In regards to the story titled ‘NYC Tenants In Dispute Over Shabbos Elevator‘ published earlier today, Touro College sent the following statement to YWN:
Since the founding of Touro College in 1971, the college’s main campus has been based in New York City and many branches of the school are also based in Manhattan, where Touro provides affordable education to a diverse constituency.
Like other institutions of higher learning, Touro has faced challenges in providing affordable housing for its students. To meet the housing needs of students at our West Side campus, Touro acquired 10 West 65th Street, which was approximately 50 percent vacant when we purchased it in 2008. It always has been our intention to use the available units to house students from Landers College for Women – many or all of whom are Sabbath-observant.
10 West 65th Street contains two elevators. To accommodate our students while respecting the other tenants, we followed the widely used practice of allowing one — and only one — of the elevators in the building to be operated as a “Shabbos elevator,” meaning that for 25 hours a week, it would automatically stop on every floor – adding a total of 1 minute and 23 seconds to a ride from the lobby to the sixth floor.
It is unfortunate that the state’s Department of Housing and Community renewal chose to intervene at the request of some of the tenants — who, in the most offensive and discriminatory way — objected to this practice.
We therefore are seeking relief through a judicial proceeding to allow us, as property owner, to operate the building in a manner that is compatible with the religious practices of its student tenants and which poses minimum disruption to other residents.
Ultimately, we believe this matter can be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties in an amicable manner. Our aim is for all residents to live in and enjoy this building.
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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4 Responses
Leave it to the liberals to get in the way of something good. If libs are as tolerant as they claim to be, they would shut their mouths and allow one elevator to run in “shabbos mode.” Alas, libs are only tolerant when its something THEY agree with and the purgatory with anyone else.
The issue will depended on whether anything in a contract or the regulations prohibit a Shabbos elevator, and if so, whether the regulation will be seen as having been adopted for an anti-religious purpose.
It isn’t really fair of poster #1 to criticize “Liberals” since non-Jewish liberal tend to be very supportive of Orthodox Jews (e.g. Thurgood Marshall’s dissents supporting Shabbos observers employment rights). It’s only secular Jews who are a problem, though its a big problem since they are rich and powerful, and hate us the same way the Nazis hated Jews.
So is this anti religious or not. The claim is that it will take an average of 83 seconds more for the elevator. Here is why that claim is bogus. If half the people are shomer shabbos then only half the elevators would be needed to serve the other members of the building. Half of 2 is 1.And by the way nothing stops the other half from also using the shabbos elevator. So these people by virtue of the shomer shabbos half would actually have to wait less
Poster #2 – Do not trivialize Nazi hatred toward Jews.
Also: Liberals of all creeds are anti religious. While Jews are sadly over-represented, they still form a minority of these groups. The Thurgood Marshall example merely proves that once upon a time there was some redeeming value to liberalism. Nowadays it is Conservatives and Libertarians that are more protective of “individual” rights while liberals concentrate on “group” rights.