Another Day, Another Dispute

Interesting article in NY Mag about a Lubavitch Rabbi, Rabbi Rafe Konikov, and his attempts to start a shul in the blue-blood bastion of Southampton. I feel like every week there's another shul or yeshiva in the news, over trying to build amid outcry from their non-Jewish or non-Orthodox neighbors. I can see the neighbors' arguments, but the story clearly describes the street that the Rabbi is building on as a busy one. One neighbor, who has voiced some of the most vocal opposition, lives much closer to a gas station than to the proposed "Shteeble". Most absurd complaint by the neighbors about the shul (among a litany of them):

One lawyer for the plaintiffs mentions “restaurant service” that took place at the Chabad in April.

“A seder?!” Chani Konikov yelps, incensed.

Another is the neighbors' complaint that the shul has been disturbing the peace by using a PA system for prayers - on Shabbos. Obviously, there is plenty of misunderstanding to go around here. We'll see how this resolves.