Readers’ Scoop: Lakewood Is Becoming The Next Brooklyn

Readers-Scoop-Logo smallEveryone on this website seems to be complaining about one thing or another. It seems that some of the complaints I agree with like taxes, the wasting of our money etc. And some are not my speed like the school issue or tznius which I don’t feel I have an opinion to add. I am not so regular on here, since I don’t have Internet. I was born here 32 years ago. I remember not having a pizza shop or any restaurants. I remember knowing every person in town from the most yeshivish kids to totally frei public school Jewish boys. I understand why we have had such explosion of growth. I think it is wonderful. The only problem is that Lakewood gave up its whole character and beauty for this.

This town turned into Brooklyn overnight. If I wanted to live in Brooklyn I would have moved there. I like to visit it but I don’t like living in it. I believe it took Brooklyn a hundred years to become what it is. How can Lakewood handle all the crowded streets, the busing, so many toys littering the streets. And the people that come from Brooklyn act like this is their country. I won’t get into the differences in standards of dress or driving behavior.

I have been discussing this with many yungeleit. We are amazed that our town which was built on Reb Aaron’s belief, that once Assured seats in pizza shops only a few years ago, is not only allowing, but endorsing plans to grow more, and put in more pizza shops and more fancy clothes stores.

This is not meant as a kvetch against brooklyn people, I’m just not used to that way of life.

I would suggest to build in a nearby town and start some new schools, ours are all full anyway. It could be beautiful. I have small children that I want to have the same nice experience I had growing up in a small frum town. Without all the crowded way of life we see here now. But i know it’s unrealistic.

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55 COMMENTS

  1. I have a solution… Why don’t you move to a new town and start up there?
    Fact is the money used to build this
    town basically came from Brooklyn amongst many others. Deal with it.

  2. Dear writer; the solution is to keep up the pressure on them, let’s not cave and accept any Tom Dick and Harry in to OUR mosdos let’s continue to keep our high standards of tznius and kedusha. Hopfully they will realize that they have two choices either live up to Lakewood standards and be welcomed or don’t and they and their children will be rejected!

  3. i would suggest that everyone should move to Eretz Yisroel. and before saying how nice Lakewood was and how great the explosion was i suggest you read the Meshech Chochma on Parshas Bechukoisy.

  4. So maybe you should move!! I lived in Lakewood all 27 years of my life. (Ok 5 years in Israel) Who do you think you are to tell people that they can or cant sit in a pizza shop or sell clothes that YOU don’t think are Tznais. This is America my friend we don’t force people to do things, there are other countries in the world that do things like that I would suggest look to live there, I heard housing is cheap in Iran. What I do agree with you on is the over growth in this town, the streets are not equipped to handle all the traffic, and the builders have everyone in government wrapped around their fingers and just keep on building. One other problem is all the basement apartments, which just add so much growth in small neighborhoods.

  5. The Twin Rivers yeshiva which is relocating to Monroe, NJ which is about a half hour from lakewood is looking to establish a frum community!

  6. i moved here from BKLYN 10 years ago, i am truly sorry for for not allowing your kinderlach grow up the way you did, please let me know where to go, i just cant afford BKLYN.

    EVERYONE THAT MOVE HERE WITHIN THE LAST 32 YEARS PLEASE LEAVE FOR LETTER WRITING TZADIK NOT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW REB AARON WANTED LKWD TO LOOK

    seriously speaking, reb letter writer, find something tachlis to hock about, this is just ridiculous.

  7. Tyrone, before anyone bashes you i would like to thank you for a great post. I do believe that might be the only solution. However I don’t think that we need less people in this town; we need less attitudes and more caring. Many people that moved to this town brought positive elements and as a native born citizen I appreciate it. But it would be nice if we could discourage people from moving here just because the housing is cheaper but think that they are making a sacrifice by giving up the house in Brooklyn and that they are doing us all a favor by bringing some urbanism to us.

  8. # 4 is 100% right.The tznius situation in this town is way out of control. All of the sudden it became THE STYLE among these people to were skirts that go to just above the knee. People move here from Brooklyn and think they are still living there. Most of them have no clue were BMG is. The last and only hope is for the Mosdos to be serious about who the are taking in AND keeping the standard high wile the children are in the school.
    Forget the pizza shops. My friends TZNIUS!!!
    ITS TIME TO TAKE OUR TOWN BACK!!

  9. you wrote “This town turned into Brooklyn overnight. If I wanted to live in Brooklyn I would have moved there.” It was not overnight and it IS NOT BROOKLYN!!!! There are no 14th streets or south lake drives or north lake drives or any of the lovely areas that we have here anywhere in brooklyn. not to mention farraday, drake road, etc. etc. The only areas that are A LITTLE like brooklyn are clifton ave, route 9, and sometimes central. But even clifton ave you can usually find parking in the municipal lots. I have circled blocks in brooklyn for more that 30 minutes to find a spot only to have to return within an hour to put more money in the meter.

