Dragon Springs

Dragon Springs is primarily in Deerpark, New York,{{cite web|url=http://www.dragonsprings.org/|title=Home|publisher=Dragon Springs|accessdate=2020-09-04|quote=140 Galley Hill Rd, Cuddebackville, NY 12729}} - Compare to the [https://townofdeerpark.org/wp-content/uploads/DEERPARK-ZONING-MAP-12-10-122.pdf Deerpark zoning map] near the hamlet of Cuddebackville, north of Port Jervis, in Orange County. It sits below the Shawangunk Mountains approximately two hours north of Manhattan. The surrounding communities have many Falun Gong followers.{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Jessica |date=29 October 2020 |title=Australians follow their dreams, end up in Port Jervis |url=https://www.recordonline.com/story/news/local/port-jervis/2020/10/29/australians-follow-their-dreams-end-up-in-port-jervis/114539892/ |accessdate=13 November 2020 |website=Times Herald-Record |publisher=}} Near Dragon Springs, in Middletown, was an office for the Falun Gong media extension The Epoch Times, which published a special local edition.{{Citation |title=Becoming Activists in Global China |date=2019 |work=Becoming Activists in Global China: Social Movements in the Chinese Diaspora |pages=100-101 |editor-last=Junker |editor-first=Andrew |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/becoming-activists-in-global-china/becoming-activists-in-global-china/85EB2B37633826E84648959601764C7B |access-date=2024-05-25 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-48299-8}}

The compound has been a point of controversy among former residents who have stated Li Hongzhi maintains tight control over daily life.

Two schools operate in or around Falun Gong's Dragon Springs compound: Fei Tian College ({{zh|first=t|t=飛天大學|s=飞天大学|p=Fēitiān Dàxué}}),{{Cite web |title=飛天大學中城校園簡介 |url=https://www.mt.feitian.edu/chinese |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929074735/https://www.mt.feitian.edu/chinese |archive-date=29 September 2020 |website=FTC Middletown |language=Chinese}} a private arts college; and a middle-high school, the Fei Tian Academy of Arts ({{zh|first=t|t=飛天藝術學校|s=飛天艺术学校|p=Fēitiān Yìshù Xuéxiào}}).{{Cite web |title=Fei Tian Academy of the Arts |url=https://feitianacademy.org/ |access-date=2024-06-01 |language=en-US}} Fei Tian College "acts as a feeder for Shen Yun". Both the college and high school initially operated out of Dragon Springs before expanding into Middletown in 2017.Nani, James. 2017. "Fei Tian arts academies expanding in Middletown". Times Herald-Record, Feb 20, 2017. [https://www.recordonline.com/news/20170220/fei-tian-arts-academies-expanding-in-middletown Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706230303/https://www.recordonline.com/news/20170220/fei-tian-arts-academies-expanding-in-middletown |date=2020-07-06 }}. Last accessed July 6, 2020. According to the Times Herald-Record, "the two schools are independent entities but maintain a close relationship".Nani, James. 2017. [https://www.recordonline.com/news/20170208/college-buys-ex-middletown-psych-center-building-to-make-into-dorm "College buys ex-Middletown psych center building to make into dorm"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703034333/https://www.recordonline.com/news/20170208/college-buys-ex-middletown-psych-center-building-to-make-into-dorm |date=2020-07-03 }}, Feb 8, 2017. Times Herald-Record. Last accessed July 6, 2020.

The college offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in "classical Chinese dance and Bachelor's in Music Performance", student facilities include an on-site basketball court and a gym, and 2015 enrollment consisted of 127 students.Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Undated. "Fie Tian College". CICU: New York's Private Colleges and Universities. website. [http://www.nycolleges.org/institution/fei-tian-college_189 Online]. Last accessed July 6, 2020. Fei Tian College holds institutional accreditation from the New York State Board of Regents.Undated. [https://www.chea.org/fei-tian-college "Fei Tian College"]. Council for Higher Education Accreditation website. Last accessed July 6, 2020. Academic Yutian Wong referred to the college as "[Shen Yun]'s own degree-granting institution".Wong, Yutian. 2016. "Introduction" in Contemporary Directions in Asian American Dance, p. 12. University of Wisconsin Press. {{ISBN|9780299308704}}

The high school was first approved by the New York State Education Department for operation in 2007. As of 2012, it operated with 200 students. In 2012, the school became a point of contention with Deerpark officials after discovering its operations because "they were never told of a performing arts college and high school being run there". This led the Deerpark Planning Board to unanimously deny a six-month extension for a special-use permit for Dragon Springs.Nani, James. 2012. [https://www.recordonline.com/article/20121116/News/211160347 "Deerpark won't extend Dragon Springs permit"]. Times Herald-Record. Nov 16, 2020. Last accessed July 6, 2020.

