MONSEY, NY — It was Friday afternoon when the developer who had been intent on building a 215,000-square-foot Wal-Mart in this hamlet sent word to the town offices in Ramapo. The fax was terse, but its message clear: “We will not continue to proceed with the development.”
The news that the developer, and potentially Wal-Mart, had scrapped plans it had so diligently worked on gave observant Jews, who make up the bulk of the population here, reason to rejoice.
A Stand Against Wal-Mart and, for Now, a Victory
MONSEY, NY — It was Friday afternoon when the developer who had been intent on building a 215,000-square-foot Wal-Mart in this hamlet sent word to the town offices in Ramapo. The fax was terse, but its message clear: “We will not continue to proceed with the development.”
The news that the developer, and potentially Wal-Mart, had scrapped plans it had so diligently worked on gave observant Jews, who make up the bulk of the population here, reason to rejoice.
They had waged a modest yet unyielding campaign against the proposed store, which they feared would force too many outside influences into their insular world of Orthodox Judaism.
It also represented a political vindication of sorts for Christopher P. St. Lawrence, town supervisor of Ramapo, which encompasses Monsey, in the heart of Rockland County. He hung much of his re-election on a promise to keep the Wal-Mart out of Monsey. During his campaign, he mailed a flier to every home in Monsey, saying, “Supervisor St. Lawrence opposes the Monsey Wal-Mart.” Mr. St. Lawrence was elected to a fourth term in November.
“Wal-Mart doesn’t vote for the supervisor,” said Rabbi Jacob Horowitz, one of Monsey’s most respected religious leaders. “The people vote for the supervisor.
“We work very hard to raise our families the right way,” Rabbi Horowitz said. “And the supervisor understood that preserving our lifestyle is something that’s very important to us.”
There were other issues that Mr. St. Lawrence said had prompted him to stand up against putting a Wal-Mart on Route 59, like the flood of traffic such a big store could bring to a two-lane highway that is already clogged much of the time, and its impact on the revitalized downtown section of Spring Valley, a village northeast of Monsey.
“We’re very pro-business here,” Mr. St. Lawrence said. “But it has to be the right business.”
Wal-Mart says it has not yet formally given up on the project.
Philip H. Serghini, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, said that the company had placed the plan “under review,” weighing the costs of pushing it forward against its potential benefits.
To build here, Wal-Mart would have to overcome at least two obstacles: finding another developer and preparing a new environmental impact study. The town Planning Board rejected the one it received last June on the ground that the proposal to ease traffic on Route 59 with a combination of turning lanes and more traffic lights was inadequate.
Jerrold Bermingham, managing director of the National Realty and Development Corporation, which was to have built the store, did not respond to e-mail messages or phone calls left with him and his lawyer.
With about 28,000 residents and almost 200 synagogues squeezed into 2.2 square miles, Monsey feels at once crowded and neighborly, the type of place that seems immune to the modernity that surrounds it.
Many of the women do not drive, and their children attend the dozens of yeshivas, or private religious schools here. Among the most observant families, home computers are strictly forbidden.
“These are not people who were schooled in the tactics of public protesting, or who even felt comfortable doing it,” said Richard Lipsky, a spokesman for the Neighborhood Retail Alliance, a coalition of small-business groups that helped residents here wage their battle against Wal-Mart. “They never imagined they could beat a giant like Wal-Mart.”
The retailer made numerous attempts to woo the Jewish community. Company representatives met with rabbis and agreed to conceal the covers of celebrity magazines featuring photographs of scantly clad movie and television stars to avoid offending Jewish patrons. Wal-Mart also hired a firm to send mailings in Yiddish to local homes, asking residents to suggest ways the company could improve the area.
“A lot of us sent the mailing back to them with the words, ‘No, thanks,’ written at the top,” said a 36-year-old Hasidic man who has lived here for 18 years and who requested anonymity to keep with his religious tradition of modesty.
