Muslims on Long Island v The Town of Oyster Bay

On April 11, 2025, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest in Muslims on Long Islands v. Township of Oyster Bay (E.D.N.Y.), a lawsuit alleging that the Town violated RLUIPA by enacting and enforcing parking provisions that treat religious uses less favorably than secular places of assembly.  The lawsuit alleges that Muslims on Long Island (MOLI) has worshipped at a mosque in Bethpage, Long Island, since 1998, but that it has grown and now needs additional space for prayer, religious education, ritual washing and religious counseling. In its complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction, MOLI claims that the Town’s recently revised zoning code imposes more onerous parking requirements on houses of worship than on comparable nonreligious places of assembly like theaters, museums and libraries.  MOLI alleges that the Town denied its application to expand its house of worship, relying on the Town’s recently revised parking code.  The Department’s statement of interest supports MOLI’s argument that the zoning code treats religious uses less favorably than non-religious uses, in violation of RLUIPA’s equal terms provision, and that the Town has failed to justify this unequal treatment.

Press Release 4/11/2025