Fearing Wal-Mart Will Bring Too Much of the Outside In

MONSEY, N.Y. — It seems whenever Wal-Mart proposes a new store, controversy sprouts. Across the country, environmentalists, unions, civic associations and churches have objected to the retailer's plans to drop anchor in their communities, citing concerns about traffic and crime, merchandise and employment policies and the overall quality of life.

Wal-Mart wants a spot on Route 59 that was once home to a drive-in.

But the protest of a planned 215,000-square- foot store here has a decidedly religious overtone.

When residents talk about traffic, they are fearful for the safety of families walking to synagogue on Saturdays. When they fret about merchandise, they wonder if frowned-upon items like bikinis and lingerie will be on display for everyone to see. And when they imagine the outsiders who would shop at the store, they worry that their presence could transform the town's pious, sheltered atmosphere.

"The reason a lot of us came to live in Monsey is because we wanted to raise our families in a safe place, away from the influences of the outside world," said Yossi Weinberger, 30, a father of four who works at a local travel agency. "I'm not sure it will be easy to do it if we have such a gigantic piece of the outside world move to our town."

Philip H. Serghini, a public affairs manager for Wal-Mart, has visited the community of 28,000, most of them Hasidic Jews, at least six times since October. He has met in private with about two dozen rabbis to explain the company's proposal to turn a shuttered drive-in theater on Route 59 into a retail magnet for miles around.

But two years after Wal-Mart unveiled its plan, opposition persists, as the Community Design Review Committee, an advisory group to the Planning Board in Ramapo, of which Monsey is a part, reviews the project's environmental impact statement.

In early 2006, an elderly volunteer dropped off anti-Wal-Mart petitions in several Jewish-owned businesses, gathering 1,000 signatures in four days. Around the same time, religious school administrators distributed fliers to students and their parents under the headline "Be Aware."

The Rockland Bulletin, a local Jewish weekly newspaper, ran a full-page ad this spring warning: "An influx of undesirable influences will pollute the spiritual environment. " And this month, "Community Connections, " a weekly newsletter with 1,300 subscribers, published a call for action of sorts: "Today, it is harder than ever to protect our children from influences that are at odds with the values and morals we try to instill in them," the article says. "It would be naïve to assume that a Wal-Mart Supercenter can open in our midst and not destroy some of which has so painstakingly been built."

Joseph Kizelnik, who as the owner of a discount store near the proposed Wal-Mart site has a financial interest along with any spiritual concerns, is one of the more vocal opponents. "I say public opinion always helps," he said, "and if we get together as a group, as a community, we can win this battle."

Elsewhere, Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, has often acquiesced to public pressure and made adjustments. It has hired local architects to meld stores into particular landscapes, painting a store in desert sandstone in Arizona and building an outlet in Long Beach, Calif., with an Art Deco look. In Middlefield, Ohio, home to one of the nation's largest Amish communities, Wal-Mart placed hitching posts for horse-drawn buggies in a store's parking lot and stocked shelves with barley soup and non-electric refrigerators.

Here, Wal-Mart has already agreed to conceal magazine covers that may be deemed offensive, such as the ones picturing celebrities in provocative outfits, "something that's new for us," Mr. Serghini said.

"The rabbis have a lot of concerns, and some of them are similar to those we've heard from other communities, but there are very specific elements to this experience," Mr. Serghini said. "Definitely, this is the most unique place I've ever been to."

The thousands of Hasidic Jews who have settled in Monsey, an unincorporated hamlet in Rockland County, since at least the early 1970s are guided by centuries-old religious traditions, which have remained unchanged even in the face of unprecedented growth inside and outside town borders. The streets here are lined with sidewalks, as many of the women do not drive — an activity deemed immodest in stricter Jewish sects. Many boys and girls are educated separately, in private, Yiddish-language religious schools. A sign at the entrance of a kosher supermarket reminds visitors to refrain from wearing revealing clothes.

The community, is considered a powerful voting bloc, so in a local election year, officials have been careful not to alienate its members. Christopher St. Lawrence, who is running for re-election as town supervisor in Ramapo, has been cautious in his public comments.

The Rockland County site is close to the New York State Thruway.

"It's not appropriate for me to issue an opinion because I don't want to influence the Planning Board," Mr. St. Lawrence said in an interview. "My concern is traffic, and for a regional store like the one being proposed, we need a regional solution, and that's not something you could solve with a few stoplights."

The proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter would occupy a 22-acre site on Route 59, about three miles from access ramps to the New York State Thruway. Route 59, a two-lane state highway lined with strip malls, is often clogged during rush hours and is especially busy on Fridays as families hurry to finish errands before the Sabbath starts. On Saturdays, roads everywhere are choked with pedestrians, including many mothers pushing babies in strollers.

The arrival of large crowds of people who aren't aware of community mores worries Shlomo Zalman, 31, a computer consultant. "That kind of issue is somewhat unavoidable because any supermarket that opens up, be it Wal-Mart, Stop & Shop or Shop-Rite, will present the same types of challenges," he said. He added, "I don't know if I would shop there."

An analysis by Brian Ketcham, a transportation engineer hired by the Neighborhood Retail Alliance, a small-business advocacy group in Manhattan that has helped organize Monsey's anti-Wal-Mart movement, said the store would add about 16,000 vehicles to Route 59 on weekdays, resulting in a 30 percent increase in congestion.

Jerrold Bermingham, managing director of National Realty and Development, the project's developer, said any increase in traffic on Route 59 could be mitigated by the construction of turning lanes, widening of the road and installation of a traffic light at the top of the driveway leading into the store.

The store would be open 24 hours, seven days a week, and include a supermarket, a service station and parking for nearly 1,000 cars. If constructed, it would replace a Wal-Mart in Airmont, a village two miles to the east. Company officials estimate it would add 170 jobs.

Mr. Serghini, of Wal-Mart, said he had asked the rabbis to prepare a list of concerns, which he has yet to receive, in an effort to "comport to the local mores." Wal-Mart is also considering creating a way for rabbis to provide feedback to the store on a regular basis, he said.

"There's no question our outreach has been greater than usual," Mr. Serghini said. "But we believe that in any community, as long as you're respectful and you're honest, you can go a long way."

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Correction: June 27, 2007 by the NY Times

An article on Monday about opposition to a planned Wal-Mart in the predominantly Hasidic community of Monsey, N.Y., referred incorrectly to the village of Airmont, where another Wal-Mart is located. Airmont is two miles west — not east — of the proposed site in Monsey.