Rockland County was inhabited by the Munsee band of LenapeNative Americans, who were speakers of the Algonquian languages. Monsey Glen, an Indian encampment, is located west of the intersection of State Route 59 and State Route 306. Numerous artifacts have been found there and some rock shelters are still visible. The Monsey railroad station, which received its name from an alternate spelling of the Munsee Lenape, was built when the New York & Erie Railroad passed through the glen in 1841. In the 1950s, Monsey was a one stoplight town with a single yeshiva. By 1997, Monsey had 112 synagogues and 45 yeshivas. Located in Monsey is the Houser-Conklin House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. On December 28, 2019 it was the site of a mass stabbing in the home of a Hasidic rabbi who was hosting a Hanukkah party, leaving five injured.
Geography
Monsey is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.2 square miles, of which, 2.2 square miles of it is land and 0.04 square miles of it is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2017, there were 22,043 people, 3,984 households, and 2,596 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 6,554.3 per square mile. There were 4,244 housing units at an average density of 1,400.0/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.8% White, 3.0% African American, 0.03% Native American, 1.05% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.70% from other races, and 1.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.86% of the population. 43.98% speak Englishat home, 41.48% Yiddish, 6.88% Hebrew, 2.69% French or a French creole, 1.85% Spanish, and 1.24% Russian. There were 2,981 households out of which 58.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 78.0% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.9% were non-families. 10.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.74 and the average family size was 5.16. In the CDP, the population was spread out with 48.6% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 18.2% from 25 to 44, 16.3% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 19 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.6 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $45,194, and the median income for a family was $45,911. Males had a median income of $41,606 versus $33,576 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $14,000. About 25.4% of families and 30.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.8% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.
Jewish Community
Monsey is a major center of Orthodox Judaism in the United States, along with the neighboring towns of Kiryas Joel, Kaser, Spring Valley, New Square, and Airmont. It is the largest center of Hasidic Judaism in the United States outside of New York City, with approximately 5,400 households. The migration to Monsey began in the late 1940s when New York City’s Orthodox Jews were seeking affordable real estate for their quickly growing communities. These spaces offered the possibility of moving en masse and establishing enclaves where they could lead lives based on halakha without coming into regular conflict with their non-Orthodox neighbors. This represented a major, distinct suburban demographic shift for these communities. Major hasidic sects represented in Monsey include Satmar, Vizhnitz Monsey, and Belz, with tsadikim residents of the Berditchev, Lizensk, Lizensk, Nikolsburg, Sambor Yerushalayim-Monsey, Sassov, Shinave, Spinka Monsey, Stanislov, and Vizhnitz Monsey sects. On December 28, 2019, Monsey was the site of a mass stabbing in the home of a hasidic rebbe of the Koson sect who was hosting a Hanukkah party, leaving five injured. Orthodox Jewish residents of Monsey, and Rockland County more broadly, have been the subject of protests and discrimination from their non-Jewish neighbors, being blamed for overdevelopment, the systematic draining of public school budgets, zoning that is perceived as too dense for the suburban/rural character of the communities, anti-vaccination, and refusal to adhere to social distancing requirements.
