Palm Tree, New York | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 41°20′24″N74°10′2″W / 41.34000°N 74.16722°W | |
Country | United States |
State | New York |
County | Orange |
Government | |
• Supervisor | Abraham Wieder (REP) [1] |
• Council Members | Joshua Blumenthal (CON) Morris Steinberg (DEM) Isaac Glanzer (REP) Gerson Neuman (DEM) |
Area | |
• Total | 1.50 sq mi (3.89 km2) |
• Land | 1.47 sq mi (3.81 km2) |
• Water | 0.03 sq mi (0.08 km2) |
Elevation | 842 ft (257 m) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 32,954 |
• Density | 22,000/sq mi (8,500/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
Area code | 845 |
FIPS code | 36-39853 |
GNIS feature ID | 0979938 |
Palm Tree is a town coterminous with the village of Kiryas Joel, inhabited by the Satmar Hasidic community, and the municipality to which it belonged, Monroe. [2] The population of Palm Tree was 32,954 at the 2020 census.
The town of Palm Tree, which comprises the entirety of the village of Kiryas Joel, was officially created on January 1, 2019.
Palm Tree had undergone numerous geographic and name changes prior to its incorporation as an independent town in 2019. Until 1764, the area was part of an enlarged Goshen. Goshen was then divided into two parts, with Palm Tree becoming part of Cornwall. By 1799 Cornwall was also divided, with Palm Tree joining present-day Monroe, Woodbury, and Tuxedo to become the town of Cheesekook. This name was changed to Smithfield (or Southfield) and in 1808 became Monroe supposedly in honor of James Monroe; others believe Monroe was named for a local family.
In 1974, the Satmar rebbe Joel Teitelbaum started the Kiryas Joel community, and in 1976 the community was incorporated as the village of Kiryas Joel in remembrance of the Rebbe, as a semi-rural retreat for his Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based community. Over time, the need to annex additional land in order to accommodate Kiryas Joel's burgeoning population created zoning conflicts with the town of Monroe, [3] that eventually led to a referendum which passed overwhelmingly on November 7, 2017, that resulted in an amicable split from Monroe and the creation of the town of Palm Tree, coterminous with the limits of the village of Kiryas Joel. [4]
On June 14, 2018, special legislation was passed that moved up the target date by one year. The bill was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo on July 1. [5] [6] The town became official on January 1, 2019, with officials elected in November 2018 being sworn in on that date. No candidates ran for town justice in either the 2018 or 2019 elections; [7] however, two non-resident lawyers were elected as town justices in the November 2019 elections as part of a write-in campaign supported by the leadership of the majority faction of the town's community; [8] while normally New York law requires town justices to be residents of the town, the town's laws were amended to permit the town justices to be non-residents. [8] In the same election, residents voted for a single consolidated town-village government, to be governed as a village rather than a town. [8]
Palm Tree was chosen as the new town's name as it is a calque of Teitelbaum, the surname of the rebbes of Satmar. It means "date palm" - formed from teitel (date) and baum (tree).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2), and only a very small portion of the area (a small duck pond called "Forest Road Lake" in the center of the town) is covered with water. [9]
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | 32,954 | — | |
2023 (est.) | 41,857 | [10] | 27.0% |
United States Census Bureau: [11] [12] |
Largest ancestries (2000) | Percent |
---|---|
Hungarian | 18.9% |
American | 8.0% |
Israeli | 3.0% |
Romanian | 2.0% |
Polish | 1.0% |
Czech | 0.3% |
Russian | 0.3% |
German | 0.2% |
Languages (2010) [13] [14] !! Percent | |
---|---|
Spoke Yiddish at home | 91.5% |
Spoke only English at home | 6.3% |
Spoke Hebrew at home | 2.3% |
Spoke English "not well", or "not at all" | 46.0% |
Palm Tree began with a 2019 founding population of 26,905 people, but since it has the same boundaries as its coterminous village of Kiryas Joel, its demographics from before its incorporation as a town is also known. [15] As of the census [16] of 2000, there were 13,138 people, 2,229 households, and 2,137 families residing in the village. The population density was 11,962.2 inhabitants per square mile (4,618.6/km2). There were 2,233 housing units, at an average density of 2,033.2 units per square mile (785.0 units/km2). The racial make-up of the village was 99.02% White, 0.21% African American, 0.02% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.93% of the population.
Kiryas Joel has the highest percentage of people who reported Hungarian ancestry in the United States, as 18.9% of the population reported Hungarian ancestry in 2000. [17] 3% of the residents of Kiryas Joel were Israeli, 2% Romanian, 1% Polish, and 1% European. [18]
The 2000 census also reported that 6.3% of village residents spoke only English at home, one of the lowest such percentages in the United States. 91.5% of residents spoke Yiddish at home, while 2.3% spoke Hebrew. [13] Of the Yiddish-speaking population in 2000, 46% spoke English "not well" or "not at all". Overall, including those who primarily spoke Hebrew and European languages, as well as primary Yiddish speakers, 46% of Kiryas Joel residents speak English "not well" or "not at all". [14]
There were 2,229 households, out of which 79.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 93.2% were married couples living together, 1.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 4.1% were non-families. 2.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 5.74, and the average family size was 5.84. In the village, the population was very young, with 57.5% under the age of 18, 17.2% from 18 to 24, 16.5% from 25 to 44, 7.2% from 45 to 64, and 1.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 15 years. For every 100 females, there were 116.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 118.0 males.