Then, the community hit back. Residents joined union workers for a rally in December 2006, and circulated petitions and ran ads in Yiddish and English every week for 32 weeks in a local newsletter, Community Connections. The ads warned of the additional traffic the store would attract and how it would expose their children to such unwelcome sights as bikinis and lingerie.
“Very little money was collected or spent” in the effort, said Jacob Guttman, 33, who is Hasidic. “It was just a well-organized and carefully planned grass-roots campaign.”
The rabbis, for their part, encouraged the faithful to speak up. When Wal-Mart offered to repair Monsey’s heavily used sidewalks and build others, the rabbis asked residents to write to local officials, saying they did not need new sidewalks.
“We were determined to make Wal-Mart uncomfortable because by making them uncomfortable, we thought they would eventually leave,” said Rabbi Horowitz, who is also the executive director of a social services agency here, the Community Outreach Center.
“We’re very strong believers that everything comes from the Almighty,” he added. “I think the Almighty realized that for our children to grow up in a beautiful community, for our traditions to be preserved, we couldn’t have a Wal-Mart.”
Good Grief...
Those people are nuts. I love Wal Mart. Wish we had one here.
out-of-towner
our local wal-mart has a kosher section, with cholov yisroel dairy and CHK chicken. what a mechaya that i can go there on occasion and buy those things, AND buy laundry detergent, diapers, sponges,and everything else they sell.
i obviously DON’T buy the videos, TV’s, music, yada yada.
as for the magazine covers, GUESS WHAT? i don’t look at them.
Avi
BS’D
I used to work at Wal-mart. It was extremely bigoted. I was told that I could never advance in the company unless I worked on Shabbos. The store manager told me straight out that his religion (Pentecostalism) was better than mine. A month later, after requesting off for Pesach, he fired me for selling tobacco to a minor, which I did not do. Walmart if filthy and will cause all the small businesses in town to shut down. Keep them away.
monsey lubavitcher
don’t forget all the small businesses that will be forced to close their doors. if it happened in ch imagine all of Kingston closes down b/c why do you need a pharmacy if wall mart has it why do you need a shoe store if wall mart has it why do you need kol tov or any grocery store if wall mart sells all the kosher food needed …………………. and don’t forget its not wall mart that supports the moisdes or anything the community needs
monsey resident
There is a Walmart in Airmont which is further down on route 59 which is pathetic and so there was no need for another Walmart so we are not crazy for protesting a second one. Besides the fact that TARGET ROCKS!!!
So yes we monsey jews have choices and chose wisely not to accept!!
If only they would restore the drive in movie theater that used to be there!!!!
daisy
well i have a few things to say first of all it is undrestandable that they patetioned against opeing the walmart
howevere in the other hand either way if peopel want to see ladies in bikines…. they could go anywhere. I mean hello we live in the 20th centary were anything you want is available right around the corner so to speak
in addition walmart is an amazing store since their prices are seriously amazing
i always wish they had a walmart like on utica that would amazing since utica aint really where the jews live in crwon heights so it would be perfect
Hellooooo?
“I think the Almighty realized that for our children to grow up in a beautiful community, for our traditions to be preserved, we couldn’t have a Wal-Mart.”
What is wrong with these people? Walm-mart is going to corrupt them? Is their Yiddishkeit that fragile?
They forgot a very important Jewish valu
Always buy wholesale.
yitzchak
to comment #1.
Before you call people nutsplease realize that other chassidim are not brought up the same we were and are moere threatend by the enviroment than we are.and besides we as chabadniks have a lot to fix when it comes to dressing and behve modestly so let us not talk about other people before we clean up our own mess.
CM
What a kiddush hashem!
No 1: Just because you do not hold by their standards, doesn’t mean they are nuts.
Good for them!!
Good for the Monsey community. I’d love for my children to be able to grow up in such a place.
