Hasidic Sect Hopes to Buy Huge Armory in Brooklyn
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
First graders in a crowded
classroom at Bais Rochel d'Satmar, a girls' yeshiva in Williamsburg,
Brooklyn, in the building that once was Eastern District High School.
By JOSEPH BERGER
Published: April 11, 2013
The late-19th-century National Guard armory in Williamsburg, a
165,000-square-foot brick fortress with crenelated towers at the
corners, has been empty for two years, and is now used mostly for film
shoots.
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
If the Satmar Hasidim can buy the vacant National
Guard armory on Marcy Avenue in Williamsburg, they could relieve school
crowding, accommodate social functions and perhaps bridge a schism in
the ultra-Orthodox sect.
But in a Brooklyn neighborhood where a real estate rush is fueled by
both gentrification and a fast-growing Hasidic community, the Satmar
sect is eyeing the building as a possible solution not only to the
perennial space crunch in its schools and synagogues, but also to a bitter schism that has divided the community in two.
The Satmar Hasidim, the dominant sect in Williamsburg, consider the
3.2-acre, square-block site an ideal location for a large school, along
with housing and a community hall. And the building is now for sale: The
Empire State Development Corporation, a state authority, plans soon to
put out a request for proposals for the site, which is known both as the
47th Regiment Armory and as the Marcy Avenue Armory.
While the state authority has said it hopes to spur a “a competitive
process” and capture “the best value for New York State taxpayers,” it
also plans to require in its request for proposals that the site be used
to benefit “the needs and priorities of the local community,”
potentially giving an edge to the Satmar Hasidim — an important voting
bloc increasingly courted by politicians.
“We’re looking forward to getting the R.F.P. and trying to come up with
the best price we can afford,” said Rabbi Chaim Mandel, the business
administrator for United Talmudical Academy, a large, ultra-Orthodox day
school whose operations now are spread across 15 buildings.
The Satmar community is so fast-growing that it is desperate for space —
for classrooms, worship services, wedding halls and other social
functions.
The armory closed in 2011, after the federal government called for a
consolidation of military installations, and since then the Satmars have
occasionally used the building for teeming celebrations on the
anniversary of the day in 1944 that the founder of the sect in America, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum,
escaped Nazi-occupied Hungary. The two factions of the community,
unable to work together because of rival dynastic claims, have
alternated use of the building: In 2011, a group called the Zaloynim
celebrated there, with 10,000 people filling the cavernous
60,000-square-foot drill hall, and last December it was the turn of the
other group, called the Aroynem.
According to articles in news outlets for the ultra-Orthodox, Satmar
leaders have been discussing their desire to buy the building with an
Orthodox businessman, Abraham Eisner, who in the past has served as a
campaign liaison to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Mr. Eisner did not return
several calls seeking to discuss his role, but it would be a complicated
one — the Satmar division over leadership has spilled over to the
financial realm and now includes disputes over millions of dollars in
property, including two synagogue buildings, four upstate summer camps,
cemeteries and even a matzo bakery.
Some in the community hope that the availability of the armory, with its
huge halls, at a price that is low given skyrocketing local real estate
costs, will be an incentive for the Satmar sects to bridge their
divisions, because the state is unlikely to side with one group over the
other.
“There is a deliberate serious effort under way to bridge the historical divide between the largest Satmar factions,” said Michael Tobman, a consultant to the Aroynem.
An ultra-Orthodox Web site called Vos Iz Neias? (What Is New?) has
suggested that Mr. Eisner is close “to sealing a deal that would result
in a joint purchase of the armory by Satmar’s warring factions.” And the
Hasidic blog Let’s Talk Dugri has sketched the outlines of a possible deal,
while pointing out that uniting the two Satmar factions would create a
powerful political bloc of votes, since the community tends to vote
according to the guidance of its leaders.
But Matthew Wing, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, said the governor would not
play a role in brokering differences within a religious community.
“No one from the governor’s office is involved in any kind of ‘deal,’
and rumors to the contrary are just that: rumors,” Mr. Wing said in an
e-mail.
All sides agree that the Satmars, who tend to have a high birthrate and
large families, need more space. Rabbi Benzion Feuerwerger, the Hebrew
principal of Bais Rochel d’Satmar, a girls’ yeshiva in Williamsburg,
describes a dilemma as architectural and mathematical as it is Talmudic.
In June, Bais Rochel will graduate eight classes of eighth graders, but
in September it will enroll 16 classes of first graders. How will he
accommodate the newcomers?
“We know one thing: We are out of space,” Rabbi Feuerwerger said. “We
only have eight empty classrooms for 16 classes. We’re looking to rent.”
Rabbi Hertz Frankel, the longtime English studies administrator of Bais
Rochel, estimated that together the two Satmar factions had 30,000
students crowded into more than 20 buildings in Williamsburg, Borough
Park and upstate in Monsey and Kiryas Joel.
His girls school has 2,400 students in its century-old building, which
was once the public Eastern District High School. Some classes are held
in bathrooms and closets, and preschool classes are in trailers. As a
result, the only outdoor space available for recess is a yard the size
of a basketball court.
To emphasize how rapid the Satmar growth has been, Rabbi Frankel pointed
out that when he started out as a principal in 1959, the entire Satmar
school system had just 800 students. With 30,000 students now and 4,500
expected in another five years, the Satmar desperately need the armory,
he said.
“Any space that would be provided would be important; otherwise we can’t survive here,” Rabbi Frankel said.
Andrew Cuomo simply wants the votes and the cash.
Letter: Why close racetrack on Palm Sunday?
Photo credit: AP | In this photo provided by New
York Racing Association, Stay Thirsty, left, with Ramon Dominguez
aboard, captures The G1 Cigar Mile horse race at Aqueduct in New York.
(Nov. 24, 2012)
To see what's wrong up in Albany, one only
needs to look at the fact that the Aqueduct Racetrack was closed on
Palm Sunday. On an average Sunday, The Big A has a total handle of
between $6 million and $7 million, of which New York
State takes a percentage.Racing also injects money into the industry, paying jockeys, trainers, grooms, etc. Hundreds of employees -- pari-mutuel clerks and racing officials -- help put on the show, which the state gets a piece of in income taxes.
All of this, worth thousands upon thousands of dollars, was lost because on an antiquated law. Not being allowed to race on Christmas or Easter is OK, but Palm Sunday? The New York Racing Authority races on Thanksgiving, and that's a holiday that the vast majority of us celebrate.
Changing this law would be a slam-dunk revenue creator.
Gerard Bringmann, Patchogue
Editor's note: The writer is both a racing fan and a practicing Catholic.
OPEN ON 1ST PALM SUNDAY, OTB RAKES IN $2M - NY Daily News
www.nydailynews.com/.../open-1st-palm-sunday-otb-rakes-2m-articl...
OPEN ON 1ST PALM SUNDAY, OTB RAKES
IN $2M. By Jerry Bossert / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. Monday, April
14, 2003, 12:00 AM. Print · Print; Comment ...OTB FACES HAND SLAP OVER PALM - NY Daily News
www.nydailynews.com/.../otb-faces-hand-slap-palm-article-1.667233
Apr 16, 2003 – By Jerry Bossert
/ NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ... Aqueduct was also closed on Palm
Sunday, but OTB thrived on action from around the
country.
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