Yeshiva World News

New York City’s transportation authority will put more workers and cameras on subway station platforms to help disperse crowds and speed up service.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will also paint “step aside” boxes onto subway platforms on the overcrowded No. 6 line, which shuttles riders along the city’s East side. And several seconds will be sliced off the announcements that conductors make over subway loudspeakers in order to keep people moving in and out of trains.

Three lines with the worst wait problems – the 6, 7 and F trains – are currently being studied by transit officials to determine how to improve service.

The agency announced the plan during this week’s board meeting after widespread public criticism of the aging system’s failure to keep trains moving on time.

(AP)

Mayor Bill de Blasio says his plan to tackle “the worst financial crisis” in the history of New York City’s public housing agency would lease unused land in housing complexes for private residential development.

The mayor talked about the plan at a news conference Tuesday. He called it a “game-changer” for the city’s housing authority.

The plan calls for efforts to increase the rate of rent collection and to up resident parking fees. The city also would transfer about 1,000 Housing Authority employees to other agencies. Some employees would be offered incentives to retire.

The city’s public housing apartments are home to more than 400,000 New Yorkers.

The Housing Authority has an operating deficit of $98 million this year. Its building maintenance needs a total of $16 billion.

(AP)

The Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition, FJCC, thanked Governor Andrew Cuomo for choosing our Flatbush neighborhood to push his major new initiative to assist struggling parents with education tuition tax credits.

As the largest Jewish community in New York State, Flatbush is home to numerous Yeshivas and families with children in private schools. The Governor’s event was held at Yeshivat Shaarei Torah on Coney Island Ave, led by Dean Rabbi Hillel Haber and Headmaster Rabbi Richard Altabe.‎ FJCC leaders in attendance included Malcolm Hoenlein, Josh Mehlman, Peter Rebenwurzel, Yitzchok Fuchs,‎ Mordy Avigdor, Rabbi Mendel Schechter, Ephraim Nirenberg and Chaskel Bennett.

Agudath Israel of America has been leading the fight for tuition assistance for many years and the FJCC salutes their effort in helping to organize the Governor’s event and their ongoing work to pass meaningful tuition relief legislation.‎

Governor Cuomo stated that he will need the State Assembly and Senate to pass the bill, and urged constituents to call and write local legislators to get it passed. The Governor advised parents to use the website www.InevestInED.org to automatically email their local legislators‎.

Chaskel Bennett, FJCC co-founder stated, “As we witnessed today, Governor Cuomo is making education opportunities for all students, a very high priority. This is a ongoing battle Agudath‎ Israel of ‎America, our elected representatives and Jewish activists have been waging for decades going back to Rabbi Moshe Sherer Z’L. It will take serious work to pass this legislation and the opposition from the teachers unions is already intense. Now is our moment to come together. ‎We need the help of yeshiva parents, community members and leaders from across the state to make this happen.”

(YWN Desk – NYC)

Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) is asking the Department of Sanitation to grant community yeshivas special daily pick-ups of their garbage. The new routine of sanitation pick-ups for these yeshivas would be similar to what the community public schools already receive.

“This is a quality of life issue,” explained Hikind. “It’s unsanitary and unhealthy to have large quantities of garbage piling up for days. The odor is offensive and the garbage attracts vermin. This is why public schools are extended this courtesy. Given the sheer number of yeshivas in our community and the size of these schools, it’s only fair that the same courtesy be extended to these neighborhood schools.”

Of the nearly 88,000 students who attend yeshiva throughout Brooklyn, more than 61,000 of them are attending yeshivas in Boro Park and Midwood, Hikind explained. That’s more than three times the number of children who attend public schools in the same district.

“We’re not asking for special treatment,” said Hikind, “we’re asking for equal treatment. Special sanitation pick-ups at our yeshivas will be in everyone’s best interests.”

Hikind is also continuing to work with the Department of Sanitation to resolve other issues, including the frustrating traffic situation caused in the morning during rush hour when sanitation collections coincide with school bus pick-ups.

(YWN Desk – NYC)

The Thruway Authority board has approved a revised budget for 2015 without any toll increases and using $1.285 billion of the state’s receipts from bank settlements to help pay for the new Tappan Zee Bridge now under construction and other capital projects.

According to the authority, the $1.9 billion budget approved Monday closes a gap identified in the original budget adopted in December with $66 million in reduced spending and debt service.

Thruway officials say the settlement funds let them ensure no toll increases anywhere in the system this year.

An estimated $750 million will be used for the bridge project this year.

The state last week dropped its attempt to secure half a billion dollars in federal clean-water funds to help pay for the $3.9 billion bridge.

