Yeshiva World News

The screaming tabloid headlines and bizarre incidents harken a darker, scarier time in New York City history.

Shootings and murders are up modestly in the nation’s largest city, even if the violence doesn’t match the overheated headlines.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has assured the public that overall crime is down and that measures are already being put in place to combat the violence.

But even the perception that New York is suffering any sort of backslide into the violence-plagued bad old days of the 1970s has empowered de Blasio’s critics.

Many say he is soft on crime and should do a full restoration of stop-and-frisk.

Mayoral aides have pushed back, noting that the violence is largely limited to a few areas about to be flooded with additional police officers.

(AP)

More than one hundred firefighters battled a smoky fire at Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn.

The Fire Department says the two-alarm blaze at the hospital in Park Slope apparently started when work being done in the basement caused a fire in the duct work.

Smoke spread to several floors of the hospital but a Fire Department spokesman says the facility was not evacuated.

One person was treated for smoke inhalation.

The fire was reported at 11:18 a.m. and was under control at 1:30 p.m.

(AP)

Two convicted murderers used power tools to cut through steel pipes at a maximum-security prison near the Canadian border and escape through a manhole, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.

“It was an elaborate plot,” Cuomo said after joining law enforcement authorities to retrace the prisoners’ escape route from the Clinton Correctional Facility in the town of Dannemora in the Adirondacks.

He said Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, are “two dangerous individuals.”

Sweat is serving a sentence of life without parole after he was convicted of first-degree murder for killing a Broome County sheriff’s deputy in 2002. Matt is serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the kidnapping and beating death of a man in 1997.

The two men’s adjoining cells were empty during a morning check, said Anthony Annuci, the acting state corrections commissioner.

“A search revealed that there was a hole cut out of the back of the cell through which these inmates escaped,” Annucci said. “They went onto a catwalk which is about six stories high. We estimate they climbed down and had power tools and were able to get out to this facility through tunnels, cutting away at several spots.”

Authorities said there are many questions including how the men acquired the tools. Annucci said prison authorities are checking to see if any power tools are missing from contractors at the prison.

Maj. Charles E. Guess of the state police said more than 200 officers from multiple agencies were searching for the inmates. The search included bloodhounds and aerial surveillance, he said.

Cuomo said the prison break was the first escape from the maximum-security portion of the prison since it was built in 1865.

The prison is about 20 miles from the Canadian border. Roadblocks were set up in the area, WIRY-AM reported.

Sweat is white, 5 feet 11 inches, with brown hair and green eyes and weighs 165 pounds, police said. He has tattoos on his left bicep and his right fingers.

Matt is white, 6 feet tall, with black hair and hazel eyes, according to police. He weighs 210 pounds and has tattoos including “Mexico Forever” on his back, a heart on his chest and left shoulder and a Marine Corps insignia on his right shoulder.

(AP)

Community Board 12 was happy to inform the public that the DOT, as promised, successfully completed their milling work on 14th Avenue this Thursday ahead of schedule and as agreed with CB12 will not be doing any work on Friday.

As per the request of CB12, the previously planned paving schedule was postponed to Saturday when there is almost no traffic.

The DOT will be paving the entire stretch of 14th Avenue from Church Avenue to 44th Street on Saturday and they expect to complete the entire job in one day as to not inconvenience the community anymore.

Community Board 12 is cautioning those living in the area to remove their vehicles from 14th Avenue before Shabbos starts to avoid being towed.

Community Board 12 thanked DOT Borough Commissioner Keith Bray for his willingness to do the paving on Saturday and Councilman David Greenfield for being in contact with DOT and working with CB12 to help get this done.

(YWN Desk – NYC)

Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) joined members of the NYPD and NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM) today at Yeshiva Yagdil Torah in Boro Park to present active shooter protocols to the yeshiva’s assembled teachers and administration. The highly informative program highlighted the need for yeshiva personnel to deliver a plan of action in the event of an actual emergency.

