New Paltz leaders decry anti-Semitism

The Town Board has condemned incidents of vandalism and behavior targeting the local Jewish community.

The resolution was adopted at the behest of town resident Ira Margolis, who last month requested the board denounce what he says has been an increasing number of instances of “Judeo-phobic behavior” and “acts of prejudice against people of Jewish heritage.”

Town Supervisor Toni Hokanson subsequently had Margolis’ proposed resolution reworded by the town attorney, and it was adopted unanimously by the board last week.

Margolis said the board’s support “meant a lot as a secular person of Jewish heritage.” He said a recent request by Rabbi Moshe Plotkin to use his South Oakwood Terrace residence in the village as an Orthodox Jewish Chabad house triggered the most recent wave of anti-Semitic behavior.

Last year, he said, windows were broken at the Jewish Community Center on state Route 32 and a local business during the holiday season. Police attributed those cases to juvenile mischief.

In May 2004, neo-Nazi graffiti appeared on a wooden fence near the New Paltz Post Office, and the following month, Nazi literature was distributed to New Paltz and Rosendale residents. A few years ago, Margolis said, swastikas appeared on sidewalks along state Route 32, and after village officials refused to remove them, he said, he personally performed the task.

Plotkin’s plan to convert the home he shares with his wife and three small children into a Chabad house, a combination residence and house of worship, required a special permit as a nonconforming use. Village planners struggled with language in the village zoning law that did not specifically address a Chabad House.

By applying existing code language that dealt with houses of worship and a separate or detached residence, planners soon turned to the village Zoning Board of Appeals for further interpretation. Subsequently, the zoning board ruled the proposed use of the house as an acceptable special use.

At a highly emotional and often heated public hearing Jan. 17, Plotkin received a mix of support and opposition on the special use request. But charges of anti-Semitism surfaced when some neighbors questioned if Plotkin was in fact an ordained rabbi. Others questioned the rabbi’s house being offered to SUNY students for Sabbath dinners or to provide a home away from home for them for religious purposes. At present, New Paltz has no synagogue.

During that meeting, the retired Rev. Bill Schnitzer offered to mediate the situation with the Plotkins, their neighbors and village planners. That session produced a list of conditions attached to the special use permit, many of which neighbors had requested. Among them a two-week limit on exterior decorations, noise regulations and a shrub buffer with fencing. The special use permit was granted by village planners on Feb. 21.

Reached by telephone, Plotkin said he was unaware of Margolis’ action before the board, but was nonetheless appreciative.

Plotkin said he believes his immediate neighbors are not anti-Semitic, but simply concerned with introducing something new into their neighborhood. He said he still must get a variance to expand his residence, but expects that process to go much smoother.