Map of Kiryas Joel village

Kiryas Joel (Yiddish: קרית יואל, romanized: Kiryas Yoyel, Yiddish pronunciation: [ˈkɪr.jəs ˈjɔɪ.əl]; often locally abbreviated as KJ) is a village coterminous with the Town of Palm Tree in Orange County, New York, United States. The village shares one government with the Town. The vast majority of its residents are Yiddish-speaking Hasidic Jews who belong to the worldwide Satmar sect of Hasidism.

Kiryas Joel is part of the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown New York Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the larger New York Combined Statistical Area.

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 13.2 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 large families, and this has driven rapid population growth.

According to 2008 census figures, the village has the highest poverty rate in the nation. More than two-thirds of the residents live below the federal poverty line, and 40% receive food stamps. 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.

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Kiryas Joel location map. Where is Kiryas Joel village?

History

Kiryas Joel is named for the late Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, the 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 Romania, rebuilt the Satmar Hasidic dynasty after World War II.

In 1947, Teitelbaum settled with his followers in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. By the 1970s, he decided to move the growing community to Monroe, New York, a location more secluded from what he considered the harmful influences and immorality of the outside world, yet close to the 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. When he died in 1979, Teitelbaum was the first person to be buried in the town’s cemetery. His funeral reportedly brought over 100,000 mourners to Kiryas Joel.

It is widely believed that no candidates run for the village’s board or the school board unless approved by the grand rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum. 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.

As of 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, Gov. 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. In Yiddish, teitel (טייטל) means “date palm” and baum means “tree”.

Kiryas Joel Road Map

Kiryas Joel city Satellite Map

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km), 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.

See also