The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed its third Statement of Interest in state court, once again backing Orthodox Jewish developers in their battle against discriminatory zoning practices in the Town of Forestburgh.

The latest filing, submitted by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division under Harmeet Dhillon and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York under Jay Clayton, asserts that Forestburgh’s actions violate federal civil rights protections. The DOJ warned that “allowing a state law to undermine a federal civil rights claim would ‘transmute a basic guarantee into an illusory promise.’”

The Town of Forestburgh has been under growing scrutiny for its refusal to allow the previously approved Lost Lake residential project to move forward—allegedly out of fear that it would attract Orthodox Jewish residents. Despite prior intervention from the DOJ and two formal warnings from New York State Attorney General Letitia James, the town has refused to reverse course.

Emails uncovered during litigation have further fueled accusations of religious discrimination. In one exchange, a prominent town official and resident referred to religious Jews as a “sect” and “locusts,” and accused them of “misogyny” and “child abuse.” Another official wrote of the “Hasidic threat,” boasting, “We have the cash to fight and make their lives miserable.”

These statements are now part of the federal civil rights lawsuit, which alleges that the town is intentionally blocking Orthodox Jewish families from settling in Forestburgh. Civil rights advocates argue the town’s actions are part of a larger pattern of zoning-based exclusion targeting religious communities.

Adding to the controversy, shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Forestburgh enacted a new zoning law that imposes severe restrictions on places of worship. The law requires a minimum of five acres to construct a house of worship—far more than is required for comparable secular buildings. Critics have described the change as a transparent attempt to block synagogues and deter Orthodox Jewish settlement.

Attorney General Letitia James, in a letter to the town, warned that the zoning law likely violates both federal and state civil rights laws. Nevertheless, the town has stood by its new regulations, deepening concerns among Orthodox Jewish residents and civil rights watchdogs.

Orthodox Jewish leaders have made numerous efforts to engage with Forestburgh officials. At a town board meeting last year, Chaskel Bennett, a senior official with Agudath Israel of America, delivered passionate remarks opposing the five-acre requirement.

“In my travels visiting countless synagogues across this country,” Bennett said, “nowhere have I seen a five-acre demand for a house of worship. This restrictive requirement appears not as a measure of genuine need or good governance, but as a barrier designed to exclude religious Jews from Forestburgh.”

He continued, “At a time of alarming and unprecedented antisemitism, many observers can only conclude that the law is being weaponized to discriminate against a community that has faced this kind of government-sanctioned exclusion before. We know discrimination when we see it.”

Other prominent advocates who have addressed the Town Board include Rabbis Avi Schnall, Yeruchim Silber, Shragi Greenbaum, Abe Rutner of the Sullivan County JCC, and others—each calling on Forestburgh to reverse its discriminatory policies.

Despite mounting legal pressure, media attention, and moral appeals from religious leaders, the town has yet to take meaningful steps toward resolution. The federal government’s latest filing makes clear that it sees the issue not merely as a local dispute, but as a serious violation of civil rights under federal law.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)