Editing New Square, New York (section)

== History ==
New Square is named after the [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] town [[Skvyra]], where the [[Skver (Hasidic dynasty)|Skverer Hasidic]] group originated. The founders intended to name the settlement ''New Skvir'', but a typist's error anglicized the name.<ref name="Mystics">{{cite news| title=Mystics in the Suburbs| newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]| date= March 3, 1961| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,897687,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312021921/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,897687,00.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=March 12, 2007}}</ref> New Square was established in 1954,<ref name="expl">{{cite news |last1=Chan |first1=Sewell |last2=McGinty |first2=Jo Craven |title=Explosive Growth Since 2000 in State's Hasidic Enclaves |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/nyregion/29census.html |access-date=April 6, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=June 29, 2007}}</ref> when the Zemach David Corporation, representing Skverer [[Yakov Yosef Twersky|Grand Rabbi Yakov Yosef Twersky]], purchased a {{convert|130|acre|km2|adj=on}} dairy farm near [[Spring Valley, New York]], in the town of [[Ramapo, New York|Ramapo]]. At that time, most Skverer members lived in the [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg]] section of Brooklyn.<ref name="EncJud"/> New Square's founders had felt that the Hasidic community in Williamsburg was being "threatened by assimilation", as ''The New York Times'' later described it.<ref>{{Cite news|first=James|last=Feron|date=July 18, 1975|title=New Square: Poorest, but Its Hasidim Do Not Live by Bread Alone|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/18/archives/new-square-poorest-but-its-hasidim-do-not-live-by-bread-alone-new.html|access-date=April 16, 2022|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Construction began in 1956, and the first four families moved to New Square in December 1956.<ref name="EncJud">{{cite EJ|title=New Square| volume= 15|page= 189|url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CCX2587514800&v=2.1&u=unizur&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w}}</ref> In 1958, the settlement had 68 houses.<ref name="Mintz199">{{cite book|last=Mintz|first= Jerome R.| title=Hasidic People: A Place in the New World| publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]| year=1992| pages=199–200| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uEP5KNUAFh0C|isbn= 9780674041097}}</ref>

The development of New Square was obstructed by Ramapo's zoning regulations, which forbade the construction of multi-family houses and the use of basements for shops and stores. Multiple families sharing single-family houses said that they belonged to extended families, and businesses in private homes had to be secret. In 1959, the community asked for a building permit to expand its [[synagogue]], located in the basement of a [[Cape Cod (house)|Cape Cod-style house]]. The Ramapo town attorney requested condemnation of the entire New Square community, claiming that it threatened sewage lines. In response, the community requested incorporation as a village, but Ramapo town officials refused to allow it. In 1961, a New York state court ruled in favor of New Square,<ref>{{cite web |website=CaseText |url=https://casetext.com/case/matter-of-unger-v-nugent#summary |title=Matter of Unger v. Nugent, 28 Misc. 2d 513}}</ref> and the village was incorporated in July of that year.

After incorporating, New Square set its own zoning and building codes, legalizing the existing houses, and the liens disappeared. Lots were sold, and new houses were built. The basement businesses could trade openly, and new businesses were founded, including a watch assembly plant and a cap manufacturer. Three knitting mills and a used car lot opened, but most men continued to go to work in New York City. A ''[[Kollel]]'' was opened in 1963. In 1968, Grand Rabbi Yakov Yosef Twersky died; he was succeeded as Grand Rabbi by his son [[David Twersky (Skverer Rebbe)|David Twersky]].<ref name="Mintz199"/>

In New Square's first mayoral election in 1961, [[Mates Friesel]] was chosen unopposed. Friesel was re-elected every two years until his death in 2015, thereby becoming one of the longest-serving mayors in the United States.<ref name=lohud>{{cite news|first=Steve |last=Lieberman |title=New Square Mayor Mates Friesel dies at 91 |url=http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/rockland/2015/08/02/new-square-mayor-mates-friesel-dies-91/31015257/ |work=[[The Journal News]] |date=August 3, 2015 |access-date=August 24, 2015}}</ref>