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NY Village and Town to Pay Jewish Developer for Housing Discrimination

The upstate New York Village of Bloomingburg and Town of Mamakating agreed to a settlement with Jewish developer Shalom and his Sullivan Farms II company instead of fighting out a lawsuit he had filed against them in September 2014 for housing discrimination.

The lawsuit accused Bloomingburg and Mamakating of violating federal civil rights and fair housing laws by trying to stop the development of 396 townhouses that were being marketed to chassidim. 

In April 2015, Mamakating and Bloomingburg filed a federal lawsuit against Lamm accusing him of fraud, bribery, racketeering, voter fraud and corruption of public officials. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

Under the settlement, Lamm’s company will receive $1.595 million from Mamakating and $1.305 million from Bloomingburg, to be paid by their insurers. 

The settlement “should remind the public that bigotry has no place in America,” Lamm's attorney, Steven Engel, said. “It is our hope that this ugly time is now behind us, and that all the residents of this beautiful region can live together in peace and mutual understanding.” 

Bloomingburg, which has 400 residents, and Mamakating with 12,000 residents, is located in Sullivan County, in the Catskill Mountains area, about 75 miles north of Manhattan.

The settlement comes shortly after the Sullivan County Board 

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