(AP)

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is repeating his vow to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate deaths of unarmed civilians by police if state lawmakers fail to enact his bill authorizing a monitor to review questionable cases.

Cuomo, in an open letter to legislators, says Monday the basic problem of mistrust between police and minority communities needs to be addressed this year.

Noting he currently has the power to appoint a full-time special prosecutor through the attorney general’s office for all such cases, he’s promising to use it if the Legislature does nothing.

His bill would authorize the governor to appoint a monitor to review such cases handled, which would still be handled by local prosecutors, when there are “reasonable doubts as to the fairness” of the grand jury proceedings.

(AP)

On Thursday, Councilman David G. Greenfield joined with Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey, Program Officer for Borough President Adams Sandra Chapman, and Community Board 12 District Manager Barry Spitzer to break ground on new renovations to the two-thirds of Gravesend Park that have not been touched in over 30 years. These renovations will include four new playgrounds, two new swing sets, brand new basketball and paddle-ball courts and a new baseball field. Several years ago then-Councilman Simcha Felder funded the renovations of the first third of the park. When Greenfield’s renovations are complete, the entire park will be brand new.

“Here in Brooklyn, we don’t have backyards or front yards. Instead we have our city parks. That’s why I am so proud to have made building parks my top priority as a Councilman,” explained Councilman David G. Greenfield. “Parks are the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter if you’re a billionaire or if you’re on food stamps: you’re using our parks. It’s something that benefits everyone. So I’m really thrilled today that the park that I grew up playing in is seeing an amazing renovation. I’m especially pleased to have partnered with Senator Felder to get this done.”

The construction includes doubling the size of the playground with swings and new play equipment, completely reconstructing and re-aligning the baseball fields and creation of new basketball and handball courts. A renovated seating area, new benches and lighting complete the project. The renovations are expected to be complete by the end of 2016.

“I applaud Council Member Greenfield in his efforts to improve and enhance the Parks in his district,” said Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey. “This is a district that has a large population, and unfortunately, a dearth of park land. The Council Member has made over 17 million dollars in allocations to our parks here in your district. That is leveraged from the Mayor, the Borough President and other places for another $6 million for a grand total of $23 million thanks to Council Member David Greenfield.”

“I would really like to thank Councilman Greenfield for allocating millions of dollars to this park. Gravesend Park, or as people in Borough Park call it the 18th Avenue Park, is the premier park in Boro Park,” said Community Board 12 District Manager Barry Spitzer. “This is really great and I’m so happy for the community. Incredibly, Councilman Greenfield is already in the City Council for five years, he is on the Budget Negotiating Team, the Leadership Team and he chairs the all-important Land Use Committee but his top priority is to improve the quality of life in his district.”

Every single park in Greenfield’s district across Borough Park, Midwood and Bensonhurst has either received upgrades or is in the process of being renovated thanks to Greenfield’s capital allocations. Recently the Parks department completed a renovation to the handball and basketball courts in Colonel David Marcus Park on Avenue P. In addition to this project, Councilman Greenfield secured funding for the renovation of Ocean Parkway Malls which was completed a few months ago. Greenfield and Felder also teamed up on the new playground at PS 192 on 18th Avenue. Greenfield is also in the process of improving Friends Field on Avenue L, Seth Low Park on Bay Parkway, DiGilio Playground on Avenue F and Kolbert Park on Avenue L.

(YWN Desk – NYC)

Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) scolded The New York State United Teachers union for a disingenuous radio ad knocking NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo’s latest push for education investment tax credits. NYSUT’s ad, which began airing today, casts the tax credit as one that helps the rich and comes on the back of the Governor’s revamped push for these credits under his Parental Choice in Education Act.

“NYSUT President Karen Magee clearly believes in the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it,” said Hikind in direct reference to Magee’s assertion, “We don’t need another giveaway to the rich. What we need is a fair approach to education funding that benefits all students.”

“Calling education tax credits a gift to the rich is so dishonest that it’s hard to believe anyone with the facts could even say that,” said Hikind. “Rich people don’t save a solitary dime in their pockets with the passage of these tax credits. It would simply mean they would be afforded an opportunity to see their money go towards the scholarships of less fortunate, lower-income families than directly to the state. And the people who are eligible for these scholarships are hardly those whose income anyone would characterize as wealthy.”

Hikind, a leading proponent of these tax credits in the NY State Assembly, said he was sickened by the insincerity and bald-faced untruthfulness of the union’s radio ad, which features a character named “Mr. Moneybags” who frames the tax credit as a way of favoring “us ‘zillionaires’ and our exclusive schools.”