Offense Vs Defense
Once again we see ashreinu ma tov helkenu, People who are scared of change. comfortable in thee little worlds. Oh mY G-d my children will see bikinis!!! Thats because there is no chassidus in there life. they have nothing holding there yidishkiet ecxept being insular. Always on the defense! It’s a very sad thing to see for me at least.
Grud
Sorry Avi that you had an anti-semitic Pentecostal manager but Wal-Mart is a great store to have around. There no reason to hate them just because they make money. They are good for the economy!
They save people alot yiddishe and goyishe gelt!
mc
home depot has many locations in brooklyn, so does lowes and true value. wiensteins seems to be doing just fine on kingston ave. do you think everything but the bayy will close in the summer when ikea opens, hell no!
Shocked
Why are we Lubavitchers so pust? Indeed, it is time to clean our acts up and tznius is one major issue. How come we have ahavas yisroel for anyone in jeans and long/no hair but for yirei shomayim, for people who believe as we do, who learn, daven and do mitzvos, there is only derision? Time for a check up at the ‘doctor’. No wonder, with attitudes as above, the heimishe velt considers us as frie!
One More Monsey Lubab
For the record, the Times report obviously highlighted the “tznius” concern of some chassidim because Why is this fight different from all other fights?
The actual reasons for objecting were as mentioned:
– There’s a great Wal-Mart 2 miles up the road.
– They wanted to park SMACK in middle of the. worst. traffic. area. in the county.
– They wanted to park one short block from Rockland Kosher superstore and on the same property as the All-Fresh supermarket.
– They would hire outside workers who will WITHOUT A DOUBT bring with them elements of street-life that will cripple the aesthetic and atmosphere of suburbia–never mind a yiddishe shtut!
– The community would be offended by the hawking of–l’dugmah–bikini-covered periodicals. And rightfully so! If I drive to Wal-Mart I don’t care what they sell. If they move to MY town and start preaching about how much they’re going to do for MY community, don’t start by introducing the very influences we moved here to escape!
Stop the Moronic Arrogance
Not wanting your children exposed to bikinis, “insularity”, is not indicative of fragility, it’s the way frum people the only surviving group in Judaism has lasted for two thousand years!
Having a TV in your house is a recipe for freyeh children!
If you like pritzus go to the South Miami Beach but don’t say that exposing your children to pritzus is the Lubavitcher way to act.
rethink your thoughts Daisy!!
………if peopel want to see ladies in bikines…. they could go anywhere. I mean hello we live in the 20th centary were anything you want is available right around the corner so to speak
That’s nice. But that doesn’t mean that Monsey should allow the shmutz to move in “next door” to their environmrnt. Thats just the point. They Don’t want to see the shmutz!! (so HELLO back to you!!)
….always wish they had a walmart like on utica that would amazing since utica aint really where the jews live ……..
Hi again, I guess YOU don’t live near Utica, but plenty of Jews do, and just because there are more goyim on this end of town, doesn’t make it any less Jewish than the middle of Crown Heights, so a Wal-mart on Utica is no better than a Wal-mart on Kingston!!
The straight dope
A a person living in monsey, I can confirm that the real reasons are the points “One more monsey lubav” raised. Why the Times chose to portray it as a tznius issue is anybody’s guess.
What nobody did mention though is that Cristopher St. Lawrence is not for walmart or opposed to it (or anything else); all it means is he found the graft they offered him inadequate. If they decide to be more generous next time round, he would probably do the ribbon cutting himself.
cmon
i bet the yeshiva bochurim would lose the hihg standards they keep if there is a walmart. and then who will be the next genertaion of rabbis? monsey is our safe haven !! lets keep it thtat way !!!!
chanie
I’m for the “mom and pop” stores instead of giant monsters ANY DAY!
how will yankel and shmerel keep their store open with a Wal-mart down the block?
Go yankel!
Go shmerel!
Wal-mart, stop breathing all the air and taking up all the space.