Borough Park, Brooklyn
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Borough Park (sometimes rendered as Boro Park), is a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City in the United States.
Borough Park contains one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities outside of Israel. With an estimated Jewish population that some believe may be as high as 250,000 Jews (including many Hasidic and Haredi Jews),<ref>Barnes, Julian. "A Debate Over Strictures For Sabbath Observance." The New York Times. New York, N.Y. June 2, 2000. pg. B.1</ref> it has one of the largest concentrations of Jews in the United States and is among the most Orthodox neighborhoods in the world.
It is home to many inter-connected Jewish Orthodox communities with the largest being the Hasidic community of Bobov, as well as large numbers of Hasidic Jews connected to: Belz; Satmar; Stolin; Vizhnitz; Munkacz; Spinka; Burshtin; Puppa, Chust and many others. There are also some small groups of non-Hasidic Lithuanian Haredi Jews, and a smaller number of Modern Orthodox Jews.
Its "heart" lies between 12th and 18th Avenues and 40th and 62d Streets.<ref name = "Orthodox Neighborhood Reshapes Itself">Sontag, Deborah. "Orthodox Neighborhood Reshapes Itself." New York Times. Jan 7, 1998. pg. A1</ref>
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[edit] Baby boom
Borough Park has been described as having the "baby boom of New York" because of the high number of children born to families there every year. The neighborhood recorded 4,523 births in 2004,<ref>"Fertile Grounds--Baby Boom in Borough Park." New York Post. January 23, 2006. pg. 7.</ref> the highest in the city. The closest area in Brooklyn in population growth was in Williamsburg, the center of the Satmar Hasidic community, which reported 3,839 births. Borough Park's birth rate, 24.4 per 1,000 residents has translated into major growth in the neighborhood.
[edit] Neighborhood Transformation
Subsequently, the neighborhood has made many transformations in the last 20-30 years. Demographically, it has changed from a largely diverse neighborhood of Italian, Irish, and modern-Jewish families to an enclave of ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish families. These families, which commonly have 10 children, often required larger homes, driving construction and renovation projects across the neighborhood. The far majority of these expansion projects involved larger bedrooms and kitchens. "Since 1990, the Building Department has issued more permits, 822, for private construction projects -- new homes and additions -- in the Borough Park area than in any other residential neighborhood in Brooklyn."<ref name = "Orthodox Neighborhood Reshapes Itself"/> These construction projects were aided with a new law in 1992, which established Borough Park as a special zoning district where residents could build on 65% of their lot. This reduced the size of setbacks and backyards tremendously, to the point where many lots were "overdeveloped".
This development and urbanization is not complete, however. Currently, it is expanding in all directions as Hasidic Jews are buying land in nearby adjacent communities. Construction projects and renovations are common across the neighborhood, as families expand and require more space. Real estate prices have also increased markedly in the region.
[edit] Education
The New York City Department of Education operates Borough Park's public schools.
Virtually all of the large population of school-children born into Borough Park's Hasidic families, attend local yeshivas for boys and Bais Yaakov-type schools for girls. This has led to a public school population drain for local schools, such as Montauk Intermediate School. Most recently, the New York City Department of Education hoped to take advantage of the empty space and construct a small school, called the Kingsborough Early College School inside Montauk. <ref>Gootman, Elissa. "Plans for a Public School Upset Brooklyn Hasidim." The New York Times. February 3, 2006. pg. B3(Local)</ref> The Hasidic community was not pleased by the prospect of a new public school and protested the decision. The Community Educational Council heard these complaints and decided against expanding the public school system.
Many of the elementary schools have had mixed results from this student drain. For example, Public School 164 in Borough Park "...is at only 89 percent of capacity because many children in the community attend yeshivas. Classes are small, the hallways quiet, the principal and assistant principal know every student by name."<ref>Joyce Purnick."Schools Find New Test, For Themselves." The New York Times. April 5, 2004. pg. B.1</ref> Subsequently, the percentage of children reading at or above the grade level has increased to 55% in 2004 from 40% in 1998 in an otherwise unchanged school.
[edit] Business development
Stores and businesses are currently expanding and gaining economically. The 13th Avenue shopping district, a shopping strip roughly one mile in length from 39th street to about 55th street, is packed with many storefronts to supply Jewish households. Many Hasidic Jews shop at these stores, coming from all parts of the city, other parts of the country and from other countries. These stores credit their increase in profits and business to the use of entrepreneurial spirit among their storeowners, the increasing density of the Hasidic population in Borough Park, and the Internet <ref>Roane, Kit R. "For Jews Around World, Borough Park Is the Place to Shop." The New York Times. August 22, 1999. pg. 1.1 (Local)</ref>
The community has become renowned worldwide for its shopping and attractions among Hasidic Jews worldwide. In 1999, a 52-room kosher hotel called "The Avenue Plaza Hotel" opened on 13th Avenue, becoming the first hotel to rise in Borough Park in more than a decade. It is now a popular attraction for visitors to New York City and is among a very few that can accommodate the needs of many Hasidim.
Through its expansion, it has become among the most economically active and expanding Jewish communities in the world[citation needed], drawing-in many banks, including Washington Mutual, Sovereign Bank, and Dime. Charles J. Hamm, the chairman, president, and CEO of Independence Community Bank commented on how incredible his banks have grown in Borough Park: "We went from zero deposits to more than $350 million in these two branches," he said, adding that the average branch has around $110 million in deposits. He attributed its large economic activity to its large population of merchants and the huge shopping attractions available.