  10. urbanism? 3 syllables? mr hoity toidy #10 showing off? get back to brooklyn with your fancy education and dictionaries. ay, back in the alte Lakevood, ve all vere very heppy mitout all this fanciness. still, with all the isms people here choose to pursue, urbanism might be the least objectionable so bring it on brooklynites.

  11. Having recently moved to Lakewood I have lots to say-
    First I moved here because of the cheap housing
    I also moved here on account of the great food establishments
    Anyone concerned with how this town is turning out can move elsewhere-
    if you want to know who was here first , it was nice people who wouldnt judge another by the clothes they were wearing or what type of leased car ones shver can afford for them

  12. Actually, even before R’ Aron came to Lakewood in the 1940’s Lakewood had a thriving Jewish kehilah with a mikvah, shuls, yeshiva/day school (OBM), kosher butcher stores, bakeries, etc. So in reality, the blue-shirted baalei batim came first, then came the Yeshivaleit. If baalei batim from NY now decide to move here, they’re simply following in the footsteps and continuing the baalebatish tradition of the baalei batim who’ve already lived in Lakewood for many, many decades.

    Just get your facts straight and know who was around here first…and then you no longer have what to complain about!

  13. I really think that the problems and quality of life issues you mention do have some validity. However, I humbly believe that it is the STRESS associated with living here that is really what has turned this town worse than Brooklyn. You can not get your child into Primary without a fight. You can’t get into High School. Shidduchim are tough. You can not drive anymore. You can not park anymore. Actually, Route 9 is a parking lot. It should not be that way though! It has become very high pressured. Stores are crowded. Lines are long….. THAT is what makes the difference.

  14. Two issues are being mixed here (1) Lakewood becoming more and more crowded (2)The lowering of standards in Frumkeit.As far as (1)is concerned I have little sympathy for those who complain, since (a)many live what was new construction themselves(b)anyone who moved to Lakewood in the past twenty five years did so knowing that Lakewood would be experiencing rapid growth.As far as (2) is concerned, as the Posek says:H’Poretz Geder Y’Niscanoy Nochesh….

  15. #11 Your town??? What makes it your town?? As I said before that I have lived here for 27 years does that make it mine?? Was it you that fought in the war of independence?? If so how old are you?? If you have a problem with the way people dress in this town because they don’t dress according to YOUR standards of Tznias, you have many options like I said in #7. My personal opinion is that all the fuss about TZNIUS, TZNIUS, TZNIUS is more of a case of people being board, people looking for problems. The Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed because of Sinas Chinam not because people didn’t dress Tznius. Lets all work on our Bain Odam Lachavaro and we should see Moshiach soon.

  16. What would Lakewood ever have become without the Yeshiva? The Yeshivaleit started building what this town has become and the Brooklyneits liked the new, cheaper suburbia and they followed suit. If the Yeshiva hadn’t already set the foundations, I don’t know if Lakewood would have grown like it did. So, I do think that the Yeshiva is the core of lakewood and the newcomers should respect that and respect our sensitivites as to issues of tsnius, and starting all those eating establishments, that Rav Nosson Wachtfogel ZT”L assured. I miss the old Lakewood that I moved to when I got married. I miss the Torah values that our children grew up on. I think the schools that have been established by the Lakewood community SHOULD take tsnius and other hashkofo issues into account when accepting children into our schools. Maybe if people wouldn’t find it so easy to live here on account of our strict standards, they would stop flocking here in droves and move to more modern neighborhoods elsewhere. Why do we original Lakewooders have to give in to the newcomers?

  17. The Yeshiva was definite draw which is how this all got started but the Yeshiva was around for many years before the town was established at all so it must have to do with some other factors such as affordable housing etc.

  18. Manning:
    Yes. Anyone who is here for the yeshiva and the ruchnius of this town has a right to call it their own. Those who come here for housing etc.should go back to were they came from. Because they are the ones who cause problems and the ones with the problems. They are the ones who the whole town has to bend backward when the dont get into school.
    As for the standard of tznius. That is set forth by our rabbonim. Did you ever take a look into Rabbi Forscheimers book on tznius?

  19. Is Rabbi Forscheimer THE ONLY Rabbi on this planet? Can you admit that there are machlokot regarding many things in his book? Is your way THE ONLY right way?

  20. BMG has been accepting a few hundered bochurim evey year (twice a year) for many years, most of them settling here after marriage, thus making this a large town. It’s inevitable that certain establishments opened, more good schools opened, etc. making this town a very attractive community for someone looking for a frum environment with more affordable housing. Case closed.

