http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/nyregion...yregionspecial2

This article annoys me. One, there's a bit of the "unnamed mafia" thing going on. I know it definitely happened in the 5T because I know people it happened to, but I do take it with a grain of salt because 1 story gets blown up and suddenly everyone's been threatened.

Two, you're surprised that a store with a lot of kosher wine would close on Shabbat? Who knew?

Three, the last paragraph makes no sense. Why would anyone care if a non-Jew opens on Saturday? Yes, Orthodox Jews often prefer to shop at Shomer Shabbat stores, but that means Shomer Shabbat Jews!

Four, Great Neck is NOT going black hat--its Orthodox Jews are MO and Sephardi/Mizrachi (especially Persian), and the Conservative and Reform shuls are (AFAIK) still thriving. Things have not tipped the way they have in the 5T and I don't think they will, because there are still non-Orthodox and non-Jews who want to move to Great Neck for the commute and the schools. They won't give up that easily. The 5T is relatively cut off.

Five, nonsensical quote: "“It annoys me to no end that stores are closed on Saturdays,” said Ms. Allen, who has lived here all her life. “It affects the ability of nonobservers to live their normal life. Everyone is entitled to practice their religion as they choose, but please don’t push it on me.”" If they're Orthodox they won't work on Saturday--sorry that inconveniences you but they aren't "pushing" anything on you.

Typical of that Nazi rag.

Wow, that was one of the more offensive articles I've read in the New York Times.
I wonder if the writer is Jewish? She didn't seem to be very knowledgeable about halacha or Orthodoxy in general. What a negative spin on Great Neck and the diversity of the town there.

Wow.

If they are owned by Jewish observant owners, they will be closed on shabbat. If they are owned by non-jews, there is no reason to close. I ffind it hard to believe that a bunch of chassidic (if there are chassidic rabbis in Great Neck) would try to force closings of stores on shabbat, even if some of those owners were Jewish.

The real story:

Lots of frum Jews are moving into Great Neck. They are opening businesses and keep those businesses closed on shabbos. Goyim are annoyed.

When was the last time NYT covered the really annoying Sunday enforced closure of stores in NJ ...

What part(s) of NJ are you referring to? The places near me are open on Sundays.

The blue laws. Ugh. It's why I never go to the Garden State Mall.

Oh...I never go there anyway as it's not worth dealing with the traffic on Route 17. Short Hills mall is open Sundays though and is a much nicer mall, IMHO (and I'm in fact heading there very soon).

Bergen County, and specifically Paramus (which has a super restrictive set of its own). One of the funny issues with the blue laws (which the NYT has covered in the past) is that voters, including the many Jews (frum and not frum) who live in Bergen have repeatedly voted for them to stay. Paramus residents say it's the only day of the week they get a break from traffic.

The only chassidim in Great Neck are the Chabad rabbi and his wife, as far as I know. Really, I double checked the shuls in Great Neck. There are several Sephardi/Mizrachi, the Great Neck Synagogue (modern), the Young Israel, and Chabad.

Bri, it's often other Jews that are annoyed, not just goyim, and there's a little bit of animosity that's justified because of what happened in the Five Towns, where both sides have behaved badly over the years. As I said, I don't think this will happen in Great Neck. It's a community that's too much in demand. The Five Towns never had that kind of demand as they're slightly out of the way and didn't have an ongoing influx of non-Jews.