Monday, December 28, 2009
Yiddish takes another blow
It survived Hitler, Stalin, the decision to make Hebrew the official language of the State of Israel and the adoption of English by immigrants to the United States.
Now Yiddish, for 1,000 years the everyday language of European Jews, is facing another threat: budget cuts.
At the University of Maryland, which has stood alongside Harvard and Columbia as one of the nation's few schools to consistently offer instruction in the Germanic tongue, the recent announcement that the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies would be dropping it in the fall shocked area enthusiasts.
"U- Maryland has had the biggest commitment to Yiddish as a language anywhere in a hundred-mile radius," says Harvey Spiro, president of Yiddish of Greater Washington, which organized a letter-writing campaign. "We're not a particularly political organization, but this kicked us in the gut."
The center now has cobbled together the money to pay its longtime instructor through the next academic year. But after that, director Hayim Lapin says, it is unlikely to continue funding a full-time faculty member dedicated to the language.
"This is not about Yiddish," Lapin says. "What this is about is responding to the budget crisis and actually cutting back on just about all of our visiting faculty and programming, So we have less Bible than we had. We have less history than we had. We have less or no Yiddish."
Professor Miriam Isaacs, who has taught elementary and intermediate Yiddish at Maryland for 15 years, worries about a future without the language.
"It's not just at Maryland that I'm concerned," says Isaacs, born in postwar Germany, where Yiddish was her first language.
"We're at a critical point in that the generation of Holocaust survivors, my parents, they're not around anymore," she says. "Or if they're around, they can't do a lot of translating. So if nobody learns it, you know, the Holocaust Museum archive is full of Yiddish materials. The University of Maryland has been acquiring Yiddish books galore. Who is going to read them? Who is going to be able to have access to them?"
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/faith/bal-md.fa.yiddish28dec28,0,7349465.story
0 comments
Now Yiddish, for 1,000 years the everyday language of European Jews, is facing another threat: budget cuts.
At the University of Maryland, which has stood alongside Harvard and Columbia as one of the nation's few schools to consistently offer instruction in the Germanic tongue, the recent announcement that the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies would be dropping it in the fall shocked area enthusiasts.
"U- Maryland has had the biggest commitment to Yiddish as a language anywhere in a hundred-mile radius," says Harvey Spiro, president of Yiddish of Greater Washington, which organized a letter-writing campaign. "We're not a particularly political organization, but this kicked us in the gut."
The center now has cobbled together the money to pay its longtime instructor through the next academic year. But after that, director Hayim Lapin says, it is unlikely to continue funding a full-time faculty member dedicated to the language.
"This is not about Yiddish," Lapin says. "What this is about is responding to the budget crisis and actually cutting back on just about all of our visiting faculty and programming, So we have less Bible than we had. We have less history than we had. We have less or no Yiddish."
Professor Miriam Isaacs, who has taught elementary and intermediate Yiddish at Maryland for 15 years, worries about a future without the language.
"It's not just at Maryland that I'm concerned," says Isaacs, born in postwar Germany, where Yiddish was her first language.
"We're at a critical point in that the generation of Holocaust survivors, my parents, they're not around anymore," she says. "Or if they're around, they can't do a lot of translating. So if nobody learns it, you know, the Holocaust Museum archive is full of Yiddish materials. The University of Maryland has been acquiring Yiddish books galore. Who is going to read them? Who is going to be able to have access to them?"
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/faith/bal-md.fa.yiddish28dec28,0,7349465.story
0 comments
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Kosher hosp cop canned
The cockroaches in one of Montefiore Medical Center's cafeterias were definitely not kosher.
But the Bronx hospital denies the charges of a food supervisor who has raised holy hell about the creepy crawlers, plus alleged nonkosher foods and other taboo practices in the kitchen at the Weiler Division.
The hospital fired Robert Frank, a mashgiach, or kosher-food supervisor, this month for badmouthing and "spreading false and/or misleading information" about the cafeteria.
Frank, one of three mash giachs at the Eastchester Road center, claims he was booted for doing his $18.55-an-hour job.
"Nonkosher food comes in all the time and is prepared by the cooks and served to unsuspecting patients and patrons," Frank wrote Nov. 29 to Rabbi Yaakov Luban, his liaison at the Orthodox Union -- a Jewish group hired by the hospital to certify the kitchen as kosher.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bronx/kosher_hosp_cop_canned_RUf6BZ8aA6utSnMpXUSoPN
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Saturday, December 26, 2009
MAJOR AMERICAN JEWISH LEADER RIPS OBAMA ADMINISTRATION DEALING WITH ANTI-SEMITISM
A major Jewish community leader is criticizing the Obama administration’s top official dealing with anti-Semitism.
Alan Solow, a longtime backer of President Obama and chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, issued a statement criticizing the U.S. offical, Hannah Rosenthal.
At issue is a report in Ha’aretz stating that Rosenthal criticized Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, who had described the positions of J Street, a dovish pro-Israel group, as “inimical” to Israel’s interests.
Rosenthal, who was on J Street’s board until her appointment earlier this year, reportedly told Ha’aretz that the comments were “most unfortunate.”
“As an official of the United States government, it is inappropriate for the anti-Semitism envoy to be expressing her personal views on the positions Ambassador Oren has taken as well as on the subject of who needs to be heard from in the Jewish community,” Solow said in his statement, according to Politico. “Such statements have nothing to do with her responsibilities and, based upon comments I am already receiving, could threaten to limit her effectiveness in the area for which she is actually responsible.”
Two left-wing members of the Conference of Presidents – Americans for Peace Now and Ameinu – issued statements earlier this month criticizing Oren over his comments about J Street.
The White House is reportedly circulating a statement from a State Department official praising the Israeli ambassador.
Rosenthal, who could not be reached by JTA for comment, reportedly said that the current Arab-Israeli conflict is “unacceptable” and said that American Jewish views across the spectrum, from right to left, “need to be at the table” in considering the need for Israel to make peace. And she cautioned against confusing criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism.
“I do believe that some of the criticism against Israel is anti-Semitism but not all of it is,” Rosenthal was quoted as saying in the Ha’aretz interview, which was published Thursday. “And I think that healthy democracies – and Israel is one – have to do self reflection and the world looks at the light unto the nations and says I agree to this policy or I don’t agree – that is not anti-Semitism.”
Rosenthal described the United Nations Human Rights Council’s persistent singling out of Israel as “crossing the line” into anti-Semitism. She defined it as “having the U.N. single out Israel for 170 resolutions over the last five years – when everybody knows that Sudan is committing genocide and they have only five resolutions.”
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=54052
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Alan Solow, a longtime backer of President Obama and chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, issued a statement criticizing the U.S. offical, Hannah Rosenthal.
At issue is a report in Ha’aretz stating that Rosenthal criticized Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, who had described the positions of J Street, a dovish pro-Israel group, as “inimical” to Israel’s interests.
Rosenthal, who was on J Street’s board until her appointment earlier this year, reportedly told Ha’aretz that the comments were “most unfortunate.”
“As an official of the United States government, it is inappropriate for the anti-Semitism envoy to be expressing her personal views on the positions Ambassador Oren has taken as well as on the subject of who needs to be heard from in the Jewish community,” Solow said in his statement, according to Politico. “Such statements have nothing to do with her responsibilities and, based upon comments I am already receiving, could threaten to limit her effectiveness in the area for which she is actually responsible.”
Two left-wing members of the Conference of Presidents – Americans for Peace Now and Ameinu – issued statements earlier this month criticizing Oren over his comments about J Street.
The White House is reportedly circulating a statement from a State Department official praising the Israeli ambassador.
Rosenthal, who could not be reached by JTA for comment, reportedly said that the current Arab-Israeli conflict is “unacceptable” and said that American Jewish views across the spectrum, from right to left, “need to be at the table” in considering the need for Israel to make peace. And she cautioned against confusing criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism.
“I do believe that some of the criticism against Israel is anti-Semitism but not all of it is,” Rosenthal was quoted as saying in the Ha’aretz interview, which was published Thursday. “And I think that healthy democracies – and Israel is one – have to do self reflection and the world looks at the light unto the nations and says I agree to this policy or I don’t agree – that is not anti-Semitism.”
Rosenthal described the United Nations Human Rights Council’s persistent singling out of Israel as “crossing the line” into anti-Semitism. She defined it as “having the U.N. single out Israel for 170 resolutions over the last five years – when everybody knows that Sudan is committing genocide and they have only five resolutions.”
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=54052
0 comments
Friday, December 25, 2009
Homowack Group Hopes to Prevent More Illegal Dumping
The group that owns the former Homowack Lodge — which is now known as Machne Bnos Square — has erected a fence to keep out illegal dumpers. Aron Taub, who is a member of the group's board of directors, says that the fence is but the first step in restoring the old resort.
"We plan on doing everything necessary to bring the property into compliance," Taub said.
The group currently has an application before the Town of Mamakating Planning Board, with the ultimate goal being to secure a special use permit that would be required if the group hopes to operate a girls' camp this summer.
Last year, the group had defied local and state authorities by operating this camp despite lacking the required permit. Taub, however, says that Machne Bnos Square is determined that this not happen again this year. While he says he understands the skepticism many of the local residents surely feel, he hopes that, in turning over a new leaf, the group's actions during the ensuing months will be judged with an open mind.
"We want to set a new direction [for the property]," he said.
Eventually, Taub says, the group intends, in addition to the camp, to restore the hotel operations at the site. Taub also wanted to state for the record that the group is reconsidering plans for a Hasidic village — or, shtetl — on the property. Taub says that the current state of the economy has had an impact on the group's original plans.
http://www.shawangunkjournal.com/2009/12/24/news/0912244.html
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"We plan on doing everything necessary to bring the property into compliance," Taub said.
The group currently has an application before the Town of Mamakating Planning Board, with the ultimate goal being to secure a special use permit that would be required if the group hopes to operate a girls' camp this summer.
Last year, the group had defied local and state authorities by operating this camp despite lacking the required permit. Taub, however, says that Machne Bnos Square is determined that this not happen again this year. While he says he understands the skepticism many of the local residents surely feel, he hopes that, in turning over a new leaf, the group's actions during the ensuing months will be judged with an open mind.
"We want to set a new direction [for the property]," he said.
Eventually, Taub says, the group intends, in addition to the camp, to restore the hotel operations at the site. Taub also wanted to state for the record that the group is reconsidering plans for a Hasidic village — or, shtetl — on the property. Taub says that the current state of the economy has had an impact on the group's original plans.
http://www.shawangunkjournal.com/2009/12/24/news/0912244.html
0 comments
Controversial Rezoning of Broadway Triangle Halted
The controversial Broadway Triangle rezoning has been approved by the City Council and halted by the New York County Supreme Court all in the same week. The Broadway Triangle is a 31-acre development site in Brooklyn that borders the neighborhoods of Bedford Stuyvesant and Williamsburg and is mostly underdeveloped.
The city has said the area could be used to build 1,851 housing units and apartments, 46 percent of which would be affordable housing. However, many local residents have complained that they were given little say in the project and that twice as many affordable housing units could be produced.
Plans to develop the Triangle were halted due to a request by the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition, which is made up of around 40 community groups. The request was granted by Justice Emily Goodman, according to a release from her office.
The lawsuit claims that the transfer of the site from the city to the United Jewish Organization (UJO) of Williamsburg and the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council (RBSCC) violated several laws, and constitutional clauses.
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/26972/
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The city has said the area could be used to build 1,851 housing units and apartments, 46 percent of which would be affordable housing. However, many local residents have complained that they were given little say in the project and that twice as many affordable housing units could be produced.
Plans to develop the Triangle were halted due to a request by the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition, which is made up of around 40 community groups. The request was granted by Justice Emily Goodman, according to a release from her office.
The lawsuit claims that the transfer of the site from the city to the United Jewish Organization (UJO) of Williamsburg and the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council (RBSCC) violated several laws, and constitutional clauses.
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/26972/
0 comments
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Orthodox Jews claim discrimination over beards
The beard that Matthias Goldstein has worn since high school - full, but trimmed short - didn't seem to be a problem during his first 15 years as a medic with the Pikesville Volunteer Fire Co.
It didn't prevent him from answering thousands of calls while staffing Saturday nights at the Baltimore County firehouse, or serving as an instructor in basic life support, advanced life support and EMT recertifcation, or being named the company's paramedic of the year in 2003.
But now his beard is at the center of a legal dispute over fire safety, religious practice and - Goldstein believes - rivalry between neighboring volunteer rescue agencies.
Earlier this year, Goldstein and two fellow Orthodox Jews were told they could not ride on emergency calls because their beards might interfere with breathing masks that the Pikesville company was considering buying for its medic corps.
The three men - Goldstein, Avi Gross, a paramedic recruit who hadn't begun to ride with the company, and Avi Green, a medical technician who was denied a job - maintain their beards in obedience to Torah injunctions against "rounding the corners of the head" and "marring the corners of the beard." Shaving, they say, is not an option.
After months seeking some sort of accommodation - months in which, Goldstein says, other medics were not required to wear the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus - they have filed complaints with the Maryland Commission on Human Relations and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company denies any wrongdoing. Goldstein, Green and Gross accuse the fire company of religious discrimination and retaliation for their involvement with an upstart volunteer rescue organization organized by Orthodox Jews in Northwest Baltimore.
That organization, Hatzalah - Hebrew for "rescue" - was founded in 2007 to bridge the gap between an emergency and the arrival of the Baltimore Fire Department. With 20 emergency medical technicians and five paramedics, the group operates its own dispatch system, using a telephone number publicized within Northwest Baltimore.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/faith/bal-md.fa.orthodox24dec24,0,275072.story
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Hasidim vs. Hipsters In Williamsburg
By now, everyone knows the story. The city recently closed down a bicycle lane on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, and many people said that the Bloomberg administration had made an election deal with the Satmar Hasidim to close it down, although the Mayor’s Office denied it.
It seems that the Satmar Hasidim objected to young women with “immodest” attire, such as shorts, bicycling through their neighborhood. The Satmars frown not only on shorts, but on women wearing pants in general, since they consider these “men’s clothes.” They, and the smaller, allied Hasidic sects that live in the area, clothe women from head to toe, with long skirts, long sleeves and wigs (lest a woman’s natural hair excite someone).
The local cyclists, many of whom were no doubt “hipsters” (and were described in the media as such) were outraged. First, some of them illegally repainted the bike lane in the street. But secondly, some female cyclists decided to ride topless through the Hasidic neighborhood in protest, stymied only because of a winter storm. One must note that established cycling organizations, such as Transportation Alternatives, didn’t support the topless protest.
Many of the protesters and their supporters, who no doubt have a negative attitude toward religion in general, made some rather nasty comments about the Hasidim. For example, one said that if the Hasidim want to totally live their own lifestyle with minimal contact with the outside world, they should live in their own town with their own rules. Probably unknown to whoever made these statements, by the way, is the fact that there is such a town, New Square in Rockland County, where even the sheriff is Hasidic.
On the surface, one can understand the attitude of the Hasidim. They look around and see a breakdown of civil society — girls getting pregnant at age 16, four-letter words on prime-time TV, stars wearing outfits that reveal almost everything, an increasing number of out-of-wedlock births, one of every two marriages ending in divorce.
But most people — including modern Orthodox Jews — would say that the Hadisim’s “remedy” is worse than the “disease.” In some Hasidic boys’ textbooks, even totally innocent pictures of girls are blacked out, less they lead to licentiousness; and when a Hasidic woman has her period she can’t even hand a salt shaker directly to her husband, lest he become “contaminated.” Also, Hasidic men are not allowed to listen to a woman singing, since this, too, is considered indecent.
One can also understand the anger of the hipsters. By and large, these are people who grew up in unhappy home situations and who have moved to Williamsburg from other parts of the city or the country to “be with their own kind” and live their own unconventional lifestyle. Many, if not most, were teased during their childhood because they were “different,” and fiercely want to defend their hard-fought right to live their lifestyle without interference.
The two communities can coexist in nearby areas, but they must make some concessions. The hipsters must become more sensitive to the Hadisim’s ideas of modesty, and not deliberately do things that unnecessarily provoke them. For example, they shouldn’t turn up their stereo full blast on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, if they live next door to a Hasidic synagogue.
And the Hasidim must realize that they don’t make the laws — for example, they can’t stop someone from driving down the aforementioned Lee Avenue on Saturday. They also have to realize that not everyone adheres to their code — that when a woman wears a pants suit, for example, that doesn’t mean she is a fallen or immoral person.
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=10&id=32620
2 comments
It seems that the Satmar Hasidim objected to young women with “immodest” attire, such as shorts, bicycling through their neighborhood. The Satmars frown not only on shorts, but on women wearing pants in general, since they consider these “men’s clothes.” They, and the smaller, allied Hasidic sects that live in the area, clothe women from head to toe, with long skirts, long sleeves and wigs (lest a woman’s natural hair excite someone).
The local cyclists, many of whom were no doubt “hipsters” (and were described in the media as such) were outraged. First, some of them illegally repainted the bike lane in the street. But secondly, some female cyclists decided to ride topless through the Hasidic neighborhood in protest, stymied only because of a winter storm. One must note that established cycling organizations, such as Transportation Alternatives, didn’t support the topless protest.
Many of the protesters and their supporters, who no doubt have a negative attitude toward religion in general, made some rather nasty comments about the Hasidim. For example, one said that if the Hasidim want to totally live their own lifestyle with minimal contact with the outside world, they should live in their own town with their own rules. Probably unknown to whoever made these statements, by the way, is the fact that there is such a town, New Square in Rockland County, where even the sheriff is Hasidic.
On the surface, one can understand the attitude of the Hasidim. They look around and see a breakdown of civil society — girls getting pregnant at age 16, four-letter words on prime-time TV, stars wearing outfits that reveal almost everything, an increasing number of out-of-wedlock births, one of every two marriages ending in divorce.
But most people — including modern Orthodox Jews — would say that the Hadisim’s “remedy” is worse than the “disease.” In some Hasidic boys’ textbooks, even totally innocent pictures of girls are blacked out, less they lead to licentiousness; and when a Hasidic woman has her period she can’t even hand a salt shaker directly to her husband, lest he become “contaminated.” Also, Hasidic men are not allowed to listen to a woman singing, since this, too, is considered indecent.
One can also understand the anger of the hipsters. By and large, these are people who grew up in unhappy home situations and who have moved to Williamsburg from other parts of the city or the country to “be with their own kind” and live their own unconventional lifestyle. Many, if not most, were teased during their childhood because they were “different,” and fiercely want to defend their hard-fought right to live their lifestyle without interference.
The two communities can coexist in nearby areas, but they must make some concessions. The hipsters must become more sensitive to the Hadisim’s ideas of modesty, and not deliberately do things that unnecessarily provoke them. For example, they shouldn’t turn up their stereo full blast on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, if they live next door to a Hasidic synagogue.
And the Hasidim must realize that they don’t make the laws — for example, they can’t stop someone from driving down the aforementioned Lee Avenue on Saturday. They also have to realize that not everyone adheres to their code — that when a woman wears a pants suit, for example, that doesn’t mean she is a fallen or immoral person.
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=10&id=32620
2 comments
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
City Council approves Mayor Bloomberg's Broadway Triangle plan for Williamsburg
The City Council passed Mayor Bloomberg's controversial plan to build housing at Williamsburg's Broadway Triangle - including 800 affordable units.
Opponents had charged two politically connected groups got no-bid land giveaways from the city to develop apartments that will favor Hasidic families over blacks and Latinos.
Bloomberg said the Brooklyn plan will "transform a largely vacant and underutilized area into a thriving new neighborhood."
Opponents, who have brought a suit saying the plan breaks anti-discrimination laws, plan to ask a judge today to issue an injunction to stop it.
The Council okayed the project, 36 to 10, Monday.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/12/22/2009-12-22_okay_given_to_triangle_plans.html
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Opponents had charged two politically connected groups got no-bid land giveaways from the city to develop apartments that will favor Hasidic families over blacks and Latinos.
Bloomberg said the Brooklyn plan will "transform a largely vacant and underutilized area into a thriving new neighborhood."
Opponents, who have brought a suit saying the plan breaks anti-discrimination laws, plan to ask a judge today to issue an injunction to stop it.
The Council okayed the project, 36 to 10, Monday.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/12/22/2009-12-22_okay_given_to_triangle_plans.html
0 comments
Monday, December 21, 2009
Rabbi Sentenced Two Years for Tax Fraud
The head of an Orthodox Jewish group was handed a two-year prison sentence today in Los Angeles for his part in what prosecutors said was a decade-long tax fraud and money laundering scheme.
The 61-year-old rabbi, Naftali Tzi Weisz, pleaded guilty last August to criminal conspiracy charges before U.S. District Judge John F. Walter.
"I'm embarrassed beyond words,'' Weisz told the judge. "My remorse is deep and heartfelt.''
Prosecutors said Weisz and other sect members helped donors avoid paying federal income taxes by having them make contributions to charitable groups run by Spinka, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Orthodox Jewish group led by the rabbi.
An assistant, Gabbai Moshe Zigelman, 62, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy and was also sentenced to a two-year federal prison term.
The operation, according to the government, had two goals: to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service and to further an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Although Weisz had faced up to five years in federal prison, Walter imposed the lesser penalty, determining that the rabbi did not undertake the fraud to enrich himself.
"I'm convinced he never took a penny for himself,'' the judge said.
Weisz, several associates and five charitable organizations associated with Spinka were indicted by a federal grand jury in late 2007.
According to court documents, Weisz and Zigelman secretly refunded up to 95 percent of the charitable contributions through several methods.
In some cases, the contributors received cash payments through an underground money transfer network involving various participants, some of whom owned businesses in downtown Los Angeles' jewelry district.
A second method involved wire transfers from Spinka-controlled entities into accounts secretly held at a bank in Israel, prosecutors said.
The accounts were established with the assistance of an international accounts manager at the bank, Joseph Roth, who previously pleaded guilty in the scheme, court documents show.
Roth, 66, of Tel Aviv, admitted helping contributors in the United States obtain loans from the Los Angeles branch of the Israeli bank that were secured by the funds in the secret bank accounts in Israel.
The contributors could then use the funds in the United States.
After their money was placed in the secret accounts at the Israeli bank, contributors also could hire Spinka to help secretly repatriate the money into the United States in exchange for an additional money laundering fee, according to the indictment.
In his plea agreement, Weisz admitted he learned from Zigelman that the Spinka charitable organizations had received $8,493,659 in 2006 and that Spinka had "profits'' of $744,596, after deducting the amounts paid back to the various contributors.
Prosecutors have said they are investigating more than 100 others who were contributors to Spinka organizations.
In sentencing one donor earlier this year, Walter rejected a bid for probation and imposed a six-month prison sentence, saying the crime reflected "arrogance'' and warning that other contributors who do not come forward to authorities could face "significantly higher'' sentences.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Rabbi-Sentenced-Two-Years-for--79839292.html
5 comments
The 61-year-old rabbi, Naftali Tzi Weisz, pleaded guilty last August to criminal conspiracy charges before U.S. District Judge John F. Walter.
"I'm embarrassed beyond words,'' Weisz told the judge. "My remorse is deep and heartfelt.''
Prosecutors said Weisz and other sect members helped donors avoid paying federal income taxes by having them make contributions to charitable groups run by Spinka, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Orthodox Jewish group led by the rabbi.
An assistant, Gabbai Moshe Zigelman, 62, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy and was also sentenced to a two-year federal prison term.
The operation, according to the government, had two goals: to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service and to further an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Although Weisz had faced up to five years in federal prison, Walter imposed the lesser penalty, determining that the rabbi did not undertake the fraud to enrich himself.
"I'm convinced he never took a penny for himself,'' the judge said.
Weisz, several associates and five charitable organizations associated with Spinka were indicted by a federal grand jury in late 2007.
According to court documents, Weisz and Zigelman secretly refunded up to 95 percent of the charitable contributions through several methods.
In some cases, the contributors received cash payments through an underground money transfer network involving various participants, some of whom owned businesses in downtown Los Angeles' jewelry district.
A second method involved wire transfers from Spinka-controlled entities into accounts secretly held at a bank in Israel, prosecutors said.
The accounts were established with the assistance of an international accounts manager at the bank, Joseph Roth, who previously pleaded guilty in the scheme, court documents show.
Roth, 66, of Tel Aviv, admitted helping contributors in the United States obtain loans from the Los Angeles branch of the Israeli bank that were secured by the funds in the secret bank accounts in Israel.
The contributors could then use the funds in the United States.
After their money was placed in the secret accounts at the Israeli bank, contributors also could hire Spinka to help secretly repatriate the money into the United States in exchange for an additional money laundering fee, according to the indictment.
In his plea agreement, Weisz admitted he learned from Zigelman that the Spinka charitable organizations had received $8,493,659 in 2006 and that Spinka had "profits'' of $744,596, after deducting the amounts paid back to the various contributors.
Prosecutors have said they are investigating more than 100 others who were contributors to Spinka organizations.
In sentencing one donor earlier this year, Walter rejected a bid for probation and imposed a six-month prison sentence, saying the crime reflected "arrogance'' and warning that other contributors who do not come forward to authorities could face "significantly higher'' sentences.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Rabbi-Sentenced-Two-Years-for--79839292.html
5 comments
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Mumps takes toll on NY
The largest U.S. outbreak of the mumps in several years is taking its toll on New York.
At least 152 people in the Rockland County towns of Monsey and New Square have been diagnosed with the highly infectious disease since the summer.
Scores more people have fallen ill in the village of Kiryas Joel in Orange County and hundreds are sick in Brooklyn.
Investigators have traced the U.S. outbreak to a Jewish summer camp in Sullivan County, and a boy who unknowingly carried the illness over from England.
Most of the people now being afflicted are in the state's tightly knit communities of Orthodox and Hasidic Jews.
Mumps is spread by coughing and sneezing.
Common symptoms include fever, headache and swollen salivary glands, but it can sometimes lead to more serious problems.
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=11704632
3 comments
At least 152 people in the Rockland County towns of Monsey and New Square have been diagnosed with the highly infectious disease since the summer.
Scores more people have fallen ill in the village of Kiryas Joel in Orange County and hundreds are sick in Brooklyn.
Investigators have traced the U.S. outbreak to a Jewish summer camp in Sullivan County, and a boy who unknowingly carried the illness over from England.
Most of the people now being afflicted are in the state's tightly knit communities of Orthodox and Hasidic Jews.
Mumps is spread by coughing and sneezing.
Common symptoms include fever, headache and swollen salivary glands, but it can sometimes lead to more serious problems.
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=11704632
3 comments
Too cold for nude protest, NYC bikers switch gears
Bicyclists who planned to go topless to protest the removal of a New York City bike lane have switched gears. Some pinned plastic breasts over their jackets as they rolled into a snowstorm.
Dozens of protesters biked through an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn on Saturday.
Bike messenger Heather Loop organized the event. She says the lane was removed because the neighborhood's Hasidic Jews "can't handle scantily clad women."
Some Hasids say the issue is not showing leg but rather a concern for safety for the children being dropped off by school buses.
The protesters planned to read through the streets without their tops, but wintry weather forced them to stay dressed.
The bikers' plastic tactics did not amuse faithful Hasids leaving synagogue services with their families on the Sabbath.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j-1O1hkUh8Vaa0bfEXUuGZHsKSJAD9CMN5680
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Dozens of protesters biked through an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn on Saturday.
