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More than 100 Orthodox Jewish families, fed up with rising antisemitism and political dysfunction in New York, are planning to join the 60 who already fled the state for a new community in Florida — only for far-right influencers to descend on their community and spew vicious Jew-hating rhetoric.
Lakefront Estates, a $300 million, 550-acre neighborhood developed in Glades County, officially opened its doors in October and has seen an influx ever since.
The community boasts a kosher supermarket, synagogue and yeshiva for the Orthodox Jewish community.
Lakefront Estates CEO Yidel Perlstein said that the Orthodox Jewish community represents the first wave of sales at the development because so many Jews were seeking to leave New York, but that the homes at Lakefront Estates are open for anyone to buy.
The town offers 4 bedroom 2,5000 square foot homes starting at $460,000 and 7 bedroom 3700 square foot homes for $585,000, Perlstein said.
Multiple families interviewed by The Post said that rising antisemitism, which supercharged under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, gave them the final push to leave The Empire State.
“You could feel the antisemitism everywhere; even my community Borough Park changed after Mamdani came in,” said Morris, a former Brooklynite, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from the influencers.
A mother of four, who also wished to remain anonymous, said that rising antisemitism and the high cost of housing in New York led her family to make the move to the sunshine state.
“New York has become increasingly antisemitic, we’ve been facing that a lot,” she said.
She also said that Florida’s policy of providing vouchers to help pay for private school tuition was a factor in her family’s decision to move.
Hate crimes in New York City have soared nearly 16% since last year, with attacks against Jews comprising half of them, according to NYPD data.
New York State Rep. Aron Wieder (D-Rockland County), who has seen 20 families from his heavily Orthodox district move to Lakefront, said that the rise in antisemitism has spurred many from his community to look for homes outside of New York.
“All my grandparents were Holocaust survivors, never would they have dreamed that their descendants would have to face what they faced in the leadup to the Holocaust,” Wieder said.
“For a Jew to have to look over their shoulder when they’re walking down the street, it’s very disturbing,” he added.
Wieder also said that high taxes and the high cost of housing in New York has also pushed Orthodox Jews out of the state.
New York has the highest state and local taxes in the nation, and collects ad staggering $13,000 per capita, according to a study by the Citizens Budget Commission.
The Empire State ranked dead last in housing affordability and homebuilding in the 2026 Realtor Housing Report Card.
Orthodox Jews tend to have larger families and require more spacious homes or costly additions to their existing homes that are increasingly out of reach for them in New York.
Perlstein said that the locals of the population 13,270 Glades County have welcomed their new neighbors with open arms, and his investment in Glades County has been a boon for the local economy.
“It’s a paradise, the weather is nice, the people are nice, everyone is so welcoming,” Perlstein said.
However, the mother of four, who works as an educator in the town along with her husband, said that while business owners have been friendly, she’s faced hostility from some local residents.
However, online hatemongers like Jake Lang and “The Jersey Goy” Jeffrey Walstein have descended on the quiet town and have launched vicious social media campaigns against the Jewish residents.
Lang visited the town once on October 13, and Walstein arrived the following day.
“They don’t assimilate, they eat their own food, speak their own language, they worship their own God, they don’t dress like us, they are not Americans,” Lang snarled outside the community in a viral video, referring to the residents.
Perlstein said the local authorities have done a great job protecting the community from the influencers, but residents are still nervous.
“Millions of people watch him, all it takes is one crazy person,” he said.
“We’re just a few people in no man’s land, We’re here to build our families, build our community, be nice to our neighbors,” the local mother of four said.