  21. Dear Moderator please let this comment through.

    Lakewood is not Brooklyn, BUT many (not all) people who have moved here have brought in the undesirable elements of the brooklyn lifestye with them. How about a curfiew on resuraunt hours? How about an agressive and VERY VOCAL tznius patrol. (to the ladies faces not on the blogs) Make it uncomfertable for those that want the brooklyn lifestyle. The problem is the yeshiva elemenet is playing dead/and or allowing itself to be taken over. Don’t like talking in shul?? Do something about it. Demand the davening stop until the talking does. Let the guys who are in a hurry to get out of shul tell the talkers to be quiet, not yell at the eihliche battered majority.

  22. Why wouldn’t they move here? Here you can get a whole house and a yard, garage, scenery, etc. for a quarter of the price in Bklyn. And tuition here is also a joke! Ask ANYONE around the country and they laugh when they hear how little we pay in comparison. We should all consider ourselves lucky when it comes that.

  23. What Rabbi Forschheimer says about tsnius, I’m sure meets the approval of the Roshei Yeshiva, the dayanim of the bais din, Rabbi Falk etc. Those who do not care to adhere to that basic standard, should have stayed in Brooklyn. It is not as extreme as some Chasidic communities, but, it covers the basics. Even when I was a girl growing up in New York, I knew that my elbows, and full knees had to be covered and that my neckline had to be high enough. Why do you upstatrts claim to know better? What agenda do you have? Why should women bare their knees or hair and believe they are being tsniusdik? Who are they trying to attract? Are they trying to hold to a fashion ideal which is not the way of a modest Jewish woman? I know that goyishe men have a hard time keeping their eyes off some of the women here because of the way they dress. It is not an admirable trait. A woman is supposed to look nice for her husband and not flaunt her looks all over. A woman should teach proper tsnius to her daughters (and sons, so they’ll know what their wives should dress like). If a woman doesn’t set a proper role model to her child, do you think the girls will grow up proper and refined like a bas Yisroel should be?

  24. I can always count on one of the posters here to provide some absurd fodder that makes ME giggle! Thank you!

    Last time I checked, Lakewood was part of the good ole USA and THEREFORE the town belongs to all of its residents… Not just those with a bloated sense of entitlement. Personally I find the original posters’ laments to be quite funny – reminds me of a story about a pot and kettle. Oh and another one about being careful what you wish for…..

    G’day folks!

  25. One very big reason is that lakewood now has children of the people who were living in lakewood 20 – 30 years ago. a very large percent did not turn out like thier parants ( i will not elaborate )

    do you want the children who are like flatbush , lawrence, queens or even more modern to move away ?

    well maybe tell your fathers friends not to let their modern children back into lakewood.

    good luck

  26. Well said #31. Couldn’t have said it better.

    And by the way I chose Rabbi Forschiemer because he happens to be one of the biggest poskim in our town. But Even if you say he is a machmir, I was referring to the basic laws of tznius that every competent rov would acknowledge.
    Again I say:

  27. To # 34:
    It matters not to me what ANYONE chooses to worship or how to live. My comment had zero to do with that. Rather, I was making light of the fact that there are those who are under the impression that their beliefs, whatever they may be, grant them a bloated self importance and the last time I checked, in this country at least, all men were created equal. I find the hypocrisy in this thread, that someone who does NOT tow the ” party line” on certain matters, should be made to leave, is a bit over the top….kwim? Just saying…

  28. The reality is that there are Halachos of tzineus just like there are Halachos of Shabbos etc. which everyone must follow. And there is something called minhag hamakom (although exactly what it is would probably cause a really big fight…). So everyone agrees that the basics need to be covered. As such, anyone IN ANY TOWN has a right and a duty to be concerned about such things.

    With regard to people grumbeling about who lived in this town first, the reality is that it makes zero difference who came here first. It actually sounds really childish when people get into that kind of bickering…..I was here for 27 years and your father was only here for 17 and a half…..oh go away! This is not a shtetl (for better or worse) and people need to get used to that reality. To me, this whole thing of people coming here and not knowing were B.M.G is and how bad that is…how the city was something totally different years ago…..is not only a waste of time its actually a form of Gaava. Are you so much greater than other people because of that? Maybe learn to accomidate other people. Which city is made up strictly of Talmeedai chachaimim? People freak out when someone with a lower standard of Yidishkiet lives near them as if the world isnt made up of different people. When it says Viahavta lireyacha kamocha….it doesnt say provided that he wairs xyz or provided that he lives a life with the same amount of kidusha that you do, just love him. At least dont hate him.

    Do i make any sense????

  29. #23 said “Anyone who is here for the yeshiva and the ruchnius of this town has a right to call it their own.”