Bike messenger Heather Loop organized the event. She says the lane was removed because the neighborhood's Hasidic Jews "can't handle scantily clad women."
Some Hasids say the issue is not showing leg but rather a concern for safety for the children being dropped off by school buses.
The protesters planned to read through the streets without their tops, but wintry weather forced them to stay dressed.
The bikers' plastic tactics did not amuse faithful Hasids leaving synagogue services with their families on the Sabbath.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j-1O1hkUh8Vaa0bfEXUuGZHsKSJAD9CMN5680
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Saturday, December 19, 2009
Bicyclists Strip Down to Protest Loss of Williamsburg Bike Lanes
Some brave Williamsburg bicyclists are scheduled to strip down and take to the streets in protest Saturday, despite snowy conditions.
The "Freedom Ride" is the latest retaliation by cyclists infuriated with the city's decision to remove a 14-block bike lane from Bedford Ave.
The bike lane was reportedly removed preceding the mayoral elections to appease the neighborhood's local Satmar Jewish population, who complained that scantily-clad Bedford bikers were an offensive sight to the Orthodox community.
Safety was also cited as a reason for the two-year old lane's removal, as residents say reckless cyclists routinely flew through traffic and around school buses, endangering pedestrians and people getting out of their cars.
Protest organizers have promised to wait until after sundown when the Sabbath is over to begin their brisk ride in the buff.
http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-naked-bike-protest,0,4828058.story
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The "Freedom Ride" is the latest retaliation by cyclists infuriated with the city's decision to remove a 14-block bike lane from Bedford Ave.
The bike lane was reportedly removed preceding the mayoral elections to appease the neighborhood's local Satmar Jewish population, who complained that scantily-clad Bedford bikers were an offensive sight to the Orthodox community.
Safety was also cited as a reason for the two-year old lane's removal, as residents say reckless cyclists routinely flew through traffic and around school buses, endangering pedestrians and people getting out of their cars.
Protest organizers have promised to wait until after sundown when the Sabbath is over to begin their brisk ride in the buff.
http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-naked-bike-protest,0,4828058.story
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Friday, December 18, 2009
Williamsburg's $26,000 Bike Lane to Nowhere
The on-again off-again bike lane in Williamsburg cost $11,000 to install and $15,000 to tear up. That's $26,000 of taxpayer money that isn't making bicyclists any safer.
The wasted money is probably doing very little to protect the sensibilities of those who object to the sight of scantily-clad cyclists -- as aggrieved riders plan a protest for Saturday that involves more skin that the usual December bike ride.
Cyclist Heather Loop and at least 50 other bikers plan to take to the former lane in their undies on Saturday and throw off their shirts in opposition to reports of religious leaders' political power play to have the bike lane removed, according to The Brooklyn Paper.
"If you can't handle scantily clad women … live in a place where you can have your own sanctuary, like upstate," Loop, 27, told the paper.
The bike lane was initially constructed in 2007, but it's been the subject of intense controversy in Williamsburg, a community cohabited by hipsters and Hasidim. Religious law forbids Hasidic members from seeing scantily clad women. And these scantily clad, Spandex-wearing women have been using the bike lane for over a year now.
In November, the bike lane was sandblasted away in what a source close to Mayor Michael Bloomberg says was, "an effort to appease the Hasidic community just before last month's election," according to The New York Post.
Frustrated that they'd be forced to use the bike lane on Kent instead of Bedford Avenue, vigilantes took it upon themselves to repaint the Bedford bike lane last week. Some even got arrested.
"A small portion of this lane is being removed as part of ongoing bike network adjustments in the area, which have included the recent addition of a barrier-protected connector lane on nearby Williamsburg Street and the completion of a unique, two-way protected lane on parallel Kent Avenue," Department of Transportation spokesman Seth Solomonow told NBCNewYork.com. "We will continue to work with any community on ways we can make changes to our streets without compromising safety."
The Hasidim in the community maintained the bike lane was removed for safety purposes, but most riders think that's not true.
"It was a political deal," cyclist Geoff Zink told the Brooklyn Paper. "The street is for everybody. [They] say the removal of the lane was for safety, but how does that make any sense? It's a bike lane."
While most protesters don't actually believe their efforts will make the city restore the lane, they believe it's important to stand up – and they're calling all cyclists to do the same.
"Get on your bike and ride – show the community that we do use and need all bike lanes," event organizer Barbara Ross told the Brooklyn Paper.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/The-26000-Bike-Lane-to-Nowhere-79535362.html
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The wasted money is probably doing very little to protect the sensibilities of those who object to the sight of scantily-clad cyclists -- as aggrieved riders plan a protest for Saturday that involves more skin that the usual December bike ride.
Cyclist Heather Loop and at least 50 other bikers plan to take to the former lane in their undies on Saturday and throw off their shirts in opposition to reports of religious leaders' political power play to have the bike lane removed, according to The Brooklyn Paper.
"If you can't handle scantily clad women … live in a place where you can have your own sanctuary, like upstate," Loop, 27, told the paper.
The bike lane was initially constructed in 2007, but it's been the subject of intense controversy in Williamsburg, a community cohabited by hipsters and Hasidim. Religious law forbids Hasidic members from seeing scantily clad women. And these scantily clad, Spandex-wearing women have been using the bike lane for over a year now.
In November, the bike lane was sandblasted away in what a source close to Mayor Michael Bloomberg says was, "an effort to appease the Hasidic community just before last month's election," according to The New York Post.
Frustrated that they'd be forced to use the bike lane on Kent instead of Bedford Avenue, vigilantes took it upon themselves to repaint the Bedford bike lane last week. Some even got arrested.
"A small portion of this lane is being removed as part of ongoing bike network adjustments in the area, which have included the recent addition of a barrier-protected connector lane on nearby Williamsburg Street and the completion of a unique, two-way protected lane on parallel Kent Avenue," Department of Transportation spokesman Seth Solomonow told NBCNewYork.com. "We will continue to work with any community on ways we can make changes to our streets without compromising safety."
The Hasidim in the community maintained the bike lane was removed for safety purposes, but most riders think that's not true.
"It was a political deal," cyclist Geoff Zink told the Brooklyn Paper. "The street is for everybody. [They] say the removal of the lane was for safety, but how does that make any sense? It's a bike lane."
While most protesters don't actually believe their efforts will make the city restore the lane, they believe it's important to stand up – and they're calling all cyclists to do the same.
"Get on your bike and ride – show the community that we do use and need all bike lanes," event organizer Barbara Ross told the Brooklyn Paper.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/The-26000-Bike-Lane-to-Nowhere-79535362.html
1 comments
Thursday, December 17, 2009
East Ramapo board to review hiring of lawyer
The East Ramapo school board voted Wednesday night to extend the contract for a Nyack-based law firm until Jan. 6, in effect delaying action on the board's controversial vote to hire attorney Albert D'Agostino.
The board met in a late executive session to discuss a request for proposal, which board President Nathan Rothschild said was missing when the board hired D'Agostino on Nov. 18. A request for proposal allows law firms to bid on a contract, providing the board members with a variety of choices before a final decision can be made.
After the executive session, Rothschild said the board requested a report from the district clerk about hiring regulations that the members will review "at some point in the very near future."
The hiring of D'Agostino, who is being investigated by state District Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for his alleged role in improperly accepting more than $600,000 in state pensions, was approved Nov. 18 in a 5-3 vote.
By appointing D'Agostino, the board was also dismissing the district's longtime attorney, Stephen Fromson, who has held the position for 33 years.
On Dec. 2, before a crowd of about 450 residents, the board announced the hiring of Feerick, Lynch and MacCartney, a Nyack-based firm, to counsel the board on D'Agostino's hiring. Also, a parent has asked the state education commissioner to reverse the hiring.
The same evening, the board announced that Fromson would continue to work on behalf of the district until the legality of D'Agostino's appointment could be decided.
After Wednesday's public session, the board voted 8-0 to renew the contract for Feerick, Lynch and MacCartney until the next regular board meeting, on Jan. 6.
Rothschild said the state education commissioner has denied the stay.
"I feel that it is inappropriate for us to even consider what to do next," Rothschild said.
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009912170400
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The board met in a late executive session to discuss a request for proposal, which board President Nathan Rothschild said was missing when the board hired D'Agostino on Nov. 18. A request for proposal allows law firms to bid on a contract, providing the board members with a variety of choices before a final decision can be made.
After the executive session, Rothschild said the board requested a report from the district clerk about hiring regulations that the members will review "at some point in the very near future."
The hiring of D'Agostino, who is being investigated by state District Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for his alleged role in improperly accepting more than $600,000 in state pensions, was approved Nov. 18 in a 5-3 vote.
By appointing D'Agostino, the board was also dismissing the district's longtime attorney, Stephen Fromson, who has held the position for 33 years.
On Dec. 2, before a crowd of about 450 residents, the board announced the hiring of Feerick, Lynch and MacCartney, a Nyack-based firm, to counsel the board on D'Agostino's hiring. Also, a parent has asked the state education commissioner to reverse the hiring.
The same evening, the board announced that Fromson would continue to work on behalf of the district until the legality of D'Agostino's appointment could be decided.
After Wednesday's public session, the board voted 8-0 to renew the contract for Feerick, Lynch and MacCartney until the next regular board meeting, on Jan. 6.
Rothschild said the state education commissioner has denied the stay.
"I feel that it is inappropriate for us to even consider what to do next," Rothschild said.
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009912170400
0 comments
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Israel Billionaire Leviev Mired in New York Property
Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev told a roomful of reporters in August at the beachside Tel Aviv Crowne Plaza hotel he owns that his Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. would seek to restructure about $2 billion of debt.
“Our biggest mistake was our investments in the U.S.,” said the diamond mogul turned real estate investor, who just two years earlier was ranked by the Israeli newspaper TheMarker as the country’s richest man. The revelation, in Leviev’s Russian- accented Hebrew, rocked Israel’s markets, sending its benchmark stock index to its biggest drop since June.
Leviev, 53, born in Soviet Uzbekistan, went from success to success in the decade before the credit crisis. He made his fortune as owner of the world’s largest cutter and polisher of diamonds before turning Africa-Israel into a multibillion-dollar company, with assets from Moscow to New York. He then bought landmark Manhattan properties with borrowed money just as the market reached its peak.
“He became, slowly, slowly, a very great believer in himself -- that everything he touched turned into a success and that everything he did had God’s blessing,” said Avi Nota, who in 2007 stepped down as chief executive officer of an Africa- Israel division that develops projects in central and eastern Europe. “When the crisis emerged, he was caught blindsided.”
Leviev, a member of the Chabad-Hasidic movement who travels with a band of bearded bodyguards, is now trying to reach an agreement with Africa-Israel’s creditors to avoid having to seek bankruptcy protection. Africa-Israel bonds make up about 0.6 percent of the total amount of pension savings that Israeli financial institutions manage, the Finance Ministry said in August.
His Own Money
A proposal presented to the court on Dec. 2 would cut Leviev’s stake to 53 percent from 75 percent and inject about $200 million of his own money into Yehud, Israel-based Africa- Israel. The company had filed with an Israeli court to hold an official assembly, in which bondholders would vote on the debt deal.
The biggest economic meltdown since the Great Depression has reduced demand for real estate, making it harder for Africa- Israel, which has reported a loss in five of the past six quarters, to cover debt payments.
Leviev was one of several Israeli investors in New York real estate during the boom years, including fellow billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva, whose holding company purchased the Plaza Hotel in 2004 for $675 million.
Africa-Israel made its highest-profile acquisitions just before the onset of the credit crunch in 2007. They included the former New York Times headquarters on Times Square for $525 million and Manhattan’s Clock Tower building for $200 million.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aAhFtCklnxJ0
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“Our biggest mistake was our investments in the U.S.,” said the diamond mogul turned real estate investor, who just two years earlier was ranked by the Israeli newspaper TheMarker as the country’s richest man. The revelation, in Leviev’s Russian- accented Hebrew, rocked Israel’s markets, sending its benchmark stock index to its biggest drop since June.
Leviev, 53, born in Soviet Uzbekistan, went from success to success in the decade before the credit crisis. He made his fortune as owner of the world’s largest cutter and polisher of diamonds before turning Africa-Israel into a multibillion-dollar company, with assets from Moscow to New York. He then bought landmark Manhattan properties with borrowed money just as the market reached its peak.
“He became, slowly, slowly, a very great believer in himself -- that everything he touched turned into a success and that everything he did had God’s blessing,” said Avi Nota, who in 2007 stepped down as chief executive officer of an Africa- Israel division that develops projects in central and eastern Europe. “When the crisis emerged, he was caught blindsided.”
Leviev, a member of the Chabad-Hasidic movement who travels with a band of bearded bodyguards, is now trying to reach an agreement with Africa-Israel’s creditors to avoid having to seek bankruptcy protection. Africa-Israel bonds make up about 0.6 percent of the total amount of pension savings that Israeli financial institutions manage, the Finance Ministry said in August.
His Own Money
A proposal presented to the court on Dec. 2 would cut Leviev’s stake to 53 percent from 75 percent and inject about $200 million of his own money into Yehud, Israel-based Africa- Israel. The company had filed with an Israeli court to hold an official assembly, in which bondholders would vote on the debt deal.
The biggest economic meltdown since the Great Depression has reduced demand for real estate, making it harder for Africa- Israel, which has reported a loss in five of the past six quarters, to cover debt payments.
Leviev was one of several Israeli investors in New York real estate during the boom years, including fellow billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva, whose holding company purchased the Plaza Hotel in 2004 for $675 million.
Africa-Israel made its highest-profile acquisitions just before the onset of the credit crunch in 2007. They included the former New York Times headquarters on Times Square for $525 million and Manhattan’s Clock Tower building for $200 million.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aAhFtCklnxJ0
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Moldovan Jews Undeterred
The Jewish community of Moldova appeared unfazed Monday night, several hours after the publication of a video showing an Orthodox priest and his followers smashing a Chanukkah menorah set up in the capital Chisinau, using hammers and iron bars. "It’s only politics and things will calm down," said Rabbi Zalman Abelsky, the manager of the Chabad kindergarten in the city. "This was only an attempt to create some noise."
Talking to Ynet, Abelsky added that "this is not a conventional thing, but one must understand that there is a lot of politics involved. There were elections here several months ago, and the parties still don't get along.
"The relations between the ruling party and the opposition parties are not good, and some of the Jews who were present in the candle lighting event belong to the previous party. This is the root of things here. They are creating provocations against each other."
The rabbi, who has been living in the eastern European country for many years, expressed his surprise over the incident and said that anti-Semitic phenomena in Moldova were not common.
"Ever since I've been in Moldova, nothing of the kind has happened. There is no anti-Semitism here. On the contrary, Moldova can set an example to the entire world on this issue, and suddenly something like this happens. The authorities here will make sure that this never happens again. We are continuing the holiday celebrations," he said.
Moldova's Jewish community includes some 12,000 members. About 66,000 Jews lived in Moldova some 20 years ago, but most of them immigrated to Israel.
Menorah replaced with cross
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) urged the government of Moldova and the leadership of the Orthodox Church to punish those responsible for uprooting the Hanukkah menorah.
“The Moldovan government and the Orthodox Church must punish the perpetrators of this despicable anti-Semitic crime and send a clear signal to Moldovan society and to the Jewish community that the government and the church will not tolerate anti-Semitism,” said ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman.
During the incident, the priest's followers held signs, chanted anti-Semitic slogans and clarified that they would not allow Jews "to control Moldova". They removed the menorah and replaced it with a cross.
The 1.5 meter (5-foot)-tall ceremonial candelabrum was retrieved, reinstalled and is now under police guard. Police said they were investigating but there was no official reaction from Moldova's Orthodox Church, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church and counts 70 percent of Moldovans as members.
The national government said in a statement that "hatred, intolerance and xenophobia" are unacceptable. Jewish leader Alexandr Bilinkis called on the Orthodox Church to take a position over the priest's actions.
http://www.chabad.info/index.php?url=article_en&id=16742
1 comments
Talking to Ynet, Abelsky added that "this is not a conventional thing, but one must understand that there is a lot of politics involved. There were elections here several months ago, and the parties still don't get along.
"The relations between the ruling party and the opposition parties are not good, and some of the Jews who were present in the candle lighting event belong to the previous party. This is the root of things here. They are creating provocations against each other."
The rabbi, who has been living in the eastern European country for many years, expressed his surprise over the incident and said that anti-Semitic phenomena in Moldova were not common.
"Ever since I've been in Moldova, nothing of the kind has happened. There is no anti-Semitism here. On the contrary, Moldova can set an example to the entire world on this issue, and suddenly something like this happens. The authorities here will make sure that this never happens again. We are continuing the holiday celebrations," he said.
Moldova's Jewish community includes some 12,000 members. About 66,000 Jews lived in Moldova some 20 years ago, but most of them immigrated to Israel.
Menorah replaced with cross
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) urged the government of Moldova and the leadership of the Orthodox Church to punish those responsible for uprooting the Hanukkah menorah.
“The Moldovan government and the Orthodox Church must punish the perpetrators of this despicable anti-Semitic crime and send a clear signal to Moldovan society and to the Jewish community that the government and the church will not tolerate anti-Semitism,” said ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman.
During the incident, the priest's followers held signs, chanted anti-Semitic slogans and clarified that they would not allow Jews "to control Moldova". They removed the menorah and replaced it with a cross.
The 1.5 meter (5-foot)-tall ceremonial candelabrum was retrieved, reinstalled and is now under police guard. Police said they were investigating but there was no official reaction from Moldova's Orthodox Church, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church and counts 70 percent of Moldovans as members.
The national government said in a statement that "hatred, intolerance and xenophobia" are unacceptable. Jewish leader Alexandr Bilinkis called on the Orthodox Church to take a position over the priest's actions.
http://www.chabad.info/index.php?url=article_en&id=16742
1 comments
Monday, December 14, 2009
Soggy protest over Bedford Avenue bike lane
Cops vastly outnumbered cyclists at yesterday’s “funeral procession” for the Bedford Avenue bike lane — and rain dampened activists’ enthusiasm for another attempt to repaint the late lamented cycle path.
All manner of NYPD vehicles rolled into place right on time at 2 pm, with officers outnumbering protesters by 15 to five on the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg Bridge — the meeting place for a ride and rally to urge the city to restore the 14-block lane between Flushing Avenue and Division Street that was removed two weeks ago and repainted by activists last week.
The few cyclists who showed up scoffed at the NYPD’s show of force — as detectives took photos from unmarked vehicles and traffic cops sat at the ready in full riot gear — though the rebellious repainting of the lane did lead to two arrests and one viral YouTube video.
Procession organizer Monica Hunker smiled as she dodged the question of whether the group would try to repaint the lane again. “You can’t really paint in the rain,” she said. “I think we’re all prepared to get arrested.” (There were none on the day, however.)
The suggestion of guerilla tactics was about as far as it got, unless you count a small impromptu dance party at Wallabout Street and Bedford Avenue, the end of their memorial route, and a few soggy protesters holding signs reading, “We love bike lanes.”
But the message was clear: bike lanes are safe and environmentally friendly, and their removal doesn’t remove riders. Most protesters had one theory or another on the nature of the loss.
“It was a political deal,” said rider Geoff Zink. “The street is for everybody. The [Hasidic community] say the removal of the lane was for safety, but how does that make any sense? It’s a bike lane.”
Even within the insular Hasidic community of South Williamsburg there are deep divisions. Some Hasidic leaders claim that cyclists slow down buses dropping off children at nearby religious schools, yet other Hasidim were said to have been involved in the repainting.
Few protesters believe that the city will restore the lane, so for now, they’re calling for a show of force.
“Get on your bike and ride — show the community that we do use and need all bike lanes,” said event organizer Barbara Ross.
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/50/32_50_ac_bedford_bike_lane_protest.html
0 comments
All manner of NYPD vehicles rolled into place right on time at 2 pm, with officers outnumbering protesters by 15 to five on the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg Bridge — the meeting place for a ride and rally to urge the city to restore the 14-block lane between Flushing Avenue and Division Street that was removed two weeks ago and repainted by activists last week.
The few cyclists who showed up scoffed at the NYPD’s show of force — as detectives took photos from unmarked vehicles and traffic cops sat at the ready in full riot gear — though the rebellious repainting of the lane did lead to two arrests and one viral YouTube video.
Procession organizer Monica Hunker smiled as she dodged the question of whether the group would try to repaint the lane again. “You can’t really paint in the rain,” she said. “I think we’re all prepared to get arrested.” (There were none on the day, however.)
The suggestion of guerilla tactics was about as far as it got, unless you count a small impromptu dance party at Wallabout Street and Bedford Avenue, the end of their memorial route, and a few soggy protesters holding signs reading, “We love bike lanes.”
But the message was clear: bike lanes are safe and environmentally friendly, and their removal doesn’t remove riders. Most protesters had one theory or another on the nature of the loss.
“It was a political deal,” said rider Geoff Zink. “The street is for everybody. The [Hasidic community] say the removal of the lane was for safety, but how does that make any sense? It’s a bike lane.”
Even within the insular Hasidic community of South Williamsburg there are deep divisions. Some Hasidic leaders claim that cyclists slow down buses dropping off children at nearby religious schools, yet other Hasidim were said to have been involved in the repainting.
Few protesters believe that the city will restore the lane, so for now, they’re calling for a show of force.
“Get on your bike and ride — show the community that we do use and need all bike lanes,” said event organizer Barbara Ross.
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/50/32_50_ac_bedford_bike_lane_protest.html
0 comments
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Nine-foot menorah lights up Main Street
Although the oil froze in the 23-degree weather, Rabbi Chaim Bruk was able to get the two candles on a 9-foot-tall steel menorah lit for the second night of Hanukkah.
“Maybe we’ll make our own holiday miracle tonight,” Bruk joked to the group who gathered to watch Saturday night’s menorah lighting in front of First Security Bank at Bozeman Avenue and Main Street.
This is the third year that Bruk, head of the Hasidic Jewish Chabad Lubavitch of Montana, has organized the event in celebration of the Jewish holiday, which commemorates the Maccabees’ recapture of the Jewish Temple from Syrian Greeks.
The eight-branched candelabra will be lit on each night of Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights.
“The celebration of Hanukkah is to illuminate the darkness of the world with as much light as possible, and there’s no better place to do that than Main Street,” Bruk said. “This menorah will stand for eight days proudly, to tell the world that no matter how dark it can be, there will always be light.”
Bozeman’s menorah is one of thousands worldwide, Bruk said, symbolizing religious freedom and the power of light over darkness.
After Saturday night, the candles will be replaced with electric bulbs, with a new one blinking on with each day of the holiday. Hanukkah began on Friday and lasts until Dec. 19.
Saturday’s celebration also represented a sense of community for those like Stephanie Greenbaum, whose family moved to Bozeman from New York three years ago.
“Coming from New York, where every other person was Jewish ... this is wonderful,” Greenbaum said. “It’s heartwarming. It’s family. It’s heritage.”
Ron Farmer, president of First Security Bank, was asked to light the center candle in appreciation of his hosting the menorah outside his business.
“I consider it an honor,” Farmer said. “We obviously celebrate a number of holidays at this time of year, why not be able to celebrate Hanukkah in front of the bank?”
In a speech, Mayor-elect Jeff Kraus referenced both the Main Street explosion and the reemergence of a white supremacist movement this fall as reasons why, perhaps more than years past, the public display of diversity was important.
“Given the year we just had, with the tragedy across the street and the darkness up the street, I can’t tell you how huge it is to have a menorah on Main Street,” he said. “It is our dedication to each other that binds our community.
“That is the triumph over the darkness,” Krauss said.
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2009/12/13/news/100menorah.txt
0 comments
“Maybe we’ll make our own holiday miracle tonight,” Bruk joked to the group who gathered to watch Saturday night’s menorah lighting in front of First Security Bank at Bozeman Avenue and Main Street.
This is the third year that Bruk, head of the Hasidic Jewish Chabad Lubavitch of Montana, has organized the event in celebration of the Jewish holiday, which commemorates the Maccabees’ recapture of the Jewish Temple from Syrian Greeks.
The eight-branched candelabra will be lit on each night of Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights.
“The celebration of Hanukkah is to illuminate the darkness of the world with as much light as possible, and there’s no better place to do that than Main Street,” Bruk said. “This menorah will stand for eight days proudly, to tell the world that no matter how dark it can be, there will always be light.”
Bozeman’s menorah is one of thousands worldwide, Bruk said, symbolizing religious freedom and the power of light over darkness.
After Saturday night, the candles will be replaced with electric bulbs, with a new one blinking on with each day of the holiday. Hanukkah began on Friday and lasts until Dec. 19.
Saturday’s celebration also represented a sense of community for those like Stephanie Greenbaum, whose family moved to Bozeman from New York three years ago.
“Coming from New York, where every other person was Jewish ... this is wonderful,” Greenbaum said. “It’s heartwarming. It’s family. It’s heritage.”
Ron Farmer, president of First Security Bank, was asked to light the center candle in appreciation of his hosting the menorah outside his business.
“I consider it an honor,” Farmer said. “We obviously celebrate a number of holidays at this time of year, why not be able to celebrate Hanukkah in front of the bank?”
In a speech, Mayor-elect Jeff Kraus referenced both the Main Street explosion and the reemergence of a white supremacist movement this fall as reasons why, perhaps more than years past, the public display of diversity was important.
“Given the year we just had, with the tragedy across the street and the darkness up the street, I can’t tell you how huge it is to have a menorah on Main Street,” he said. “It is our dedication to each other that binds our community.
“That is the triumph over the darkness,” Krauss said.
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2009/12/13/news/100menorah.txt
0 comments
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Snow removal ceases in Outremont for Sabbath
Snow removal operations will be put on hold Friday night in parts of Outremont to respect Hasidic Jews recognizing the Sabbath.
The Jewish Sabbath runs from sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday, and during that time, observant Jews are not allowed to perform any kind of work, including moving a car out of the way of snow plows.
As it has done for the past 20 years, snow crews will skip parts of Outremont on Friday and Saturday to accommodate the Hadisic residents, 25 per cent of Outremont's population.
Snow removal will also cease in Plateau Mont-Royal for the weekend as a cost-cutting measure.
Meanwhile, 25 per cent of snow removal operations have been completed following Wednesday's 28-centimentre dump, the City of Montreal confirmed Friday.
Some 3,000 employees are using 2200 pieces of equipment to clear streets in the city's 19 boroughs.
City officials are urging Montrealers to use public transit and take advantage of the 6,200 spaces in public parking lots, available from 6 p.m. ot 7 a.m. throughout the duration of the snow removal process.
http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20091211/mtl_snow_outremont_091211/20091211/?hub=MontrealHome
1 comments
The Jewish Sabbath runs from sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday, and during that time, observant Jews are not allowed to perform any kind of work, including moving a car out of the way of snow plows.
As it has done for the past 20 years, snow crews will skip parts of Outremont on Friday and Saturday to accommodate the Hadisic residents, 25 per cent of Outremont's population.
Snow removal will also cease in Plateau Mont-Royal for the weekend as a cost-cutting measure.
Meanwhile, 25 per cent of snow removal operations have been completed following Wednesday's 28-centimentre dump, the City of Montreal confirmed Friday.
Some 3,000 employees are using 2200 pieces of equipment to clear streets in the city's 19 boroughs.