“The hypocrisy of those who wrote this ad is astounding,” said Hikind. “It’s shameful. If they are representing New York’s educators they need to stop lying and pretending to care about ‘all’ of New York’s students when they mean public school students. Clearly, education for all is not their real agenda.”

(YWN Desk – NYC)

Bill de Blasio’s inner circle isn’t contained by the walls of City Hall.

The New York City mayor’s unofficial cabinet includes about a half-dozen outside political strategists, many of whom he has known for decades.

He frequently turns to them for advice when formulating his agenda or managing a crisis.

And he uses the outside voices more than previous mayors.

Those loyalists include political consultants John Del Cecato and Peter Ragone and the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, Patrick Gaspard.

Senior City Hall staff still guides most of the mayor’s decisions. But de Blasio is known for taking the temperature of his advisers, sometimes double- and triple-checking opinions.

These relationships have been in the spotlight recently amid reports raising ethical questions about some of them.

(AP)

[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

On Sunday around noontime, Rockaway Nassau Shomrim (RNSP) witnessed three males attempting to break into a vehicle at Cornaga Avenue and Bay 25 Street. The RNSP Volunteer watched as the three men placed a stick into a small opening of a car window, attempting to gain entry into the vehicle.

The NYPD was contacted immediately.

Just as the police arrived on the scene, the three suspects began running. After a 3-block foot pursuit, police lost track of the suspects. RNSP advised police that they had had seen the three suspects run into a home. Police confirmed that they had in fact entered that home, and had barricaded themselves in, and were refusing to come out.

NYPD responded with heavy resources – including the Emergency Services Units, Aviation and K-9.

After speaking with the suspects through a window for about 45 minutes, the suspects gave themselves up and were placed under arrest without further incident.

Sources tell YWN that RNSP had found a passport belonging to one of the suspects which he had dropped during the pursuit. His identification greatly assisted police in ascertaining which home they had barricaded themselves in.

(Chaim Shapiro – YWN)

An undercover New York City police detective accused of taking part in a motorcyclists-versus-driver melee is scheduled for trial.

Detective Wojciech Braszczok faces top-level assault charges in the September attack on an SUV driver. He was off-duty.

A judge, not a jury, will determine whether he is guilty or innocent. Judge Maxwell Wiley will begin hearing the case on Monday.

Eleven men were indicted in the Sept. 29 attack on a Manhattan highway. The driver was beaten and received stitches. He wasn’t charged.

At least three have pleaded guilty, and others are headed for trial.

Braszczok’s lawyers have declined to comment. He is going to trial with another suspect, Robert Sims.

(AP)

In a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio, Senator Felder demanded that the City move swiftly to repair its streets to ensure the safety of New Yorkers. To date, more than 300,000 potholes have been reported to the Department of Transportation.

“The safety of our citizens is at stake,” Senator Felder stressed. “We are headed into the summer when more people will be out for their daily run, bike ride, or family outing. The City must hire outside contractors to get the work done immediately. Mayor de Blasio specifically allocated money for pothole repairs in his budget. It is time to actually use that money for its intended purpose.”

Potholes present a danger not only to motorists, but to pedestrians as well. “Last month, an elderly gentleman in my district tripped in a pothole, breaking bones and severely injuring himself,” Senator Felder said. “This man was simply out for his daily stroll. Such a tragedy would never have happened if the City was on top of the situation. People are angry and frustrated that nothing is being done.”

“Our City’s streets are in crisis,” said Senator Felder. “Winter has long gone and yet dangerous potholes are rampant throughout New York City roads. This is inexcusable.”

(YWN Desk – NYC)

The following is via the Weekly Standard:

New York City police chief Bill Bratton is worried about ISIS. So worried, in fact, that he’s going to assign 450 New York Police Department cops to fight terrorism that may come from the Islamic State.

“We need to be very concerned about terrorism … The significantly increased threat from ISIS using social media to recruit people not only to go to Syria to fight, but encouraging people … to attack police, to attack government officials, to basically brainwash them under their screwed-up ideology. That threat has expanded significantly in the now 16 months I’ve been police commissioner,” Bratton said on the John Catsimatidis radio show.

“We’re treating that threat so seriously, I’m going to put another 450 police officers – if we get the approval to increase the size of the police force – and I need to do it very very quickly – into our counterterrorism operations to increase the ability of our officers to protect critical sites around the city. Or, if we were to have an incident, so I’d have a lot more officers in the streets with the appropriate equipment to deal with active shooters or hostage situations.

“We are entering a new era where we cannot live in fear, but we have to live increasingly aware of our surroundings … This crazy hijacking of the Muslim religion by these fanatics, twisting it into an ideology that’s all about hate and murder and killing.”

Bratton said he’d work with the New York City mayor on getting the cops he needs to do the job. “I’m making a case for a very specific number of officers to support the initiatives that the mayor has indicated he wants us to focus on: counter-terrorism, improved training, improved responsiveness and trust to the various minority communities, in particular, in the city. So, we have presented to him numbers that, I think, will deliver what he is indicating he is looking for,” he said.

“Politics is the art of negotiation. I think there’s going to be common ground that we’ll hopefully get most of what we’re looking for to implement the mayor’s plans.”

(Source: Weekly Standard)

Sheila Beasley was struggling to clean up after her beloved Rottweiler, Rocky, on a Bronx sidewalk on a December day in 2008 when she briefly put his leash down – a move spotted by a nearby plainclothes police officer who promptly wrote her a summons for having an unleashed dog.

Beasley, a 50-year-old mother of two, said she forgot about the ticket and missed a court date to resolve it. That decision triggered a warrant for her arrest, and nearly three years later, police showed up at her door and hauled her off to jail, where she stayed for four days.

“I feel like they abducted me from my house,” Beasley said this week. “I would never even make up in my wildest dreams and think I would have to go through a system like that for something so insignificant as doggy poop.”

New York’s court system has about 1.2 million open warrants like Beasley’s, affecting people who run the risk of arrest for failing to resolve sometimes decades-old infractions for low-level offenses such as drinking in public or disorderly conduct. And while city officials haven’t yet presented a formal proposal on how to resolve the backlog, Police Commissioner William Bratton has floated one approach that advocates and others are already supporting: amnesty.

“Warrants never go away. There’s no expiration date,” Bratton said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It would be great to get rid of a lot of that backlog. It’s not to our benefit from a policing standpoint to have all those warrants floating around out there.”

How that might happen is unclear, and officials are still talking about the possibilities, but Bratton said he envisions a program in which people with outstanding warrants would receive a notification informing them that their risk of arrest on these matters could disappear if they agree to come forward.

“Will it be feasible? I don’t know,” he said. “But I’m open to discussing it.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s criminal justice coordinator, Elizabeth Glazer, said in a statement that officials were investigating “how to safely reduce the number of already outstanding warrants in this city.” Glazer’s office has been spearheading reforms to the summons system, by coordinating police, state court judges and others in an attempt to make the justice system fairer.

The city has experimented with amnesty before, but only on a small scale. Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, whose office will work with judges to clear old low-level summons cases out of a local church during Father’s Day weekend, said he welcomes any larger plan that “effectively and fairly” settles old cases.

But instituting a broader amnesty program could prove more complicated.

There are five elected district attorneys in New York with the authority to enforce rules as they see fit, and state judges must vacate open criminal warrants even if city officials decide on a policy level to institute an amnesty program.

Officials last month said they were redesigning the physical summons form itself, texting reminders to people ahead of their summons court dates, as well as cutting down court processing times to shrink the number of people who end up in jail for low-level offenses. They’ll also post summons data broken down by race for analysis, a concession to advocates who claim tickets disproportionately target minorities.

Last year, almost 40 percent of the hundreds of thousands of people slapped with tickets for low-level violations forgot, skipped or otherwise failed to show up to court to resolve the summonses.

Other cities have already implemented amnesty programs.

Over a two-month period this year, Atlanta municipal court officials say, more than 2,000 of the roughly 90,000 total people with open warrants resolved their outstanding cases by looking up their warrants online, paying fines and appearing in court in some cases.

Nancy Fishman of the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice said many people with outstanding warrants are poor, homeless or mentally ill and didn’t show up in court because they didn’t have money to pay fines.

“We want people be to be held accountable to the court system, but sometimes to make things work better we have to find reasonable fixes,” she said.

A reasonable fix for Beasley would have been something other than detention. Her case was ultimately dismissed after a 10-second court appearance following 96 hours in a Bronx court holding cell, and she has since filed a false arrest lawsuit against the city.

“They came banging on my door like they were after some hardened criminal,” Beasley said. “They should have a better system.”

© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

(AP)

Police throughout New York state are cracking down on motorists who fail to buckle up as part of a national seat belt enforcement campaign.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that the stepped-up enforcement will be in effect from Monday through Sunday, May 31.

During the initiative, state and local police will be aggressively enforcing state seatbelt laws. In addition, the state will set up message boards alongside highways to encourage drivers and their passengers to obey the law.

Cuomo’s office says that 91 percent of New York motorists regularly use a seatbelt, which is higher than the national average. Nevertheless, Cuomo’s office says there’s more work to do.

