Catskills

Health

He went to a festival on a Friday afternoon and woke up in a hospital Emergency Room on Tuesday

A life-threatening overdose sheds light on the potential risks to Haredi and formerly-Haredi festival-goers.

Catskills

Haredi police officer rehired in Monticello despite admitting to sexual assault

“The message that’s being sent to people is that because people have political connections, they’re above the law,” the village’s former mayor told Shtetl.

Legal

Attorney General’s office warns Sullivan County town of potentially illegal discrimination against Hasidic development

The letter comes amid a yearslong legal battle over Lost Lake Resort, a proposed development that seeks to house 2,600 homes.

Courts

Lev Tahor Weingarten brothers convicted for role in 2018 kidnapping of two children

The U.S. government has now convicted all nine people involved in the scheme, through testimony of former Lev Tahor member Shimon Malka

Catskills

Monticello mayor targets Haredi political operative in sting operation, feigning a quid pro quo solicitation

Working with the Sullivan County DA, Monticello mayor George Nikolados demanded Yermia Solomon deliver Haredi votes in exchange for a police job

Vizhnitz

Vizhnitz Hasidim in the Catskills vote to approve new village of Ateres

The proposed village is centered around the Vizhnitz yeshiva, which had taken over the old Gibber Hotel opposite Kiamesha Lake and has grown into a community of over 800

Courts

Federal lawsuit claims Catskills town discriminated against Hasidic developers

After a property was sold to Hasidic developers, the town suddenly created unusual procedural hurdles, allegedly fearing an influx of Hasidic residents

Haredi Life

Year end reflections on Shtetl’s first ten months of reporting: the top issues of 2023

With the intimate familiarity of insiders but free from the usual top-down oversight of Haredi media, we reported on everything from the Satmar rebbe's bragging about deceiving legislators to Agudah's efforts to keep the Times from winning a Pulitzer

Vizhnitz

Vizhnitz one step closer to incorporating village in Catskills

Community leaders insist they do not intend on approving dense housing

Vizhnitz

New proposed village would give Vizhnitz community its own local government

The community of 140 families says it wants more sidewalks and better lighting, but others are concerned about density

Catskills

‘This is a secular nation,’ Catskills villagers say, fighting Hasidic involvement in small town governance

The tiny village of Fleischmanns is embroiled in a series of legal disputes as the community fights over Hasidic summer residents’ influence