“Today’s session was part of our on-going commitment to keep our community as safe as possible,” said Hikind, who has remained in the forefront of calling for and helping organize greater security for the community. “People understand that our yeshivas and places of worship are genuine potential targets, G-d forbid. Now it’s time to put plans in place and to practice those plans. We will continue working with the community’s schools as we did today because it’s vital to know what to do and how to react if and when we are put to that test.”
The program was presented by Sgt. Stephen Iannone of the NYPD Counter Terrorism Division along with Police Officer Chris Mazzey of Operation SHIELD. Natan Mandelbaum, Deputy Director of Training, Office of NYC Emergency Management, also addressed the attendees and stressed the importance of forming a solid plan of action in the event of any emergency.

Assemblyman Hikind thanked Rabbi Chaim Garfinkel and Rabbi Menachem Garfinkel for working with his office to make today’s event a success.

(YWN Desk – NYC)

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has few things in common with his immediate predecessor, Michael Bloomberg.

The size of their financial disclosure forms is one of their many differences.

The city-mandated form for Bloomberg, who’s worth more than $30 billion, would stretch well past 100 pages.

De Blasio’s form is just eight. It was among forms released Thursday by the Conflict of Interest Board.

The document lists among his assets his two homes in Park Slope. It also indicates he has mortgages for both homes.

He is now renting out both while he lives at Gracie Mansion.

The form also reveals that he was reimbursed by the British Labour Party for travel to a speech he gave in Manchester, England last year.

(AP)

A 13-year-old boy was suspended from class after his father shoved his teacher during his bar mitzvah celebration. The boy attends a talmid torah affiliated with a dati leumi school in Kfar Chabad, hence the school is officially part of the state public school system. The teacher ousted the child from class after being instructed to do so by the mora d’asra of Kfar Chabad, Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi, who explained until the father apologizes the young man may not return to class. The father of the bar mitzvah boy turned to the Ministry of Education, and the district supervisor compelled the school to accept the child back in the classroom.

Like many other yeshivos, there are school regulations pertaining to a bar mitzvah celebration regarding the venue, music and other details. As the event was taking place during the evening hours, with the participation of classmates and teacher. At some point, the music changed and it was no longer in line with school regulations. The teacher turned to the father twice explaining that the music must be changed to adhere to the school’s regulations. The father reportedly refused to comply.

At about 23:00 the teacher instructed the talmidim to leave the simcha. It was explained this was not because of the music but rather due to the late hour as school regulations state the students must head home from a simcha at 23:00. When the father realized the classmates were leaving he shoved the teachers outside of the simcha hall.

The following morning a meeting was held with Rav Ashkenazi, who decided the father is to pay the teacher 2,000 NIS and apologize for his actions, which were particularly serious as they occurred in front of all of the students. The rav added that until the father does as instructed his son is not to be permitted back into class. The father refused, explaining his son is not responsible for his actions, then contacting ministry officials’.

The bar mitzvah boy came back to the school but he was placed in a parallel class instead of his own. The parents of the classmates were angered over the father’s disregard for the decision of the community’s rav. They decided they have the right not to send their children to school and they arranged for class to be conducted outside the school building so the bar mitzvah boy and his father would realize the matter is not over and the father’s actions are unacceptable.

Some of the parents who do not agree with Rav Ashkenazi’s decision told NRG News they do not approve, but because of the sensitivity of the situation they would only speak on the condition of anonymity. They explain they do not feel the child should be held responsible for the actions of his father.

Rabbi Ashkenazi prefers not to comment to the media on the matter. He did confirm however that he was aware of the move to take the classroom off the school premises in response to the Ministry of Education decision.

The teacher, Aaron Halprin explains to the press that he is not on any side and is simply following instructions. Mr. Halprin did state that in light of the events that occurred, the child must see his father apologize to him, not because of kovod but a matter of educating the child.

The school is not willing to give a statement. Officials in the Education Ministry told NRG “The actions of the school are bizarre and we will continue monitoring the events in the case”.

In its official response to the press, the Ministry’s statement reads “Upon hearing of the incident the school supervisor turned to the school’s administration to clarify the student may not be expelled in this case. In light of this, and after discussion involving relevant parties, the student was returned to school the following morning”.

It is added that parents agreed to hold classes outside of the school for a two-day period only and then classes are expected to return to the school building.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

[By Debbie Maimon]

Representatives of Agudath Israel of America converged upon Albany this week to line up support for education tax credits.

With just two weeks remaining until the end of the legislative session, advocates from both the religious Jewish community and other nonpublic school sectors converged in Albany to lobby legislators for the passage of a bill providing these tax credits.