The village abides by strict Jewish customs, and its welcome sign (installed in 2010) [19] asks visitors to dress conservatively and to "maintain gender separation in all public areas". [15] However, "the signs [say] nothing about consequences for violating these guidelines – because there are no consequences." [20]
Kiryas Joel is a village coterminous with the Town of Palm Tree in Orange County, New York, United States. The village shares one government with the Town. The vast majority of its residents are Yiddish-speaking Hasidic Jews who belong to the worldwide Satmar sect of Hasidism.
Kaser is a village in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States. The village is completely surrounded by the hamlet of Monsey. As of the 2020 United States census, the village population was 5,491.
New Square is an all-Hasidic village in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Hillcrest, east of Viola, south of New Hempstead, and west of New City. As of the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 9,679. Its inhabitants are predominantly members of the Skverer Hasidic movement who seek to maintain a Hasidic lifestyle disconnected from the secular world. It is the poorest town in New York, and the eighth poorest in the United States. It also has the highest poverty rate, at 64.4%.
Joel Teitelbaum was the founder and first Grand Rebbe of the Satmar dynasty.
Satmar is a group in Hasidic Judaism founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum (1887–1979), in the city of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary. The group is a branch of the Sighet Hasidic dynasty. Following World War II, it was re-established in New York and has since grown to become one of the largest Hasidic dynasties in the world, comprising around 26,000 households.
Chester is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 12,646 at the 2020 census. Chester contains a village, also called Chester.
Monroe is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 9,343 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. The community is not named after President James Monroe, but rather after an early 19th-century New York state senator.
Kehillas Yaakov Pupa is a Hasidic dynasty, named after the Yiddish name of the town of its origin.
Moshe (Moses) Teitelbaum was a Hasidic rebbe and the world leader of the Satmar Hasidim.
Aaron Teitelbaum is one of the two Grand Rebbes of Satmar, and the chief rabbi of the Satmar community in Kiryas Joel, New York.
Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum (III), known by the Yiddish colloquial name Zalman Leib (born 23 December 1951), is one of the two Grand Rebbes of Satmar. He leads the dynasty's Williamsburg, Brooklyn faction, which is based at the community's central Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar on Rodney Street there. He is the dean of a Satmar yeshiva in Queens, New York.
Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687 (1994), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of a school district created with boundaries that matched that of a religious community – in this case, the Satmar community of Kiryas Joel, New York. The case was argued by Nathan Lewin on behalf of Kiryas Joel, Julie Mereson on behalf of the State of New York, and Jay Worona on behalf of the respondents.
Teitelbaum is a Jewish surname. Variants include Tetelbaum, Teitelboim
Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar is a large Satmar Hasidic synagogue located at Kent Avenue and Hooper Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States.
Siget or Ujhel-Siget or Sighet Hasidism, or Sigter Hasidim, is a movement of Hungarian Haredi Jews who adhere to Hasidism, and who are referred to as Sigeter Hasidim.
South Blooming Grove is a village inside the Town of Blooming Grove in Orange County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 3,973. It is part of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area.
A coterminous municipality, sometimes also known as a coterminous city or a coterminous town-village, is a form of local government in some U.S. states in which a municipality and one or more civil townships have partial or complete consolidation of their government functions. A term used for the formation of such a local government is "township and municipal consolidation." This form of local government is distinct from a municipality coterminous with a higher level of government, which is called a consolidated city-county or a variation of that term.
Monroe is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 21,387 at the 2020 census, compared to 39,912 at the 2010 census; the significant fall in census population was due to the secession of the town of Palm Tree in 2019. The town is named after President James Monroe.
The Kiryas Joel murder conspiracy was the planned kidnapping and murder of Joseph Masri, a Hasidic resident of the village of Kiryas Joel, New York in a troubled marriage who had refused to give his wife a get. The plot was hatched during the summer of 2016 by Shimen Liebowitz, a divorce mediator from Kiryas Joel, Aharon Goldberg, an Israeli rabbi from Bnei Brak, and Binyamin Gottlieb. A fourth conspirator, operating under the pseudonym Joe Levin, turned out to be an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, whose agents arrested the suspects in a sting operation before the crime could be committed. The trio were convicted and sentenced in 2017 to prison.
City of Joel is a 2018 documentary film exploring tensions in the town of Kiryas Joel, where over 20,000 Yiddish-speaking Satmar Hasidim live. Tensions center on the Hasidic residents' desire to annex the land adjacent to their community to allow for their community's future growth. In the film, the Hasidic stance toward the local opposition is one marked by suspicion of local anti-Semitism, insisting their case is one of constitutional rights to practice their religion. The documentary was directed by filmmaker Jesse Sweet.