According to its owners Dragon Springs is centered on a {{convert|75|ft|adj=on}} tall Buddhist temple built in the style of the Tang dynasty. Several other buildings in the compound are also built in the same wood heavy Tang dynasty style.{{cite web |title=Dragon Springs |url=http://www.dragonsprings.org |website=www.dragonsprings.org |publisher=Dragon Springs |accessdate=6 July 2020}} There are also buildings constructed in a modern style.{{cite news |first=James |last=Pasley |title=Inside Dragon Springs, the high-security compound in upstate New York that's home to a 'cult' tyrannized by China |date=April 2019 |work=Business Insider |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/dragon-springs-falun-gong-upstate-new-york-compound-photos-2019-9 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190910003039/https://www.businessinsider.com/dragon-springs-falun-gong-upstate-new-york-compound-photos-2019-9#since-2001-the-compound-has-slowly-been-adding-buildings-6 |archivedate=September 10, 2019 |accessdate=July 7, 2020}}

During construction in 2008, a 54-year-old man from Toronto, Janin Liu, died in a fall. He was a volunteer construction worker rather than an employee, so no investigation was initiated by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). No autopsy was performed because of religious preferences of the family.{{cite news |last=Sacco |first=Stephen |date=May 6, 2008 |title=Questions remain in Deerpark death |work=Record Online |location=Middletown, New York |publisher=Gannett |url=https://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/NEWS/805060313/-1/NEWS14 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611124522/https://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/NEWS/805060313/-1/NEWS14 |archivedate=June 11, 2020 |accessdate=July 7, 2020}}

Dragon Springs is a point of contention within Deerpark and the surrounding communities. Falun Gong adherents living in the area have claimed that they have experienced discrimination from local residents and from the local government based on their race and religious beliefs.Hill, Michael (April 2019). [https://apnews.com/420a741ec19c4db3993d408747874b2d "Falun Gong US compound's neighbors fret over expansion plans".] Associated Press.

In 2014 the town of Deerpark took Dragon Springs Buddhist Inc. to court over persistent illegal construction in the Dragon Springs compound. The organization has a history of breaking local laws and then paying the associated fines without complaint.{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Jessica |title=Dragon Springs fined for more building violations |url=https://www.recordonline.com/news/20180406/dragon-springs-fined-for-more-building-violations |website=www.recordonline.com |publisher=Record Online |accessdate=13 November 2020}}

In 2018 Dragon Springs Buddhist Inc. was fined $7,500 since it failed to comply with a local construction law requiring the installation of a sprinkler system for wooden buildings over four stories tall. It was also issued with a stop-work order for the illegal eighth floor of the permitted seven floor wood building.