City officials are urging Montrealers to use public transit and take advantage of the 6,200 spaces in public parking lots, available from 6 p.m. ot 7 a.m. throughout the duration of the snow removal process.
http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20091211/mtl_snow_outremont_091211/20091211/?hub=MontrealHome
1 comments
Friday, December 11, 2009
A freilichen Chanukah
Jewellery launched to lift spirits
It’s a story with a lot of sorrow, but a lot of heart and soul too.
Seven years after his brother was attacked and murdered in Toronto, Thornhill resident Shlomo Rosenzweig is on a mission to nurture the spirituality he believes is in each of us.
His recently launched website, ruspiritual.com, sells a series of sterling silver jewellery with the word “spirituality” engraved on each piece. The goal is to get people connecting with their inner selves, he says. The website also features an inspiring video with script and images that explores the idea of spirituality.
The website and jewellery is a tribute to his brother, David Rosenzweig, whose 2002 murder made international headlines. Partial proceeds of the jewellery sales will go towards the David Rosenzweig Fund for Victims of Terror, an organization that was formed after David’s death, along with other charities.
Rosenzweig is a practicing Hasidic Jew but says the website and its message are non-denominational. For him, spirituality can be as simple as appreciating the laughter of a baby or saying hello to a stranger on the street. It could be God, he says, but it could also be acts of kindness or simply being in awe of a beautiful sunset or sunrise.
http://www.vaughantoday.ca/story.php?id=2135
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Seven years after his brother was attacked and murdered in Toronto, Thornhill resident Shlomo Rosenzweig is on a mission to nurture the spirituality he believes is in each of us.
His recently launched website, ruspiritual.com, sells a series of sterling silver jewellery with the word “spirituality” engraved on each piece. The goal is to get people connecting with their inner selves, he says. The website also features an inspiring video with script and images that explores the idea of spirituality.
The website and jewellery is a tribute to his brother, David Rosenzweig, whose 2002 murder made international headlines. Partial proceeds of the jewellery sales will go towards the David Rosenzweig Fund for Victims of Terror, an organization that was formed after David’s death, along with other charities.
Rosenzweig is a practicing Hasidic Jew but says the website and its message are non-denominational. For him, spirituality can be as simple as appreciating the laughter of a baby or saying hello to a stranger on the street. It could be God, he says, but it could also be acts of kindness or simply being in awe of a beautiful sunset or sunrise.
http://www.vaughantoday.ca/story.php?id=2135
0 comments
A place to call their own
Hasidic Jews concentrated in the Outremont and Mile End areas are facing a housing crisis.
The combination of large families and rising real-estate prices is behind what Meyer Feig, director of the Jewish Orthodox Council for Community Relations, calls a "desperate" situation.
Initial plans to participate in a major housing development in western Laval, in an arrangement with a private developer, Construction Betaplex, have fallen through, however.
In a full-page ad in the Heimish News, a brochure targeting the Hasidic and Orthodox communities in Outremont and Mile End, Feig said that project was designed for an initial 75 homes, with future expansion for up to 1,000 families.
Since he is well connected with these communities, Feig agreed to act as a sales representative for Betaplex.
"Housing is expensive in this neighbourhood. The community is growing, and it's not affordable for our large families," Feig said yesterday.
A synagogue and a mikvah, or ritual bath, were to be features of the Laval project, even in its initial phase.
The community is still looking for housing alternatives because the basic problems remains, Feig said.
Followers of the Belz, Satmer, Wiznitz, Skver and other rabbinic traditions are concentrated in the area bounded by Outremont Ave., Van Horne Ave., Jeanne Mance St. and Fairmount Ave.
The Hasidic population there is increasing. It totalled 4,700 in 2002 and, based on the large families most of its followers have, demographer Charles Shahar of Federation CJA estimated it at about 6,000 people now.
His analysis of the 2001 census shows the three areas with the highest gains in Jewish population in the Montreal region from 1991 to 2001 were Outremont (20.7 per cent), Park Ave./Park Extension (19.1 per cent) and the rest of the Montreal metropolitan area (17.1 per cent), which includes the 3,000-member Tosh Hasidic community of Boisbriand.
Shahar also found that Outremont, with a median age of 18.1, and Park Ave./Park Extension, with a median age of 21.2 years, were by far the youngest Jewish communities in Canada.
Combined with the demographic challenge is the area's high and rising price of real estate: a standard two-storey house in Outremont was selling for $450,000 and a typical condominium unit was priced at $330,000 this summer, according to the latest Royal LePage survey.
As a result, Feig said, young Hasidic Jews seek "affordable options, off-island or on the island. And it doesn't have to be new housing."
"Our community, thank God, is multiplying, and there is not enough room here to accommodate everybody.
"Outremont and the Plateau (Mont Royal) are lovely, but we don't expect prices to come down and we just can't afford it."
Moving to Boisbriand is not an option, Feig said, because the Tosh Hasidism who live there follow "extreme ultra Orthodox, with very strict rules," compared with the Hasidic residents of Outremont and Mile End.
"They have their own private community. It's one sect in particular and you would have to adhere to their rules," he said.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/money/place+call+their/2328614/story.html
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Thursday, December 10, 2009
Yeshiva fight ends in one minor conviction
A jury acquitted five of six Orthodox Jews charged in a wild fracas - but found one guilty Wednesday of a simple misdemeanor. All were facing as much as 15 years each on gang assault charges when their trial began five weeks ago.
The brouhaha erupted inside a yeshiva when students from two different sects began battling over a bed in the dorm room. The sects have had a long-running argument over who they believe is the true messiah.
Brooklyn jurors found one member of the local Shomrim guard group guilty of a single misdemeanor.
"It was all a big waste of time," said Nechemia Slatter, one of the so-called "Shomrim six" acquitted in the Dec. 29, 2007 dustup.
"It's the district attorney's money," said lawyer Joyce David, whose client, Chaim Hershkop, was also acquitted. "A lot of resources for nothing."
Many of the charges, including felony gang assault, were dismissed by Justice Albert Tomei before jurors began deliberating. Jurors took five hours to find all but Godi Hershkop not guilty.
The case, which began when two groups in an Eastern Parkway yeshiva began fighting, revealed divides in the community over whether the late Rabbi Menachem Schneerson is the messiah.
It also put Shomrim, criticized by some as too aggressive, on trial. All six vowed to stay with the group.
Hershkop, 37, faces as much as a year in prison but defense lawyer Israel Fried, noting that his client will probably lose school bus driver job from the conviction, said he'll probably not get any jail.
"Community service?" Fried asked, "He's already doing community service: he's Shomrim."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/12/10/2009-12-10_yeshiva_fight_ends_in_1_minor_conviction.html
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The brouhaha erupted inside a yeshiva when students from two different sects began battling over a bed in the dorm room. The sects have had a long-running argument over who they believe is the true messiah.
Brooklyn jurors found one member of the local Shomrim guard group guilty of a single misdemeanor.
"It was all a big waste of time," said Nechemia Slatter, one of the so-called "Shomrim six" acquitted in the Dec. 29, 2007 dustup.
"It's the district attorney's money," said lawyer Joyce David, whose client, Chaim Hershkop, was also acquitted. "A lot of resources for nothing."
Many of the charges, including felony gang assault, were dismissed by Justice Albert Tomei before jurors began deliberating. Jurors took five hours to find all but Godi Hershkop not guilty.
The case, which began when two groups in an Eastern Parkway yeshiva began fighting, revealed divides in the community over whether the late Rabbi Menachem Schneerson is the messiah.
It also put Shomrim, criticized by some as too aggressive, on trial. All six vowed to stay with the group.
Hershkop, 37, faces as much as a year in prison but defense lawyer Israel Fried, noting that his client will probably lose school bus driver job from the conviction, said he'll probably not get any jail.
"Community service?" Fried asked, "He's already doing community service: he's Shomrim."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/12/10/2009-12-10_yeshiva_fight_ends_in_1_minor_conviction.html
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War of the Roses: Satmar sect split seeps into zoning showdown
Borough President Marty Markowitz found himself in the middle of a simmering feud between the leaders of two rival Hasidic factions over a troubled Williamsburg waterfront development project this week.
After failing to receive a positive recommendation from Community Board 1 on December 1, representatives of the building applicant made their pitch on Monday to rezone 3.7 acres of the Williamsburg waterfront off Kent and Division avenues to make way for a three-tower, 800-unit mixed use building, known as Rose Plaza, with a promenade down South 11th Street. This time the audience was Markowitz, who tartly dismissed ancillary arguments regarding the political context and history behind the development.
“Your dirty laundry should not be aired in public,” said Markowitz during the December 7 hearing at Borough Hall. “To the outside world, you are one. Ninety percent of Brooklyn does not know what you’re talking about. You guys, someday I pray, you will have to work things out. Happy Hanukkah.”
The building is owned by Certified Lumber’s Isack Rosenberg, a longtime Williamsburg businessman who has developed several projects in South Williamsburg.
Rosenberg is an honorary president of UJCARE, a Williamsburg social services organization that has increasingly competed with the United Jewish Organizations, a 43-year-old Williamsburg-based nonprofit and services provider, for resources and political allies.
Both organizations serve primarily members of the Satmar community, Williamsburg’s largest Hasidic sect, which remains bitterly divided from a 2006 schism, the result of a power struggle between the two surviving heirs of the late-Rebbe Moses Teitelbaum.
This past year, UJO and UJCARE were on opposite sides of two City Council campaigns and Brooklyn’s largest city-owned rezoning project, the Broadway Triangle, in which the UJO is an applicant.
With the Council’s Land Use Committee’s passage of the Broadway Triangle earlier that day on December 7, the fight over property development in South Williamsburg shifted towards the Rose Plaza project.
During the hearing, UJO Executive Director and CB1 member Rabbi David Niederman reiterated his disapproval of the project, citing the community board’s negative recommendation, which passed by an overwhelming margin, and concerns over paucity of three- and four-bedroom units, of which there are only eight.
“Few people living in the community over there will be able to afford this building,” said Niederman. “Unless the communities are being addressed, this project will not go forward.”
Rabbi Leib Glanz, Executive Vice President for UJCARE, however, contrasted the project with the Broadway Triangle, which will ultimately receive public funds for development, in his arguments for Rose Plaza project.
“I am a great supporter of affordable housing,” said Glanz. “It seems to be a double standard. This is private funding for affordable housing and these are people who are willing to give back to the community.”
Regarding affordable housing, Markowitz challenged Howard Weiss, a representative of Rose Plaza LLC, to raise the level of affordable housing above the 20 percent minimum.Weiss, however, argued that a higher level of affordable housing units could endanger the profitability of the project.
“There is no other waterfront project developed on private land that is required to provide more than 20 percent affordable housing,” said Weiss.
Markowitz has 60 days to review the project and make his recommendation before the City Planning Commission will take it up. Rosenberg’s allies believe the reception at the CPC will be more favorable towards the development, though the squabbling within the Satmar sect lingers.
“There are two sides of the (Satmar Hasidic) community and that’s the reason we’re here tonight,” said Moishe Indig a Williamsburg resident and spokesperson of Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, one of the heirs to Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum. “It’s unfortunate to say it in public, but its something that we have to take into consideration.”
http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2009/12/10/brooklyn/courier_frontpage_martyrose.txt
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After failing to receive a positive recommendation from Community Board 1 on December 1, representatives of the building applicant made their pitch on Monday to rezone 3.7 acres of the Williamsburg waterfront off Kent and Division avenues to make way for a three-tower, 800-unit mixed use building, known as Rose Plaza, with a promenade down South 11th Street. This time the audience was Markowitz, who tartly dismissed ancillary arguments regarding the political context and history behind the development.
“Your dirty laundry should not be aired in public,” said Markowitz during the December 7 hearing at Borough Hall. “To the outside world, you are one. Ninety percent of Brooklyn does not know what you’re talking about. You guys, someday I pray, you will have to work things out. Happy Hanukkah.”
The building is owned by Certified Lumber’s Isack Rosenberg, a longtime Williamsburg businessman who has developed several projects in South Williamsburg.
Rosenberg is an honorary president of UJCARE, a Williamsburg social services organization that has increasingly competed with the United Jewish Organizations, a 43-year-old Williamsburg-based nonprofit and services provider, for resources and political allies.
Both organizations serve primarily members of the Satmar community, Williamsburg’s largest Hasidic sect, which remains bitterly divided from a 2006 schism, the result of a power struggle between the two surviving heirs of the late-Rebbe Moses Teitelbaum.
This past year, UJO and UJCARE were on opposite sides of two City Council campaigns and Brooklyn’s largest city-owned rezoning project, the Broadway Triangle, in which the UJO is an applicant.
With the Council’s Land Use Committee’s passage of the Broadway Triangle earlier that day on December 7, the fight over property development in South Williamsburg shifted towards the Rose Plaza project.
During the hearing, UJO Executive Director and CB1 member Rabbi David Niederman reiterated his disapproval of the project, citing the community board’s negative recommendation, which passed by an overwhelming margin, and concerns over paucity of three- and four-bedroom units, of which there are only eight.
“Few people living in the community over there will be able to afford this building,” said Niederman. “Unless the communities are being addressed, this project will not go forward.”
Rabbi Leib Glanz, Executive Vice President for UJCARE, however, contrasted the project with the Broadway Triangle, which will ultimately receive public funds for development, in his arguments for Rose Plaza project.
“I am a great supporter of affordable housing,” said Glanz. “It seems to be a double standard. This is private funding for affordable housing and these are people who are willing to give back to the community.”
Regarding affordable housing, Markowitz challenged Howard Weiss, a representative of Rose Plaza LLC, to raise the level of affordable housing above the 20 percent minimum.Weiss, however, argued that a higher level of affordable housing units could endanger the profitability of the project.
“There is no other waterfront project developed on private land that is required to provide more than 20 percent affordable housing,” said Weiss.
Markowitz has 60 days to review the project and make his recommendation before the City Planning Commission will take it up. Rosenberg’s allies believe the reception at the CPC will be more favorable towards the development, though the squabbling within the Satmar sect lingers.
“There are two sides of the (Satmar Hasidic) community and that’s the reason we’re here tonight,” said Moishe Indig a Williamsburg resident and spokesperson of Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, one of the heirs to Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum. “It’s unfortunate to say it in public, but its something that we have to take into consideration.”
http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2009/12/10/brooklyn/courier_frontpage_martyrose.txt
0 comments
Spring Valley mayor hires East Ramapo trustee as assistant
An East Ramapo school board trustee who was a target of community anger after supporting the firing of the district's longtime attorney has been hired as an administrative assistant by Spring Valley's new mayor.
Aron Wieder, the school board's vice president, was appointed to the $45,000-a-year post Monday by Mayor Noramie Jasmin.
Late last month, Wieder, along with several members of a board voting bloc representative of the Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities, were at the center of a community backlash after voting to fire Stephen Fromson, the district's lawyer for the past 33 years.
By majority vote, the board selected Albert D'Agostino, an attorney embroiled in a controversy over $600,000 in state pensions, currently being investigated by state District Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, to replace Fromson.
That D'Agostino would have cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional fees drove more than 550 people to attend a school board public session.
Last week, the board announced that Fromson would continue his work for the district and that a special counsel would be contracted for 15 days to advise board members until the legality of the vote to hire D'Agostino could be decided at the coming board meeting Wednesday.
Steven White, a Spring Valley resident who filed a petition to the state commissioner of education requesting a reversal of the decision to hire D'Agostino, called Jasmin's move to hire Wieder "unusual" and questioned Wieder's professional background and qualifications.
"This sounds like a purely political appointment," he said.
Jasmin said she was not sure who held the administrative position prior to Wieder and that the post required someone who was "academically fit."
"He will assist me in tackling some daily activities that are going on in the village," she said, adding that Wieder would be a "floater" who would assist in several day-to-day activities in her office.
Jasmin would not comment on Wieder's actions as vice president of the school board.
Wieder declined comment about his past employment experience and administrative qualifications.
"I'm looking forward to working under Mayor Jasmin to enhance the village of Spring Valley to its fullest potential," he said via an e-mail Tuesday.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091210/NEWS03/912100413/-1/SPORTS/Spring-Valley-mayor-hires-East-Ramapo-trustee-as-assistant
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Aron Wieder, the school board's vice president, was appointed to the $45,000-a-year post Monday by Mayor Noramie Jasmin.
Late last month, Wieder, along with several members of a board voting bloc representative of the Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities, were at the center of a community backlash after voting to fire Stephen Fromson, the district's lawyer for the past 33 years.
By majority vote, the board selected Albert D'Agostino, an attorney embroiled in a controversy over $600,000 in state pensions, currently being investigated by state District Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, to replace Fromson.
That D'Agostino would have cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional fees drove more than 550 people to attend a school board public session.
Last week, the board announced that Fromson would continue his work for the district and that a special counsel would be contracted for 15 days to advise board members until the legality of the vote to hire D'Agostino could be decided at the coming board meeting Wednesday.
Steven White, a Spring Valley resident who filed a petition to the state commissioner of education requesting a reversal of the decision to hire D'Agostino, called Jasmin's move to hire Wieder "unusual" and questioned Wieder's professional background and qualifications.
"This sounds like a purely political appointment," he said.
Jasmin said she was not sure who held the administrative position prior to Wieder and that the post required someone who was "academically fit."
"He will assist me in tackling some daily activities that are going on in the village," she said, adding that Wieder would be a "floater" who would assist in several day-to-day activities in her office.
Jasmin would not comment on Wieder's actions as vice president of the school board.
Wieder declined comment about his past employment experience and administrative qualifications.
"I'm looking forward to working under Mayor Jasmin to enhance the village of Spring Valley to its fullest potential," he said via an e-mail Tuesday.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091210/NEWS03/912100413/-1/SPORTS/Spring-Valley-mayor-hires-East-Ramapo-trustee-as-assistant
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Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Bikers in the spokey
Police yesterday busted two of the hipster Brooklyn cyclists who repainted whole sections of Williamsburg bike lanes the city had just removed at the request of the neighborhood's Hasidic community.
Quinn Hechtropf, 26 and Katherine Piccochi, 24 -- who surrendered hours after posting a video of the guerilla public-works operation on YouTube -- allegedly used paint rollers and stencils to recreate all the markings that had been sandblasted away.
"We're self-hating Jewish hipsters," Hechtropf joked last night as the two walked out of the 90th Precinct with desk-appearance tickets.
"They handcuffed us," Piccochi complained.
Both were hit with criminal-mischief charges as well as a violation for defacing the street.
The neighborhood patrol Shomrim grabbed Hechtropf and Piccochi in the incident at 3:30 a.m. Monday. Cops took their names but at the time did not arrest them.
"The cops told them they wouldn't get arrested, but the police must have come under pressure by the Hasidim," said Baruch Herzfeld, the unofficial spokesman for the pro-bike-lane group.
Detectives asked them to come in to the precinct and they did, accompanied by a lawyer.
Cyclists have decried the removal of the bike lanes, but many Hasidic residents had complained that all the bikers whizzing by posed both safety and spiritual risks to the community.
Many of the hipster cyclists wear too little clothing for the Hasids, who are not supposed to stare at members of the opposite sex and wanted the enticement removed.
Herzfeld contends the activists were comprised of both Hasidic and hipster riders unhappy with the removal of the 14-block bike lane. On the video, the team is shown repainting the lanes with rollers as a pulsating rhythm plays in the background. They used a stencil and spray paint to recreate a bicyclist icon on the roadbed at Bedford Avenue and Williamsburg Street.
The group's message appears in white text on a black background:
"We are New York City bicyclists and our message is clear. Don't take away our bike lanes. We use this stretch of Bedford Avenue because it is a direct route to the Williamsburg Bridge.
"We will continue to use it whether or not there is a bike lane here, but not having one puts us at greater risk from cars."
The statement says the group will restore the lane markings if they're removed again.
And the city Transportation Department said it will remove any unauthorized markings.
Hasidic residents complain they are being portrayed as the enemy, when it is the cyclists who are breaking the law.
"That unauthorized painting on New York City property is unlawful, but that is overlooked because it's committed against the terrible Hasidim," Moshe Goldberger said.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/cops_haul_in_burg_lane_painters_3ozCy3Q2TI2wUska9wvBnM
1 comments
Quinn Hechtropf, 26 and Katherine Piccochi, 24 -- who surrendered hours after posting a video of the guerilla public-works operation on YouTube -- allegedly used paint rollers and stencils to recreate all the markings that had been sandblasted away.
"We're self-hating Jewish hipsters," Hechtropf joked last night as the two walked out of the 90th Precinct with desk-appearance tickets.
"They handcuffed us," Piccochi complained.
Both were hit with criminal-mischief charges as well as a violation for defacing the street.
The neighborhood patrol Shomrim grabbed Hechtropf and Piccochi in the incident at 3:30 a.m. Monday. Cops took their names but at the time did not arrest them.
"The cops told them they wouldn't get arrested, but the police must have come under pressure by the Hasidim," said Baruch Herzfeld, the unofficial spokesman for the pro-bike-lane group.
Detectives asked them to come in to the precinct and they did, accompanied by a lawyer.
Cyclists have decried the removal of the bike lanes, but many Hasidic residents had complained that all the bikers whizzing by posed both safety and spiritual risks to the community.
Many of the hipster cyclists wear too little clothing for the Hasids, who are not supposed to stare at members of the opposite sex and wanted the enticement removed.
Herzfeld contends the activists were comprised of both Hasidic and hipster riders unhappy with the removal of the 14-block bike lane. On the video, the team is shown repainting the lanes with rollers as a pulsating rhythm plays in the background. They used a stencil and spray paint to recreate a bicyclist icon on the roadbed at Bedford Avenue and Williamsburg Street.
The group's message appears in white text on a black background:
"We are New York City bicyclists and our message is clear. Don't take away our bike lanes. We use this stretch of Bedford Avenue because it is a direct route to the Williamsburg Bridge.
"We will continue to use it whether or not there is a bike lane here, but not having one puts us at greater risk from cars."
The statement says the group will restore the lane markings if they're removed again.
And the city Transportation Department said it will remove any unauthorized markings.
Hasidic residents complain they are being portrayed as the enemy, when it is the cyclists who are breaking the law.
"That unauthorized painting on New York City property is unlawful, but that is overlooked because it's committed against the terrible Hasidim," Moshe Goldberger said.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/cops_haul_in_burg_lane_painters_3ozCy3Q2TI2wUska9wvBnM
1 comments
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Rezoning of Brooklyn’s Broadway Triangle Advances
The contested plan to rezone the 31-acre sliver of Brooklyn known as the Broadway Triangle completed another station of the Ulurp cross this morning when the City Council’s Land Use Committee voted to modify the plan and send it on to the Department of City Planning.
The Land Use Committee’s 12-to-6 vote followed a 3-to-0 vote earlier Monday by its Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions and Concessions. The planning department now has 15 days to certify the plan and send it back to the Council.
The modifications approved Monday are minor and call for the city to give a preference for open public space in proposals for city-owned lots in the southern part of the Triangle, said Councilman Daniel R. Garodnick of Manhattan, chairman of the subcommittee.
The rezoning plan — part of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, known as Ulurp — would allow up to 1,851 units of housing to be built in the Triangle, a partly city-owned area in a long-neglected corner of the borough where Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick meet that is now zoned for industrial use. If all 1,851 units were built, 844 of them would have to be moderately priced; critics of the plan say it is likely to have far fewer such apartments.
The plan has also been criticized for the city’s decision to grant early rights to develop city-owned sites in the Triangle to two nonprofit groups, the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, which represents part of the fast-growing Hasidic population, and the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a group founded by Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez, who is also the Brooklyn Democratic chairman, without competitive bids.
In another attack on the plan, a lawsuit filed in September charges that it discriminates in favor of Hasidic Jews by including too many three- and four-bedroom apartments. Hasidic families tend to have large numbers of children.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/rezoning-of-brooklyns-broadway-triangle-advances/
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The Land Use Committee’s 12-to-6 vote followed a 3-to-0 vote earlier Monday by its Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions and Concessions. The planning department now has 15 days to certify the plan and send it back to the Council.
The modifications approved Monday are minor and call for the city to give a preference for open public space in proposals for city-owned lots in the southern part of the Triangle, said Councilman Daniel R. Garodnick of Manhattan, chairman of the subcommittee.
The rezoning plan — part of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, known as Ulurp — would allow up to 1,851 units of housing to be built in the Triangle, a partly city-owned area in a long-neglected corner of the borough where Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick meet that is now zoned for industrial use. If all 1,851 units were built, 844 of them would have to be moderately priced; critics of the plan say it is likely to have far fewer such apartments.
The plan has also been criticized for the city’s decision to grant early rights to develop city-owned sites in the Triangle to two nonprofit groups, the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, which represents part of the fast-growing Hasidic population, and the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a group founded by Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez, who is also the Brooklyn Democratic chairman, without competitive bids.
In another attack on the plan, a lawsuit filed in September charges that it discriminates in favor of Hasidic Jews by including too many three- and four-bedroom apartments. Hasidic families tend to have large numbers of children.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/rezoning-of-brooklyns-broadway-triangle-advances/
0 comments
Monday, December 07, 2009
Ramapo's Orthodox cop put on leave
Ramapo's first Orthodox Jewish police officer has had her badge and gun confiscated and been placed on administrative leave pending an evaluation of whether she will remain an officer after her probationary period ends in February.
Police Chief Peter Brower ordered Officer Baile Glauber on Nov. 22 not to come to work again until Ramapo officials decided if she will be permanent ly hired.
The department sent officers to her Spring Valley home to take away her badge and gun, a police union official said. If she wants to come to police headquarters, she must go through the public entrance to the front desk.
Brower said Friday that his policy is not to comment on personnel matters. Brower would make a recommendation to the Police Commission on Glauber's future for a decision in January. Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and the four Town Board members act as the Police Commission.
Ramapo Town Attorney Michael Klein said he also couldn't comment on Glauber's status.
"I can say she's still employed by the Ramapo Police Department, she was on limited duty because of an injury, and she's still getting salary," Klein said.
Ramapo police union president, Officer Dennis Procter, said the police chief used his authority to place Glauber on administrative leave, and the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association would represent Glauber.
Procter said he wasn't aware of the chief's reasoning for his decision. He said when dealing with a probationary officer, the PBA cannot do much because of the officer's nonpermanent status.
Glauber has filed a federal labor complaint against the town and some fellow officers accusing them of discriminating against her because of her religious beliefs.
Procter said town officials investigated her accusations, including interviewing the officers, and found no grounds to support her contentions that she was mistreated by her colleagues.
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009912070341
1 comments
Police Chief Peter Brower ordered Officer Baile Glauber on Nov. 22 not to come to work again until Ramapo officials decided if she will be permanent ly hired.
The department sent officers to her Spring Valley home to take away her badge and gun, a police union official said. If she wants to come to police headquarters, she must go through the public entrance to the front desk.
Brower said Friday that his policy is not to comment on personnel matters. Brower would make a recommendation to the Police Commission on Glauber's future for a decision in January. Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and the four Town Board members act as the Police Commission.
Ramapo Town Attorney Michael Klein said he also couldn't comment on Glauber's status.
"I can say she's still employed by the Ramapo Police Department, she was on limited duty because of an injury, and she's still getting salary," Klein said.
Ramapo police union president, Officer Dennis Procter, said the police chief used his authority to place Glauber on administrative leave, and the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association would represent Glauber.
Procter said he wasn't aware of the chief's reasoning for his decision. He said when dealing with a probationary officer, the PBA cannot do much because of the officer's nonpermanent status.
