Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Fleischmanns Hasidic hotel owners in feud with residents
A verbal altercation in Fleischmanns last week Wednesday between the owners of two Hasidic hotels and a local resident made a video splash on Facebook and drew lots of local attention.
In recent years, the Mendelowitz family purchased two hotels in Fleischmanns, the Flagstone Inn and the Northland Hotel, which were recently renovated and are currently used by Hasidic vacationers.
The hotel owners have erected an eruv (an urban area enclosed by a wire boundary that symbolically extends the private domain of Jewish households into public areas, permitting activities within it that are normally forbidden in public on Sabbath) around their properties. Some say the altercation started over a damaged eruv string on the hotel property that Mendelowitz believes long time resident Dr. Kranz had something to do with.
Dr. Kranz has been a resident of Fleischmanns for over 30 years. In 2011 his fence was destroyed due to the effects of Hurricane Irene.
Going through proper channels, the village board approved an application by Dr. Kranz to build a six-foot fence on his property. Village law permits a three-foot fence between properties, however he was approved to rebuild a six-foot fence that was there originally.
Fred Woller, the deputy mayor of Fleischmanns, and a member of the village board of trustees, says the Mendelowitz family is upset about the fence because it would block views of the creek on the opposite side of the road. People walk on Dr. Kranz's private property regularly to access the creek and many times park on his property.
The confrontation was filmed by local resident and wife of Fred Woller, Nancy Green Madia. It can be seen on Facebook. In the video you can see the doctor being calm while members of the Mendelowitz family are shouting expletive language at him during the Sabbath.
Woller told the News that Dr. Kranz is a "well respected and gentle man who has lived in Fleischmanns for over 30 years."
Woller went on to say, "For people who are supposed to be religious to shout profanity on a Saturday, especially during the Sabbath, is preposterous, disrespectful, and disgusting. Representing themselves as religious is misleading."
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