MAHWAH – Less than 24 hours after postponing a vote on the matter, the Township Council on Friday unanimously approved the allocation of $175,000 to fight two lawsuits alleging the town discriminated against Orthodox Jews.Council members authorized the funding after a three-hour meeting that was closed to the public.
The suit alleges the township discriminated against Orthodox Jews from New York by banning non-state residents from visiting the town’s parks, and introducing an ordinance that would have effectively outlawed a Jewish boundary known as an eruv.
The group sued in August to block the township from removing an eruv that had been constructed in the town.
The state and federal lawsuits were filed in response to a controversy that began over the summer when a New York Orthodox Jewish group expanded an eruv into Mahwah.