit alleges that in December 2021, officers determined “suddenly and without explanation” that they wanted a vacant property after it was purchased by the Chabad for almost $1 million.
Lawyers for the cult declare the town did so solely after discovering that the property had been bought by a Hasidic group, allegedly in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protections for non secular teams.
Officials in scenic Atlantic Beach — a group on the southern tip of Long Island close to Manhattan — are searching for to quash a lawsuit alleging anti-Semitism — introduced by a Jewish sect claiming the town is searching for land buy for a locality to dam from worship
The village – formally Atlantic Beach – is situated close to Long Beach within the southernmost a part of Nassau County, simply 22 miles from New York City, and has a notable Jewish inhabitants.
With a complete of simply 1,800 residents, the enclave has additionally change into a sought-after location for younger professionals – and is clearly nearer than the luxury group for which it’s nicknamed
Lawyers representing the group instructed DailyMail.com on Monday {that a} settlement was within the works — echoing an earlier assertion from the town’s mayor, George Pappas, who claimed the race allegations have been only a tactic to realize possession to acquire.
The mayor and village officers have been contacted for remark.
The lawsuit alleges that metropolis officers determined they wanted the then-vacant property a month after it was bought by Chabad.
At the time, the village – which has a city corridor just a few blocks from the location – constructed its personal group heart and park.
The lawsuit, filed final summer season, has since slowly labored its method by the federal courtroom system — whereas the property at 2025 Park Street stays owned by the Chabad, after their lawsuit issued an edict from the town to shut the location. takeover suspended.
The website has served as a haven of kinds for the town’s Jewish group, providing non secular companies, schooling, and even menorah lighting ceremonies throughout every Hannukah which have shortly change into a convention.
In the submitting — which alleges the still-stalled takeover smacks of non secular discrimination — attorneys for Chabad of the Beaches level out that the one different Jewish place of worship within the village is a synagogue — the Atlantic Beach Jewish Center.
Meanwhile, the town’s more-than-modest variety of Modern Orthodox congregants continues to develop, placing much more strain on metropolis officers now that the case is within the information.
Atlantic Beach Mayor Pappas, who presides over the group together with 4 different metropolis officers, instructed the New York Post on Sunday {that a} settlement has but to be reached. However, he stated, “We’re working on a design.”
Jeremy Dys of First Liberty Institute, the nonprofit non secular freedom group representing the Long Island sect, additionally instructed DailyMail.com, “There is an agreement in principle.
“We’re trying to iron out the final details.”
The lawsuit, filed in June of final 12 months, explains the greater than year-long authorized battle stemming from the cult’s then-purchase of the property for $950,000 in November 2021.
Chabad of the Beaches — led by Rabbi Eli Goodman — claims that in December 2021, metropolis officers determined “suddenly and without explanation” that they wanted the then-vacant property purchased by the non secular sect a month later to construct their very own group heart and park. construct
The lawsuit, filed final summer season, has since slowly labored its method by New York’s Eastern District Court, whereas the property at 2025 Park Street nonetheless technically belongs to the Chabad
Atlantic Beach Mayor Pappas — who presides over the group together with 4 different metropolis officers — stated Sunday a settlement has not but been reached, however added, “We are working on a draft.” He claims that the racial discrimination allegations are a sham and only a tactic to get the property
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Texas non secular freedom lawyer Jeremy Dyss stated a settlement was already within the works — after a New York Post Sunday report led to the case, filed greater than a 12 months in the past, made headlines.
Previously, the storefront served as a Capital One financial institution, nevertheless it sat empty for 2 years earlier than Chabad picked it up — one thing attorneys representing the group cite within the 31-page submitting.
“In November 2021, Chabad Lubavitch purchased from the Beaches — an organization affiliated with the Hasidic Jewish movement Chabad Lubavitch — 2025 Park Street in Atlantic Beach, New York, to open a center for conducting Jewish worship services,” it reads. .
“At the time of the purchase of Chabad of the Beaches, 2025 Park Street, which is less than a block from Atlantic Beach City Hall, had been vacant for several years and had been up for rent or sale for nearly two years.
“During the entire period that Park Street was on the market in 2025, Atlantic Beach officials never offered to purchase the property,” it continues, earlier than airing the racial discrimination allegations.
Less than a month after buying Chabad of the Beaches — and fewer than two weeks after Chabad of the Beaches held an out of doors menorah lighting at 2025 Park Street to have a good time Hannukah — Atlantic Beach officers out of the blue, and with out rationalization, determined to not solely that she wanted the property to construct a group heart.”
Lawyers additional asserted that “this need was so urgent that Atlantic Beach had to seize 2025 Park Street and adjacent property through eminent domain”—a authorities’s proper to expropriate non-public property for public use with correct compensation.
It additional alleges that different members of the group separate from the cult have since questioned the town’s plans, provided that the aforementioned metropolis corridor just a few blocks away already serves because the group heart.
It provides that some residents questioned the true motives of “officials”, noting that the one factor that had modified between when officers confirmed no real interest in Park Street in 2025 and after they determined they’d have been to confiscate, the acquisition of the property was by a Hasidic Jewish group. .
A day after the federal lawsuit was filed, U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert issued a restraining order to cease the Village’s preeminent area injunction, permitting it to stick with Chabad for now.
in September, she issued a preliminary injunction to additional bash that injunction, on the idea that the choice of the “defendants” to accumulate the property by eminent area will burden Chabad’s non secular observe by extending its outreach mission to limiting the Jewish group.’
Mayor Pappas, in the meantime, claims the town’s maneuver had nothing to do with the group’s non secular affiliation.
Speaking to The Post, he stated: “It has nothing to do with (religious discrimination). It was a tactic to get the property. We have a good relationship with the Atlantic Beach Jewish Center.”
The trial continues to be pending on Monday. Atlantic Beach village officers didn’t instantly reply to a DailyMail.com request for remark.