The governor’s bill earmarks $70 million as a tax credit for low-income parents, awarding $500 per child for whom parents pay tuition. In addition, the bill provides for $50 million in tax credits for donations to scholarship funds benefiting low and middle income nonpublic school students throughout New York State.

The main focus of the advocacy effort was the State Assembly, which has yet to pass any Education Tax Credit legislation. While shoring up support for the bill from a number of key Assembly members, Agudah askonim encountered strong resistance from others who oppose the legislation.

The delegation started the day by convening in Assemblyman Michael Cusick’s office where they heard an update from Mr. Cusick, and another of the bill’s key sponsors, Queens Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz.

From there, the delegates split into four groups and fanned out across the Assembly to meet with Assembly members Peter Abbate, Rodneyse Bischette, Edward Braunstein, James Brennan, Alec Brook-Krasny, David Buchwald, Michael Cusick, Steven Cymbrowitz, Erik Dylan, Phillip Goldfeder, Aileen Gunther, Andrew Hevisi, Dov Hikind, Todd Kaminsky, Ronald Kim, Charles Lavine, Joseph Lentol, Joseph Morelle, Walter Mosley, Catherine Nolan, Nily Rozic, Sheldon Silver, Michael Simanowitz, JoAnne Simon, Latrice Walker, Helene Weinstein, and David Weprin, among others.

“The mixed results were expected,” observed executive vice president Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, who, along with Rabbi Shmuel Lefkowitz, Agudath Israel’s Vice President for Community Affairs, Members of the Board of Trustees, Leon Goldenberg and Chaskel Bennett and other activists, led a full day of meetings with legislators.

“It’s clear that we still have a long way to go before getting this legislation enacted. However, we were gratified to see a broad base of support from Assembly members who support parental choice in education and who recognize that private and parochial schools are not a burden but a boon to taxpayers. We are hopeful that our continued advocacy in the coming days will bear fruit, that our friends and supporters in Albany will overcome opposition to a bill that is truly to everyone’s advantage.”

The bill’s provisions flow from the premise that all children are entitled to an education and that parental choice in a child’s education should be similarly assured. The choice to educate one’s child in a nonpublic school should be encouraged through policies that promote such choice, including relief from the high cost of tuition, the bill’s supporters say.

Under the present system, parents who pay tuition for private or parochial schools also pay, additionally, the same taxes all citizens are required to pay to support the public schools. Nonpublic school parents are thus paying double and often more for the right to exercise parental choice in education.

Many regard this as an unfair burden. Shouldn’t the $23 billion allocated by the state for public education provide at least minimal tuition aid for low-income tax-paying parents who, for ideological or pragmatic grounds, favor nonpublic school education for their child? And shouldn’t the state encourage more private sector giving to scholarship funds for needy students by providing a tax credit for contributions?

That is precisely what the governor’s bill aims to accomplish.

Opposition to the governor’s proposal is intense, however, as powerful teachers unions promote the fear that the tuition tax credit bill will siphon away money that “belongs” to public schools. The unions’ vehement opposition to the bill has alienated many legislators and weakened support among some who previously endorsed it.

Far from “stealing” money from public schools, private schools actually save taxpayers massive amounts, Leon Goldenberg explained in one of the lobbying sessions with legislators.

“With over 400,000 children in non-public schools – approximately 150,000 are in Jewish schools while 250,000 are in Catholic and other denominational schools – at the private expense of parents, public schools in this state are being relieved of an enormous financial and educational burden,” he said. “Imagine all private and parochial schools in the state shut down tomorrow and these children enrolled in public schools. To educate them would mean opening 22,000 additional classrooms. That would bankrupt the school system.”

He cited the situation in Buffalo where a number of Catholic schools closed down, sending 3,000 children to the public schools. The result? Intense overcrowding in classrooms, inadequate equipment and facilities and the resulting decline in the quality of education.

“The many delegates who devoted a full day in Albany to lobbying political officials on behalf of the klal are to be commended,” said Rabbi Lefkowitz, noting the broad scope of the joint effort, with delegates coming from various Chasiddic groups and from neighborhoods across the state including Boro Park, Far Rockaway, Flatbush, Monsey, Queens and Williamsburg.