[edit] Religion and politics
In Brooklyn, about 37% of Jews consider themselves Orthodox,<ref>Heilman, Samuel C. "The Young and the Restless." [Op-Ed] The New York Times. April 9, 2006. pg. 4.13.</ref> and Boro Park is often referred to as the "heartland" or "home" for New York's Orthodox Jewish population[citation needed]. The neighborhood became largely Orthodox in the last 40 years, however, transforming from "suburb to shtetl" as the sociologist Egon Mayer described it.
During much of the early 1900s, the Jewish population in Borough Park, and Brooklyn as a whole, was part of a much more liberal-leaning voting block. However, many of these early Jewish families moved to the suburbs or other places around the city while more conservative Hasidic Jews (many of them survivors of the Holocaust and immigrant families from Eastern Europe) joined their neighborhoods. As a result, the overwhelming majority of the Hasidic population in Borough Park and Brooklyn introduced a more traditional Jewish religious lifestyle. A 2002 study by the UJA Federation-New York revealed that only 2% of Borough Park's Jews identified themselves as Reform Jews and nearly 3/4 identified themselves as Orthodox Jews. <ref>Newman, Andy. "In Orthodox Borough Park, Last Holdouts Get Strange Looks; Reform Jews, Adrift in a Sea of Black Hats." The New York Times. May 13, 2005. pg. B1(Local)</ref>
The neighborhood is mostly Haredi, and identifying a person as a "rabbi" is not considered unusual. Image:Chusterbp.JPG
[edit] Religious observances
The Hasidic population adheres strongly to Halakha ("Jewish law") and the Shulkhan Arukh ("Code of Jewish Law") based on the Torah following many strict Judaic laws in their daily lives. There are many important Hasidic Rebbes as well as many lesser rabbinical personalities with their own synagogues and followings. The neighborhoods in which the Hasidic and Haredi communities live are connected by an Eruv which enables those who accept it to carry items outside of their homes on the Shabbat, an activity which is Halakhically forbidden, without an Eruv. Saturday is the Shabbat, a day of rest, which is strictly observed to the full extent of Halakha, by most members of the community. In some areas a siren is sounded on Friday afternoons to indicate the upcoming arrival of the Shabbat eve.
Culturally and religiously, the neighborhood is considered one of the most Orthodox in the world. "Many families do not own televisions or attend movies. The children attend yeshivas instead of public schools. Adolescent girls do not leave the house without making certain that their knees and elbows are covered, and at weddings and funerals alike, women and men sit separately to avoid physical contact, as required by religious law."<ref>Confessore, Nicholas, Farmer, Ann. "In Borough Park, the Unusual Taste of Fear." The New York Times. May 10, 2006. pg. B.3</ref>
Many stores in Borough Park sell or prepare kosher food made under rabbinic supervision.
Originally, there was a large controversy surrounding the erection of an Eruv in Borough Park, because of differing interpretations of the application of Jewish law. In the 1950s, recent Jewish immigrants, mostly Hasidim, from Poland and Hungary began to expand their influence. These Hasidim, who populate most of the neighborhood today, brought their own traditions and religious customs to Borough Park. The Eruv, which was used to network Orthodox families in many places of Eastern Europe for a long time, was originally challenged by the older Jewish community. Lithuanian Jews, who settled in Borough Park beginning around 1910, saw it as a move of religious liberalism. However, over time, the Hasidim grew reaching roughly 85% in 2000.<ref>Barnes, Julian. "Symbolic Line Divides Jews in Borough Park." The New York Times. New York, N.Y. June 2, 2000. pg. B.1</ref> After some debate, the eruv was constructed to link the community, circumventing the Shabbat prohibition of carrying necessary items. It was built in 1999-2000 and has remained an enormous network, numbering about 225 blocks in Borough Park.
[edit] Bobov dynastic schism
Borough Park is the center of Hasidic Judaism's large Bobov community, numbering roughly 1,800 to 2,000 families,<ref>Newman, Andy. "A Battle for Succession Takes No Holiday." The New York Times, March 26, 2005 p. B4 col 01 (19 col in)</ref> it is one of Brooklyn's largest Hasidic communities and has followers in Canada, England, Belgium and Israel.
In 2005, the Bobover Rebbe, Rabbi Naftali Zvi Halberstam died, and his followers split between his half-brother Rabbi Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam and his son-in-law, Rabbi Mordechai David Unger, who both claim to be the legitimate Grand Rabbi ("Rebbe") of Bobov. Rabbi Ben Zion's followers are presently in charge of the main Bobover synagogue on 48th street; while Rabbi Mordechai David's followers are in its temporary synagogue in the Bais Yakov building on 45th Street. Rabbi Mordechai David's followers appointed another of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Halberstam's sons-in-law, Rabbi Yehoshua Rubin as Bobover Ruv (chief rabbi). Today, the dispute is awaiting a ruling from a Beth din that will render a verdict on this matter.
[edit] Police and security
The Hasidic community has developed a network of residents to handle emergencies in the neighborhood. The Hatzolah are a group of volunteers who serve as middlemen between local law enforcement, fire departments, healthcare agencies and the community. They act as a first-response in many instances and use their understanding of Jewish laws, languages, and cultural nuances to react to problems with greater sensitivity. The Hasidic community has been able to form close ties with the local authorities, leading to a close, but often fragile relationship.
[edit] References
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