“The discriminatory and illegal actions perpetrated by Orange County and the Town of Chester are blatantly antisemitic, and go against the diversity, inclusivity, and tolerance that New York prides itself on,” said Attorney General James. “Every New Yorker deserves equal opportunities in housing, regardless of gender, race, nationality, or their faith. Today and every day, I stand with all communities against hate and discrimination, which will not be tolerated in New York state.”
In May 2020, Attorney General James intervened in lawsuit filed by the developers of the “The Greens at Chester,” alleging that the town and county engaged in a concerted and systematic effort to prevent Hasidic Jewish families from moving to Chester by blocking the construction of a housing development. The original lawsuit, filed in July 2019, outlined countless discriminatory and unnecessary actions that Chester and Orange County took to stop the homes from being built in order to prevent Jewish families from purchasing and occupying them — gross violations of the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act dictates that it is unlawful for anyone to refuse to sell or rent a dwelling based on an individual's religion, race, sex, national origin, or familial status, among other protected classes.
In October 2017, the developers of The Greens purchased a 117-acre property in the Town of Chester in Orange County, New York, which had been fully approved for residential development under the ownership of the previous developer. Since the purchase of the property in 2017, officials from the town repeatedly sought to block development of the site and openly expressed discriminatory intent to block the development at public town meetings — explicitly referencing their desire to keep Hasidic families out of the community.
Additionally, the town placed multiple obstacles in the way of the developers in an attempt to thwart construction — all in violation of a settlement agreement, reached in 2010, regarding the zoning and construction of the land. They passed a law to restrict the size of the houses that could be built in an attempt to make them uninhabitable for families. The town also advanced proposals to levy extra taxes on the development; to limit the hours that construction could occur on the site; and to require the developer to provide the personal information of its managing partners to local officials.
The town also imposed costly and unnecessary requirements that the developer had to comply with before construction could commence, including mandating that a new sewer waste line be rerouted and requesting the main road be moved by 10 feet. After the developer complied with each of these unnecessary requests, the town still denied all building permit applications, even though the developer clearly satisfied the requirements necessary to be granted the permits. A separate agreement between the developers, Orange County, and the Town of Chester has resulted in the construction of The Greens moving forward.
The agreements announced today mandate that Orange County and the Town of Chester must enact numerous policies to uphold fair housing regulations, including:
- Full compliance of the Fair Housing Act;
- Adopting outreach measures that disseminate information about fair housing to communities;
- Administering fair housing trainings to county and town employees working in housing or planning;
- Appointing a fair housing compliance officer; and
- Documenting and reporting of all housing discrimination complaints to the Office of the Attorney General.
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