Their presence sent a strong message about the importance the Torah community places on the issue of education tax credits, as well as its high regard for the political process.

Rabbi Lefkowitz also thanked Assemblyman Hikind who hosted the delegation in his office, and who has been an outspoken advocate for the tuition relief bill.

Agudath Israel advocates and askonim have reinforced the need for the religious community to mobilize and make its voice heard in Albany. “If we want this legislation to pass, don’t expect it to happen without the strong, vocal backing of the whole community,” said Chaskel Bennett. “The askonim are powerless on their own. Our strength derives from those we represent, each and every parent and all the children who represent our future. Everyone must act. Contact your assemblymen with the urgent message that you expect this bill or something very close to it to emerge in the final days of this legislative session.”

To contact your Assemblyman, click here or go to www.investined.org/agudath-israel

Photo Credits Moshe Gershbaum.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

This is simply outrageous.

The attached photo was taken on Thursday morning in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, at the intersection of Myrtle Ave and Spencer Street. You can clearly see that there is a grey SUV parked in front of a fire hydrant and also blocking a bus stop.

But this vehicle isn’t just an ordinary private vehicle – this SUV belongs to the City of New York.

And not only is this a City-owned vehicle – but it was placed there to catch speeders and issue tickets to hundreds of people each day. The vehicle is part of the NYC “Mobile Speed Camera” vehicle fleet.

While YWN has no issue with the city enforcing the vehicle and traffic laws and issuing summonses to those breaking the law, we do take issue with the city breaking multiple laws while they enforce the law.

Speed cameras, which issue tickets automatically when drivers go more than 10mph over the speed limit, have produced a surge in tickets and generated more than $20 million in revenue for New York City.

Last year, the city had 49 speed cameras in operation. Currently, 57 are operational, and City Hall plans to have a total of 140 cameras operating by the end of the year.

According to the Daily News, last year more than 445,000 speed-camera tickets were issued. That’s compared to nearly 118,000 issued manually by police officers over the same period.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The following is via CHI:

A 911 call regarding gunshots on Sterling Place led officers guided by an NYPD helicopter into the Kvutzeh dormitory on Eastern Parkway where a number of weapons were confiscated from dorm resident.

The incident began in the vicinity of Sterling Place where police received a call about gun shots, officers from the 77th precinct quickly began searching the area and enlisting the assistance of an NYPD aviation unit.

Officers in the helicopter spotted a man enter a building on Sterling Place with what appeared to be a rifle and then lost sight of the man. In continued searches they spotted a group of people on another roof that also appeared to be in possession of a rifle and hand gun.

Unsure of the exact address officers flooded the area and entered three buildings, 749, 755 and 763 Eastern Parkway and began searching for the guns spotted by the aviation unit.

Eventually they located the guns in the dorm room of 749 Eastern Parkway in possession of a Bochur who supposedly is a student in Kvutseh. The officers confiscated two bb guns, one rifle and one pistol and issued the Bochur a criminal summons.

A dorm resident who spoke with CrownHeights.info said that the room police found the guns in, room 201, belongs to a group of Mishechistim and that many different Bochurim sleep there on different nights.

In response to an inquiry form CrownHeights.info a police source explained that air or bb guns are not illegal, but only when they have an orange tip indicating that they are not firearms. Without it officers can confiscate the guns and issue criminal summonses for carrying an imitation firearm.

(Source: CHI)

[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Coordinators of the Crown Heights Shomrim met this morning with NYPD Captain Thomas Burke to thank him for going beyond the call of duty in his work together with Shomrim while he was serving as a Captain and Executive Officer in Crown Heights’ 71st Precinct.

During the time Captain Burke served in the 71st Precinct under Deputy Inspector George Fitzgibbon, Shomrim had dozens of interactions with him, including searches for missing children, arrests, and attending community functions and activities.

Through this close relationship, Shomrim was able to better fulfill its mission of protecting and serving the community.

Recently Captain Burke was transferred to the 63rd Precinct, where he now serves as the Commanding Officer.

Shomrim, a rescue and safety patrol comprised entirely of volunteers, relies on the police department to protect and watch over the neighborhood. Through their partnership with the NYPD, Shomrim is able to lend a hand in assisting and protecting the residents of the community.