Glauber has filed a federal labor complaint against the town and some fellow officers accusing them of discriminating against her because of her religious beliefs.
Procter said town officials investigated her accusations, including interviewing the officers, and found no grounds to support her contentions that she was mistreated by her colleagues.
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009912070341
1 comments
Sunday, December 06, 2009
In fallout of fraud sting, IRS joins hunt
It was only a matter of time before the IRS began looking at the master informant behind a massive money laundering and corruption sting that led to the arrests of dozens of elected officials, rabbis and political operatives in July.
The tax inquiry, however, could also be a ticking bomb for anyone else who gave money and expected kickbacks from the religious institutions and schools at the focus of the ongoing criminal probe.
Solomon Dwek, 37, agreed to serve as an informant after authorities accused him of a $50 million bank fraud. He pleaded guilty in October to federal and state criminal charges. According to court filings, the Internal Revenue Service, in a civil proceeding, is now looking closely at the financial details behind Dwek's fraudulent transactions -- and also at the millions of dollars in contributions Dwek made to the Deal Yeshiva, a school where he once served as vice president.
The tax probe could have much further repercussions if others contributed money to the charities involved in the case and subsequently received kickbacks, as Dwek did as part of the sting.
There is precedent for thinking that, as intense as the focus has been on the politics side of the scandal, the effect on the religion side could become just as far-reaching.
In Los Angeles, more than 100 contributors to a Hasidic Jewish sect in Brooklyn are being investigated by the U.S Attorney for the Central District of California in connection with the same kind of kickbacks spelled out in the New Jersey cases.
While no one has yet been targeted in New Jersey, records from several institutions tied to the case have already been seized by the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey. Officials would not say if the investigation is being expanded to look at contributors.
Dwek's bankruptcy attorney did not return calls for comment, and IRS officials declined to discuss the matter. But in sworn statements, Dwek, a one-time real estate developer, acknowledged his individual tax returns for 2005 and 2006 were being audited in connection with two $25 million checks he wrote out of a closed PNC Bank account in an effort to cover a loan he had obtained fraudulently from HSBC Bank.
"I believe they came in talking about the PNC check wondering if the income -- the money, let's say the $20 million that went from PNC to pay HSBC -- is taxable," stated Dwek.
Dwek had been involved in a far-reaching real estate Ponzi scheme, obtaining millions in loans and financing for dozens of properties that did not exist. The scheme collapsed after HSBC Bank belatedly conducted a title search and discovered it did not own the mortgages on properties it believed it was financing in Neptune on behalf of Dwek.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-15/126005370862810.xml&coll=1
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The tax inquiry, however, could also be a ticking bomb for anyone else who gave money and expected kickbacks from the religious institutions and schools at the focus of the ongoing criminal probe.
Solomon Dwek, 37, agreed to serve as an informant after authorities accused him of a $50 million bank fraud. He pleaded guilty in October to federal and state criminal charges. According to court filings, the Internal Revenue Service, in a civil proceeding, is now looking closely at the financial details behind Dwek's fraudulent transactions -- and also at the millions of dollars in contributions Dwek made to the Deal Yeshiva, a school where he once served as vice president.
The tax probe could have much further repercussions if others contributed money to the charities involved in the case and subsequently received kickbacks, as Dwek did as part of the sting.
There is precedent for thinking that, as intense as the focus has been on the politics side of the scandal, the effect on the religion side could become just as far-reaching.
In Los Angeles, more than 100 contributors to a Hasidic Jewish sect in Brooklyn are being investigated by the U.S Attorney for the Central District of California in connection with the same kind of kickbacks spelled out in the New Jersey cases.
While no one has yet been targeted in New Jersey, records from several institutions tied to the case have already been seized by the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey. Officials would not say if the investigation is being expanded to look at contributors.
Dwek's bankruptcy attorney did not return calls for comment, and IRS officials declined to discuss the matter. But in sworn statements, Dwek, a one-time real estate developer, acknowledged his individual tax returns for 2005 and 2006 were being audited in connection with two $25 million checks he wrote out of a closed PNC Bank account in an effort to cover a loan he had obtained fraudulently from HSBC Bank.
"I believe they came in talking about the PNC check wondering if the income -- the money, let's say the $20 million that went from PNC to pay HSBC -- is taxable," stated Dwek.
Dwek had been involved in a far-reaching real estate Ponzi scheme, obtaining millions in loans and financing for dozens of properties that did not exist. The scheme collapsed after HSBC Bank belatedly conducted a title search and discovered it did not own the mortgages on properties it believed it was financing in Neptune on behalf of Dwek.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-15/126005370862810.xml&coll=1
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Saturday, December 05, 2009
Where Prosperity Breeds Proximity
MANY blocks in Midwood, with its rows of orderly detached homes and private driveways, give the feeling of a carefully planned suburb — a serene surprise after turning off a thoroughfare like Coney Island Avenue or Ocean Parkway.
But closer inspection reveals that the landscape has, in fact, been altered: on virtually every block, at least one or two homes have been significantly expanded — built up, built out, even built down.
The larger homes blend in as best they can with their smaller neighbors, but their oversized shadows are hard to miss: they are evidence of the wealth and the larger families that a thriving Orthodox Jewish population has brought to Midwood in recent years.
“Midwood has always been Jewish, but it wasn’t always Orthodox,” said David Maryl, a broker at Jacob Gold Realty. “Now for every family that’s moving out, it’s an Orthodox family moving in.”
Brooklyn’s Community Board 14, which covers the eastern half of Midwood, fields several home expansion requests each month from the area, said Alvin M. Berk, the board’s chairman.
He said the board first noted the steady trickle of requests about eight years ago and now handles about 30 a year. “This seems to be a fairly high rate of building expansion,” he said. “But there’s generally no opposition — maybe just some concerns about a proposed enlargement reducing a neighbor’s light and air.” But applicants often make concessions to ease those concerns, he added.
Rather than building a larger home, Bill and Diana Spiegel bought one. They’ve moved about a mile east. “We love the area,” Mr. Spiegel said.
They walk more than a mile each way to attend the synagogue in their old area, because “we have a little separation anxiety,” he said. But on their way, they probably pass more than a dozen synagogues; they will probably switch to one nearby once the weather turns cold. “It seems like there’s a real sense of community here, and they welcome you,” Mr. Spiegel said.
Brokers say that Orthodox families first moved into Midwood about 25 years ago as they were priced out of Borough Park, a better established Orthodox neighborhood to the west. Nowadays, Midwood is “very sought after, because people want to be near family and friends, a yeshiva or a synagogue affiliation,” said Sora David, a broker with Eisberg Lenz Real Estate. Being within walking distance of a synagogue is critical for those who observe Orthodox Jewish laws forbidding driving and other activities on the Sabbath.
There are dozens of synagogues and many yeshivas scattered throughout Midwood. Some Hasidic synagogues, known as shtibls, are in single-family homes where the rabbi might live upstairs and the congregation might meet on the first floor.
Mr. Berk says synagogues are allowed as of right in any residential zone. But many of them have growing congregations that eventually require more space. He said that the community board had fielded and helped approve many applications for variances to turn houses into larger synagogues.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/realestate/06livi.html
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But closer inspection reveals that the landscape has, in fact, been altered: on virtually every block, at least one or two homes have been significantly expanded — built up, built out, even built down.
The larger homes blend in as best they can with their smaller neighbors, but their oversized shadows are hard to miss: they are evidence of the wealth and the larger families that a thriving Orthodox Jewish population has brought to Midwood in recent years.
“Midwood has always been Jewish, but it wasn’t always Orthodox,” said David Maryl, a broker at Jacob Gold Realty. “Now for every family that’s moving out, it’s an Orthodox family moving in.”
Brooklyn’s Community Board 14, which covers the eastern half of Midwood, fields several home expansion requests each month from the area, said Alvin M. Berk, the board’s chairman.
He said the board first noted the steady trickle of requests about eight years ago and now handles about 30 a year. “This seems to be a fairly high rate of building expansion,” he said. “But there’s generally no opposition — maybe just some concerns about a proposed enlargement reducing a neighbor’s light and air.” But applicants often make concessions to ease those concerns, he added.
Rather than building a larger home, Bill and Diana Spiegel bought one. They’ve moved about a mile east. “We love the area,” Mr. Spiegel said.
They walk more than a mile each way to attend the synagogue in their old area, because “we have a little separation anxiety,” he said. But on their way, they probably pass more than a dozen synagogues; they will probably switch to one nearby once the weather turns cold. “It seems like there’s a real sense of community here, and they welcome you,” Mr. Spiegel said.
Brokers say that Orthodox families first moved into Midwood about 25 years ago as they were priced out of Borough Park, a better established Orthodox neighborhood to the west. Nowadays, Midwood is “very sought after, because people want to be near family and friends, a yeshiva or a synagogue affiliation,” said Sora David, a broker with Eisberg Lenz Real Estate. Being within walking distance of a synagogue is critical for those who observe Orthodox Jewish laws forbidding driving and other activities on the Sabbath.
There are dozens of synagogues and many yeshivas scattered throughout Midwood. Some Hasidic synagogues, known as shtibls, are in single-family homes where the rabbi might live upstairs and the congregation might meet on the first floor.
Mr. Berk says synagogues are allowed as of right in any residential zone. But many of them have growing congregations that eventually require more space. He said that the community board had fielded and helped approve many applications for variances to turn houses into larger synagogues.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/realestate/06livi.html
3 comments
Friday, December 04, 2009
Read the new Chaptzem article in the Country Yossi Family Magazine
Make sure to pick up your free copy of the Country Yossi Family Magazine and read the brand new original article 'Chanukah Present Problems' written by Chaptzem, the only Heimishe blogger to make the transition from cyberspace to print.
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Assemblyman Dov Hikind meets with Civil Court Judge Noach Dear
Assemblyman Dov Hikind and Civil Court Judge Noach Dear meet to discuss legislative issues.
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Thursday, December 03, 2009
Senator Sampson and State Senate Pass Budget Deficit Package, Saving Yeshivas from Midyear Cuts
State Senate Majority Conference Leader John L. Sampson was critical in the recent passage of a budget deficit reduction package, preventing millions of dollars in midyear school cuts, with direct impact to yeshivas across New York State.
Following numerous outreach to local legislators and advocates, including Assemblyman Dov Hikind and local Jewish leaders, on the devastating impact of the budget deficit package (DRP) proposed by Governor Paterson, the legislature was able to pass a plan that would protect school children, seniors and taxpayers.
The legislation passed by the Senate closes nearly $3 billion of the state’s budget gap and puts New York back on sound fiscal footing.
“Through my years of working closely with the Jewish community, I understand that affordability and sustainability of yeshivas throughout the state has become one of the biggest issues facing Jewish families today and I am proud to have delivered a budget plan that included no midyear school cuts,” said Senator Sampson. “Passing a fiscally sound budget that would not place an extra burden on New Yorkers was essential and while the process took longer than any of us would have liked, the result was worth the wait.”
Following weeks of bipartisan negotiations, the Senate achieved its goal of balancing the budget without any new taxes or fees of any kind. The Senate successfully fought to:
· Cut education spending without imposing midyear school cuts –to both public and parochial schools--that would have taken money out of classrooms and potentially raised property taxes for working families;
· Reduce health care spending without loss of approximately $750 million in federal funding for medical services; and
· Prevent the loss of over 12,000 jobs from cuts to vital services.
By working with the Governor and Assembly to find alternative cuts, the Senate successfully turned back a number of proposals that would have cost the state hundreds of millions in lost federal funding, established new taxes, and left nursing homes without the funding they needed to continue vital services for the elderly.
“We passed a budget plan that balanced the budget on our values and not on the backs of working families across the state,” said Senator Sampson. “This package will put New York in the right direction, by reducing wasteful spending and cutting with care, as we look to address the upcoming budget.”
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Following numerous outreach to local legislators and advocates, including Assemblyman Dov Hikind and local Jewish leaders, on the devastating impact of the budget deficit package (DRP) proposed by Governor Paterson, the legislature was able to pass a plan that would protect school children, seniors and taxpayers.
The legislation passed by the Senate closes nearly $3 billion of the state’s budget gap and puts New York back on sound fiscal footing.
“Through my years of working closely with the Jewish community, I understand that affordability and sustainability of yeshivas throughout the state has become one of the biggest issues facing Jewish families today and I am proud to have delivered a budget plan that included no midyear school cuts,” said Senator Sampson. “Passing a fiscally sound budget that would not place an extra burden on New Yorkers was essential and while the process took longer than any of us would have liked, the result was worth the wait.”
Following weeks of bipartisan negotiations, the Senate achieved its goal of balancing the budget without any new taxes or fees of any kind. The Senate successfully fought to:
· Cut education spending without imposing midyear school cuts –to both public and parochial schools--that would have taken money out of classrooms and potentially raised property taxes for working families;
· Reduce health care spending without loss of approximately $750 million in federal funding for medical services; and
· Prevent the loss of over 12,000 jobs from cuts to vital services.
By working with the Governor and Assembly to find alternative cuts, the Senate successfully turned back a number of proposals that would have cost the state hundreds of millions in lost federal funding, established new taxes, and left nursing homes without the funding they needed to continue vital services for the elderly.
“We passed a budget plan that balanced the budget on our values and not on the backs of working families across the state,” said Senator Sampson. “This package will put New York in the right direction, by reducing wasteful spending and cutting with care, as we look to address the upcoming budget.”
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East Ramapo rehires fired lawyer
The East Ramapo school board on Wednesday night announced that longtime district lawyer Steve Fromson would continue to work on behalf of the district.
The board also is going to hire a special counsel to deal with the state commissioner of education's action about whether to reverse the original, controversial vote to hire Albert D'Agostino.
The firm — Feerick, Lynch and MacCartney of South Nyack — will be contracted for 15 days until the next board meeting on Dec. 16.
The hiring of D'Agostino ”is on hold for the next two weeks,“ school board President Nathan Rothschild announced, adding ”this special counsel will advise us through the process until we are able to sort this all out.“
The night before, the school board voted 8-1 to hire the law firm of Kuntz, Spagnuolo and Murphy.
The Bedford Village-based firm was to counsel the district in the aftermath of hiring of D'Agostino, who, through a 5-3 vote, was hired to replace Fromson.
Kuntz, Spagnuolo and Murphy backed out before Wednesday night's meeting and was replaced by Dennis Lynch of Feerick, Lynch and MacCartney.[0xa0]
Fromson had been abruptly let go after serving as East Ramapo counsel for the past 33 years.
Trustee Aron Wieder apologized to the public and tried to answer some of the unanswered questions from the Nov. 18 meeting.
”Change we can believe in comes with bold and daring actions that can be controversial,“ Wieder said.
The board's action Wednesday night followed a tumultuous public sesson in which about 40 people spoke and board members met in executive session for more than two hours.
More than 400 people crowded inside the East Ramapo administration building gymnasium Wednesday night, while about 150 others listened from the halls.
Parents, students and residents addressed the board on issues ranging from the privatization of East Ramapo transportation to the contentious hiring of Long Island-based D'Agostino.
The lawyer has been embroiled in a controversy over more than a half-million dollars in state pension payments.
The five members who voted in favor of hiring D'Agostino had not provided an amended budget. D'Agostino would charge $130 an hour more than Fromson.
He also would charge for transportation to and from his offices on Long Island.
Several members from the Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities have expressed that D'Agostino's expertise would be worth the additional monies.
The five-member bloc that voted in favor of D'Agostino's hiring represent the Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities in the district, most of whom send their children to yeshivas, or private religious schools.
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009912030404
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The board also is going to hire a special counsel to deal with the state commissioner of education's action about whether to reverse the original, controversial vote to hire Albert D'Agostino.
The firm — Feerick, Lynch and MacCartney of South Nyack — will be contracted for 15 days until the next board meeting on Dec. 16.
The hiring of D'Agostino ”is on hold for the next two weeks,“ school board President Nathan Rothschild announced, adding ”this special counsel will advise us through the process until we are able to sort this all out.“
The night before, the school board voted 8-1 to hire the law firm of Kuntz, Spagnuolo and Murphy.
The Bedford Village-based firm was to counsel the district in the aftermath of hiring of D'Agostino, who, through a 5-3 vote, was hired to replace Fromson.
Kuntz, Spagnuolo and Murphy backed out before Wednesday night's meeting and was replaced by Dennis Lynch of Feerick, Lynch and MacCartney.[0xa0]
Fromson had been abruptly let go after serving as East Ramapo counsel for the past 33 years.
Trustee Aron Wieder apologized to the public and tried to answer some of the unanswered questions from the Nov. 18 meeting.
”Change we can believe in comes with bold and daring actions that can be controversial,“ Wieder said.
The board's action Wednesday night followed a tumultuous public sesson in which about 40 people spoke and board members met in executive session for more than two hours.
More than 400 people crowded inside the East Ramapo administration building gymnasium Wednesday night, while about 150 others listened from the halls.
Parents, students and residents addressed the board on issues ranging from the privatization of East Ramapo transportation to the contentious hiring of Long Island-based D'Agostino.
The lawyer has been embroiled in a controversy over more than a half-million dollars in state pension payments.
The five members who voted in favor of hiring D'Agostino had not provided an amended budget. D'Agostino would charge $130 an hour more than Fromson.
He also would charge for transportation to and from his offices on Long Island.
Several members from the Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities have expressed that D'Agostino's expertise would be worth the additional monies.
The five-member bloc that voted in favor of D'Agostino's hiring represent the Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities in the district, most of whom send their children to yeshivas, or private religious schools.
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009912030404
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Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Jewish group drops lawsuit over kosher symbol
A group of orthodox Jews has withdrawn a federal lawsuit alleging a northwest Indiana convenience store chain illegally used a trademark for kosher food.
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America filed a motion Monday to dismiss its complaint against Luke Oil Co. Inc. in U.S. District Court in Hammond. Court documents say the two sides reached a settlement.
The Jewish group had alleged that Luke Oil used the kosher trademark - a U inside a circle - as part of its logo. An attorney for the group says people rely on the symbol to determine which food is prepared according to Jewish dietary law.
Luke Oil attorney John Senica says the resemblance was unintentional. He says Luke Oil has agreed to modify its logo without admitting any liability.
http://www.fox28.com/Global/story.asp?S=11604296
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The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America filed a motion Monday to dismiss its complaint against Luke Oil Co. Inc. in U.S. District Court in Hammond. Court documents say the two sides reached a settlement.
The Jewish group had alleged that Luke Oil used the kosher trademark - a U inside a circle - as part of its logo. An attorney for the group says people rely on the symbol to determine which food is prepared according to Jewish dietary law.
Luke Oil attorney John Senica says the resemblance was unintentional. He says Luke Oil has agreed to modify its logo without admitting any liability.
http://www.fox28.com/Global/story.asp?S=11604296
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E. Ramapo board meets to hire interim firm
The East Ramapo school district met Tuesday night to vote on hiring Kuntz, Spagnuolo and Murphy, a law firm based in Bedford Village, to counsel the district in the aftermath of the hiring of a controversial attorney.
All school board members but Mimi Calhoun voted to hire the law firm as advisers at a rate of $175 an hour at least through Wednesday night's meeting.
”We want to make a factual, law decision,“ board President Nathan Rothschild said.
”I feel like having the firm represent us through the process will keep this about the law,“ he said. ”There will be no gray area.“
The eight-minute meeting came after a nearly hourlong executive session that was closed to the roughly 350 people who showed up. The public will be able to address the board Wednesday night.
During its regularly scheduled meeting Nov. 18, the school board voted 5-3 to hire Albert D'Agostino, a lawyer embroiled in a controversy over more than a half-million dollars in state pension payments.
Although Rothschild asked for the meeting to be rescheduled because he couldn't be there, his request was denied, and Trustee Aron Wieder led the voting process.
Excerpts of the debate over D'Agostino's hiring were uploaded to YouTube after the meeting.
On Monday, Steven White of Spring Valley filed a petition to the state commissioner of education requesting the reversal of the decision to hire D'Agostino.
The tension on the school board is rooted in the varied cultural and religious communities that make up East Ramapo.
The five-member bloc that voted in favor of the hiring represent the Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities, most of whom send their children to yeshivas, or private religious schools.
”I think the five board members are trying to fend us off for another day,“ said Mariel Pina, who graduated from Ramapo High School in 2003. ”We are all outraged, but hopefully they will make a change.“
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009912020366
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All school board members but Mimi Calhoun voted to hire the law firm as advisers at a rate of $175 an hour at least through Wednesday night's meeting.
”We want to make a factual, law decision,“ board President Nathan Rothschild said.
”I feel like having the firm represent us through the process will keep this about the law,“ he said. ”There will be no gray area.“
The eight-minute meeting came after a nearly hourlong executive session that was closed to the roughly 350 people who showed up. The public will be able to address the board Wednesday night.
During its regularly scheduled meeting Nov. 18, the school board voted 5-3 to hire Albert D'Agostino, a lawyer embroiled in a controversy over more than a half-million dollars in state pension payments.
Although Rothschild asked for the meeting to be rescheduled because he couldn't be there, his request was denied, and Trustee Aron Wieder led the voting process.
Excerpts of the debate over D'Agostino's hiring were uploaded to YouTube after the meeting.
On Monday, Steven White of Spring Valley filed a petition to the state commissioner of education requesting the reversal of the decision to hire D'Agostino.
The tension on the school board is rooted in the varied cultural and religious communities that make up East Ramapo.
The five-member bloc that voted in favor of the hiring represent the Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities, most of whom send their children to yeshivas, or private religious schools.
”I think the five board members are trying to fend us off for another day,“ said Mariel Pina, who graduated from Ramapo High School in 2003. ”We are all outraged, but hopefully they will make a change.“
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009912020366
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DOT Sandblasts 14 Blocks of Bike Lane Off Bedford Avenue
As reported by Gothamist, DOT is removing a 14-block stretch of the Bedford Avenue bike lane between Flushing Avenue and Division Street in Hasidic Williamsburg. Workers were seen sandblasting this morning, taking away a safer cycling connection to central Williamsburg that had been in place since 2007. The northbound bike lane now ends abruptly at Flushing, with space that once belonged to bikes already converted to left-turn lanes and the like.
http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/12/01/dot-sandblasts-14-blocks-of-bike-lane-off-bedford-avenue/
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Tuesday, December 01, 2009
140 registered voters not full-time residents
Sullivan County sheriff's deputies have determined that roughly 140 people who registered to vote in Bethel during the last election don't live there full time.
The Board of Elections asked deputies to investigate after a citizen group challenged numerous registrations from Hasidic residents, who stay in the bungalow colonies during the summer.
Deputies checked nine locations where people registered addresses and found only one person who seemed to live there year-round. Other places were padlocked and the electricity and water were shut off, Undersheriff Eric Chaboty said.
"They didn't live there full time," Chaboty said. "The rest is up to the Board of Elections to determine. We just gave them the information. They have to determine now if it follows their criteria."
Hasidic groups commenced a registration drive in the summer after the United Talmudical Academy became embroiled with town officials over the construction of a shul on Schultz Road. Roughly 95 people who were on the challenged list voted in the last election. Those ballots were set aside and now won't be opened because they will not affect the outcome of the town race.
However, the question of whether the newly registered voters can vote in future elections is still an issue the Board of Elections commissioners must rule on.
Roughly 155 registrations have been challenged on the basis of residency.
Both sides have indicated they plan to press the issue, and it might ultimately be thrown into Supreme Court later this winter.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091201/COMM/912010312/-1/NEWS
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The Board of Elections asked deputies to investigate after a citizen group challenged numerous registrations from Hasidic residents, who stay in the bungalow colonies during the summer.
Deputies checked nine locations where people registered addresses and found only one person who seemed to live there year-round. Other places were padlocked and the electricity and water were shut off, Undersheriff Eric Chaboty said.
"They didn't live there full time," Chaboty said. "The rest is up to the Board of Elections to determine. We just gave them the information. They have to determine now if it follows their criteria."
Hasidic groups commenced a registration drive in the summer after the United Talmudical Academy became embroiled with town officials over the construction of a shul on Schultz Road. Roughly 95 people who were on the challenged list voted in the last election. Those ballots were set aside and now won't be opened because they will not affect the outcome of the town race.
However, the question of whether the newly registered voters can vote in future elections is still an issue the Board of Elections commissioners must rule on.
Roughly 155 registrations have been challenged on the basis of residency.
Both sides have indicated they plan to press the issue, and it might ultimately be thrown into Supreme Court later this winter.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091201/COMM/912010312/-1/NEWS
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Monday, November 30, 2009
A citizen's patrol informed by faith
At 10 p.m. on a Monday in Northwest Baltimore, more than 20 Orthodox Jewish men are packed into a two-room apartment with a couch and maps of the nearby synagogues, eating kosher chili and discussing how to respond to the next neighborhood emergency.
Those gathered here are members of Shomrim, Hebrew for "watchers," and they make up a round-the-clock citizens patrol, complete with matching jackets, radios and a hot-line number that area residents know as well as 911. Members have intervened in suicide attempts, divided the neighborhood into quadrants and fanned out to look for missing people, thwarted bicycle thefts and saturated areas hit by burglaries to report suspicious people to police.
"They're an invaluable service to the district," said Maj. Johnny Delgado, commander of Baltimore's Northwest District. "There's not a day that goes by that we're not in contact about something."
Here's how serious Shomrim members are: Last year they brought a playbook to an informal game of flag football with a group of district police officers and won, 40-13. This year's rematch, a fundraiser at Northwestern High School earlier this month, raised $21,000 for the Police Department's mounted unit and was attended by Mayor Sheila Dixon and Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III.
The group, which counts among its members a lawyer, an auto mechanic, a pharmacist, a jeweler, a psychologist, a salesman, a roofer and an accountant, started in late 2005 after a rash of burglaries in the city's Orthodox community around Upper Park Heights and Greenspring. Several men, including business owners, decided to start patrolling the streets in the early morning hours.
"We had guys out from midnight to 4 pretty much every night, with the concept that anybody out on the street between then is a possible suspect or victim," said Ron Rosenbluth, one of the founding members and owner of Tov Pizza, a kosher pizza place on Reisterstown Road. "And we got lucky in the first couple days to catch one of the burglars."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-md.ci.shomrim30nov30,0,5766382.story
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Those gathered here are members of Shomrim, Hebrew for "watchers," and they make up a round-the-clock citizens patrol, complete with matching jackets, radios and a hot-line number that area residents know as well as 911. Members have intervened in suicide attempts, divided the neighborhood into quadrants and fanned out to look for missing people, thwarted bicycle thefts and saturated areas hit by burglaries to report suspicious people to police.
"They're an invaluable service to the district," said Maj. Johnny Delgado, commander of Baltimore's Northwest District. "There's not a day that goes by that we're not in contact about something."
Here's how serious Shomrim members are: Last year they brought a playbook to an informal game of flag football with a group of district police officers and won, 40-13. This year's rematch, a fundraiser at Northwestern High School earlier this month, raised $21,000 for the Police Department's mounted unit and was attended by Mayor Sheila Dixon and Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III.
The group, which counts among its members a lawyer, an auto mechanic, a pharmacist, a jeweler, a psychologist, a salesman, a roofer and an accountant, started in late 2005 after a rash of burglaries in the city's Orthodox community around Upper Park Heights and Greenspring. Several men, including business owners, decided to start patrolling the streets in the early morning hours.
