Mahwah is reopening its parks to out-of-state residents and dropping a proposed law that would have effectively prohibited eruvs. The unanimous vote comes about two months after the state Attorney General sued the council for allegedly discriminating against Orthodox Jews and four months after a Rockland County religious group filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the town.
In a scathing nine-count lawsuit filed in October, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino accused Mahwah council members of using the laws to keep Orthodox Jews from neighboring New York State towns out of their community.
“They are hiding from you that if they failed to do so, the Attorney General can come into Mahwah to press civil or criminal bias charges against every single.”
The attorney general’s lawsuit has been moved to federal U.S. District Court in Newark from state Superior Court in Bergen County at the request of the township.