At this morning’s meeting, Shomrim presented Captain Burke with a “distinguished leadership award.” It bore an inscription which read “in appreciation of your dedication and commitment to the safety and security of the residents of Crown Heights, and for going beyond the call of duty in your partnership with Shomrim. Thank you.”

Captain Burke began his career with the NYPD as an officer serving in the 9th Precinct in Midtown Manhattan. During his time in the 71st he served as the Executive Officer, and was later given his own command in his transfer to the 63rd Precinct.

(YWN Desk – NYC)

NYC public school parents who want to keep track of their children’s progress now have an app for that.

The New York City Schools Account app launches on Sunday.

It will also be available online.

The app will let parents view their child’s full profile, as well as attendance and grades.

Starting in August, they will also be able to see their child’s most recent state test scores.

To create an account, parents first need to set up an appointment at their children’s school.

Then they can either complete the sign up process through the app or by going to mystudent.nyc.

(Source: NY1)

After receiving numerous complaints from residents, Community Board 12 reached out to the Department of Transportation to try and resolve the traffic nightmare caused by the 14th Avenue resurfacing project.

CB12 has an agreement with the DOT that all resurfacing projects in their district are to be done during the months of July and August when most people are away so the work causes as minimal a traffic problem as possible.

In this case, the 14th Avenue resurfacing was scheduled to take place in the summer but was pulled from the summer schedule at the last minute due to funding concerns. Had it not been done now, the resurfacing wouldn’t occur until next year. Additionally, Community Board 12 was told that the work would only extend to 41st Street; DOT failed to notify CB12 that the work actually extends till 47th Street.

As the traffic mounted and the area came to a complete standstill, Community Board 12 reached out to the Transportation Commissioner requesting that the work should be done in a way that does not inconvenience the hundreds of people going to work and thousands of children going to school.

“The DOT agreed to our request and they will be doing the work tomorrow morning starting earlier than today and will work from 39th Street going north towards Church Avenue, so as to leave the busiest part of 14th Avenue open to traffic. They also promised to make sure to be totally done with the milling tomorrow and not on Friday as previously planned,” said District Manager Barry Spitzer. “Additionally, DOT agreed to hold off on the paving until they can work on our request that they should do the paving on Shabbos and do it in one day. When we will know the paving schedule, we will notify the community,” added Spitzer.

“Although a lot of things went wrong, I would like to thank the Commissioner for responding to us and getting to work right away on rectifying the situation,” said Chairman Yidel Perlstein. “The Department of Transportation pledged to continue working with us on ways to avoid the miscommunication that occurred and learn from the mistakes that happened this time around,” added Perlstein.

“I would also like to express my deepest thanks to the XO of the 66th Precinct, Captain Manny Gonzalez, for working with me late last night to station police officers at key intersections on 14th Avenue to help ease the traffic congestion and to the Boro Park Shomrim for sending their members over this morning to lend vital support to the NYPD,” said Perlstein.

As always, you can follow Community Board 12 on Twitter at @BrooklynCB12 for the latest community news, notifications and alerts.

(YWN Desk – NYC)

Councilman David G. Greenfield is furious at the Department of Transportation (DOT) for repaving a major commercial street without consulting the community on the timing. Councilman Greenfield has asked that DOT stop repaving Borough Park’s heavily trafficked avenues until the summer begins and there are less cars on the road. Greenfield also asked that DOT close down streets one at a time as opposed to multiple blocks to ease traffic flow. DOT has promised Greenfield that there will be no other resurfacing projects in Community Board 12 for the month of June. Additionally, Greenfield asked that DOT repave between 3pm on Friday and sundown on Saturday. Currently, DOT closes down multiple streets for a week or so to mill and then repave.

“It’s ridiculous for DOT to close down 14th Avenue during rush hour without consulting with the community. It’s crucial that roads in my District are repaved. I am simply urging DOT to please take my constituents’ needs into consideration and revise its repavement process immediately,” said Councilman Greenfield.

Every year the Department of Transportation repaves certain roads throughout different community boards. This week, DOT is repaving 14th avenue between Church Ave and 41 Street. Councilman Greenfield has worked closely with the DOT to improve safety and traffic flow along a number of neighborhood streets through the installation of traffic lights, street lights, stop signs and speed bumps where necessary. Greenfield secured $200,000 for additionally street resurfacing through participatory budgeting for this upcoming fiscal year to ensure that more streets will be repaved than ever before.

