Mount Kisco Approves Chabad Permit for Leonard Park Service After Legal Review, Community Dialogue

By Adam Stone

Chabad of Bedford was granted permission last night to hold its Rosh Hashanah Tashlich service at Leonard Park in Mount Kisco, resolving a weeks-long dispute over the park’s use and questions about deed restrictions and municipal authority.

The issue arose after Chabad requested to hold its annual Tashlich service — a ritual performed near water as part of the Jewish New Year observance — at Leonard Park. Village leaders initially denied the request, citing uncertainties about deed restrictions and whether religious ceremonies were allowed. The denial drew outrage from congregants and concern from some local leaders.

Chabad had sent a legal letter to the village, asserting that the denial violated their rights and urging reconsideration. This prompted the village to seek legal counsel.

“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,” an Aug. 18 letter from the Chabad’s legal counsel stated.

At last night’s Recreation Commission meeting, members voted to approve the application. The decision followed the village’s retention last week of Dorf Nelson & Zauderer LLP, a law firm with an office in Rye, to review the relevant deeds and legal questions.

In an interview this morning with The Examiner, Mayor Michael Cindrich said the law firm reviewed four separate deeds dating back to the 1930s, some of which contained conflicting language about park use. 

“They laid out everything on the table,” the mayor said. “The recommendation was to move ahead with it and deal with other conflicts in the future.”

Assemblyman Chris Burdick, who hosted a mediation meeting between Cindrich and Chabad Rabbi Arik Wolf in his Mount Kisco office last week, said he was pleased officials acted quickly to resolve the matter. 

“I am grateful to both the mayor and the rabbi for working through it and reaching an amicable resolution,” he said.

Wolf, for his part, also expressed gratitude for the resolution. 

“While I haven’t received yet any direct communication from the Village of Mount Kisco, we have heard that we received our permit,” the rabbi said. “We are grateful to the village, the mayor, and the Recreation Department for reconsidering our permit and for allowing our community to gather.”

In an email to the local Chabad community, the rabbi and his wife Sara (the educational director at Chabad) said how the episode is a “reminder that we stand up for what is right and for what we believe in, and we fight for it if necessary.”

The news also came as a welcome relief to congregants. 

Roger Nadel, a Chabad member who is active in local civic and political affairs, credited Deputy Mayor Theresa Flora for her role. 

“Sure, I have a nice relationship with Theresa Flora, the deputy mayor, and despite the rhetoric we always kept an open dialogue,” Nadel said. “Communication is vital in any disagreement. While I was disappointed in the town’s initial decision to the Chabad permit request, I always felt leadership was listening, especially Flora. For the past three weeks we rallied, advocated, and campaigned against this denial. I’m relieved the town finally saw this issue the way we saw it — fairness. I also appreciate local state leaders like Assemblyman Burdick.”

Sources noted that some Recreation Commission members raised concerns that approval could conflict with deed restrictions. (Linda Cindrich, the mayor’s wife, is one of the members of the commission).

The controversy had become heated, with accusations of discrimination and concerns over religious freedom, especially given that the service had been permitted in previous years.

Local observers who know the mayor and his wife stressed how they have long, publicly and enthusiastically embraced the local Jewish community.

As for the local legal issues, the mayor said it was “extremely complicated.” 

“There are four deeds; three of them from previous transfers have some conflicts,” he said. “The attorneys admitted this was a difficult process… we focused on ensuring the High Holy Days were not impacted.”

He noted that Leonard Park has a long, complicated history of transfers and conveyances. 

“There was an original conveyance in 1933, a reverse in 1934, and then a reconveyance in 1941,” he said. “Why all these conveyances took place, nobody knew.”

Moving forward, Cindrich said the village intends to clarify all rules and restrictions for park use in the coming months, aiming to ensure that future applications can be evaluated efficiently and transparently. 

He also praised the efforts of volunteer boards, saying members had worked with the information available to them.

“They were given information, facts, deeds — the ability to do what they were charged to do — and they worked in accordance with that information,” he said. “Some of that information was inaccurate, and they were never advised, but they did not make decisions arbitrarily. They acted in accordance with what they had available.”