"We had guys out from midnight to 4 pretty much every night, with the concept that anybody out on the street between then is a possible suspect or victim," said Ron Rosenbluth, one of the founding members and owner of Tov Pizza, a kosher pizza place on Reisterstown Road. "And we got lucky in the first couple days to catch one of the burglars."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-md.ci.shomrim30nov30,0,5766382.story
0 comments
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Refuah Health Center in New Square awarded grant to expand
One of four federally funded health clinics in Rockland has been awarded a state grant to help double its space as the number of patients using its services continues to grow.
The expansion comes as Refuah Health Center , which was founded to serve the Hasidic residents of New Square, makes an effort to reach out to nearby communities such as Spring Valley that have large numbers of residents who do not have access to health care.
”We want the community to know that our services are available to everyone,“ said Corinna Manini, a physician who serves as medical director to the clinic. ”Reaching out to the community is a very high priority for us.“
Refuah, which means ”recovery“ in Hebrew, was founded more than 20 years ago, primarily to serve New Square, an exclusively Hasidic Jewish village in Ramapo.
In the past six years, the patients it serves has more than doubled, according to a grant application filed by the center with the New York state Department of Health.
There were 51,690 patient visits in 2002. By 2006, that number increased 112 percent to 109,524 visits, according to state records.
”Refuah is currently functioning at near-maximum capacity,“ the center wrote in an application to the state Department of Health seeking approval for its expansion plan.
The center is in the process of constructing a five-story building next to its current location on North Main Street.
Refuah estimated the cost of the new building will be $4.7 million. Much of that will be paid for with a combination of grants.
The center has been awarded a $1.45 million grant from the HEAL NY program to expand primary care at its New Square location and is asking for permission from the state Department of Health to use those funds to help pay for the new building.
HEAL NY, or Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers, is a state program designed to make health care more efficient. It seeks to emphasize primary and preventive care in community settings rather than costlier hospital care.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091129/NEWS03/911290378/-1/newsfront/Refuah-Health-Center-in-New-Square-awarded-grant-to-expand
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The expansion comes as Refuah Health Center , which was founded to serve the Hasidic residents of New Square, makes an effort to reach out to nearby communities such as Spring Valley that have large numbers of residents who do not have access to health care.
”We want the community to know that our services are available to everyone,“ said Corinna Manini, a physician who serves as medical director to the clinic. ”Reaching out to the community is a very high priority for us.“
Refuah, which means ”recovery“ in Hebrew, was founded more than 20 years ago, primarily to serve New Square, an exclusively Hasidic Jewish village in Ramapo.
In the past six years, the patients it serves has more than doubled, according to a grant application filed by the center with the New York state Department of Health.
There were 51,690 patient visits in 2002. By 2006, that number increased 112 percent to 109,524 visits, according to state records.
”Refuah is currently functioning at near-maximum capacity,“ the center wrote in an application to the state Department of Health seeking approval for its expansion plan.
The center is in the process of constructing a five-story building next to its current location on North Main Street.
Refuah estimated the cost of the new building will be $4.7 million. Much of that will be paid for with a combination of grants.
The center has been awarded a $1.45 million grant from the HEAL NY program to expand primary care at its New Square location and is asking for permission from the state Department of Health to use those funds to help pay for the new building.
HEAL NY, or Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers, is a state program designed to make health care more efficient. It seeks to emphasize primary and preventive care in community settings rather than costlier hospital care.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091129/NEWS03/911290378/-1/newsfront/Refuah-Health-Center-in-New-Square-awarded-grant-to-expand
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Saturday, November 28, 2009
Pictures of the opening of the new Masbia in Flatbush
Friday, November 27, 2009
Eight nights of apps: iPhone programs put Chanukah in the palm of your hand
On the road during Chanukah and feel the need to light candles? There’s an app for that.
Lost all your dreidels and want to play a quick game? There’s an app for that.
Need to know how many days you have left to buy Chanukah presents? There’s an app for that, too.
Chanukah-themed applications have been a presence in Apple’s iTunes App Store almost since its inception, and with the holiday beginning Dec. 11, a number of new applications have cropped up to help iPhone and iPod Touch users meld technology with the ancient holiday.
When Apple debuted the App Store in July 2008, it contained 500 applications (known as apps) that could be downloaded and installed on an iPhone or iPod Touch. Earlier this month, the company announced that it had just surpassed 100,000 apps and 2 billion downloads.
Jewish developers have pounced on the ability to bring a little Yiddishkeit to the handheld devices, and today there are dozens of Jewish-themed apps available at the store.
Some of them are obvious: Siddur, iTalmud, Hebrew Date. An app called Mikvah shows users the nearest mikvah and provides a checklist of pre-mikvah preparations. The Los Angeles–based Kabbalah Centre International sells the Dialing God app, featuring kabbalistic meditations and blessings.
Then there are the more offbeat apps. ParveOMeter counts down the waiting time between eating dairy and meat; iCharity allows one to deposit virtual coins into a virtual tzedakah box; and if you’re wondering whether mahi-mahi is OK to eat, download Kosher Fish.
And then there are the holiday-based apps: Megillas Esther for Purim, several Omer-counting apps and numerous Passover apps, including haggadahs and a game called Find the Matzah.
But when it comes to Jewish holidays, Chanukah has a clear monopoly on the App Store. From iDreidel to DaysTo Hanukkah to Mobile Menorah, there’s an app for everything you might need for the holiday — except maybe one that makes latkes.
“All the kids in my family are always grabbing at my iPhone, so I figured they should play a Jewish game,” said Jeff Howard, creator of a Chanukah-themed app called Super Dreidel.
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/40647/eight-nights-of-apps-iphone-programs-put-chanukah-in-the-palm-of-your-hand/
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Thursday, November 26, 2009
Bethel voting results unchanged
The challenged voters in Bethel were not plentiful enough to make a difference in the outcome of the race for councilperson in Bethel.
About 90 ballots of challenged voters were set aside and remain unopened. But the other absentee ballots, more than 200 of them, were opened November 19, and slightly widened the gap between councilperson Denise Frangipane and her rival, Benji Freihling. Her lead stands at about 130 votes. Thus, there are not enough challenged votes to change the election.
On November 16, lawyer Gerald Orseck went before Judge Frank LaBuda and asked him to dismiss the challenges to the vote because the voters were informed of the challenges a day later than they should have been. But now that the point is moot, Orseck has withdrawn the motion.
However, that does not mean there is an end to the matter. It must still be determined whether the Hasidic voters who listed buildings in bungalow colonies as their local addresses will be allowed to remain as registered voters in the town.
Lawmaker David Sager, who challenged the voter registrations and who founded the group Voters for Election Integrity (VEI), said that the group plans to move ahead with the challenges. He said, “It’s been our contention all along that we weren’t challenging a simple election, we’re challenging the process and asking what are the requirements of a valid voter in a community.”
VEI’s position has been that bungalow colonies, which are unheated and uninhabited for much of the year, do not qualify as addresses for voting purposes under state law which requires “fixed, permanent and principle residences.”
Faith Kaplan, a Sullivan County Board of Elections commissioner, said that the board would be making a determination some time in the future, but has not set a date.
Frangipane said of the election results in an email, “This was a long and, at times, difficult election. I am glad to be through the process. The voters of Bethel have spoken and I am looking forward to continuing to work on their behalf. I now have four years to work with the board and the community to move forward on the issues and ideas for which I was elected.”
Freihling said he was thankful for the support he got from residents, and he would be working hard in the future to further the interests of the town and its businesses. He also said it was very possible he would be running for political office in the future.
http://www.riverreporter.com/issues/09-11-26/news-bethel.html
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About 90 ballots of challenged voters were set aside and remain unopened. But the other absentee ballots, more than 200 of them, were opened November 19, and slightly widened the gap between councilperson Denise Frangipane and her rival, Benji Freihling. Her lead stands at about 130 votes. Thus, there are not enough challenged votes to change the election.
On November 16, lawyer Gerald Orseck went before Judge Frank LaBuda and asked him to dismiss the challenges to the vote because the voters were informed of the challenges a day later than they should have been. But now that the point is moot, Orseck has withdrawn the motion.
However, that does not mean there is an end to the matter. It must still be determined whether the Hasidic voters who listed buildings in bungalow colonies as their local addresses will be allowed to remain as registered voters in the town.
Lawmaker David Sager, who challenged the voter registrations and who founded the group Voters for Election Integrity (VEI), said that the group plans to move ahead with the challenges. He said, “It’s been our contention all along that we weren’t challenging a simple election, we’re challenging the process and asking what are the requirements of a valid voter in a community.”
VEI’s position has been that bungalow colonies, which are unheated and uninhabited for much of the year, do not qualify as addresses for voting purposes under state law which requires “fixed, permanent and principle residences.”
Faith Kaplan, a Sullivan County Board of Elections commissioner, said that the board would be making a determination some time in the future, but has not set a date.
Frangipane said of the election results in an email, “This was a long and, at times, difficult election. I am glad to be through the process. The voters of Bethel have spoken and I am looking forward to continuing to work on their behalf. I now have four years to work with the board and the community to move forward on the issues and ideas for which I was elected.”
Freihling said he was thankful for the support he got from residents, and he would be working hard in the future to further the interests of the town and its businesses. He also said it was very possible he would be running for political office in the future.
http://www.riverreporter.com/issues/09-11-26/news-bethel.html
0 comments
Board hiring 'a declaration of war'
A lawyer embroiled in a controversy over more than a half-million dollars in state pension payments has been hired by a bloc of the East Ramapo Board of Education, sending the already-divided community into turmoil.
“This is a declaration of war,” said the district’s deputy superintendent, Joe Farmer, at last week’s school board meeting.
The five men who approved employing Albert D’Agostino offered no reasons for their vote, which came in the early hours while the school board president, Nathan Rothschild, was away. Rothschild did ask the board to reschedule the vote for a special meeting, but it went forward anyway.
There has long been an undercurrent of tension between the public and private religious school communities in East Ramapo. The Hasidic Jewish community, which largely sends its children to private yeshivas, has clamored for years for lower school taxes. In recent years, more and more Hasidic Jews have joined the school board, with four now holding seats on the nine-member board.
There are— public schools in the East Ramapo Central School District, which is the largest district in Rockland County. The district’s budget of $293 million does not account for a new, more expensive lawyer, Schools Superintendent Ira Oustatcher said.
D’Agostino would charge $250 an hour, a rate about twice that of the former lawyer, Stephen Fromson. Because D’Agostino would commute from Long Island, he has also asked for $125 an hour for transportation.
Oustatcher estimated that D’Agostino would cost the district $600,000 to $1.36 million over the school year, as opposed to Fromson, who charged as little as $350,000.
“I think we’ve betrayed the public trust,” said one board member, Mimi Calhoun. “I think we’ve betrayed an attorney who has served us in a stellar capacity for 33 years. He’s just been the backbone of this district and has been very wise in his guidance.”
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009911260410
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“This is a declaration of war,” said the district’s deputy superintendent, Joe Farmer, at last week’s school board meeting.
The five men who approved employing Albert D’Agostino offered no reasons for their vote, which came in the early hours while the school board president, Nathan Rothschild, was away. Rothschild did ask the board to reschedule the vote for a special meeting, but it went forward anyway.
There has long been an undercurrent of tension between the public and private religious school communities in East Ramapo. The Hasidic Jewish community, which largely sends its children to private yeshivas, has clamored for years for lower school taxes. In recent years, more and more Hasidic Jews have joined the school board, with four now holding seats on the nine-member board.
There are— public schools in the East Ramapo Central School District, which is the largest district in Rockland County. The district’s budget of $293 million does not account for a new, more expensive lawyer, Schools Superintendent Ira Oustatcher said.
D’Agostino would charge $250 an hour, a rate about twice that of the former lawyer, Stephen Fromson. Because D’Agostino would commute from Long Island, he has also asked for $125 an hour for transportation.
Oustatcher estimated that D’Agostino would cost the district $600,000 to $1.36 million over the school year, as opposed to Fromson, who charged as little as $350,000.
“I think we’ve betrayed the public trust,” said one board member, Mimi Calhoun. “I think we’ve betrayed an attorney who has served us in a stellar capacity for 33 years. He’s just been the backbone of this district and has been very wise in his guidance.”
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009911260410
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Hassidim Orthodox Jews portrayed in Stamford Hill photographic exhibition
A photographic exhibition giving a rare insight into the rituals of the Orthodox Jewish community is on display in Stamford Hill.
The self-contained Hassidim community is something of a mystery, even to other London Jews, and documentary photographer Andrew Aitchison puts it down to building relationships and gaining their trust that he was able to photograph them over the course of five years.
The photos can be seen at Madame Lillie's Gallery, 10 Cazenove Road in Stamford Hill, from Friday to Sunday from noon to 6pm.
http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/content/hackney/gazette/news/story.aspx?brand=HKYGOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newshkyg&itemid=WeED25%20Nov%202009%2010%3A54%3A05%3A170
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The self-contained Hassidim community is something of a mystery, even to other London Jews, and documentary photographer Andrew Aitchison puts it down to building relationships and gaining their trust that he was able to photograph them over the course of five years.
The photos can be seen at Madame Lillie's Gallery, 10 Cazenove Road in Stamford Hill, from Friday to Sunday from noon to 6pm.
http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/content/hackney/gazette/news/story.aspx?brand=HKYGOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newshkyg&itemid=WeED25%20Nov%202009%2010%3A54%3A05%3A170
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
East Ramapo board makes bad decision on attorney
I just watched a YouTube video of last week’s East Ramapo Board of Education meeting. (Go to www.youtube.com/polanve to view video of the Nov.' meeting.) At the meeting, the school board decided to replace its longtime attorneys to hire a Long Island lawyer, Albert D’Agostino, who is under investigation by the New York attorney general.
The current attorneys charge the district $120 per hour, with no transportation surcharge. The new attorney will charge the district $250 per hour, with a $125 per hour transportation charge. Since the office of the attorney in question is in Valley Stream, that means a minimum of an hour to an hour and a half travel time each way, making the minimum cost of a one-hour consultation $500. Aren’t there qualified attorneys who work out of Rockland?
But it gets worse.
Three members of the East Ramapo school board indicated that they had not been notified in advance that the proposed attorney was coming to be interviewed, and therefore were unprepared with questions. No other prospective candidates were interviewed, nor were the current attorneys informed that the school board was contemplating changes. The current attorneys, therefore, were given no chance to propose changes to the way they conduct business to bring them into line with the board’s expectations. Nathan Rothschild, the president of the school board, wasn’t present at the meeting, but Superintendent Ira Oustatcher said Rothschild had sent a letter requesting the attorney matter be tabled until the next meeting, when it could be the only item on the agenda.
Several school board members repeatedly asked what the bottom line cost would be, and how the increase could possibly be paid for. The board member pushing for a vote, Aron Weider, who chaired the meeting, said he could not provide exact figures.
The actions undertaken at the Nov.' meeting should be reviewed by the New York State Department of Education.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091124/OPINION/911240305/1076/OPINION01/East%20Ramapo%20board%20makes%20bad%20decision%20on%20attorney
0 comments
The current attorneys charge the district $120 per hour, with no transportation surcharge. The new attorney will charge the district $250 per hour, with a $125 per hour transportation charge. Since the office of the attorney in question is in Valley Stream, that means a minimum of an hour to an hour and a half travel time each way, making the minimum cost of a one-hour consultation $500. Aren’t there qualified attorneys who work out of Rockland?
But it gets worse.
Three members of the East Ramapo school board indicated that they had not been notified in advance that the proposed attorney was coming to be interviewed, and therefore were unprepared with questions. No other prospective candidates were interviewed, nor were the current attorneys informed that the school board was contemplating changes. The current attorneys, therefore, were given no chance to propose changes to the way they conduct business to bring them into line with the board’s expectations. Nathan Rothschild, the president of the school board, wasn’t present at the meeting, but Superintendent Ira Oustatcher said Rothschild had sent a letter requesting the attorney matter be tabled until the next meeting, when it could be the only item on the agenda.
Several school board members repeatedly asked what the bottom line cost would be, and how the increase could possibly be paid for. The board member pushing for a vote, Aron Weider, who chaired the meeting, said he could not provide exact figures.
The actions undertaken at the Nov.' meeting should be reviewed by the New York State Department of Education.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091124/OPINION/911240305/1076/OPINION01/East%20Ramapo%20board%20makes%20bad%20decision%20on%20attorney
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Monday, November 23, 2009
East Ramapo request for election change languishes with state
Shavuot celebrates the day Jews believe God gave the Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai. This year, it coincides with the annual school budget voting date.
In July, the East Ramapo Central School District sent a change-of-date request to the state commissioner of education, asking that the election be moved up one week, from May 18 to May 11.
In a community that is largely composed of Orthodox and Hasidic Jews, twice the amount of children attend private and religious schools as opposed to public. And although the polls would be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on May 18, observant Jews would be unable to vote after sundown, cutting nearly three hours off their polling time.
More than four months have passed since the request was filed. Tom Dunn, a spokesman for the Education Department, said Education Commissioner David Steiner is looking into the matter. He couldn’t provide any specifics as to when it might be resolved.
"I don’t see this as a big deal," East Ramapo Superintendent of Schools Ira Oustatcher said of the request. "We will be curtailed by one week."
Even though East Ramapo is the sole petitioner to change the election date, the commissioner’s decision could affect the whole state — roughly 750 districts, according to Sandy Cokeley, the director of community relations for the Pearl River school district.
"This will result in many districts having to make a lot of adjustments," Cokeley said.
Dunn could not confirm whether or not the commissioner’s ruling would affect the entire state.
If statewide, however, the dates for school board candidate nominating petitions, property-tax report card, and the budget hearings, mailings and notices would all have to be moved up in order to vote by May 11.
"The date is the same everywhere in the state," said Steve White, an East Ramapo parent and frequent critic of the school board. "They have a calendar that no one really understands and every year they make a big stink about it."
If the request is denied by Steiner, a portion of East Ramapo voters would be unable to go to the polls.
"Two-thirds of the district are religious Orthodox Jews that will be observing the holiday," Oustatcher said. "We would like an alternative and we asked for it."
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091123/NEWS03/911230346/-1/SPORTS/East-Ramapo-request-for-election-change-languishes-with-state
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In July, the East Ramapo Central School District sent a change-of-date request to the state commissioner of education, asking that the election be moved up one week, from May 18 to May 11.
In a community that is largely composed of Orthodox and Hasidic Jews, twice the amount of children attend private and religious schools as opposed to public. And although the polls would be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on May 18, observant Jews would be unable to vote after sundown, cutting nearly three hours off their polling time.
More than four months have passed since the request was filed. Tom Dunn, a spokesman for the Education Department, said Education Commissioner David Steiner is looking into the matter. He couldn’t provide any specifics as to when it might be resolved.
"I don’t see this as a big deal," East Ramapo Superintendent of Schools Ira Oustatcher said of the request. "We will be curtailed by one week."
Even though East Ramapo is the sole petitioner to change the election date, the commissioner’s decision could affect the whole state — roughly 750 districts, according to Sandy Cokeley, the director of community relations for the Pearl River school district.
"This will result in many districts having to make a lot of adjustments," Cokeley said.
Dunn could not confirm whether or not the commissioner’s ruling would affect the entire state.
If statewide, however, the dates for school board candidate nominating petitions, property-tax report card, and the budget hearings, mailings and notices would all have to be moved up in order to vote by May 11.
"The date is the same everywhere in the state," said Steve White, an East Ramapo parent and frequent critic of the school board. "They have a calendar that no one really understands and every year they make a big stink about it."
If the request is denied by Steiner, a portion of East Ramapo voters would be unable to go to the polls.
"Two-thirds of the district are religious Orthodox Jews that will be observing the holiday," Oustatcher said. "We would like an alternative and we asked for it."
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091123/NEWS03/911230346/-1/SPORTS/East-Ramapo-request-for-election-change-languishes-with-state
0 comments
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Pictures of trailer smashing into underpass in Flatbush
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Seaside Heights man sentenced to 25 years for bias robberies
A 43-year-old Seaside Heights man who admitted driving much younger men to violently rob Orthodox Jews was sentenced this morning to 25 years in prison for his role in the crimes.
Before he was sentenced, Jose Diaz Jr. of Franklin Boulevard professed to have no advance knowledge that violence was going to be imparted during the crimes.
But First Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Ronald F. DeLigny said Diaz was almost twice as old as the two men he transported to the crimes, and he did that "knowing full well" the victims of the robberies were likely to be injured.
"I didn't know who was getting hurt," he told Superior Court Judge James Den Uyl. "I knew about a robbery, but hurting somebody, no, I don't think so. I don't hate nobody."
Diaz pleaded guilty on Sept. 21 to conspiracy to commit robbery and bias intimidation in connection with an incident on May 25, 2008 in Lakewood in which David Davidovish, then 38 and visiting from Israel, was attacked with a baseball bat and robbed of several hundred dollars and a laptop computer. Authorities said a codefendant, Devon Hardy, 20, of Lakewood smashed the windshield of Davidovish's car with a baseball bat as the victim was parked in the lot of a convenience store on Route 9.
Diaz also pleaded guilty to robbery and bias intimidation in connection with an incident on July 8, 2008 in Lakewood in which a rabbi, Jack Goldbaum, then 41, of Lakewood was accosted in front of his home.
Diaz has admitted that he drove Hardy and Timothy Swift, 19, of Toms River to that robbery, knowing that Hardy was armed with a knife. Goldbaum was punched and stabbed four times, and his wallet stolen.
Authorities said Orthodox Jews were targeted because they were unlikely to resist the robberies.
Den Uyl ordered that 15 years of Diaz's 25-year sentence be subject to the state's No Early Release Act, which requires that 85 percent of the term be served before he can be considered for release on parole.
Den Uyl on Oct. 9 sentenced Hardy to 30 years in prison for the two robberies, and Swift to 10 years in prison for the robbery he participated in. Both must serve 85 percent of their prison terms before they can be considered for release on parole.
http://www.app.com/article/20091120/NEWS/91120061/Seaside-Heights-man-sentenced-to-25-years-for-bias-robberies
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Before he was sentenced, Jose Diaz Jr. of Franklin Boulevard professed to have no advance knowledge that violence was going to be imparted during the crimes.
But First Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Ronald F. DeLigny said Diaz was almost twice as old as the two men he transported to the crimes, and he did that "knowing full well" the victims of the robberies were likely to be injured.
"I didn't know who was getting hurt," he told Superior Court Judge James Den Uyl. "I knew about a robbery, but hurting somebody, no, I don't think so. I don't hate nobody."
Diaz pleaded guilty on Sept. 21 to conspiracy to commit robbery and bias intimidation in connection with an incident on May 25, 2008 in Lakewood in which David Davidovish, then 38 and visiting from Israel, was attacked with a baseball bat and robbed of several hundred dollars and a laptop computer. Authorities said a codefendant, Devon Hardy, 20, of Lakewood smashed the windshield of Davidovish's car with a baseball bat as the victim was parked in the lot of a convenience store on Route 9.
Diaz also pleaded guilty to robbery and bias intimidation in connection with an incident on July 8, 2008 in Lakewood in which a rabbi, Jack Goldbaum, then 41, of Lakewood was accosted in front of his home.
Diaz has admitted that he drove Hardy and Timothy Swift, 19, of Toms River to that robbery, knowing that Hardy was armed with a knife. Goldbaum was punched and stabbed four times, and his wallet stolen.
Authorities said Orthodox Jews were targeted because they were unlikely to resist the robberies.
Den Uyl ordered that 15 years of Diaz's 25-year sentence be subject to the state's No Early Release Act, which requires that 85 percent of the term be served before he can be considered for release on parole.
Den Uyl on Oct. 9 sentenced Hardy to 30 years in prison for the two robberies, and Swift to 10 years in prison for the robbery he participated in. Both must serve 85 percent of their prison terms before they can be considered for release on parole.
http://www.app.com/article/20091120/NEWS/91120061/Seaside-Heights-man-sentenced-to-25-years-for-bias-robberies
0 comments
Friday, November 20, 2009
Hasidic voting issues linger in Town of Bethel elections
While absentee ballots in Bethel won't change outcomes in town races, the issue of whether newly registered Hasidic residents from several bungalow colonies will be allowed to vote in future elections will linger into the winter.
Incumbent Councilwoman Denise Frangipane picked up a few votes over Benjamin Friehling for a seat on the Town Council, the only race in doubt.
Frangipane, a Democrat, and Republican incumbent Richard Crumley will take the two seats. Supervisor Dan Sturm also easily won in his race against former Supervisor Harold Russell.
While Frangipane held a sizable lead over Friehling, there was a possibility her race would be thrown into state Supreme Court next week.
That's because some 89 ballots from newly registered Hasidic voters from the bungalow colonies were challenge and have not yet been counted.
After other absentees were counted, Frangipane unofficially held a 126-vote lead, meaning that the 89 challenged ballots can't affect the race. The Board of Elections will review each challenged ballot to determine if they should be counted.
It is likely, however, the issue will wind up in court this winter. Hasidic groups began a voter drive this summer after the town and the Brooklyn-based United Talmudical Academy went to court over the rapid construction of a shul on Schultz Road.
"We challenged the validity of the registrations," Legislator David Sager said.
He vowed to press on until the law is clarified to determine if the new registrations meet the residency requirement.
"We are not just challenging the votes of a certain election. This has long-term implications."
Moshe Goldberger, who newly switched his registration from a Brooklyn address, drove up to watch the opening.
He owns a piece of land in Bethel, and a mobile home on Route 17B.
"The only reason I was challenged is because I am Hasidic," Goldberger said. "I proved to the Board of Elections there was a house there."
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091120/NEWS/911200355
0 comments
Incumbent Councilwoman Denise Frangipane picked up a few votes over Benjamin Friehling for a seat on the Town Council, the only race in doubt.
Frangipane, a Democrat, and Republican incumbent Richard Crumley will take the two seats. Supervisor Dan Sturm also easily won in his race against former Supervisor Harold Russell.
While Frangipane held a sizable lead over Friehling, there was a possibility her race would be thrown into state Supreme Court next week.
That's because some 89 ballots from newly registered Hasidic voters from the bungalow colonies were challenge and have not yet been counted.
After other absentees were counted, Frangipane unofficially held a 126-vote lead, meaning that the 89 challenged ballots can't affect the race. The Board of Elections will review each challenged ballot to determine if they should be counted.
It is likely, however, the issue will wind up in court this winter. Hasidic groups began a voter drive this summer after the town and the Brooklyn-based United Talmudical Academy went to court over the rapid construction of a shul on Schultz Road.
"We challenged the validity of the registrations," Legislator David Sager said.
He vowed to press on until the law is clarified to determine if the new registrations meet the residency requirement.
"We are not just challenging the votes of a certain election. This has long-term implications."
Moshe Goldberger, who newly switched his registration from a Brooklyn address, drove up to watch the opening.
He owns a piece of land in Bethel, and a mobile home on Route 17B.
"The only reason I was challenged is because I am Hasidic," Goldberger said. "I proved to the Board of Elections there was a house there."
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091120/NEWS/911200355
0 comments
Lakewood development plan heads to Trenton
The town's development footprint for the next 20 years heads to Trenton to seek the state's blessing after the township committee adopted the controversial measure Thursday with some minor amendments.
Following a series of public input forums that culminated last month with a divided crowd of more than 500 people, committee members voted unanimously to accept a smart growth plan that includes dense commercial centers and double the housing stock in the next two decades.
