MAHWAH – The Township Council mulled budgeting an additional $175,000 Thursday to fight lawsuits alleging the town discriminated against Orthodox Jews, and to deal with an influx of public records requests related to the controversy.
More: New Jersey sues Mahwah over eruv, alleging discriminatory ordinance against Orthodox Jews.More: Murphy slams ‘anti-Semitic’ rhetoric around Mahwah eruv.
The two 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.
After township officials threatened to start issuing summonses if the eruv was not taken down, the group that put it up – the Bergen Rockland Eruv Association – filed a federal lawsuit against the town.