Kisco Seeks Counsel as Chabad Permit Denial Sparks Legal Fight

By Adam Stone

For years, Rabbi Arik Wolf and his congregation have gathered peacefully by the Leonard Park pond for a brief Rosh Hashanah ceremony — a 20-minute service of reflection, prayer, and the sounding of the shofar. This year, Mount Kisco officials denied Chabad of Bedford’s permit to hold the event, citing deed restrictions.

The denial has now sparked a legal challenge, divided opinion among residents, and raised larger questions about free expression in public spaces. With attorneys involved and the village retaining outside counsel last night, what began as a routine permit request has become a local debate over religious freedom.

“The grounds given — that the Leonard Park deed doesn’t allow religious gatherings — are strange,” Wolf told The Examiner in an interview earlier today. “Our counsel reviewed the deed and found no indication to support the denial.”

Wolf said Chabad tried for weeks to obtain clarity from village officials, hoping to avoid a public or legal confrontation.

“We asked, ‘Why now? Why us?’ but we received no response — not a phone call, not an email,” he said. “It leaves people to speculate, which is unhealthy for everyone,” adding that “nobody had the courtesy of a response until yesterday when the village counsel said we will get back to you.”

On Aug. 29, in a Facebook post, Chabad pushed back against the town’s rationale.

“Their justification? That the park does not allow ‘religious events,’” the post read. “However, this same park has hosted events such as an Easter Egg Hunt — a tradition we fully respect and are glad the Christian community can enjoy.”

Alleged Discrimination

Chabad of Bedford’s attorney, congregant Lauren Israelovitch, ultimately submitted a legal letter to the village, noting how “Rabbi and Mrs. Wolf, its founders and leaders, are represented in this matter by the National Jewish Advocacy Center, a nonprofit legal organization dedicated to combating antisemitism in all its forms.”

She stated the Recreation Commission’s refusal to allow the annual Tashlich service in Leonard Park was unlawful, saying the deed doesn’t bar open-air religious ceremonies, the denial violates federal and state constitutional protections against religious discrimination, and the rationale that Chabad is Bedford-based is irrelevant, including because the Wolfs, who lead the service, live in Mount Kisco.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly and unequivocally held that excluding religious speech from public property otherwise open to secular expression constitutes impermissible viewpoint discrimination,” her Aug. 18 letter states.

Mount Kisco Deputy Mayor Theresa Flora, in an interview with The Examiner earlier today, said the decision was made outside her domain and that she does not yet have all the facts.

“Somebody ought to pick up the phone,” she said. “People need to start picking up phones on both sides.”

Flora also pointed to the village’s record of inclusivity.

“We love our Jewish residents,” she said. “I mean, that’s obvious. We host the menorah lighting in front of the village hall.”

Lawyering Up

At Monday night’s Mount Kisco village board meeting, officials voted to retain outside counsel in anticipation of a legal fight.

Warren Gottlieb, a Chappaqua resident and founder of the New Castle Against Antisemitism Facebook page, addressed the board and told The Examiner earlier today he is cautious about assigning motives. But the decision itself, he said, is fundamentally flawed.

“They need to review it quickly, get to the bottom of it, and move on,” Gottlieb said. “They have to understand how this comes across to members of the Jewish community and anybody who cares about freedom of religious speech and assembly.”

Local Assemblyman Chris Burdick, a longtime friend of Wolf and Mayor Michael Cindrich, said he spoke with both in recent days to help chart a path forward.

“I wanted to see what I could do,” Burdick said. “I hope that a compromise acceptable to both the village and Chabad can be reached.”

Yet what such a compromise might look like that’s acceptable to all parties remains unresolved.

“The village did, at some point, suggest that we do this event in another location,” the rabbi told The Examiner, when asked about the comments from Burdick. “But that other location does not work for us for a number of reasons. And so we would first like a coherent, logical and justifiable explanation for our denial before we consider moving it to somewhere else.”

Cindrich, at last night’s meeting, before making a motion to hire counsel, said he will “defend the boards and some of their decisions unless I can prove otherwise that they did something illegal.”

The mayor could not yet be reached for follow-up comment yet today, but those who have spoken with him say he defended the decision as a policy matter. According to those accounts, he views the restriction as a long-standing interpretation of the Leonard Park deed and believes permits were improperly issued in past years.

“He just felt that errors have been made in the past and that they were incorrect, that the permits should not have been issued in the past,” Burdick recounted. “And so he felt that it was his obligation to not continue what he felt were errors in it now.”

At Monday’s meeting, Trustee Tom Luzio, for his part, cautioned against treating the Leonard Park deed as the decisive legal factor regardless.

“I’m sure there were many deeds in the south back in the Jim Crow days that said the parks would be for whites only,” he remarked.

Taxpayer Resources

The denial has also divided opinion in the community. Mount Kisco resident Roger Nadel, a former U.S. Marine and Chabad congregant, said he was “furious” when he learned about it.

“I almost died for this country, and now I’m being told my faith can’t be practiced in a public park,” said Nadel, a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals and former Bedford Board of Education candidate. He added that while he has long supported officials like Cindrich and Flora, he believes the decision itself is inherently discriminatory, regardless of motivations.

He also said the town’s decision will negatively and unnecessarily hurt the entire community.

“They’re going to fight and we’re going to waste taxpayer resources on a lawsuit that doesn’t have to happen,” he observed.

Resident Judith Sage, long active in local politics, said she does not see antisemitism or discrimination at play.

“I have no idea why this request was denied,” said Sage, who is Jewish but is not a congregant of Chabad of Bedford. “I do not believe for one minute it is reflective of either antisemitism, or discrimination… The Mayor of Mount Kisco, Mayor Mike Cindrich, and his wife Linda… took time away from their family’s Christmas Day celebration to attend the menorah lighting with the Mount Kisco Jewish community.”

Yet for Wolf, the matter is ultimately a clearcut legal matter that should never have escalated.

“Even if it were a prayer service, the law does not allow a town to deny a religious organization while permitting others,” the rabbi said. “The village could have avoided all of this by consulting someone familiar with the law and communicating their decision clearly.”

In a followup text after a phone interview with The Examiner, he also said “it feels to me very Un-American to ban prayer in a public place.”

“This country was founded on the foundations of faith,” he concluded. “We allow and protect every kind of speech, even speech that is hateful, surely prayer should be allowed. On Rosh Hashanah the Jewish community comes together to pray for all members of our extended community.”