MAHWAH – The state Attorney General’s Office is investigating how the township came to adopt a controversial parks ban, which local law enforcement has said could violate parkgoers’ constitutional rights.
Residents have complained of overcrowding at local parks, particularly by Orthodox Jews from New York.Prosecutor: Mahwah park ban could illegally target Jews.Winters Park: 3 sides of Mahwah’s eruv controversy converge.
After Police Chief James Batelli raised concerns that the ban might violate the Attorney General’s profiling guidelines, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal directed Mahwah police not to enforce the ban in July.In a letter accompanying the subpoena, Craig Sashihara, the director of the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division, said he shared Batelli and Grewal’s concerns.
A typed message provided by Mahwah Community Parks is seen on one of the tables at Winter’s Park in Mahwah.