Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoes Blooming Grove conservation bill due to 'tensions' with Hasidic community
Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill on Wednesday that would have enabled the town of Blooming Grove to tax property sales and use the proceeds to buy land it wants to conserve or the development rights to those tracts.
The proposal was nearly identical to a conservation bill for the neighboring town of Chester that Hochul's predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, vetoed in 2019 because of accusations that it was intended to thwart housing development for the growing Hasidic community.
Hochul alluded to that same conflict in her explanation for rejecting the Blooming Grove bill, without taking a stance on the claims of bigotry.
"There have been well-documented tensions in Orange County between local elected officials and members of the Hasidic community," Hochul wrote in her veto message. "Similar tensions in the nearby Town of Chester resulted in litigation. It would be inappropriate to sign this legislation at this juncture, while facts are still being gathered about the situation."
Advocates for the Orthodox community cheered Hochul's veto on Thursday, arguing the bill unfairly targeted Hasidic community growth.
"It's a disgrace that such bills even get out of committees," said Yossi Gestetner, co-founder of the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council. "Those bills are written with the false and bigoted assumption that growth of said communities are a problem when in fact they are an economic and tax boon for local communities as shown in multiple data reports on our website."
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