In 2019, Falun Gong filed for permits to expand the site, wishing to add a 920-seat concert hall, a new parking garage, a wastewater treatment plant, and a conversion of meditation space into residential space large enough to bring the total residential capacity to 500 people. These plans met with opposition from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network{{Cite web |title=Dragon Springs Development - Neversink River Threat |url=https://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/ongoing-issues/dragon-springs-development-neversink-river-threat |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221155920/https://delawareriverkeeper.org/ongoing-issues/dragon-springs-development-neversink-river-threat |archive-date=21 February 2024 |website=Delaware Riverkeeper Network}} and other environmental non-profits and citizens’ groups regarding the wastewater treatment facility and the elimination of local wetlands, impacting local waterways such as the Basher Kill and Neversink River.{{cite web |last1=van Rossum |first1=Maya K. |last2=Silldorff |first2=Erik L. |date=4 April 2019 |title=RE: Dragon Springs Buddhist Inc. (Section 31, Block 1, Lot 31.22) Site Plan |url=https://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/sites/default/files/DRN%20Letter%20on%20DEIS%20to%20Deer%20Park%20Planning%20Board%20re%20Dragon%20Springs%20(2019-04-04).pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001052016/https://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/sites/default/files/DRN%20Letter%20on%20DEIS%20to%20Deer%20Park%20Planning%20Board%20re%20Dragon%20Springs%20(2019-04-04).pdf |archive-date=1 October 2019 |accessdate=13 November 2020 |website=Delaware Riverkeeper Network |publisher=}} Local residents opposed the expansion because it would increase traffic and reduce the rural character of the area in addition to the negative environmental effects.{{cite web |last1=Mayer |first1=Fritz |date=17 April 2019 |title=Neighbors oppose cultural center expansion |url=https://riverreporter.com/stories/neighbors-oppose-cultural-center-expansion,15915? |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120134211/https://riverreporter.com/stories/neighbors-oppose-cultural-center-expansion,15915 |archive-date=20 November 2020 |accessdate=13 November 2020 |website=River Reporter |publisher=River Reporter}} The public hearing meeting lasted over three hours, with a substantial number of speakers expressing their views on the proposed action.{{cite AV media |title= DRAGON SPRINGS BUDDHISTS (FALUN GONG) PUBLIC HEARING 2019|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEhY0-fEwgI|via=YouTube}}

After visiting in 2019, scholar Andrew Junker noted that "the secrecy of Dragon Springs was obvious and a source of tension for the town." Junker added that Dragon Springs's website says its restricted access is for security reasons and that the site claims the compound contains orphans and refugees.

In January 2022, residents and the non-profit NYenvironcom sued, alleging that Dragon Springs violated the Clean Water Act.{{cite press release |title= Clean-Water-Act-Lawsuit-Commenced-Against-Dragon-Springs-Buddhist-Inc.-For-Polluting-Bashar-Kill-And-Neversink-River-2|url=https://rmfpc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Clean-Water-Act-Lawsuit-Commenced-Against-Dragon-Springs-Buddhist-Inc.-For-Polluting-Bashar-Kill-And-Neversink-River-2.pdf |website=Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C.}} The court dismissed the "broad" allegations without prejudice in January 2023.{{Cite web |title=In New York, Buddhist Compound Beats Clean Water Act Citizen Suit - Mealey's |url=https://www.mealeys.com/mealeys/articles/1674185/in-new-york-buddhist-compound-beats-clean-water-act-citizen-suit |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=www.mealeys.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Mid-New York Envtl. & Sustainability Promotion Comm. v. Dragon Springs Buddhist, Inc., 647 F. Supp. 3d 286 {{!}} Casetext Search + Citator |url=https://casetext.com/case/mid-new-york-envtl-sustainability-promotion-comm-v-dragon-springs-buddhist-inc-1?q=Mid-New%20York%20Envtl.%20&%20Sustainability%20Promotion%20Comm.%20v.%20Dragon%20Springs%20Buddhist,%20Inc.&sort=relevance&p=1&type=case&motionTypes=mtd&tab=keyword&jxs=#pa7 |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=casetext.com}} In September 2024, the court dismissed with prejudice{{Cite web |title=Group Appeals Dismissal Of CWA Violation Suit Against Buddhist Compound - Mealey's |url=https://www.law360.com/mealeys/articles/1879437 |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=www.mealeys.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Mid-New York Envtl. & Sustainability Promotion Comm. v. Dragon Springs Buddhist, Inc., 23-CV-4870 (KMK) {{!}} Casetext Search + Citator |url=https://casetext.com/case/mid-new-york-envtl-sustainability-promotion-comm-v-dragon-springs-buddhist-inc-3 |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=casetext.com}} the second lawsuit filed by the same plaintiffs in June 2023.{{Cite web |last=Johns |first=Marian |title=Pollution lawsuit filed against Chinese culture compound in New York |url=https://legalnewsline.com/stories/644333125-pollution-lawsuit-filed-against-chinese-culture-compound-in-new-york |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Legal Newsline |language=en}} The plaintiffs indicated intent to appeal.

• Chinese people in New York City

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• {{Official website|dragonsprings.org}}

{{Falun Gong}}

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Category:Asian-American culture in New York (state)

Category:Falun Gong

Category:Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area

Category:Buildings and structures in Orange County, New York

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