The city of Long Island, dubbed the “New Hamptons,” is accused of religious discrimination as it has been sued by the Jewish sect who claim they are not allowed to buy real estate in the area

A Long Island town dubbed the “New Hamptons” has been sued for anti-Semitism by a Jewish sect that claims officials have blocked real estate purchases.

Located just 22 miles from Manhattan in Nassau County, Atlantic Beach has become an up-and-coming destination for young professionals looking for beachside accommodations.

But the city is now making headlines for all the wrong reasons after a report revealed that the Chabad of the Beaches sued officials for religious discrimination a year ago.

The lawsuit alleges that in December 2021, officials decided “suddenly and without explanation” that they needed a vacant property after it was bought by the Chabad for nearly $1 million.

Lawyers for the cult claim the city did so only after discovering that the property had been purchased by a Hasidic organization, allegedly in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protections for religious groups.

The village – officially Atlantic Beach – is located near Long Beach in the southernmost part of Nassau County, just 22 miles from New York City, and has a notable Jewish population.

With a total of just 1,800 residents, the enclave has also become a sought-after location for young professionals – and is clearly closer than the posh community for which it is nicknamed

Lawyers representing the group told DailyMail.com on Monday that a settlement was in the works — echoing an earlier statement from the city’s mayor, George Pappas, who claimed the race allegations were just a tactic to gain ownership to obtain.

The mayor and village officials have been contacted for comment.

The lawsuit alleges that city officials decided they needed the then-vacant property a month after it was purchased by Chabad.

At the time, the village – which has a town hall a few blocks from the site – built its own community center and park.

The lawsuit, filed last summer, has since slowly worked its way through the federal court system — while the property at 2025 Park Street remains owned by the Chabad, after their lawsuit issued an edict from the city to close the site. takeover suspended.

The site has served as a haven of sorts for the city’s Jewish community, offering religious services, education, and even menorah lighting ceremonies during each Hannukah that have quickly become a tradition.

In the filing — which alleges the still-stalled takeover smacks of religious discrimination — lawyers for Chabad of the Beaches point out that the only other Jewish place of worship in the village is a synagogue — the Atlantic Beach Jewish Center.

Meanwhile, the city’s more-than-modest number of Modern Orthodox congregants continues to grow, putting even more pressure on city officials now that the case is in the news.

Atlantic Beach Mayor Pappas, who presides over the community along with four other city officials, told the New York Post on Sunday that a settlement has yet to be reached. However, he said, “We’re working on a design.”

Jeremy Dys of First Liberty Institute, the nonprofit religious freedom organization representing the Long Island sect, also told DailyMail.com, “There is an agreement in principle.

“We’re trying to iron out the final details.”

The lawsuit, filed in June of last year, explains the more than year-long legal battle stemming from the cult’s then-purchase of the property for $950,000 in November 2021.

Chabad of the Beaches — led by Rabbi Eli Goodman — claims that in December 2021, city officials decided “suddenly and without explanation” that they needed the then-vacant property bought by the religious sect a month later to build their own community center and park. build

The lawsuit, filed last summer, has since slowly worked its way through New York’s Eastern District Court, while the property at 2025 Park Street still technically belongs to the Chabad

Atlantic Beach Mayor Pappas — who presides over the community along with four other city officials — said Sunday a settlement has not yet been reached, but added, “We are working on a draft.” He claims that the racial discrimination allegations are a sham and just a tactic to get the property

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Texas religious freedom attorney Jeremy Dyss said a settlement was already in the works — after a New York Post Sunday report led to the case, filed more than a year ago, made headlines.

Previously, the storefront served as a Capital One bank, but it sat empty for two years before Chabad picked it up — something lawyers representing the group cite in the 31-page filing.

“In November 2021, Chabad Lubavitch purchased from the Beaches — an organization affiliated with the Hasidic Jewish movement Chabad Lubavitch — 2025 Park Street in Atlantic Beach, New York, to open a center for conducting Jewish worship services,” it reads. .

“At the time of the purchase of Chabad of the Beaches, 2025 Park Street, which is less than a block from Atlantic Beach City Hall, had been vacant for several years and had been up for rent or sale for nearly two years.

“During the entire period that Park Street was on the market in 2025, Atlantic Beach officials never offered to purchase the property,” it continues, before airing the racial discrimination allegations.

Less than a month after purchasing Chabad of the Beaches — and less than two weeks after Chabad of the Beaches held an outdoor menorah lighting at 2025 Park Street to celebrate Hannukah — Atlantic Beach officials suddenly, and without explanation, decided not to only that she needed the property to build a community center.”

Lawyers further asserted that “this need was so urgent that Atlantic Beach had to seize 2025 Park Street and adjacent property through eminent domain”—a government’s right to expropriate private property for public use with proper compensation.

It further alleges that other members of the community separate from the cult have since questioned the city’s plans, given that the aforementioned city hall a few blocks away already serves as the community center.

It adds that some residents questioned the true motives of “officials”, noting that the only thing that had changed between when officials showed no interest in Park Street in 2025 and when they decided they would were to confiscate, the purchase of the property was by a Hasidic Jewish organization. .

A day after the federal lawsuit was filed, U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert issued a restraining order to stop the Village’s preeminent domain injunction, allowing it to stay with Chabad for now.

in September, she issued a preliminary injunction to further bash that injunction, on the basis that the decision of the “defendants” to acquire the property by eminent domain will burden Chabad’s religious practice by extending its outreach mission to limiting the Jewish community.’

Mayor Pappas, meanwhile, claims the city’s maneuver had nothing to do with the organization’s religious affiliation.

Speaking to The Post, he said: “It has nothing to do with (religious discrimination). It was a tactic to get the property. We have a good relationship with the Atlantic Beach Jewish Center.”

The trial is still pending on Monday. Atlantic Beach village officials did not immediately respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment.