REGIONAL – Anti-Semitism was once again in the news, in one way or another, throughout the region these past few weeks.

Last week U.S. federal judge Kenneth Karas of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Westchester county started hearing the longstanding lawsuit filed by three Jewish families against the Pine Bush Central School District and certain administrators two years ago. The district moved to have the case dismissed. Their lawyer, Joan Gilbride, argued that if a swastika was not reported, the district cannot be charged with not taking action. When the swastika was reported, she added, action was taken. However, Judge Karas, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2004, challenged this argument and noted that the Jewish child reported that swastikas were everywhere. The inference of deliberate indifference to the matter was questionable, according to Gilbride. Still, the judge turned to a statement made by former superintendent of schools Phil Steinberg in which he noted that the alleged anti-Semitism being "inbred" in the district.

The attorney for the plaintiffs, Andrew Wilson, pointed to this as evidence of a culture of bias in the district, and said that Steinberg's quote showed the district administration was aware of anti-Semitic acts. However, the defense responded that Steinberg's statement was being misread, and that it actually meant that the district was listening to the complaints from the Jewish parents, but that remedies "would take time to accomplish."

Judge Karas, who appeared particularly harsh on the school district in court last week according to observers, will be making a judgment on the case in the coming weeks or months.

Meanwhile in another courtroom, State Supreme Court Justice Stephan Schick produced a split decision on the matter of the Chestnut Ridge town homes development. He ruled that the annexation of the land on which the development sits by Bloomingburg (from Mamakating) violated the state constitution because it occurred without a vote of the residents living on that land. However, that took place in 2006, and the developer Shalom Lamm received permits for building in 2008 from the Village of Bloomingburg Planning Board. Therefore, Schick ruled that, "Having expected that a full build out of their project had been appropriately approved, it would now be improper for this court to judicially deny the developer defendants of the right to complete that project."

Schick also wrote that "it remains for the town to decide what it now does with the territory under its jurisdiction, including refusing to enforce legislation it believes to be invalid."

Where that leaves the Town of Mamakating is a little unclear. A state appellate court judge issued a temporary restraining order this week on Schick's decision, according to Bloomingburg village attorney Steve Mogel, ruling that Mamakating can't issue any restrictions on the development. However, the village of Bloomingburg — which started moving towards dissolution this past week — currently has a moratorium against any new building permits in place, which could affect the start of new units at Lamm's project, even though the developer has said he was not planning to start anything new until the built town homes have been sold.

People are eying municipal control of the former village, and Chestnut Ridge development, for its political potential what with nearly 800 voting age adults moving into it if fully built out, in addition to new residents in the rest of the village. In the last town-wide election, won by Bill Herrmann and the Rural Heritage Party, about 2,400 votes were cast.

Meanwhile, as a proposed mikveh was approved for Bloomingburg and town planners started the process of site plan review on a commercial building's accommodation of a religious center and a new private girl's school for 400 students in the village, a townwide moratorium has been set in place on large scale subdivisions and building in the Town of Mamakating. And throughout the village center, Stop Work orders continue to go up on Lamm-owned buildings being renovated while windows in the nearly-completed commercial building continue to be broken. So far nobody has been arrested for the vandalism.

On Friday evening, July 18, a candlelight vigil was held at the intersection of Winterton Road and Main Street in Bloomingburg, where Lamm's refurbished buildings stand and windows carry signs denouncing hate crimes. The demonstrators, about thirty in all, met for ninety minutes just before sunset, when the Jewish Sabbath begins, saying that they are not "haters" and that they wished to see co-existence and peace in the village. At about the same time, the community's new orthodox residents were filing past to enter one of Lamm's buildings for religious services.

Al Fusco Jr., the Mamakating planning board engineer and appointed village code enforcement officer recently hired to also serve as Bloomingburg's enforcement officer, noted Tuesday night that he was aware of people worshipping at what had once been the community's hardware store, which has been issued a Stop Work order.

"They've been issued violations and it will be going to court," he said.

Asked which court, he added that he "didn't know yet."