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> The eruv is funded entirely by the Jewish community, with a considerable portion of that support coming from wealthy philanthropists.
So, no, you're not paying for this.
I'm quite sure that any religion that wanted to fund the cost and follow the proper permitting procedures could similarly run wires for religious purposes, otherwise NYC would have a First Amendment problem. But I don't think any other religions want to run wires for religious purposes.
And yes, other religions can and do use public space in myriad ways too. As for encroaching on others, the eruv doesn't really encroach on anyone - I'm a secular Jew who has lived in NYC for most of my life, and while I've heard about this before, I've never actually noticed it in person, even when I've probably been within eyesight of it.
Yes, it's public space.
> and encroaching on others?
An eruv wire looks just like any other wire strung on a pole, save it's and thinner, doesn't carry electricity or communications .. so it "encroaches" on your life just as much as any other utility wire .. even less if you spend little time in jewish neighbourhoods that actually string such things.
Also, what are other such examples from other groups? There’s a big difference between theoretical (a matter of law) and the practical (societal acceptance). I’m also not sure of telephone poles being public space, I can only imagine the administrative and legal hurdles to overcome to hang something off one.
Jews comprise approximately 10% of New York City's population, making the Jewish community the largest in the world outside of Israel.
Some of your other what if's are addressed in the article, if you're a good faith commenter looking for actual serious issues then there's also 100 years of existence in Manhattan and the wider New York City to draw upon.
Perhaps you could highlight some actual real issues that have cropped up in the last century?
Speaking of which, tell me, would there be so many defensive comments if, in a hypothetical scenario, there was an article written about how every cell tower in the city had an Arabic inscription written (in such small text that it couldn’t be seen) in order to “bless” all the cellular waves emanating from there? I know what my response would be.