(YWN Desk – NYC)

Police are searching for a suspect who pushed a woman onto subway tracks in Greenwich Village.

According to the NYPD, the victim, a 28-year-old woman, was on the southbound “6″ train on Lafayette and Bleecker Street on Monday morning around 9, when she was approached by a male suspect acting erratically.

The suspect stated to her “what are you looking at”, and ran to a garbage pail where he removed an empty plastic bottle, authorities say.

The suspect then threw the bottle at the woman and pushed her onto the tracks. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital where she was treated and released.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.

The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at http://WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

(AP)

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio acknowledges a spike in shootings is alarming but wants to reassure people the police department is handling the problem.

The mayor held a question-and-answer session Tuesday, a day after the release of police department figures showing shootings in the city are up 9 percent from the same period last year, from 403 to 439.

But de Blasio wants to keep the violence in perspective. He notes shootings were limited to about a dozen precincts, were largely gang-on-gang violence and were reminiscent of a similar pre-summer spike that was decisively quelled a year ago.

Starting next week, 330 police officers will be pulled from their usual duties for special patrols to handle the spike and manage other violence predicted during the hotter months.

(AP)

Hatzolah of Boro Park has released an urgent message to the community, which should not be taken lightly. There is a serious problem that has recently started, which has spread to all communities – not just Boro Park.

Years ago, radio communication equipment was very expensive, with Hatzolah radios costing in the range of $1000 – $2000 per radio. Thanks to electronics made in China, radios capable of transmitting on every frequency – including that of Hatzolah – can now be purchased for as low as $30! Children who once upon a time had “scanners”, now have devices capable of transmitting over the Hatzolah radio frequency. This has already caused interference during life threatening emergencies when members on scenes have been unable to communicate with their dispatcher to relay vital information in which seconds can make a difference in saving a life.

Therefore, Hatzolah has released this urgent message pleading with parents to confiscate ALL radios with Hatzolah frequencies from children, and imploring parents not to buy these devices for them.

Please pass this urgent message along – and possibly SAVE A LIFE!

(Chaim Shapiro – YWN)

Last week Senator Felder (D – Brooklyn) joined forces with Senator Marty Golden (R,C,I – Brooklyn) to pass legislation aimed at easing the tax burdens of the senior community.

Senate Bill S1074 increases the maximum income eligibility levels for real property tax exemptions for seniors for the first time since 1994. This legislation will allow seniors to receive increased relief from their local real property taxes.

“Our senior citizens play such a vital role in our communities,” said Senator Felder. “It is only right that we help ease their financial burdens by expanding eligibility for tax exemptions.”

(YWN Desk – NYC)

New York – On the heels of the wide-reaching impact of the “Bring Back Our Boys” billboard in New York City’s Times Square last summer, friends of the Young Israel of the West Side led by Rabbi Dovid M. Cohen, Esq. have again rented significant advertisement space in Times Square to promote and draw attention to a tragedy that shocked but also unified the entirety of the Jewish people.

Rabbi Cohen said in a statement: “This has been an incredibly trying year for the Jewish people throughout the world. The murder of Eyal, Gilad & Naftali last summer, seemingly opened the flood gates for similar type attacks spanning the globe. Whether the murder of four holy rabbis praying in a Har Nof synagogue in November, or the murder of four Jews on a Friday afternoon in January at the Hyper Cache supermarket in Paris, or the murder of a Jewish security guard outside a synagogue in Copenhagen in February, our people have suffered and been terrorized solely due to our faith.

We are taught in our tradition to “remember” and thereby “never forget” and the Young Israel of the West Side community is fulfilling this dictum through our public commemoration of the anniversary of the deaths of three young men who effectively changed the way we view our world and one another.”

The billboard is located at 47th Street and Broadway in Times Square via a Clear Channel Spectacolor space. The :15 second spots will run at approximately the 3, 19, 38 and 51 minute marks through Sunday June 7th.

See this link to learn more about Unity Day-June 3rd in memory of the boys.

(YWN Desk – NYC)