"Just because we don't pass a plan doesn't mean construction will stop," Committeeman Steven Langert said. "What we need to do is find a way to control it."
Opposition lay mostly with seniors and preservationists who insisted the town did not have the infrastructure or public support to welcome an expected 230,000-person population by 2030.
"That Route 9 is going to be the same problem all the way down if you keep building and building," Joe Kirsch, 76, said of the congested north-south artery through town.
Town planners emphasized that improving Route 9 was the plan's number one priority. Other minor changes and clarifications included altering circulation and parking following concerns from Georgian Court University.
The town's largest population segment, Orthodox Jews, have largely praised the development direction that will accommodate the growing demand from yeshiva students and families to move here. Lakewood has moved from the 20th to the eighth largest municipality in the state in under a decade.
The plan will now be submitted to the State Planning Commission, whose backing is crucial. If the plan gets state endorsement it will be incorporated into the town's master plan, a process that could take more than two years.
"Not to go forward with this and stagnate this again will put us behind the eight ball," Mayor Robert Singer said.
http://www.app.com/article/20091119/NEWS/911190365/1070/NEWS02/Lakewood+development+plan+heads+to+Trenton
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Following a series of public input forums that culminated last month with a divided crowd of more than 500 people, committee members voted unanimously to accept a smart growth plan that includes dense commercial centers and double the housing stock in the next two decades.
"Just because we don't pass a plan doesn't mean construction will stop," Committeeman Steven Langert said. "What we need to do is find a way to control it."
Opposition lay mostly with seniors and preservationists who insisted the town did not have the infrastructure or public support to welcome an expected 230,000-person population by 2030.
"That Route 9 is going to be the same problem all the way down if you keep building and building," Joe Kirsch, 76, said of the congested north-south artery through town.
Town planners emphasized that improving Route 9 was the plan's number one priority. Other minor changes and clarifications included altering circulation and parking following concerns from Georgian Court University.
The town's largest population segment, Orthodox Jews, have largely praised the development direction that will accommodate the growing demand from yeshiva students and families to move here. Lakewood has moved from the 20th to the eighth largest municipality in the state in under a decade.
The plan will now be submitted to the State Planning Commission, whose backing is crucial. If the plan gets state endorsement it will be incorporated into the town's master plan, a process that could take more than two years.
"Not to go forward with this and stagnate this again will put us behind the eight ball," Mayor Robert Singer said.
http://www.app.com/article/20091119/NEWS/911190365/1070/NEWS02/Lakewood+development+plan+heads+to+Trenton
0 comments
Thursday, November 19, 2009
State gives new owners of Postville plant $600,000 in aid
The new owners of the former AgriProcessors in Postville received $600,000 in state assistance, plus tax credits, Thursday for a $15 million proposal to update and modernize the Kosher beef and poultry meatpacking plant.
Agri Star Meat & Poultry, owned by Canadian Hershey Friedman, says it will remodel the plant and introduce a new line of oven-baked beef and chicken, state documents show. The company plans to retain 168 jobs and create 140 jobs. Employees will earn at least $11.65 an hour, records show.
The Iowa Economic Development Board agreed to provide the company with $600,000 in loans and grants, plus an estimated $941,652 in tax credits, based on the company’s capital investment in the plant.
The board said incentives are contingent on Agri Star having an approved environmental plan in place and complying with federal immigration laws. In 2008, the plant was the subject of a federal raid that resulted in the arrest of hundreds of immigrant workers who were in the country illegally.
Criminal charges were filed against most of the workers and the plant’s former owner, Sholom Rubashkin, who was convicted of 86 federal financial fraud charges last week.
Board member Robert Riley said the plant is important to the northeast Iowa community and state. The company said will process about 500 cattle each day. “The cattle processing capacity is essential for Iowa,” said Riley.
The company also received $145,000 in local tax abatements over five years and $50,000 in state job-training assistance.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200991119016
0 comments
B&H Photo Sued for Talmudic Discrimination Against Women
B&H Photo Video, the famously well-stocked, reasonably-priced, and knowledgeable-staffed midtown store, employs a large number of orthodox Jews on the floor and in management, but plaintiffs in a lawsuit say they're not so good about hiring and promoting women. Naskinsha Cushnie and three other female job-seekers claim discrimination. Cushnie says she was told she couldn't move from cashier to sales clerk because Jewish law forbids it...
The ladies' lawyer, Richard Ancowitz, cites not only civil but religious law: "I have consulted with leading authorities, and it is quite clear that there are no tenets of Jewish law that require the sales force to be male-only."
B&H strongly denies the charges ("B&H has a policy of not discriminating against employees and applicants"). In 2007 the retailer settled a discrimination suit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging underpayment and underpromotion of Hispanic employees, for $4.3 million.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/11/bh_photo_sued_f.php
1 comments
The ladies' lawyer, Richard Ancowitz, cites not only civil but religious law: "I have consulted with leading authorities, and it is quite clear that there are no tenets of Jewish law that require the sales force to be male-only."
B&H strongly denies the charges ("B&H has a policy of not discriminating against employees and applicants"). In 2007 the retailer settled a discrimination suit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging underpayment and underpromotion of Hispanic employees, for $4.3 million.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/11/bh_photo_sued_f.php
1 comments
Kosher soup kitchens to open in NYC
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Hasidic voter challenge put on hold
Lawyers agreed Tuesday to postpone a hearing on whether to allow some 90 Hasidic residents to vote in the Town of Bethel.
While residents packed the courtroom, lawyer Gerald Orseck and County Attorney Sam Yasgur said they had reached an agreement whereby the question would be put off until the absentee ballots are counted. The Board of Elections will open about 300 ballots on Thursday.
Both sides have agreed to drop the case if the absentee ballots do not change the outcome of any of the races.
Orseck had asked Judge Frank LaBuda to dismiss challenges to 95 new registrations on a technicality.
County Legislator Dave Sager challenged the registrations after Hasidic groups this summer commenced a voter registration drive while in a dispute over the construction of a shul on Schultz Road.
If outcomes do change, all the parties will be back in court before LaBuda.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091118/NEWS/911180339
0 comments
While residents packed the courtroom, lawyer Gerald Orseck and County Attorney Sam Yasgur said they had reached an agreement whereby the question would be put off until the absentee ballots are counted. The Board of Elections will open about 300 ballots on Thursday.
Both sides have agreed to drop the case if the absentee ballots do not change the outcome of any of the races.
Orseck had asked Judge Frank LaBuda to dismiss challenges to 95 new registrations on a technicality.
County Legislator Dave Sager challenged the registrations after Hasidic groups this summer commenced a voter registration drive while in a dispute over the construction of a shul on Schultz Road.
If outcomes do change, all the parties will be back in court before LaBuda.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091118/NEWS/911180339
0 comments
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
3 kosher soup kitchens to open in NYC
Three kosher soup kitchens are opening in New York City in the coming weeks.
The're called Masbia (MAHZ'-bee-uh) - which means "satiate" in Hebrew.
They'll be located in the Midwood and Williamsburg neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and the Rego Park area of Queens. There's already a "Masbia" in Brooklyn's Borough Park neighborhood.
The Midwood location once housed an upscale restaurant.
Organizers say that even as soup kitchens they'll offer Orthodox Jews with a fine dining experience complete with five-course dinners and waiter service. Dividers will provide privacy.
Jewish leaders say they've seen increases in hunger and poverty in their communities.
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=11519214
0 comments
The're called Masbia (MAHZ'-bee-uh) - which means "satiate" in Hebrew.
They'll be located in the Midwood and Williamsburg neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and the Rego Park area of Queens. There's already a "Masbia" in Brooklyn's Borough Park neighborhood.
The Midwood location once housed an upscale restaurant.
Organizers say that even as soup kitchens they'll offer Orthodox Jews with a fine dining experience complete with five-course dinners and waiter service. Dividers will provide privacy.
Jewish leaders say they've seen increases in hunger and poverty in their communities.
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=11519214
0 comments
5 Minute Parking Grace Period to Be Vetoed by Bloomberg
Today the City Council is expected to pass two laws that would give motorists more wiggle room when fighting parking tickets. The first bill would create a five-minute grace period for drivers for certain no parking zones, such as alternate side parking regulations and expired Muni-Meters. (The bill does not include regular coin-operated, single-space meters, seen failing here.) A second piece of legislation would require the DOT to post notices of new and changed parking restrictions in affected neighborhoods and online up to one week in advance. (Last October, Orthodox Jews in Williamsburg were outraged when the DOT wrote tickets for over 90 vehicles that were violating new parking regulations—on a Saturday.)
But Mayor Bloomberg has vowed to veto the grace period bill, telling reporters today, "I will veto that. I think it’s a very misguided piece of legislation. A five-minute grace period is only going to lead to chaos and enormous increases in the number of contested tickets, and in argument. Whose watch are you going to use?" And Transportation Alternatives director Paul Steely White says, "I fail to see how the hands of a wristwatch—no two of which seem to read the same time in this town—are a fairer judge than a clearly expired parking meter. This is irresponsible pandering that will lead to more arguments at the curbside, and a profusion of illegal parking."
According to an extensive analysis conducted by the Times last year, almost 300,000 alternate side violations were issued within five minutes of the rule taking effect in 2007. Of those, nearly 28,000 tickets were issued exactly on the hour that the rule went into effect. In a statement, Council Member Simcha Felder, one of the bills' sponsors, said, "Anyone with common sense and decency understands the need for a five-minute grace period to eliminate ‘gotcha’ tickets."
http://gothamist.com/2009/11/16/parking_meter_grace_period_to_be_ve.php
0 comments
But Mayor Bloomberg has vowed to veto the grace period bill, telling reporters today, "I will veto that. I think it’s a very misguided piece of legislation. A five-minute grace period is only going to lead to chaos and enormous increases in the number of contested tickets, and in argument. Whose watch are you going to use?" And Transportation Alternatives director Paul Steely White says, "I fail to see how the hands of a wristwatch—no two of which seem to read the same time in this town—are a fairer judge than a clearly expired parking meter. This is irresponsible pandering that will lead to more arguments at the curbside, and a profusion of illegal parking."
According to an extensive analysis conducted by the Times last year, almost 300,000 alternate side violations were issued within five minutes of the rule taking effect in 2007. Of those, nearly 28,000 tickets were issued exactly on the hour that the rule went into effect. In a statement, Council Member Simcha Felder, one of the bills' sponsors, said, "Anyone with common sense and decency understands the need for a five-minute grace period to eliminate ‘gotcha’ tickets."
http://gothamist.com/2009/11/16/parking_meter_grace_period_to_be_ve.php
0 comments
Out of the Inbox - In memoriam of Motty
Sent in by a Chaptzem reader
What exactly happened to Motty Borger during the last few seconds of his life I will never know.
One thing I do know is that Motty loved people. He loved everyone around him and was a good friend who you could always count on for a quick sharp one-liner or a good hearty laugh.
I spent a lot of time with Motty throughout the years, he was there for me in my time of need, fully and completely without hesitation and without the expectation of reciprocation.
Motty was a true friend and I now miss him dearly.
There are many things that I do not know, but I know one thing for sure. I want to remember Motty exactly the way he was on his wedding day, happy, joyful and full of hope, looking eagerly into the future to his whole life ahead of him.
May we learn from Motty and follow in his footsteps and may we all be better friends one to another like Motty was.
4 comments
Monday, November 16, 2009
Fewer Hasidim Backed Mayor, Study Finds
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was getting an earful. “He created this crisis so that he can take credit for fixing it and get our votes in exchange,” one commenter wrote on a Brooklyn blog, Vos Iz Neias, Yiddish for “What is News.” Someone else remarked, “I got to my store I got 2 tickets from the Sanitation police. I sure deserved it Bloomie. I will NOT vote for you.”
The writers were reacting to the news late last month that Mr. Bloomberg would restore money for an after-school voucher program that is popular among Orthodox Jewish families. But some scorned the move as blatant political expediency days before the election.
Without question, Mr. Bloomberg was eager to woo the city’s Hasidic Jewish voters. He met behind closed doors with influential rabbis, courted their congregations, and gave an eight-page interview to an Orthodox magazine, describing the challenge of growing up Jewish in an Irish and Italian neighborhood.
Still, his share of the vote fell sharply in Brooklyn’s largest Hasidic enclaves on Nov. 3, and the decline was one of the sharpest among any group of voters.
“We didn’t vote as Hasidim. We voted as New Yorkers,” said Mendy Hecht, 36, a Lubavitcher in Crown Heights, who pulled the lever for the mayor’s Democratic opponent, Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. “My vote was a vote of protest against Bloomberg.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/nyregion/16orthodox.html
2 comments
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Suicide groom twist
A Brooklyn newlywed who jumped to his death from a hotel balcony the night after his wedding was tormented by memories of being sexually molested as a Jewish student, sources say.
After joyfully singing and dancing at their lavish celebration in Williamsburg on Nov. 3, Motty Borger, 24, bared his secret anguish to his bride, Mali Gutman, the next day -- and the revelation caused a strain, a source close to the family told The Post.
"That entire day he discussed it with her. He told her the story of his life, how he felt so awful and he couldn't go near her," the source said. The couple had met just last July, after a matchmaker set them up.
"When he got married, he realized he couldn't face up to it, and he told his wife that he needed help."
The stunned bride responded, "So, why did you marry me?"
Borger reportedly answered, "You are absolutely right. It was not right of me to get married."
At 6:45 a.m., while Mali slept, Borger climbed a railing outside their seventh-floor room at Avenue Plaza Hotel and leaped, police say. He died hours later at a hospital.
Friends insist that Borger -- described as fun-loving, smiling and cheerful -- wouldn't take his own life.
"I know Motty, and I know he didn't jump. It was an accident," one said. The rabbi who spoke at his funeral called reports of suicide "wickedness."
A security video at the hotel shows him looking "agitated" in an elevator with his wife, cops said.
The city Medical Examiner ruled his death a suicide. The NYPD is investigating the sex-abuse allegations, said a police official.
A source familiar with the tragedy said Borger had confided in close relatives that he was molested while a teen attending a yeshiva, possibly by a rabbi, but they never went to police.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/suicide_groom_twist_pa15C1Z5nGPyHIYj18xCNI
16 comments
After joyfully singing and dancing at their lavish celebration in Williamsburg on Nov. 3, Motty Borger, 24, bared his secret anguish to his bride, Mali Gutman, the next day -- and the revelation caused a strain, a source close to the family told The Post.
"That entire day he discussed it with her. He told her the story of his life, how he felt so awful and he couldn't go near her," the source said. The couple had met just last July, after a matchmaker set them up.
"When he got married, he realized he couldn't face up to it, and he told his wife that he needed help."
The stunned bride responded, "So, why did you marry me?"
Borger reportedly answered, "You are absolutely right. It was not right of me to get married."
At 6:45 a.m., while Mali slept, Borger climbed a railing outside their seventh-floor room at Avenue Plaza Hotel and leaped, police say. He died hours later at a hospital.
Friends insist that Borger -- described as fun-loving, smiling and cheerful -- wouldn't take his own life.
"I know Motty, and I know he didn't jump. It was an accident," one said. The rabbi who spoke at his funeral called reports of suicide "wickedness."
A security video at the hotel shows him looking "agitated" in an elevator with his wife, cops said.
The city Medical Examiner ruled his death a suicide. The NYPD is investigating the sex-abuse allegations, said a police official.
A source familiar with the tragedy said Borger had confided in close relatives that he was molested while a teen attending a yeshiva, possibly by a rabbi, but they never went to police.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/suicide_groom_twist_pa15C1Z5nGPyHIYj18xCNI
16 comments
Hasidic group, Bethel hit upon settlement
A Hasidic group has reached a settlement with the Town of Bethel in an ongoing dispute over a shul, whereby it will pay the town $20,000 for road improvements, submit new plans and consent to further inspections.
Bethel has agreed to grant the United Talmudical Academy a six-month temporary certificate of occupancy for the shul and community building on Schultz Road, and allow the group to proceed with the final phase of construction.
UTA sued the town this summer after the town attempted to prevent the group from using the shul and to stop work on it.
While UTA obtained a court order that temporarily allowed it to use the building, the lawsuit has lingered.
Attorneys will go before a judge later this month to put the settlement on the record.
"The case is over," said the UTA's lawyer, Henri Shawn. "In reality, the lawyers stepped out of the picture and allowed the parties to meet. Apparently they have met and they have reached an agreement, which has resulted in the town giving the UTA a new temporary certificate of occupancy, which have conditions agreed to it."
The temporary certificate spells out nine conditions the UTA must meet before the town will grant a final certificate.
Within four months, UTA will have to pay Bethel $20,000, which will be put into escrow until the final certificate is granted and then used to improve Schultz Road. UTA will also have to make payments for an additional three years to maintain the road. The amount of these payments will be worked out later, but must be a minimum of $1,000 each year.
UTA will also have to submit a modified building plan with electrical, plumbing and mechanical plans, obtain an operating permit and consent to a final inspection. UTA must also do landscaping and street lighting and improve the parking lot.
Supervisor Dan Sturm said he is optimistic the case will soon be over.
"It is close," he said.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091115/NEWS/911150328/-1/news
0 comments
Bethel has agreed to grant the United Talmudical Academy a six-month temporary certificate of occupancy for the shul and community building on Schultz Road, and allow the group to proceed with the final phase of construction.
UTA sued the town this summer after the town attempted to prevent the group from using the shul and to stop work on it.
While UTA obtained a court order that temporarily allowed it to use the building, the lawsuit has lingered.
Attorneys will go before a judge later this month to put the settlement on the record.
"The case is over," said the UTA's lawyer, Henri Shawn. "In reality, the lawyers stepped out of the picture and allowed the parties to meet. Apparently they have met and they have reached an agreement, which has resulted in the town giving the UTA a new temporary certificate of occupancy, which have conditions agreed to it."
The temporary certificate spells out nine conditions the UTA must meet before the town will grant a final certificate.
Within four months, UTA will have to pay Bethel $20,000, which will be put into escrow until the final certificate is granted and then used to improve Schultz Road. UTA will also have to make payments for an additional three years to maintain the road. The amount of these payments will be worked out later, but must be a minimum of $1,000 each year.
UTA will also have to submit a modified building plan with electrical, plumbing and mechanical plans, obtain an operating permit and consent to a final inspection. UTA must also do landscaping and street lighting and improve the parking lot.
Supervisor Dan Sturm said he is optimistic the case will soon be over.
"It is close," he said.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091115/NEWS/911150328/-1/news
0 comments
Details emerge from Weiss plane crash
A preliminary report concerning a fatal plane crash last month offers some new details about the crash, but does not include a cause.
The Oct. 25 crash killed pilot Chaim Weiss, 58, of Spring Valley, N.Y. He was the lone passenger aboard the four-seat, Cessna 172 that crashed into a remote, wooded area of Whipstock Hill after several attempts to land at the William H. Morse state airport.
Witnesses saw approach
Investigators have been puzzled as to why Weiss was in the area to begin with, and the report offers no explanation. Police said Weiss told family members he was going for a short flight in the area when he took off from the Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford, N.J., less than two hours before the crash. A flight plan was not required and none was filed.
The preliminary report prepared by the National Transportation Safety Board this month said witnesses reported the plane making two approaches to Runway 13, one of two runways at the small airport on Bennington’s west end. Each approach was followed by a "go-around" about 20 feet above ground level.
The plane was seen at a low altitude and in level flight with the engine running normally before the sound of impact, which was followed by silence, according to the report.
The plane was found the following morning at an elevation of about 1,080 feet, according to the report. The body of the plane was found about half a nautical mile from the approach end of Runway 13. A nautical mile is approximately equal to 1.15 miles.
Witnesses told investigators the plane was making a right-hand pattern for the approach. According to the report, the published pattern for Runway 13 requires a left-hand pattern. The airport’s other runway is suitable for right-hand patterns because of Whipstock Hill, which is just south of the airport.
According to the report, the wreckage path was about 143 feet in length. The fuselage was inverted and the left wing was severed and found lodged about 35 feet above ground in a tree. The right wing remained attached to the fuselage. Both of the plane’s fuel tanks were ruptured and investigators found no measurable fuel remaining. About 1.5 ounces of residual fuel was recovered from fuel lines.
Investigators removed the engine from the plane’s fuselage for examination at a nearby workshop. They found both propeller blades were bent, but engine components appeared to have been in working order.
Weiss held a private pilot certificate, issued in 2005, with single-engine land privileges, according to the report. His logbook contained records indicating Weiss had recorded about 174 hours of flight time. Weiss had logged 11.2 hours in the previous year, including 2.4 hours of nighttime flying, prior to the crash. It had been dark for about 45 minutes when Weiss crashed.
The report states Weiss had a total of 14.5 hours of night flight time logged, and his last recorded night flight prior to the crash was Sept. 21 when he logged four night landings. The logbook did not give any indication that he had previously flown patterns or landings at the Bennington airport.
Local police and other rescue personnel began searching on foot for the crash site shortly after receiving several 911 calls. The New York State Police searched from the air with a helicopter. The search was eventually postponed until the following morning, when local residents found the plane.
Weiss was a psychologist with the Kiryas Joel School District in Orange County, N.Y., according to reports. Kiryas Joel Village is a community of mostly Hasidic Jews within the town of Monroe, N.Y.
A final report is not expected to be completed for 12 to 18 months. The report may include a cause for the crash, and could revise what is contained in the preliminary report, according to the NTSB.
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/ci_13785171
0 comments
The Oct. 25 crash killed pilot Chaim Weiss, 58, of Spring Valley, N.Y. He was the lone passenger aboard the four-seat, Cessna 172 that crashed into a remote, wooded area of Whipstock Hill after several attempts to land at the William H. Morse state airport.
Witnesses saw approach
Investigators have been puzzled as to why Weiss was in the area to begin with, and the report offers no explanation. Police said Weiss told family members he was going for a short flight in the area when he took off from the Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford, N.J., less than two hours before the crash. A flight plan was not required and none was filed.
The preliminary report prepared by the National Transportation Safety Board this month said witnesses reported the plane making two approaches to Runway 13, one of two runways at the small airport on Bennington’s west end. Each approach was followed by a "go-around" about 20 feet above ground level.
The plane was seen at a low altitude and in level flight with the engine running normally before the sound of impact, which was followed by silence, according to the report.
The plane was found the following morning at an elevation of about 1,080 feet, according to the report. The body of the plane was found about half a nautical mile from the approach end of Runway 13. A nautical mile is approximately equal to 1.15 miles.
Witnesses told investigators the plane was making a right-hand pattern for the approach. According to the report, the published pattern for Runway 13 requires a left-hand pattern. The airport’s other runway is suitable for right-hand patterns because of Whipstock Hill, which is just south of the airport.
According to the report, the wreckage path was about 143 feet in length. The fuselage was inverted and the left wing was severed and found lodged about 35 feet above ground in a tree. The right wing remained attached to the fuselage. Both of the plane’s fuel tanks were ruptured and investigators found no measurable fuel remaining. About 1.5 ounces of residual fuel was recovered from fuel lines.
Investigators removed the engine from the plane’s fuselage for examination at a nearby workshop. They found both propeller blades were bent, but engine components appeared to have been in working order.
Weiss held a private pilot certificate, issued in 2005, with single-engine land privileges, according to the report. His logbook contained records indicating Weiss had recorded about 174 hours of flight time. Weiss had logged 11.2 hours in the previous year, including 2.4 hours of nighttime flying, prior to the crash. It had been dark for about 45 minutes when Weiss crashed.
The report states Weiss had a total of 14.5 hours of night flight time logged, and his last recorded night flight prior to the crash was Sept. 21 when he logged four night landings. The logbook did not give any indication that he had previously flown patterns or landings at the Bennington airport.
Local police and other rescue personnel began searching on foot for the crash site shortly after receiving several 911 calls. The New York State Police searched from the air with a helicopter. The search was eventually postponed until the following morning, when local residents found the plane.
Weiss was a psychologist with the Kiryas Joel School District in Orange County, N.Y., according to reports. Kiryas Joel Village is a community of mostly Hasidic Jews within the town of Monroe, N.Y.
A final report is not expected to be completed for 12 to 18 months. The report may include a cause for the crash, and could revise what is contained in the preliminary report, according to the NTSB.
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/ci_13785171
0 comments
Saturday, November 14, 2009
School board pres. accused
The president of a Long Island school board, who is also has a primary position in a chain of nursing home, has been accused of taking a $50 million bribe from the nation's largest pharmacy.
Murray Forman was first elected to the board of the Lawrence School District in 2005. With the accusations against him, Forman now facing a federal civil matter. Forman has denied the allegations, and said that the government's case lacked merit.
This is not the first time that Forman has been associated with a case.
Earlier this year, parents of students in the Lawrence school district filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against members of the board, stating that the board does not offer enough support to its students, and favors students of a certain religion. The board is composed of seven Orthodox Jews, six of whom educate their own children outside of the Lawrence school district.
That case has since been dismissed.
http://www.examiner.com/x-27388-Long-Island-Crime-Examiner~y2009m11d13-School-board-pres-accused
0 comments
Murray Forman was first elected to the board of the Lawrence School District in 2005. With the accusations against him, Forman now facing a federal civil matter. Forman has denied the allegations, and said that the government's case lacked merit.
This is not the first time that Forman has been associated with a case.
Earlier this year, parents of students in the Lawrence school district filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against members of the board, stating that the board does not offer enough support to its students, and favors students of a certain religion. The board is composed of seven Orthodox Jews, six of whom educate their own children outside of the Lawrence school district.
That case has since been dismissed.
http://www.examiner.com/x-27388-Long-Island-Crime-Examiner~y2009m11d13-School-board-pres-accused
0 comments
Singer Matisyahu in sync with Olympic spirit
Matisyahu, whose music merges Hasidic Judaism with reggae beats, hip-hop and rock, is lending his voice to NBC's promotion of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The network has chosen his uplifting anthem "One Day" as the theme song for its "Countdown to Vancouver" promotional campaign.
"One Day" is the lead single from Matisyahu's third album, "Light," which Epic released in August. He describes the song as being about "unity and coming together for one common cause; about putting aside all differences and issues to connect in some way."
The spot premiered November 3, ran November 4 on all of NBC's affiliated cable networks, including Bravo, Oxygen, MSNBC and USA, and will air on NBC through February. It features Vancouver contenders Apolo Ohno (speed skating), Lindsey Vonn (alpine skiing), Shaun White (snowboarding), Gretchen Bleiler (snowboarding) and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (figure skating) describing what the Olympics means to athletes and spectators alike. The Winter Games take place February 12-28.
"When you see what those athletes go through and being the background for that," Matisyahu said, "it pulls on the heartstrings."
For the week ended November 8, "One Day" experienced a 13 percent increase in download sales -- its first weekly increase since the beginning of October. To date, the song has sold 117,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In keeping with his cross-genre style, Matisyahu said fans can expect a new version of "One Day" featuring Akon to premiere in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, Matisyahu is touring in support of "Light," working with Kenneth Cole on the "One Day for Change" viral campaign on Twitter and participating in a Charity Folks online auction -- the prize being a Brooklyn bike ride with the recording artist. Matisyahu is also finalizing details for his fourth annual Festival of Light in New York during Hanukkah, which begins December 11.
http://ca.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idCATRE5AC5NZ20091113
0 comments
The network has chosen his uplifting anthem "One Day" as the theme song for its "Countdown to Vancouver" promotional campaign.
