Kiryas Joel, New York

Kiryas Joel (, ; often locally abbreviated as KJ) is a village coterminous with the Town of Palm Tree in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 32,954 at the 2020 census, approximately 5% of the estimated 712,000 population of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area. The vast majority of its residents are Yiddish-speaking Hasidic Jews who belong to the worldwide Satmar sect of Hasidism.

According to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, Kiryas Joel has by far the youngest median age population of any municipality in the United States, and the youngest, at 11.4 years old, of any population center of over 5,000 residents in the United States. Residents of Kiryas Joel, like those of other Haredi and Orthodox Jewish communities, typically have high birth rates, and this has driven rapid population growth. According to 2020 census figures, the village has a high poverty rate with about 40% of the residents living below the federal poverty line. It is also the place in the United States with the highest percentage of people who reported Hungarian ancestry, as 18.9% of the population reported Hungarian descent in 2000.

History

Kiryas Joel is named for Joel Teitelbaum, the late rebbe of Satmar and driving spirit behind the project.

The Satmar Hasidim came from Satu Mare, Romania, known when under Hungarian rule as Szatmár. Teitelbaum, originally from Austria-Hungary, rebuilt the Satmar Hasidic dynasty after World War II.

In 1947, Teitelbaum settled with his followers in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, a borough of New York City.

By the 1970s, he decided to move the growing community to the Town of Monroe, a suburban location in Upstate New York that was more secluded from what he considered the harmful influences and immorality of the outside world, yet still close enough to the New York metropolitan area's commercial center. The land for Kiryas Joel was purchased in the early 1970s, and 14 Satmar families settled there in the summer of 1974. Monroe town officials initially expressed skepticism over Teitelbaum's and his followers' plans to build multi-family housing in Kiryas Joel, but they eventually allowed the village to incorporate in 1976.

In 2001, Kiryas Joel held a competitive election in which all candidates supported by the grand rebbe were re-elected by a 55–45% margin.

In 2019, the village of Kiryas Joel separated from the town of Monroe, to become part of the town of Palm Tree, New York's first new town in 38 years. On July 1, 2018, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill to create Palm Tree, triggering elections for the first governing board. The new town had 10 elected positions on the November 2018 ballot, including a supervisor, four council members, and two justices to preside over a town court.

The name "Palm Tree" is a calque (translation) of the surname/family name of Joel Teitelbaum.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km2), and only a very small portion of the area (a small duck pond called "Forest Road Lake" in the center of the village) is covered with water.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Kiryas Joel village, New York – Racial composition

!Race (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!2010

!2000

!1990

!1980

|White alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |96.5% (31,356)

|98.1% (19,794)

|98.3% (12,921)

|98.1% (7,295)

|100% (2,087)

|Black alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.2% (57)

|0.1% (18)

|0.2% (26)

|0% (2)

|0% (0)

|American Indian alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.1% (17)

|0% (1)

|0% (0)

|0.1% (10)

|<td rowspan="4"> |0% (0)

|Asian alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0% (13)

|0.1% (12)

|0% (3)

|<td rowspan="2"> |0.1% (5)

|Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0% (12)

|0% (2)

|0% (0)

|Other race alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0% (0)

|0% (2)

|0% (0)

|0% (1)

|Multiracial (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2% (672)

|0.4% (76)

|0.5% (66)

|—

|Hispanic/Latino (any race)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.4% (465)

|1.3% (270)

|0.9% (122)

|1.7% (124)

|0% (1)

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Kiryas Joel had a population of 32,954. The median age was 14.4 years. 58.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 2.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 107.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 110.2 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 5,837 households in Kiryas Joel, of which 77.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 91.6% were married-couple households, 3.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 4.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 4.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. !! Percent

| Spoke Yiddish at home || 91.5%

| Spoke only English at home || 6.3%

| Spoke Hebrew at home || 2.3%

| Spoke English "not well", or "not at all" || 46.0%

2000 census

Kiryas Joel began with a 1977 founding population of 500 people.

As of the 2000 census, there were 2,229 households, and 2,137 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 2,233 housing units, at an average density of . The racial make-up of the village was 99.02% White, 0.21% African American, 0.02% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.93% of the population.

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 90%;"

! Largest ancestries (2000) !! Percent

| Hungarian || 18.9%

| American || 8.0%

| Israeli || 3.0%

| Romanian || 2.0%

| Polish || 1.0%

| Czech || 0.3%

| Russian || 0.3%

| German || 0.2%

Kiryas Joel has the highest percentage of people who reported Hungarian ancestry in the United States, as 18.9% of the population reported Hungarian ancestry in 2000. 3% of the residents of Kiryas Joel were Israeli, 2% Romanian, 1% Polish, and 1% European.

The 2000 census also reported that 6.3% of village residents spoke only English at home, one of the lowest such percentages in the United States. 91.5% of residents spoke Yiddish at home, while 2.3% spoke Hebrew. asks visitors to dress conservatively and to "maintain gender separation in all public areas".

According to 2020 census figures, the village has a high poverty rate with about 40% of the residents living below the federal poverty line.

Transportation

Kiryas Joel has a very high rate of public transportation usage compared to other cities in the region. Local transit within the area is operated by the Village of Kiryas Joel Bus System, and also has service to Manhattan and to the heavily Haredi Jewish-populated Williamsburg and Borough Park sections of Brooklyn.

Effects

thumb|The main [[synagogue in Kiryas Joel]]

Of growth

Friction with surrounding jurisdictions

The village has become a contentious issue in Orange County for several reasons, mainly related to its rapid growth. Unlike most other small communities, it lacks a real downtown and much of it is given over to residential property, which has mostly taken the form of contemporary townhouse-style condominiums. New construction is ongoing throughout the community.

Population growth in Kiryas Joel is strong. In 2005, the population had risen to 18,300.