New Square is a village built around a community plan

New Square is not a village that happened by accident around a highway corner. It was built around a community idea. Jewish Virtual Library traces the name to New Skvira, tied to the Skver Hasidic group’s roots in Skvyra, Ukraine. It also places the land purchase in 1954, the first four families arriving in December 1956, and village incorporation in 1961 after a court fight over local control.

That origin makes New Square different from many Rockland County places. The village is compact, intentional, and organized around a religious community rather than a railroad depot, river landing, or county-seat square. The New York Conference of Mayors directory keeps the civic side visible too: New Square is listed as a village in Rockland County, with its municipal address on Reagan Road.

For someone outside the community, the neighborly way to read New Square is with care and respect. It is not just dense housing on the Ramapo map. It is a place where history, faith, family life, municipal services, and local self-government are tightly woven together. The story is specific, and that specificity is the point.