"One Day" is the lead single from Matisyahu's third album, "Light," which Epic released in August. He describes the song as being about "unity and coming together for one common cause; about putting aside all differences and issues to connect in some way."
The spot premiered November 3, ran November 4 on all of NBC's affiliated cable networks, including Bravo, Oxygen, MSNBC and USA, and will air on NBC through February. It features Vancouver contenders Apolo Ohno (speed skating), Lindsey Vonn (alpine skiing), Shaun White (snowboarding), Gretchen Bleiler (snowboarding) and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (figure skating) describing what the Olympics means to athletes and spectators alike. The Winter Games take place February 12-28.
"When you see what those athletes go through and being the background for that," Matisyahu said, "it pulls on the heartstrings."
For the week ended November 8, "One Day" experienced a 13 percent increase in download sales -- its first weekly increase since the beginning of October. To date, the song has sold 117,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In keeping with his cross-genre style, Matisyahu said fans can expect a new version of "One Day" featuring Akon to premiere in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, Matisyahu is touring in support of "Light," working with Kenneth Cole on the "One Day for Change" viral campaign on Twitter and participating in a Charity Folks online auction -- the prize being a Brooklyn bike ride with the recording artist. Matisyahu is also finalizing details for his fourth annual Festival of Light in New York during Hanukkah, which begins December 11.
http://ca.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idCATRE5AC5NZ20091113
0 comments
Friday, November 13, 2009
Illegal Dumping at Homowack Causing Headaches
This past summer's drama involving the old Homowack Lodge has had a new wrinkle added to it. Several weeks ago, a mysterious trailer loaded with demolition debris was abandoned in the main parking area across the road from the old resort. The trailer, which is essentially a dumpster on wheels, was left there after it had been filled with debris, apparently from the demolition of a building near the post office on the lower part of Phillipsport Road.
Mamakating Supervisor Robert Fiore said he was made aware of the truck's existence during a recent inspection of the facility.
"We found out about it several weeks ago," Fiore said.
Fiore went on to say that he had discussed the issue with Town Building Inspector Mary Grass, and was told by her that the owner of the truck actually had a permit to haul debris from the demolition of the building; Grass, according to Fiore, said that the parking of the truck at that location was a 'temporary measure' and that it would only be there for a few days. The owner of the truck, however, appears to have overstayed his welcome, as the trailer has now been there for at least four weeks. Additionally, the trailer's legs, which are typically extended at the time a trailer is uncoupled from its rig, have since broken through the parking lot's asphalt. The front end of the trailer now sits partially on the ground (see photo), and, as a result, will likely require a crane or other piece of heavy-lifting equipment to remove.
The trailer was first discovered when town officials, along with a representative from the NY Department of State, were surveying the facility. According to Fiore, the official told him that the state was already aware of the situation, and that the owner of the truck was already under investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office. How the state official knew this remains unclear. However, the truck did at one time have Maine license plates, which were apparently confiscated by either the state police or the NY Department of Environmental Conservation. Pieces of heavy equipment also have various identification numbers on the chassis, which would allow police or other officials to trace the owner.
The presence of the trailer is also attracting other illegal dumpers, apparently, as there is now an assortment of old household items — including an old futon frame — laying on the ground nearby. Fiore used the term "attractive nuisance" to describe the trailer's presence. He said that he was worried that the condition of the old resort could attract even more illegal dumping.
"Attractive nuisances have to be removed," Fiore said.
It remains unclear at this point whether the town will initiate the trailer's removal, or whether the current owners of the Homowack — a Hasidic congregation from New Square in Rockland County —would be responsible for the removal. Earlier this year, the group had been engaged in a dispute with town and state officials over the existence of an illegal summer camp at the old resort.
http://www.shawangunkjournal.com/2009/11/12/news/0911123.html
0 comments
Mamakating Supervisor Robert Fiore said he was made aware of the truck's existence during a recent inspection of the facility.
"We found out about it several weeks ago," Fiore said.
Fiore went on to say that he had discussed the issue with Town Building Inspector Mary Grass, and was told by her that the owner of the truck actually had a permit to haul debris from the demolition of the building; Grass, according to Fiore, said that the parking of the truck at that location was a 'temporary measure' and that it would only be there for a few days. The owner of the truck, however, appears to have overstayed his welcome, as the trailer has now been there for at least four weeks. Additionally, the trailer's legs, which are typically extended at the time a trailer is uncoupled from its rig, have since broken through the parking lot's asphalt. The front end of the trailer now sits partially on the ground (see photo), and, as a result, will likely require a crane or other piece of heavy-lifting equipment to remove.
The trailer was first discovered when town officials, along with a representative from the NY Department of State, were surveying the facility. According to Fiore, the official told him that the state was already aware of the situation, and that the owner of the truck was already under investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office. How the state official knew this remains unclear. However, the truck did at one time have Maine license plates, which were apparently confiscated by either the state police or the NY Department of Environmental Conservation. Pieces of heavy equipment also have various identification numbers on the chassis, which would allow police or other officials to trace the owner.
The presence of the trailer is also attracting other illegal dumpers, apparently, as there is now an assortment of old household items — including an old futon frame — laying on the ground nearby. Fiore used the term "attractive nuisance" to describe the trailer's presence. He said that he was worried that the condition of the old resort could attract even more illegal dumping.
"Attractive nuisances have to be removed," Fiore said.
It remains unclear at this point whether the town will initiate the trailer's removal, or whether the current owners of the Homowack — a Hasidic congregation from New Square in Rockland County —would be responsible for the removal. Earlier this year, the group had been engaged in a dispute with town and state officials over the existence of an illegal summer camp at the old resort.
http://www.shawangunkjournal.com/2009/11/12/news/0911123.html
0 comments
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Leave Our Beards Alone, Say Orthodox Jews
Can't a dude wear a beard? That all-important question is at the heart of a complaint three Orthodox Jews are bringing against the Pikesville Volunteer Fire Department.
The three men, who don't shave in accordance with their religious beliefs, said the Department is preventing them from riding on calls because they're unable to wear specialized safety masks with their beards. The beards can't be worn with the breathing masks, since it reduces the seal of the masks.
They've filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that this violates their religious rights. They contend that there are alternate masks available, but that the Fire Department isn't accommodating their requests. They also allege that their membership in a different rescue agency that's mainly made up of other Orthodox Jews is one of the reasons they were prevented from going on calls with the Pikesville Fire Department.
We know what some of you are saying: "Just shave the damn beard." Others are likely thinking, "If they want to participate, they have to follow the rules."
That's a valid argument, but the men claim that there's no real reason for them to have to wear the masks. They serve as medics, not firefighters. Since they're not entering burning buildings or putting themselves in overly dangerous situations, there's little need for a breathing apparatus, they say.
Furthermore, they allege that they've been suspended for not wearing masks that the Fire Department doesn't even own. The three men are claiming that the Fire Department only raised the issue because they were planning on purchasing the masks at some far-off date.
For now, the complaint is moving forward.
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Leave-Our-Beards-Alone-Say-Orthodox-Jews-69786752.html
3 comments
The three men, who don't shave in accordance with their religious beliefs, said the Department is preventing them from riding on calls because they're unable to wear specialized safety masks with their beards. The beards can't be worn with the breathing masks, since it reduces the seal of the masks.
They've filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that this violates their religious rights. They contend that there are alternate masks available, but that the Fire Department isn't accommodating their requests. They also allege that their membership in a different rescue agency that's mainly made up of other Orthodox Jews is one of the reasons they were prevented from going on calls with the Pikesville Fire Department.
We know what some of you are saying: "Just shave the damn beard." Others are likely thinking, "If they want to participate, they have to follow the rules."
That's a valid argument, but the men claim that there's no real reason for them to have to wear the masks. They serve as medics, not firefighters. Since they're not entering burning buildings or putting themselves in overly dangerous situations, there's little need for a breathing apparatus, they say.
Furthermore, they allege that they've been suspended for not wearing masks that the Fire Department doesn't even own. The three men are claiming that the Fire Department only raised the issue because they were planning on purchasing the masks at some far-off date.
For now, the complaint is moving forward.
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Leave-Our-Beards-Alone-Say-Orthodox-Jews-69786752.html
3 comments
Ruffled feathers
New Square needs to stop dragging its heels on holding a public hearing on controversial plans to site a kosher chicken processing plant in town. The proposal, for which a dearth of information has been made public, has stirred anger and nervousness in neighboring residential communities. A public hearing might allay some of those concerns; even if not, neighbors are entitled to get answers to their many questions.
The processing plant may, as supporters have described, be a state-of-the-art facility that will have minimal impacts on its neighbors. It may increase jobs. It may be a worthwhile investment, as deemed by the Empire State Development office, which has awarded a $1.62 million Restore New York grant to the venture.
If that truly is the case, though, New Square’s leaders and the plant’s prospective operator, Adir Poultry Processing Plant, should be eager to share the substantiating information. Unfortunately, that has not been the case as scheduled public hearings have twice been postponed. Officials have said Adir needs more time to gather environmental impact information for the plant.
New Square Deputy Mayor Israel Spitzer, spokesman for the Hasidic municipality, said he has had discussions with those opposed to the plant, but these have been private affairs, not public meetings. He recounts speaking with one activist, who he said came around to the view that the plan was no detriment. Spitzer, however, declined to identify the activist.
"I think it was very wrong for the neighbors to not reach out with the village and try to arrange a meeting with village officials and get the facts straight before rushing into demonstrations and protests," Spitzer said.
Perhaps, but wishing for such restraint is futile where, as here, obfuscation has been the rule.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091112/OPINION/911120317/1015/OPINION01/Ruffled-feathers
0 comments
The processing plant may, as supporters have described, be a state-of-the-art facility that will have minimal impacts on its neighbors. It may increase jobs. It may be a worthwhile investment, as deemed by the Empire State Development office, which has awarded a $1.62 million Restore New York grant to the venture.
If that truly is the case, though, New Square’s leaders and the plant’s prospective operator, Adir Poultry Processing Plant, should be eager to share the substantiating information. Unfortunately, that has not been the case as scheduled public hearings have twice been postponed. Officials have said Adir needs more time to gather environmental impact information for the plant.
New Square Deputy Mayor Israel Spitzer, spokesman for the Hasidic municipality, said he has had discussions with those opposed to the plant, but these have been private affairs, not public meetings. He recounts speaking with one activist, who he said came around to the view that the plan was no detriment. Spitzer, however, declined to identify the activist.
"I think it was very wrong for the neighbors to not reach out with the village and try to arrange a meeting with village officials and get the facts straight before rushing into demonstrations and protests," Spitzer said.
Perhaps, but wishing for such restraint is futile where, as here, obfuscation has been the rule.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20091112/OPINION/911120317/1015/OPINION01/Ruffled-feathers
0 comments
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Orthodox Jews flock to SD, support leader on trial
In the musty conference room of a South Dakota hotel, Sholom Rubashkin helps a disheveled man in a hooded sweat shirt wrap black bands around his left arm and head. Attached to each is a black box containing inscriptions from the Torah.
"It's on your arm close to your heart, on your head close to your thoughts," Rubashkin, a leader in the Orthodox Jewish community, tells Robert Graham in a thick Brooklyn accent. Graham nods.
For the 50-year-old Rubashkin, and the dozens of Orthodox Jewish men who arrive almost daily from across the country to support him, such spiritual guidance is partly why God led him to his federal trial in Sioux Falls.
The former manager of Iowa kosher slaughterhouse Agriprocessors Inc. is accused of defrauding a St. Louis bank and, if convicted, could spend the rest of his life in prison. But for now, he's spreading his spiritual message to people like Graham, a South Dakota Jewish man who was only remotely familiar with the broadest outlines of his religion's traditions.
That devotion and respect for the Rubashkin family is what draws the men to support a fellow member of their Hasidim, a branch of Judaism that translates to "the pious." Its members are easily identifiable in long black coats, fedoras and beards. They know Rubashkin more as the former teacher at an Atlanta Jewish school explaining his faith to young pupils.
"They have a solemn faith it's going to go the way it should," said Graham, a bus driver from Sioux Falls. "Even if it comes back guilty, they would say that's what God wanted."
While they pray in the hotel conference room, a jury of seven women and five men discuss in a courthouse five blocks away whether Rubashkin is guilty of 91 counts including bank, wire and mail fraud. They carry a combined maximum prison sentence of more than 1,000 years.
Rubashkin also will face a second federal trial on 72 immigration charges.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5impfJWbG5fmzCzpp6tXUlHeDJntQD9BT8RGO0
3 comments
"It's on your arm close to your heart, on your head close to your thoughts," Rubashkin, a leader in the Orthodox Jewish community, tells Robert Graham in a thick Brooklyn accent. Graham nods.
For the 50-year-old Rubashkin, and the dozens of Orthodox Jewish men who arrive almost daily from across the country to support him, such spiritual guidance is partly why God led him to his federal trial in Sioux Falls.
The former manager of Iowa kosher slaughterhouse Agriprocessors Inc. is accused of defrauding a St. Louis bank and, if convicted, could spend the rest of his life in prison. But for now, he's spreading his spiritual message to people like Graham, a South Dakota Jewish man who was only remotely familiar with the broadest outlines of his religion's traditions.
That devotion and respect for the Rubashkin family is what draws the men to support a fellow member of their Hasidim, a branch of Judaism that translates to "the pious." Its members are easily identifiable in long black coats, fedoras and beards. They know Rubashkin more as the former teacher at an Atlanta Jewish school explaining his faith to young pupils.
"They have a solemn faith it's going to go the way it should," said Graham, a bus driver from Sioux Falls. "Even if it comes back guilty, they would say that's what God wanted."
While they pray in the hotel conference room, a jury of seven women and five men discuss in a courthouse five blocks away whether Rubashkin is guilty of 91 counts including bank, wire and mail fraud. They carry a combined maximum prison sentence of more than 1,000 years.
Rubashkin also will face a second federal trial on 72 immigration charges.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5impfJWbG5fmzCzpp6tXUlHeDJntQD9BT8RGO0
3 comments
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
An East Village Synagogue Gets a Jazzy Rabbi
At first glance, the term “jazz rabbi” might seem incongruous, but the recent installation of Greg Wall, a well-known jazz musician, as the rabbi at the Sixth Street Community Synagogue, a modern Orthodox congregation in the East Village, shows that the porkpie and the yarmulke are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
In an Oct. 31 concert to mark the start of his tenure as senior rabbi, Rabbi Wall brought his blend of the sacred and the avant-garde to the sanctuary of the 70-year-old building, which was originally a Lutheran church. Several weeks earlier, Rabbi Wall had stood in the same spot giving a sermon on Yom Kippur, but at Sixth Street, this night was different from all other nights.
“I doubt these walls have ever heard music like this,” said Seth Glass, who recently joined the synagogue and played guitar in the concert.
More than 100 people, many of them senior citizens, attended the concert, despite a heavy rain and the distractions of Halloween in the streets. Accompanied by nearly 20 musicians from several continents, Rabbi Wall played in a variety of styles, including straight-ahead jazz, klezmer and African drumming.
“Two of my greatest passions come together with this job, where I don’t have to choose if I’m a musician or a student of our religion,” Rabbi Wall, who was also celebrating his 50th birthday, told the congregation. “I still can’t quite make a living as a rabbi, though, so I need to have something to fall back on — like being a jazz musician.”
Earlier that night, Rabbi Wall, dressed in a black suit and draped in a tallis, or Jewish prayer shawl, finished the week’s prayers and left to prepare for the concert. Minutes later, he returned to the sanctuary in a loose-fitting maroon paisley shirt and a decorative, arabesqued yarmulke. But the change in outfit didn’t mean he had abandoned his rabbinical duties for the night.
“If you start talking about spirituality during a show, then you’re seen as a fanatic, but if you’re a rabbi, they cut you some slack,” he said. “It’s like James Bond getting his license to kill. I get a license to talk about spirituality.”
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/an-east-village-synagogue-gets-a-jazzy-rabbi/
1 comments
In an Oct. 31 concert to mark the start of his tenure as senior rabbi, Rabbi Wall brought his blend of the sacred and the avant-garde to the sanctuary of the 70-year-old building, which was originally a Lutheran church. Several weeks earlier, Rabbi Wall had stood in the same spot giving a sermon on Yom Kippur, but at Sixth Street, this night was different from all other nights.
“I doubt these walls have ever heard music like this,” said Seth Glass, who recently joined the synagogue and played guitar in the concert.
More than 100 people, many of them senior citizens, attended the concert, despite a heavy rain and the distractions of Halloween in the streets. Accompanied by nearly 20 musicians from several continents, Rabbi Wall played in a variety of styles, including straight-ahead jazz, klezmer and African drumming.
“Two of my greatest passions come together with this job, where I don’t have to choose if I’m a musician or a student of our religion,” Rabbi Wall, who was also celebrating his 50th birthday, told the congregation. “I still can’t quite make a living as a rabbi, though, so I need to have something to fall back on — like being a jazz musician.”
Earlier that night, Rabbi Wall, dressed in a black suit and draped in a tallis, or Jewish prayer shawl, finished the week’s prayers and left to prepare for the concert. Minutes later, he returned to the sanctuary in a loose-fitting maroon paisley shirt and a decorative, arabesqued yarmulke. But the change in outfit didn’t mean he had abandoned his rabbinical duties for the night.
“If you start talking about spirituality during a show, then you’re seen as a fanatic, but if you’re a rabbi, they cut you some slack,” he said. “It’s like James Bond getting his license to kill. I get a license to talk about spirituality.”
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/an-east-village-synagogue-gets-a-jazzy-rabbi/
1 comments
Monday, November 09, 2009
Pictures and video of opening of new Masbia free Kosher soup kitchen in Williamsburg
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Rubashkin draws a loyal following
Sholom Rubashkin awakens early in his downtown Sioux Falls motel, prays at 6:45 a.m., chats with his lawyers and heads four blocks south for the legal fight of his life.
Behind him, in a wood-paneled federal courtroom, throngs of Orthodox Jews with beards and skullcaps gather to watch his trial.
The unusual scene has repeated itself for almost a month now, as Agriprocessors Inc.'s former vice president stands trial on 91 financial fraud charges.
Supporters have come to Sioux Falls, S.D. - a quiet Midwestern city of about 142,400, with one synagogue listed in its phone book - from Australia, England, New York and other Midwestern cities. The stream of well-wishers has filled hotel rooms and turned heads on the street.
The supporters mostly keep to themselves, praying every morning and watching Monday Night Football and the World Series at night. Many have brought their own kosher food from New York, Minneapolis and other locales to adhere to their strict religious diet.
"It is a sacrifice," said Shmuel Raices, a rabbinical student from New York. "This is a very busy time for me. But you know what? Sholom would do this for me in a second."
Rubashkin's son, Getzel, 25, said his father has earned the support through years of charity work and other good deeds. The Orthodox Jewish community has followed the case closely, he said.
"All these people feel that supporting him is worth the trip to Sioux Falls," the younger Rubashkin said. "My father is loved and respected by many people, only a minute percentage of which have been physically able to attend the trial."
Prosecutors say Rubashkin's support in the Orthodox Jewish community and his charity work are irrelevant in the eyes of the law.
Rubashkin, 50, is charged with 91 financial crimes, including bank, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, and ignoring an order to pay livestock providers in the time required by law. He faces a maximum 1,280-year prison sentence if convicted of all counts. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Monday.
He also allegedly conspired to hire and harbor illegal immigrant workers at Agriprocessors. A second federal trial for Rubashkin on 72 immigration charges is set to begin in Sioux Falls in December. He has pleaded not guilty.
Rubashkin critics blame the high-profile meat man for creating conditions in Postville, Ia., that made it a ripe target for law enforcement. Federal immigration agents raided Agriprocessors in May 2008 in a crackdown that exposed the alleged fraud but destabilized the local economy.
The raid, code-named "Operation Cedar Valley Junction," was based on evidence and tips collected over two years.
Assistant U.S. Attorney C.J. Williams objected to extensive references to Rubashkin's religion or charity work Thursday, before the former slaughterhouse executive testified. Defense lawyers countered that some references were needed to explain Rubashkin's appearance and his behavior at Agriprocessors.
"In a court of law, everyone is equal," Williams said Thursday. "Frankly, what Mr. Rubashkin does for charity doesn't matter."
Some supporters expressed anger at what they view as an unfair crackdown on Rubashkin and the plant he managed for years. Orthodox Jewish supporters point to the industry practice of hiring immigrant workers and ask why Agriprocessors was targeted.
"This is a witch hunt," said David Moskovitz, an Orthodox Jew from Chicago. "And you can quote me."
The supporters range in age from teenagers to men with white beards hanging over their chests. They squeeze into rows of wooden courtroom benches, muttering prayers and listening to testimony. Some sway back and forth - "shuckling" in Yiddish - while reading psalms.
At one point during testimony, U.S. District Judge Linda Reade admonished one supporter for sleeping in the courtroom. Reade warned the group again Thursday when a few spoke out loud during Rubashkin's turn on the witness stand.
Rubashkin has embraced supporters during down time at the courthouse. One well-wisher from Chicago was talking to a reporter from The Des Moines Register during a break last week when Rubashkin walked up, patted the man's back, grinned, and looked at the reporter.
"This is a good man," Rubashkin said, then turned and walked off.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091108/NEWS/911080338/-1/BUSINESS04
1 comments
Behind him, in a wood-paneled federal courtroom, throngs of Orthodox Jews with beards and skullcaps gather to watch his trial.
The unusual scene has repeated itself for almost a month now, as Agriprocessors Inc.'s former vice president stands trial on 91 financial fraud charges.
Supporters have come to Sioux Falls, S.D. - a quiet Midwestern city of about 142,400, with one synagogue listed in its phone book - from Australia, England, New York and other Midwestern cities. The stream of well-wishers has filled hotel rooms and turned heads on the street.
The supporters mostly keep to themselves, praying every morning and watching Monday Night Football and the World Series at night. Many have brought their own kosher food from New York, Minneapolis and other locales to adhere to their strict religious diet.
"It is a sacrifice," said Shmuel Raices, a rabbinical student from New York. "This is a very busy time for me. But you know what? Sholom would do this for me in a second."
Rubashkin's son, Getzel, 25, said his father has earned the support through years of charity work and other good deeds. The Orthodox Jewish community has followed the case closely, he said.
"All these people feel that supporting him is worth the trip to Sioux Falls," the younger Rubashkin said. "My father is loved and respected by many people, only a minute percentage of which have been physically able to attend the trial."
Prosecutors say Rubashkin's support in the Orthodox Jewish community and his charity work are irrelevant in the eyes of the law.
Rubashkin, 50, is charged with 91 financial crimes, including bank, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, and ignoring an order to pay livestock providers in the time required by law. He faces a maximum 1,280-year prison sentence if convicted of all counts. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Monday.
He also allegedly conspired to hire and harbor illegal immigrant workers at Agriprocessors. A second federal trial for Rubashkin on 72 immigration charges is set to begin in Sioux Falls in December. He has pleaded not guilty.
Rubashkin critics blame the high-profile meat man for creating conditions in Postville, Ia., that made it a ripe target for law enforcement. Federal immigration agents raided Agriprocessors in May 2008 in a crackdown that exposed the alleged fraud but destabilized the local economy.
The raid, code-named "Operation Cedar Valley Junction," was based on evidence and tips collected over two years.
Assistant U.S. Attorney C.J. Williams objected to extensive references to Rubashkin's religion or charity work Thursday, before the former slaughterhouse executive testified. Defense lawyers countered that some references were needed to explain Rubashkin's appearance and his behavior at Agriprocessors.
"In a court of law, everyone is equal," Williams said Thursday. "Frankly, what Mr. Rubashkin does for charity doesn't matter."
Some supporters expressed anger at what they view as an unfair crackdown on Rubashkin and the plant he managed for years. Orthodox Jewish supporters point to the industry practice of hiring immigrant workers and ask why Agriprocessors was targeted.
"This is a witch hunt," said David Moskovitz, an Orthodox Jew from Chicago. "And you can quote me."
The supporters range in age from teenagers to men with white beards hanging over their chests. They squeeze into rows of wooden courtroom benches, muttering prayers and listening to testimony. Some sway back and forth - "shuckling" in Yiddish - while reading psalms.
At one point during testimony, U.S. District Judge Linda Reade admonished one supporter for sleeping in the courtroom. Reade warned the group again Thursday when a few spoke out loud during Rubashkin's turn on the witness stand.
Rubashkin has embraced supporters during down time at the courthouse. One well-wisher from Chicago was talking to a reporter from The Des Moines Register during a break last week when Rubashkin walked up, patted the man's back, grinned, and looked at the reporter.
"This is a good man," Rubashkin said, then turned and walked off.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091108/NEWS/911080338/-1/BUSINESS04
1 comments
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Hot Dog Swindler Sentenced To 15 Years
A kosher meat salesman who admitted to swindling investors out of nearly $2.5 million has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Arnold Zaler, 60, was sentenced Friday after admitting to a Denver stadium hot dog sales scheme in which he forged food orders to make it seem he was selling more than he was. Zaler was indicted in early 2008 but fled to Israel when he was released on bond.
Zaler was returned to Colorado after being nabbed at the Atlanta airport in February. Zaler apologized to his victims in court Friday and said that he has a mental illness and was trying to be "a big shot."
http://cbs4denver.com/local/Convicted.Swindler.Flees.2.1298754.html
0 comments
Arnold Zaler, 60, was sentenced Friday after admitting to a Denver stadium hot dog sales scheme in which he forged food orders to make it seem he was selling more than he was. Zaler was indicted in early 2008 but fled to Israel when he was released on bond.
Zaler was returned to Colorado after being nabbed at the Atlanta airport in February. Zaler apologized to his victims in court Friday and said that he has a mental illness and was trying to be "a big shot."
http://cbs4denver.com/local/Convicted.Swindler.Flees.2.1298754.html
0 comments
Friday, November 06, 2009
Groom death plunge
A newlywed groom on his honeymoon yesterday plunged to his death from a Brooklyn hotel in an apparent suicide -- as his bride slept, unaware of the tragedy, sources said.
Motty Borger, 24, died at Lutheran Medical Center after the seven-story plunge from The Avenue Plaza Hotel in Borough Park -- just two days after marrying his love, Mali, in a lavish ceremony, according two sources.
Borger's bride was sleeping in the room when her husband, who worked with his videographer dad, opened a window, stepped onto the balcony and jumped at 6:45 a.m.
Mali didn't know what had happened until she was awakened by the hotel concierge.
Friends were shocked at the young man's death, saying there was no sign at Borger's wedding in Williamsburg on Tuesday that he'd try to end his life.
"He sang, he danced, he was the happiest kid on the planet," said a friend who was at the wedding among 500 pals and loved ones.
"The guy was super energetic," said another reveler.
The couple shared a meal of boiled salmon Wednesday night in a postwedding celebration and seemed to be in good spirits.
"They were both happy," said a waiter.
"They were laughing, talking about what they should order."
Detectives were poring over security video, including a clip that shows an agitated Borger in an elevator with his wife.
A police source described Borger as "emotionally disturbed."
The apparent suicide stunned family members who just 48 hours earlier were celebrating the young couple's union.
"The guy was so full of life," a friend said. "He was so happy to marry her."
Friends said they couldn't believe Borger would want to kill himself or that there could have been any marital strife.
"She's a nice, sweet girl," a friend said of the bride. "They have money, so that wasn't a problem."
