Hasidic Families Are Building a Brand-New Town in Upstate New York — What They Build

Eight hundred thirty-four people, half of them children, got a piece of Sullivan County land, and the first thing they built wasn't a house. I trace how Ateres went from petition to referendum, where residents voted two hundred twenty-six to two after a court forced the vote forward. I look at how Governor Hochul's new fifteen hundred person threshold almost disqualified the village, and how Kaser and Palm Tree show where a charter like this can lead. By the end I tell you why a government, not lumber, is what actually goes up first.