    Why because you said so?? Well let me tell you that I grew up in this town and I never went to B.M.G. Sorry but this town is mine just as much as it is yours. We live in the U.S.A. which is a democratic country (well at least for now) you cant decide to put your Chumrus onto everyone. As for Rabbi Forscheimers book on tznius, with all do respect he is not my Rov, any shylos that I do have I personally ask my Rov I don’t find answers in a book.

  30. #27 Why don’t you pick yourself up and move to Iran, from your comment it sounds like you will fit right in. I Daven to Hashem that your comment was a joke and you just want a reaction.

  31. I moved here 4 years ago from Brooklyn and I’m still getting over the cold reception Lakewood gave. While I do appreciate your concern of being invaded, there is a proper way to welcome Brooklynites. It’s not like we are a disease or something. Let try to remember we do belong to the same religion.

  32. does anybody wonder how this guy TYRONE who has very clear cut right wing leanings, has so much time and energy to read and comment on every story out there? Not to mention how he has the internet in the 1st place. Do you think the ROshei Yeshivos or Rav
    Ahron tz”l would approve? A little hypocritical, wouldn’t you say?

  33. This discussion is slightly ridiculous. Let’s back up a sec. The original article never specifies exactly what the problem is with Brooklynites, leaving us all to generalize and stereotype our fellow Jews in a way I can only describe as senselessly hateful.

    It seems that the author’s issue is a simple thing: He misses the small-town living of his youth. That’s sweet. That’s nostalgic. But that’s no one else’s problem but his. A sit-down pizza place does not a city make.

    “This town turned into Brooklyn overnight. If I wanted to live in Brooklyn I would have moved there. I like to visit it but I don’t like living in it. I believe it took Brooklyn a hundred years to become what it is. How can Lakewood handle all the crowded streets, the busing, so many toys littering the streets. And the people that come from Brooklyn act like this is their country. I won’t get into the differences in standards of dress or driving behavior.”

    The previous paragraph just ticked me off to no end. First of all, toys littering the street? Is this anyone else’s experience? I’ll admit I haven’t lived in Lakewood for five years now, but when I did, I didn’t feel the sanitation of the city was being fettered by the wanton disposing of blue rubber balls and Rubic’s cubes.

    Then, “the people who come from Brooklyn act like it’s their country?” IT IS, STUPID!!! It may not be their city or state of origin, but unless NY state is secretly lobbying to secede from Union, the last time I checked, Lakewood and NYC were in the same country.

    Then, he mentions their standards of dress, which in the first paragraph he specifically mentions as a non-issue: “And some are not my speed like the school issue or tznius which I don’t feel I have an opinion to add.”

    So what exactly is the problem here? Plain and simple: The author is afraid of change. This has nothing to do with yeshivish people or modern Orthodox people, or Brooklyn people, or Lakewood people. It’s called urbanization. (Also ghetto-ization, but that’s a different disscussion.)

    This isn’t a problem with Lakewood, it’s a problem with the author. Anyone can buy or rent a house in Lakewood. It’s your personal choice whether you are going to open your door to them, or shove a straight-backed chair under the doorknob.

  34. unfortunately for me, lakewood is not quite like brooklyn yet, since there is no school in town that will accept my child once she is of pre school age, since we have a tv and internet in the house.

  35. what about all the other races in lakewood how could you all claim a town without any reguard to all the other people of this town.Then you wonder why it’s so much hate.Stop and think about others and not just yourselves.

  36. THE PROBLEM IS HIM !WHAT A FOOL TO SUGGEST THAT ACHEINU BENEI YISROEL MOVE AWAY FOR HIS SELFISH REASONS ,DOES HE NOT REALIZE THAT KLAL YISROEL IS GROWING AND THE GOOD AND THE BAD ARE REPRESENTED IN THE GROWTH …does he realize hitler ym’s also thought in this same way calling all jews undesirables ,only difference he wasent as frum and a lamdan to dissect who is yeshivish who is a bal habbos who wears a colored shirt etc. No wonder most teens at risk in lkwd. are from homes like this patetic human beings and thats a fact check nit out for yourself …you cant fool your own kids ….maybe by showing ahavas yisroel and being a role model as a true ben toira you will influence youe BROOKLYN neihbors ….thats a proven system for thousends of years ….YOUR CORRUPT WAY AND THINKING HAS ALWAYS FAILED AND WILL FAIL HERE IN LAKEWOOD TOO … And for all people who are thinking of jioning lakewood to enhance their ruchnius and gahmius by moving to lakewood DONT BE DETERRED BY THESE SICK INDIVIDUALS …they talk for their unhappy selfs and not for the majority bnei toira and constituents of lakewood or any other city.

  37. look whos talking! dont judge others!!!! obviously your the 1 noticing everyone and actually remember their name and how many time they posted!

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