Monsey, New York Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Monsey, New York
CDP
Location in Rockland County and the state of New York
Monsey, New York Location in New York Show map of New York Monsey, New York Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Rockland
Area
• Total	2.31 sq mi (5.97 km²)
• Land	2.29 sq mi (5.94 km²)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.04 km²)
Elevation	548 ft (167 m)
Population (2020)
• Total	26,954
• Density	11,754.91/sq mi (4,539.32/km²)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP Code	10952
Area code(s)	845
FIPS code	36-48010
GNIS feature ID	0957535
NWS SAME code	036087

Monsey (pronounced MUN-see) is a small community in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is a type of community called a census-designated place, which means it's an area identified for population counting.

Monsey is located in the town of Ramapo. It is surrounded by other communities like Airmont, Viola, New Hempstead, and Spring Valley. The village of Kaser is completely inside Monsey. In 2020, about 26,954 people lived here.

Monsey is known for having a large and growing community of Haredi Jews.

History of Monsey
Monsey's Location and Size
Population and Community Life
Notable People from Monsey
Places to Visit
Images for kids
See also

History of Monsey

Early Inhabitants and Name Origin

Long ago, the area of Rockland County was home to the Munsee people. They were a group of Lenape Native Americans who spoke an Algonquian language.

A place called Monsey Glen, which was a Native American camp, is located west of where State Route 59 and State Route 306 meet today. Many old tools and items have been found there. Some rock shelters, where people might have lived, can still be seen.

The Monsey railroad station was built in 1841. It was named after the Munsee Lenape people when the New York & Erie Railroad line passed through the glen.

Growth of Jewish Institutions

In 1943, a rabbi named Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz bought land in Monsey. He wanted to create a place to train teachers of the Torah, which is a holy Jewish text. This institute was first called Aish Dos.

In 1944, it became Beth Medrash Elyon, which was Monsey's first Jewish school. In the 1950s, Monsey was a small town with only one such school.

By 1979, Rabbi Ezriel Tauber helped buy more land for the American campus of the Ohr Somayach Yeshiva. This is another important Jewish learning center.

By 1997, Monsey had grown significantly. It had 112 synagogues (Jewish places of worship) and 45 yeshivas (Jewish schools).

Historic Buildings

The Houser-Conklin House is a historic building in Monsey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

Monsey has the largest Orthodox Jewish community in Rockland County. Because of this, the name "Monsey" is often used to refer to Orthodox Jews living in nearby areas too, like Viola, Airmont, and Spring Valley.

Monsey's Location and Size

Monsey is located at coordinates 41°7′10″N 74°3′57″W.

The area of Monsey is about 2.2 square miles (5.8 square kilometers). Most of this area is land, and a very small part is water.

Population and Community Life

Map of Monsey in 1859

Monsey has seen its population grow quite a lot over the years:

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1970	8,797	—
1980	12,380	40.7%
1990	13,986	13.0%
2000	14,504	3.7%
2010	18,412	26.9%
2020	26,954	46.4%
Source:

In 2017, there were about 22,043 people living in Monsey. Many households had children under 18 living with them. The average household size was about 4.74 people.

Monsey is a major center for Orthodox Judaism in the United States. Other important centers include Kiryas Joel and Spring Valley. Monsey has one of the largest communities of Hasidic Jews outside of New York City.

Many Orthodox Jews moved to Monsey starting in the late 1940s. They were looking for affordable places to live where their growing communities could thrive. They wanted to create neighborhoods where they could follow halakha (Jewish religious law) easily. This move to suburban areas was a big change for these communities.

Several different Hasidic groups live in Monsey, including Satmar, Vizhnitz Monsey, Sanz, and Belz. Many important rabbis, called rebbes, from various Hasidic traditions also live in the community.

In December 2019, an incident occurred in Monsey during a Hanukkah party at a Hasidic rebbe's home. Several people were injured, and one person later died. This event deeply affected the community.

Notable People from Monsey

Many interesting people have connections to Monsey:

Julia Haart (born 1971), a fashion designer and business person.
Mordechai Hager (1922–2018), a rebbe of the Vizhnitz Hasidic group.
Steven Hill (died 2016), an actor known for TV shows like Mission: Impossible and Law & Order.
Yaakov Kamenetsky (died 1986), a respected rabbi who lived in Monsey for many years.
Yosef Mizrachi (born 1968), a rabbi known for his outreach work.
Mordechai Shapiro (born 1989), a singer.
Tovia Singer (born 1960), a radio host, author, and speaker.
Leib Tropper (born 1950), the founding rabbi of the Kol Yaakov Torah Center.