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/groom_death_plunge_BdMlFI3bOCBQ44OgaD82QN
12 comments
Motty Borger, 24, died at Lutheran Medical Center after the seven-story plunge from The Avenue Plaza Hotel in Borough Park -- just two days after marrying his love, Mali, in a lavish ceremony, according two sources.
Borger's bride was sleeping in the room when her husband, who worked with his videographer dad, opened a window, stepped onto the balcony and jumped at 6:45 a.m.
Mali didn't know what had happened until she was awakened by the hotel concierge.
Friends were shocked at the young man's death, saying there was no sign at Borger's wedding in Williamsburg on Tuesday that he'd try to end his life.
"He sang, he danced, he was the happiest kid on the planet," said a friend who was at the wedding among 500 pals and loved ones.
"The guy was super energetic," said another reveler.
The couple shared a meal of boiled salmon Wednesday night in a postwedding celebration and seemed to be in good spirits.
"They were both happy," said a waiter.
"They were laughing, talking about what they should order."
Detectives were poring over security video, including a clip that shows an agitated Borger in an elevator with his wife.
A police source described Borger as "emotionally disturbed."
The apparent suicide stunned family members who just 48 hours earlier were celebrating the young couple's union.
"The guy was so full of life," a friend said. "He was so happy to marry her."
Friends said they couldn't believe Borger would want to kill himself or that there could have been any marital strife.
"She's a nice, sweet girl," a friend said of the bride. "They have money, so that wasn't a problem."
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/groom_death_plunge_BdMlFI3bOCBQ44OgaD82QN
12 comments
Bethel voter drive unlikely to change election results
A much-ballyhooed registration drive from Hasidic groups in the Town of Bethel might have spurred a surge in absentee ballots, but is not expected to change the outcome of Tuesday's races.
The Sullivan County Board of Elections received 262 absentee ballots to date from Bethel voters, and eight affidavits. Hasidic groups began a voter drive this summer after the town and the United Talmudical Academy, a Hasidic organization based in Brooklyn, went to court over the rapid construction of a shul on Schultz Road.
There are more absentee ballots than usual from Bethel, but not hugely so. In 2007, the Board of Elections issued 228 absentee ballots and got back 202, said Election Commissioner Faith Kaplan.
A group led by Legislator Dave Sager has challenged 152 new registrations, claiming the seasonal residents do not qualify to vote in town. Most switched this summer from addresses in Brooklyn, and stay in bungalow colonies that are open only in the summer. Sager says his organization will take the challenge to court if necessary.
"This is something that is going to present itself every year and there needs (to be) a clear determination with regard to election law," Sager said.
It won't be clear, however, how many of this year's absentee ballots came from the voter drive until the ballots are opened tentatively on Nov. 17.
Supervisor Daniel Sturm holds a 180-vote lead over former Supervisor Harold Russell. And while Russell hasn't conceded, Sturm says he's not worried.
"With the machine count there, I am statistically in good shape," he said.
Incumbent board members Richard Crumley and Denise Frangipane hold 154- and 97-vote leads, respectively, over Benjamin Friehling. The top vote-getters win the two seats.
Sturm believes he and other incumbents were targets of the drive, but it might have helped them in the end by activating Bethel's other community groups.
"Maybe people were more cognizant about the importance of voting," Sturm said.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091106/NEWS/911060352
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The Sullivan County Board of Elections received 262 absentee ballots to date from Bethel voters, and eight affidavits. Hasidic groups began a voter drive this summer after the town and the United Talmudical Academy, a Hasidic organization based in Brooklyn, went to court over the rapid construction of a shul on Schultz Road.
There are more absentee ballots than usual from Bethel, but not hugely so. In 2007, the Board of Elections issued 228 absentee ballots and got back 202, said Election Commissioner Faith Kaplan.
A group led by Legislator Dave Sager has challenged 152 new registrations, claiming the seasonal residents do not qualify to vote in town. Most switched this summer from addresses in Brooklyn, and stay in bungalow colonies that are open only in the summer. Sager says his organization will take the challenge to court if necessary.
"This is something that is going to present itself every year and there needs (to be) a clear determination with regard to election law," Sager said.
It won't be clear, however, how many of this year's absentee ballots came from the voter drive until the ballots are opened tentatively on Nov. 17.
Supervisor Daniel Sturm holds a 180-vote lead over former Supervisor Harold Russell. And while Russell hasn't conceded, Sturm says he's not worried.
"With the machine count there, I am statistically in good shape," he said.
Incumbent board members Richard Crumley and Denise Frangipane hold 154- and 97-vote leads, respectively, over Benjamin Friehling. The top vote-getters win the two seats.
Sturm believes he and other incumbents were targets of the drive, but it might have helped them in the end by activating Bethel's other community groups.
"Maybe people were more cognizant about the importance of voting," Sturm said.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091106/NEWS/911060352
0 comments
Thursday, November 05, 2009
State promises to fix FDR Drive-Brooklyn Bridge ramp
Possibly the worst thing about living in Brooklyn — the debilitating traffic congestion on the Brooklyn Bridge’s entrance ramp from the southbound FDR Drive — may be getting just a little bit better.
The state Department of Transportation announced this week that it will make cosmetic changes to the frustrating exit ramp from the FDR onto the fabled span — initially paint and new signage, but, eventually, a wideing of the ramp to two lanes so it can better handle the traffic.
“That’s the five-year project,” said state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D–Brooklyn Heights), who said he was pleased that the long-term plan will widen a ramp that sometimes backs up as far as the Manhattan Bridge, encouraging [expletive deleted] drivers to cut in at the last minute.
That ramp — which officially bears the name of Ari Halberstam, the 14-year-old Hasidic boy who was killed when a gunman opened fire on the roadway in 1994 — is “nothing short of infuriating,” Squadron added in the understatement of the year.
For now, the first-term lawmaker got a commitment from state DOT to make immediate superficial improvements, including new paint on all lane markers, making them easier to read and clearer about when the merge is approaching; two repetitions of the words “EXIT ONLY,” to discourage cutting; and replacing the current sign that reads, “Bklyn-Battery Tunnel” with a new sign that reads, “Exit 1 / Battery Pk / Staten Is Ferry.”
“It will be clearer for people and for the police to do enforcement,” Squadron said.
When reminded that catching cheaters at that entrance ramp would be as easy as handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500, Squadron pointed out that the current lane markers aren’t as clear as they could be.
“There is one point where it says ‘Do not cross solid line,’ but it’s not solid at that point,” he said. “We all know that the long-term solution is a two-lane exit — and that’s going to happen.”
There isn’t a Brooklyn driver who hasn’t been caught in traffic at that ramp, though at least one motorist said Squadron’s “powder and paint” won’t help the problem.
“When it’s a two-lane exit, fine,” said driver Jen Frayne. “But they’ve put down paint before. People still cut in, penalizing those of us who play by the rules. The only way to stop it is to put a cop on the ramp all day long.”
That said, there is some recent research that suggests that late mergers do not, in fact, slow down traffic, despite other drivers’ frustration.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/state_promises_to_fix_fdr_drive_mLwEoREH1EA1GrKyU67tKN
1 comments
The state Department of Transportation announced this week that it will make cosmetic changes to the frustrating exit ramp from the FDR onto the fabled span — initially paint and new signage, but, eventually, a wideing of the ramp to two lanes so it can better handle the traffic.
“That’s the five-year project,” said state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D–Brooklyn Heights), who said he was pleased that the long-term plan will widen a ramp that sometimes backs up as far as the Manhattan Bridge, encouraging [expletive deleted] drivers to cut in at the last minute.
That ramp — which officially bears the name of Ari Halberstam, the 14-year-old Hasidic boy who was killed when a gunman opened fire on the roadway in 1994 — is “nothing short of infuriating,” Squadron added in the understatement of the year.
For now, the first-term lawmaker got a commitment from state DOT to make immediate superficial improvements, including new paint on all lane markers, making them easier to read and clearer about when the merge is approaching; two repetitions of the words “EXIT ONLY,” to discourage cutting; and replacing the current sign that reads, “Bklyn-Battery Tunnel” with a new sign that reads, “Exit 1 / Battery Pk / Staten Is Ferry.”
“It will be clearer for people and for the police to do enforcement,” Squadron said.
When reminded that catching cheaters at that entrance ramp would be as easy as handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500, Squadron pointed out that the current lane markers aren’t as clear as they could be.
“There is one point where it says ‘Do not cross solid line,’ but it’s not solid at that point,” he said. “We all know that the long-term solution is a two-lane exit — and that’s going to happen.”
There isn’t a Brooklyn driver who hasn’t been caught in traffic at that ramp, though at least one motorist said Squadron’s “powder and paint” won’t help the problem.
“When it’s a two-lane exit, fine,” said driver Jen Frayne. “But they’ve put down paint before. People still cut in, penalizing those of us who play by the rules. The only way to stop it is to put a cop on the ramp all day long.”
That said, there is some recent research that suggests that late mergers do not, in fact, slow down traffic, despite other drivers’ frustration.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/state_promises_to_fix_fdr_drive_mLwEoREH1EA1GrKyU67tKN
1 comments
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Democrats win Board seats in Monroe
Two longtime Republican incumbents lost their Town Board seats, thanks to the changing loyalties of powerful voting blocs in the Hasidic Village of Kiryas Joel.
Councilmen Don Weeks and Peter Martin lost to Democratic challengers Gerard McQuade and Richard Colon.
Cards giving voting instructions within Kiryas Joel before the election suggested the outcome even before the results came in.
The powerful main voting bloc, which has historically supported incumbents on the Town Board, threw its support behind Weeks, but not Martin, who has served 20 years as a councilman. It also supported Supervisor Sandy Leonard, who beat challenger Gary Defilippis, the former Harriman police chief, to retain her seat.
Weeks had been on the board for 32 years and had the endorsement of the major Hasidic voting bloc, but not that of the less powerful dissident group in the village, which threw its support behind the Democratic challengers.
Martin said Tuesday he believed that Harley Doles, the lone Democrat on the Town Board, had a hand in changing the loyalties of Kiryas Joel voters. Doles has had an especially rocky relationship with his board colleagues since last week, when Councilman Jim Rogers allegedly attacked him during a board meeting.
Doles is married to town justice candidate Maria Vazquez-Doles, who also won her race with the endorsement of Kiryas Joel voters.
“Harley Doles is the Karl Rove of Monroe politics,” Martin said, “and he has chastised the incumbent Republicans for benefiting from a bloc vote, while the whole time he’s been over there trying to get that bloc vote on his side; and from the sound of things, it looks like he’s accomplished that.”
Monroe voters approved a proposal to raise the Monroe Free Library’s budget by $69,855 to $1.7 million. The additional revenue will go toward more DVDs and audio-visual offerings, as well as a fund to expand the current building.
Kannon, Murray take Chester
In other elections, longtime incumbent Democrat Cindy Smith lost her seat on the Chester Town Board to Republican Matthew Kannon. Republican incumbent Jerry Murray kept his seat on the board.
And in Blooming Grove, Republicans Kathy Wells-Calhoun and Michael Jahn, won board seats, beating out two Democratic and two Conservative challengers.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091104/NEWS/911049987
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Councilmen Don Weeks and Peter Martin lost to Democratic challengers Gerard McQuade and Richard Colon.
Cards giving voting instructions within Kiryas Joel before the election suggested the outcome even before the results came in.
The powerful main voting bloc, which has historically supported incumbents on the Town Board, threw its support behind Weeks, but not Martin, who has served 20 years as a councilman. It also supported Supervisor Sandy Leonard, who beat challenger Gary Defilippis, the former Harriman police chief, to retain her seat.
Weeks had been on the board for 32 years and had the endorsement of the major Hasidic voting bloc, but not that of the less powerful dissident group in the village, which threw its support behind the Democratic challengers.
Martin said Tuesday he believed that Harley Doles, the lone Democrat on the Town Board, had a hand in changing the loyalties of Kiryas Joel voters. Doles has had an especially rocky relationship with his board colleagues since last week, when Councilman Jim Rogers allegedly attacked him during a board meeting.
Doles is married to town justice candidate Maria Vazquez-Doles, who also won her race with the endorsement of Kiryas Joel voters.
“Harley Doles is the Karl Rove of Monroe politics,” Martin said, “and he has chastised the incumbent Republicans for benefiting from a bloc vote, while the whole time he’s been over there trying to get that bloc vote on his side; and from the sound of things, it looks like he’s accomplished that.”
Monroe voters approved a proposal to raise the Monroe Free Library’s budget by $69,855 to $1.7 million. The additional revenue will go toward more DVDs and audio-visual offerings, as well as a fund to expand the current building.
Kannon, Murray take Chester
In other elections, longtime incumbent Democrat Cindy Smith lost her seat on the Chester Town Board to Republican Matthew Kannon. Republican incumbent Jerry Murray kept his seat on the board.
And in Blooming Grove, Republicans Kathy Wells-Calhoun and Michael Jahn, won board seats, beating out two Democratic and two Conservative challengers.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091104/NEWS/911049987
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Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Yeshiva row over Messiah goes to court
What began as a brawl in a Brooklyn yeshiva dorm over a revered rabbi has left six members of a Jewish patrol group facing gang assault charges in a state Supreme Court trial that started Monday.
The fight - over whether the late Rabbi Menachem Schneerson is an emissary of God - also led to broken bones, a $150 million lawsuit and a battle between two rival patrol groups.
"I'm going to call the Messiah as my first witness," defense lawyer Tedd Blecher quipped after the trial's first day.
With six defense lawyers objecting at once, a kibitzing crowd and the first witness having trouble telling six bearded defendants apart, the trial veered close to farce.
The defendants, members of the Shomrim watch group, face 15 years - and prosecutors were serious when they told Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Albert Tomei of possible witness tampering just before opening statements. The six defendants were called to a Yeshiva dorm on Eastern Parkway to break up a fight between four members of the Messianic group and others on Dec. 29, 2007.
"It seems that the defendants had one goal and that was not to mediate," Assistant District Attorney David Weiss told jurors. "It was to beat up a bunch of yeshiva students."
Defense lawyers said the case was instigated by an attorney affiliated with Shomrim's rival guard group who also filed the lawsuit.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/03/2009-11-03_yeshiva_row_over_messiah_goes_to_court.html
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The fight - over whether the late Rabbi Menachem Schneerson is an emissary of God - also led to broken bones, a $150 million lawsuit and a battle between two rival patrol groups.
"I'm going to call the Messiah as my first witness," defense lawyer Tedd Blecher quipped after the trial's first day.
With six defense lawyers objecting at once, a kibitzing crowd and the first witness having trouble telling six bearded defendants apart, the trial veered close to farce.
The defendants, members of the Shomrim watch group, face 15 years - and prosecutors were serious when they told Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Albert Tomei of possible witness tampering just before opening statements. The six defendants were called to a Yeshiva dorm on Eastern Parkway to break up a fight between four members of the Messianic group and others on Dec. 29, 2007.
"It seems that the defendants had one goal and that was not to mediate," Assistant District Attorney David Weiss told jurors. "It was to beat up a bunch of yeshiva students."
Defense lawyers said the case was instigated by an attorney affiliated with Shomrim's rival guard group who also filed the lawsuit.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/03/2009-11-03_yeshiva_row_over_messiah_goes_to_court.html
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Monday, November 02, 2009
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Bill goes radio silent vs. slur
Bill Thompson yesterday failed to challenge an anti-Semitic statement by a caller on a radio show who slammed Mayor Bloomberg as caring only about "the Jewish people of his persuasion."
The Democratic mayoral hopeful was appearing as a guest on KISS-FM's "Open Line" during the final 48 hours before tomorrow's general election when a caller who identified himself as "Carl from Harlem" greeted him and said, "I believe that you will be a good mayor . . . you are for the people, for all the people."
He went on to say Bloomberg is "divisional . . . He just thinks about helping the rich, the rich contractors, and the Jewish people of his persuasion, and I think that it's time for that type of thinking and that type of people to be moved out of office."
The host thanked Carl before moving on to two other callers. Thompson replied to a policy question but never referred back to the earlier call.
Thompson later told The Post that he would have denounced Carl had he stayed on the line and said, "I didn't hear the full comment that the guy had . . . If you go back and look, everyone ignored him. I think they basically just kind of cut him off."
Thompson's campaign issued a statement from the candidate, saying, "I received a lot of calls from New Yorkers today, and I did not hear anyone say anything anti-Semitic.
"Obviously, if I had, I would have immediately denounced it or any other statement offensive towards any New Yorkers."
The Post reported this summer that Thompson was similarly silent when the host of a campaign-sponsored small-business roundtable referred to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn as a "whore."
Two weeks ago, Thompson and other Democrats blasted comments former Mayor Rudy Giuliani made to a group of Hasidic Jews about the city's crime rate before he took office. Many viewed them as racially coded.
Sources close to Thompson privately noted yesterday that Bloomberg never repudiated his predecessor's remarks.
Meanwhile, Thompson rallied with Sen. Charles Schumer and state Sen. Malcolm Smith in Queens, while Bloomberg rode along part of the New York City Marathon route in the city's parade car with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
Later, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Midtown, Bloomberg joined a crowd of 500 in a standing ovation for controversial activist and Independence Party leader Lenora Fulani at a get-out-the-vote rally.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bill_goes_radio_silent_vs_slur_Fahoae2fy9AUh7LCz3ZirN
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The Democratic mayoral hopeful was appearing as a guest on KISS-FM's "Open Line" during the final 48 hours before tomorrow's general election when a caller who identified himself as "Carl from Harlem" greeted him and said, "I believe that you will be a good mayor . . . you are for the people, for all the people."
He went on to say Bloomberg is "divisional . . . He just thinks about helping the rich, the rich contractors, and the Jewish people of his persuasion, and I think that it's time for that type of thinking and that type of people to be moved out of office."
The host thanked Carl before moving on to two other callers. Thompson replied to a policy question but never referred back to the earlier call.
Thompson later told The Post that he would have denounced Carl had he stayed on the line and said, "I didn't hear the full comment that the guy had . . . If you go back and look, everyone ignored him. I think they basically just kind of cut him off."
Thompson's campaign issued a statement from the candidate, saying, "I received a lot of calls from New Yorkers today, and I did not hear anyone say anything anti-Semitic.
"Obviously, if I had, I would have immediately denounced it or any other statement offensive towards any New Yorkers."
The Post reported this summer that Thompson was similarly silent when the host of a campaign-sponsored small-business roundtable referred to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn as a "whore."
Two weeks ago, Thompson and other Democrats blasted comments former Mayor Rudy Giuliani made to a group of Hasidic Jews about the city's crime rate before he took office. Many viewed them as racially coded.
Sources close to Thompson privately noted yesterday that Bloomberg never repudiated his predecessor's remarks.
Meanwhile, Thompson rallied with Sen. Charles Schumer and state Sen. Malcolm Smith in Queens, while Bloomberg rode along part of the New York City Marathon route in the city's parade car with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
Later, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Midtown, Bloomberg joined a crowd of 500 in a standing ovation for controversial activist and Independence Party leader Lenora Fulani at a get-out-the-vote rally.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bill_goes_radio_silent_vs_slur_Fahoae2fy9AUh7LCz3ZirN
0 comments
Sunday, November 01, 2009
State Department evacuated Yemenite Jews
The U.S. State Department has secretly brought about 60 Yemenite Jews to the United States since July, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Another 100 are likely to come to the United States in the coming month, the newspaper reported over the weekend.
There were about 350 Jews in Yemen before the operation, according to the report. In addition to the Yemenite Jews who will come to the United States, about 120 want to move to Israel and another up to 30 want to stay in Yemen. Some of the Jews who want to leave are having difficulty selling off their homes and other assets.
The immigrants to the United States are being resettled in Monsey, N.Y., which has a large concentration of Jews from Yemen, by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Jewish Federations of North America pledged $750,000 toward their resettlement.
The State Department had to pressure the Yemenite government to issue the emigrants exit permits and passports; the Yemenite government had preferred to move the Jews to a safe haven in the capital, the Journal reported. Several families missed the two flights offered to them by the U.S., the Journal reported.
The evacuation followed a year in which the Jewish community was subjected to increasing harassment and violence. In December 2008, a Yemenite Jew was killed by a Muslim man who ordered Jews to convert or be killed. The killer was been sentenced to death.
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/11/01/1008860/report-state-department-evacuated-yemenite-jews
1 comments
Another 100 are likely to come to the United States in the coming month, the newspaper reported over the weekend.
There were about 350 Jews in Yemen before the operation, according to the report. In addition to the Yemenite Jews who will come to the United States, about 120 want to move to Israel and another up to 30 want to stay in Yemen. Some of the Jews who want to leave are having difficulty selling off their homes and other assets.
The immigrants to the United States are being resettled in Monsey, N.Y., which has a large concentration of Jews from Yemen, by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Jewish Federations of North America pledged $750,000 toward their resettlement.
The State Department had to pressure the Yemenite government to issue the emigrants exit permits and passports; the Yemenite government had preferred to move the Jews to a safe haven in the capital, the Journal reported. Several families missed the two flights offered to them by the U.S., the Journal reported.
The evacuation followed a year in which the Jewish community was subjected to increasing harassment and violence. In December 2008, a Yemenite Jew was killed by a Muslim man who ordered Jews to convert or be killed. The killer was been sentenced to death.
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/11/01/1008860/report-state-department-evacuated-yemenite-jews
1 comments
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Remember to Change Your Clocks Tonight
Remember to change your clocks back an hour tonight: a majority of Hoosiers will gain an hour when daylight savings time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday morning.
A Milwaukee man has an idea about what to do with the hour you’ll gain this weekend when daylight saving time ends.
L. Maxwell McKissick says it’s a great excuse to donate 60 minutes of volunteer work to a local charity. He says if every American pitched in, communities and nonprofits would get 300 million-plus hours of assistance.
Federal law specifies that daylight saving time applies from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday of November in areas that don’t exempt themselves.
That means most Americans lose an hour when they spring forward in March, and gain it back eight months later.
http://www.wibc.com/news/Story.aspx?ID=1160328
0 comments
A Milwaukee man has an idea about what to do with the hour you’ll gain this weekend when daylight saving time ends.
L. Maxwell McKissick says it’s a great excuse to donate 60 minutes of volunteer work to a local charity. He says if every American pitched in, communities and nonprofits would get 300 million-plus hours of assistance.
Federal law specifies that daylight saving time applies from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday of November in areas that don’t exempt themselves.
That means most Americans lose an hour when they spring forward in March, and gain it back eight months later.
http://www.wibc.com/news/Story.aspx?ID=1160328
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Friday, October 30, 2009
Read the new Chaptzem article in the Country Yossi Family Magazine
Make sure to pick up your free copy of the Country Yossi Family Magazine and read the brand new original article 'Boro-Park - Land of Gold' written by Chaptzem, the only Heimishe blogger to make the transition from cyberspace to print.
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Ritual bath to honor couple murdered in Mumbai terror attack
A ritual bath, steeped in symbols of Judaic faith, will remind those who immerse and pray in its waters of a young rabbi and his wife killed in a terrorist attack in India a year ago.
On the tiled walls of its mikvah, a deep, warm-water bath that promises spiritual purity to Jewish women, the Lubavitch Center in Pikesville will hang a marble plaque that reads, "May their merit be a blessing for all those who immerse in these waters."
At 11 a.m. Sunday, in a public ceremony, the center will rededicate its Mikvah Mei Menachem in homage to Rabbi Gabi and Rivky Holtzberg. The rabbi's sister, Rikal Kaler, belongs to the congregation.
"This wall of remembrance is a message of life, survival and hope, all of which the mikvah symbolizes," said Rochelle Kaplan, center director. "It is most appropriate to remember the Holtzberg couple at this facility, because their life exemplified purity, self-sacrifice and the very best of humanity."
As members of Chabad Lubavitch, an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic sect dedicated to outreach around the globe, the Holtzbergs founded Nariman House, a synagogue and cultural center for Israeli tourists and the small Jewish community in Mumbai. Terrorists infiltrated the center during a siege of the city last year, and the Holtzbergs were among the hostages found killed after Indian commando units stormed the center. Their toddler son was rescued and lives with his grandparents in Israel.
"Although their light was extinguished, they will continue to shine through the life of their son and through the use of mikvah, which represents rebirth," Kaplan said.
Donations in the couple's memory helped refurbish the mikvah with beige and aqua ceramic tiles on the walls, stained-glass windows depicting Biblical women and water images, and soft lighting to the bath that opened at the center in 2003 and typically serves about 50 women a month.
In the corner of the center that houses the mikvah, Kaplan has created a welcoming space that visitors can tour Sunday.
"We want people to walk through and absorb the atmosphere and the message, as we rededicate this place," she said.
The entry hall is lined with memorial plaques and donated artwork, including a painting by Israeli students and a portrait of a couple at their wedding. Michoel Muchnik, a New York artist, used blues, greens and earth tones to fashion wall hangings, one of a water jug and the other of a blessings cup. Silk plants and roses line the sides of the deep pool, where a lone woman would fully immerse herself and intone a blessing, while serene music trills softly in the background.
"This mikvah will make us take a moment to think about what these young people meant," Kaplan said. "They were sparks of light in the world and they died doing what they loved."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bal-md.co.mikvahoct30,0,103915.story
0 comments
On the tiled walls of its mikvah, a deep, warm-water bath that promises spiritual purity to Jewish women, the Lubavitch Center in Pikesville will hang a marble plaque that reads, "May their merit be a blessing for all those who immerse in these waters."
At 11 a.m. Sunday, in a public ceremony, the center will rededicate its Mikvah Mei Menachem in homage to Rabbi Gabi and Rivky Holtzberg. The rabbi's sister, Rikal Kaler, belongs to the congregation.
"This wall of remembrance is a message of life, survival and hope, all of which the mikvah symbolizes," said Rochelle Kaplan, center director. "It is most appropriate to remember the Holtzberg couple at this facility, because their life exemplified purity, self-sacrifice and the very best of humanity."
As members of Chabad Lubavitch, an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic sect dedicated to outreach around the globe, the Holtzbergs founded Nariman House, a synagogue and cultural center for Israeli tourists and the small Jewish community in Mumbai. Terrorists infiltrated the center during a siege of the city last year, and the Holtzbergs were among the hostages found killed after Indian commando units stormed the center. Their toddler son was rescued and lives with his grandparents in Israel.
"Although their light was extinguished, they will continue to shine through the life of their son and through the use of mikvah, which represents rebirth," Kaplan said.
Donations in the couple's memory helped refurbish the mikvah with beige and aqua ceramic tiles on the walls, stained-glass windows depicting Biblical women and water images, and soft lighting to the bath that opened at the center in 2003 and typically serves about 50 women a month.
In the corner of the center that houses the mikvah, Kaplan has created a welcoming space that visitors can tour Sunday.
"We want people to walk through and absorb the atmosphere and the message, as we rededicate this place," she said.
The entry hall is lined with memorial plaques and donated artwork, including a painting by Israeli students and a portrait of a couple at their wedding. Michoel Muchnik, a New York artist, used blues, greens and earth tones to fashion wall hangings, one of a water jug and the other of a blessings cup. Silk plants and roses line the sides of the deep pool, where a lone woman would fully immerse herself and intone a blessing, while serene music trills softly in the background.
"This mikvah will make us take a moment to think about what these young people meant," Kaplan said. "They were sparks of light in the world and they died doing what they loved."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bal-md.co.mikvahoct30,0,103915.story
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