Fallsburg – What many folks in Sullivan County feared is now happening. Ultra-Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, with second homes in Sullivan, are urging bloc voting for certain political candidates for county office and in Fallsburg, where most of the Orthodox live.
A group called The Alliance, which says it represents more than 1,000 voters is calling for a bloc vote, and that worries some residents in this county, where the growing presence of the Orthodox community turns up on everything from a kosher bakery’s “Welcome to Fallsburg” sign to a billboard for a doctor with Hebrew words.
Members of the ultra-Orthodox community have already given thousands of dollars to candidates.
Many say they’re concerned that a group of residents who are in Sullivan for just two months could decide an election.
The Alliance members say they have every right to vote in Sullivan. They’re backing their chosen candidates “because they’re more responsive to our needs,” says Bernie Gips of Brooklyn. He has a home in one of the growing number of upscale second-home communities for the ultra-Orthodox in Fallsburg.
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These guys are always afraid of expansion in the Catskills. They would be satisfied if the whole place was one big farm.
bernie gibbs = B-13
they have no one to blame but themselves …..they have treated to Chassidic community like trash …its about time we got organized its long overdue…
>Many say they’re concerned that a group of residents who are in Sullivan for just two months could decide an election
Are those same people concerned about the high real estate taxes and school tax that we pay even though we are only there 2 months out of the year and do not use their school facilities?