South Nyack Board To Receive Update On Nyack College

SOUTH NYACK, NY — The big item on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting of the South Nyack Board of Trustees is the former Nyack College property, over which village officials have filed a lawsuit against the new owners, Yeshiva Viztnitz Dkhal Torath Chaim, Inc.

An update from the village's special counsel is the first order of business.

In July 2020, the village hired William Harrington, Esq. of Bleakley Platt & Schmidt LLP as Special Counsel for the purpose of providing advice and counsel with regard to matters related to the Nyack College parcels. Mayor Bonnie Christian reminded residents at the time that while the village could not interfere with the sale of the Nyack College property, it had the responsibility of making sure that the buyer complied with all land use laws.

The sale of the college's 107-acre property in South Nyack (plus the Alliance Seminary property in Upper Nyack plus land in Orangetown) to the Ramapo-based congregation was final at the end of 2020.

At the time, Yeshiva Vitnitz officials said their initial plans included operating a school for up to 250 boys. Future plans could include a college for another 250 students, plus housing.

The campus is composed of many small parcels, all zoned residential, on which there are classroom buildings, faculty and dorm residences, sports complexes, etc. in various stages of disrepair. Nyack College had announced in 2018 that it would consolidate operations at its Manhattan campus and ceased operations in Rockland County at the end of 2019.

Village officials sued at the end of February.

According to the lawsuit, the congregation promised to adhere to local and state regulations covering schools, including state permits, fire safety and building codes.

Village officials allege it has been using the buildings (many of which are in disrepair) without certificates of occupancy (or the inspections necessary to get them), plus making extensive changes without permits. The complaint also alleges the congregation is operating as a school without registering with the New York State Education Department, as required under state law.

Yeshiva Vitnitz's attorney Joseph Churgin told The Journal News he would defend the congregation's rights, pointing out that the site has been a religious college for a century. He has been involved in many land-use fights pitting Rockland municipalities against local Orthodox Jewish institutions.

The yeshiva's purchase of the property and the possibility of land-use fights such as this was the impetus for a decision by South Nyack residents in December to dissolve the village and let the Orangetown town government manage all local affairs. Village officials expect to have a draft dissolution plan in April and hold a public information meeting about it in May.

Yeshiva Viztnitz Dkhal Torath Chaim, Inc. has also bought the old Briarcliff College property, used as a satellite campus by Pace University for many years before it was sold to a China-based company that was snapping up real estate in the Hudson Valley. SEE: Yeshiva, Nyack College Owners Buy Former Pace Briarcliff Campus