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Monsey, New York

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Monsey (Template:IPAc-en, Template:Langx) is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States, north of Airmont, east of Viola, south of New Hempstead, and west of Spring Valley. The village of Kaser is surrounded by the hamlet of Monsey. The 2020 census listed the population at 26,954.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The hamlet has a large, and growing, community of Haredi Jews.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

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Rockland County was inhabited by the Munsee band of Lenape Native Americans, who were speakers of the Algonquian languages. Monsey Glen, a Native American encampment, is west of the intersection of State Route 59 and State Route 306. Numerous artifacts have been found there and some rock shelters are still visible. The Monsey railroad station, named from an alternate spelling of the Munsee Lenape, was built when the New York & Erie Railroad passed through the glen in 1841.<ref name="Weinstock">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1943, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz purchased a property in Monsey with the intention to raise the education level of Torah teachers. Named Aish Dos (Pillar of Fire), the institute comprised two buildings on a 16-acre plot. In 1944 it was reconstituted as Beth Medrash Elyon, Monsey's first Jewish institution.<ref>Rosenblum, Yonason "Reb Shraga Feivel" Mesorah Publications, Inc. 2002. Pages 291, 299</ref>

In the 1950s, Monsey was a one stoplight town with a single yeshiva. In 1979,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Rabbi Ezriel Tauber and a group of lay leaders purchased land in Monsey for the American campus of the Ohr Somayach Yeshiva.<ref>Template:Cite book "In 1979, Ohr Somayach opened a branch of their yeshiva in Monsey"</ref>

By 1997, Monsey had 112 synagogues and 45 yeshivas.<ref name = "Berger">Template:Cite news </ref>

Located in Monsey is the Houser-Conklin House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.<ref name="nps">Template:Cite web</ref>

Having the largest Orthodox Jewish community in Rockland County, Monsey has become a metonym for Orthodox Jews in all of Rockland, including those who live in neighboring hamlets and villages such as Viola, Airmont, and Spring Valley.<ref>Berger, Joseph Netflix Series Stirs Debate About the Lives of Ultra-Orthodox Women New York Times Oct. 27, 2021</ref>

Geography

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Monsey is located at Template:Coord .<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 2.2 square miles (5.8 km2), of which 2.2 square miles (5.7 km2) is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1 km2) (0.90%) is water.

Demographics

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File:Monsey Map 1859 Photo.jpg
Map 1859

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As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2017, there were 22,043 people, 3,984 households, and 2,596 families residing in the CDP. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 4,244 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.8% White, 3.0% African American, 0.03% Native American, 1.05% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.70% from other races, and 1.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.86% of the population. 43.98% speak English at home, 41.48% Yiddish, 6.88% Hebrew, 2.69% French or a French creole, 1.85% Spanish, and 1.24% Russian.<ref>Modern Language Association, Data center results for Monsey, New York. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.</ref>

There were 2,981 households, out of which 58.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 78.0% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.9% were non-families. 10.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.74 and the average family size was 5.16. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 48.6% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 18.2% from 25 to 44, 16.3% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 19 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.6 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $45,194, and the median income for a family was $45,911. Males had a median income of $41,606 versus $33,576 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $14,000. About 25.4% of families and 30.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.8% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

Jewish community

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Monsey is a major center of Orthodox Judaism in the United States, along with several other cities such as Kiryas Joel, Kaser, Spring Valley, and New Square. It is the largest center of Hasidic Judaism in the U.S. outside New York City, with approximately 5,400 households (4.2% of the world's Hasidic population).<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> The migration to Monsey began in the late 1940s when New York City's Orthodox Jews were seeking affordable real estate for their quickly growing communities. These spaces offered the possibility of moving en masse and establishing enclaves where they could lead lives based on halakha (Jewish religious law) without coming into regular conflict with non-Orthodox neighbors. This represented a major, distinct suburban demographic shift for these communities.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Major Hasidic sects represented in Monsey include Satmar, Vizhnitz Monsey, Sanz and Belz, with the rebbes of Berditchev, Lizensk, Lizensk (Rokeah), Nikolsburg, Sambor Yerushalayim-Monsey, Sassov, Shinave, Spinka Monsey, Stanislov, and Vizhnitz Monsey sects residing in the community.<ref name=":1" /> Vizhnitz maintains a cemetery in Monsey.<ref>(May 18, 2020) "Viznitz Bais Hachaim in Monsey to Close Before Rosh Chodesh Sivan", Hamodia. Retrieved June 16, 2022.</ref>

On December 28, 2019, Monsey was the site of a mass stabbing in the home of a Hasidic rebbe of the Kosonyu sect who was hosting a Hanukkah party, leaving four injured and one dead.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable people

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Places of interest

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See also

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References

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Further reading

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Template:Rockland County, New York

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