South Blooming Grove, New York

South Blooming Grove is a village inside the Town of Blooming Grove in Orange County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 3,973. It is part of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area.

South Blooming Grove, New York
Village
Village of South Blooming Grove
Village hall
Location in Orange County and the state of New York.
South Blooming Grove, New York Location of South Blooming Grove within the state of New York
Coordinates: 41°22′24″N 74°10′42″W
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Orange County
Town	Blooming Grove
Incorporated (village)	2006
Area [1]
• Total	4.71 sq mi (12.20 km2)
• Land	4.68 sq mi (12.11 km2)
• Water	0.03 sq mi (0.09 km2)
Population  (2020)
• Total	3,973
• Density	849.66/sq mi (328.02/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
FIPS code	36-68610
GNIS feature ID	2391145
Website	www.villageofsouthbloominggrove.com

History

The idea for incorporating a new village came in 2004 when a group called the South Blooming Grove Homeowner's Association was concerned about the rapid expansion of the sprawling Satmar Hasidim village of Kiryas Joel and hoped to prevent unchecked annexation of land for high-density residential housing by incorporating a section of the large, unincorporated area known as Blooming Grove. After gathering over 1,000 signatures in favor of the new village, a New York State Supreme Court Justice put things on hold in January 2005. Finally, on June 29, 2006, incorporation passed overwhelmingly, 856 votes to 89.

A similar incorporation vote was held on August 11, 2006 in the neighboring Town of Woodbury; it also passed by a wide margin.

On September 2, 2006, South Blooming Grove held its first board elections. The candidates for mayor (Robert Jeroloman) and four trustee seats (Garry Dugan, Jim Mulany, Dorine Sas and John Hickey) ran unopposed. All five have since been re-elected, again unopposed: Sas and Hickey in 2008 and 2012, and Dugan, Mulany and Jeroloman in 2010. In the 2014 elections, Mayor Jeroloman and Trustee Mulany were again re-elected, but Gary Dugan did not seek another term; James LoFranco was elected to Dugan's old seat.

In the September 2020 election, three challengers backed by South Blooming Grove's growing Hasidic community won control of the village's governing board.^[2] In the March 2021 election, Hasidic-backed candidates won the remaining two board seats; resulting in the five member village board being composed of four Hasidic members, plus the mayor (George Kalaj) who is not Hasidic but was elected with the backing of the Hasidic community.^[3]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
2010	3,234		—
2020	3,973		22.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[4]

Education

Most of the village is in Washingtonville Central School District, while portions are in Monroe-Woodbury Central School District.^[5]