New York adopted the nation’s first law requiring seatbelt use in the front seat.

(AP)

The FDNY was on the scene of a HAZMAT condition at the 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan, Breaking911.com reported.

Sources tell Breaking911.com that an algaecide was reportedly added to the water in the reflecting south pool outside the 9/11 Museum. It was added on Saturday by park maintenance. The chemical is causing people nearby to cough and gag on the fumes.

The water in it will be vacuumed out and filtered. The pool will reopen on Monday morning at 6:00AM, The plaza itself remains open, the only area that will remain closed is the east side of the South Reflecting Pool.

Too much #chlorine #wtc memorial pools. Area evacuated. Police say people reporting coughing. #news pic.twitter.com/7guE4tpnRt

— Michael Caldwell MD (@healthchief) May 17, 2015

#wtc #memorial #evacuated 2 much #chlorine pool H2O #news #nyc #health #police report people #coughing pic.twitter.com/h3inGZ8esv

— Michael Caldwell MD (@healthchief) May 17, 2015

we got evacuated from the 9/11 memorial because apparently there was too much chlorine added to the north and south pools

— Andrea Stanic (@stanican) May 17, 2015

[VIDEO & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo addressed a major gathering in the heart of the Flatbush Jewish community on Sunday afternoon.

The Governor visited Yeshivat Shaare Torah, located on Coney Island Avenue, between Avenues M & N, to discuss his new “Parental Choice in Education Act.”

This is a bold legislative proposal that would for the first time in the history of New York create a tuition tax credit that could make a real difference for thousands of needy tuition paying families in our community.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today rallied for the Parental Choice in Education Act, which will support and protect alternative school options for parents and students across New York State. Announced last week by the Governor, the Act will provide $150 million in education tax credits annually that reach across a variety of aspects in the education system.

The Governor joined parents, students, elected officials and community leaders​ at Yeshiva Shaare Torah in Brooklyn to rally support for the Parental Choice in Education Act.

“This is about fairness and this is about parents choosing the school that is right for their children,” Governor Cuomo said. “We must reward donations to support public schools, give tax credits to teachers who pay for classroom supplies out of pocket, and ease the financial burden on families who exercise choice in sending their children to a nonpublic school. I am pleased to join with local leaders who support these critical issues and understand how we need to get this done.”

The Act provides for $150 million in education tax credits annually that will provide:

1. Tax credits to low-income families who send their children to nonpublic schools,
2. Scholarships to low- and middle-income students to attend either a public school outside of their district or a nonpublic school,

3. Incentives to public schools for enhanced educational programming (like after school programs); and,

4. Tax credits to public school teachers for the purchase of supplies

400,000 students, or approximately 15 percent of all students in New York State attend nonpublic schools which provide an important educational alternative in virtually every corner of New York State – and especially so in communities where the existing public schools are failing. There are currently 178 failing public schools in New York State – many of which have been failing for ten years or more.

Despite their importance as alternative options for parents and students in failing schools, many parochial schools in New York State are experiencing financial hardship, and parents can face steep costs to enroll their children in such schools. Statewide, more than 75 parochial schools have closed in just the last five years, and average tuition can reach as high as $8,500 per student annually.

Therefore, the Parental Choice in Education Act will support important alternatives for parents across the state – especially important for low-income families.

Family Choice Education Credit

This $70 million portion of the Parental Choice in Education Act will provide credits to families of nonpublic school students. Families with incomes below $60,000 per year would qualify for up to $500 per student for tuition expenses to nonpublic schools. This will benefit approximately 140,000 children and approximately 82,000 families across the state.

Education Scholarship and Program Tax Credit

This portion of the Parental Choice in Education Act includes two components. The first provides $50 million in credits to support scholarships for low-income and other students in grades P-12 who attend nonpublic schools. The second provides $20 million in credits to fund educational programs at public schools and supporting not-for-profit organizations.

$67 Million in Scholarships for Low-Income Students Attending Private Schools in Grades P-12: This tax credit totaling $50 million will expand access to nonpublic schools for families who may not be able to afford tuition by funding $67 million in scholarships to help low-income and other students attend private or out-of-district public schools. Individuals and businesses can receive a tax credit for up to 75 percent of their donations made to not-for-profit organizations that award scholarships to students in grades P-12. Those organizations will award scholarships to private and out-of-district public schools based on financial need of the students’ families.

$27 Million for Public School Programs: Under this portion of the Education Scholarship and Program Tax Credit, public school students and educators will benefit from $27 million in new funds for education improvement programs. Individuals and businesses will be able to receive a total of $20 million in tax credits for up to 75 percent of their donations made to public schools and not-for-profits that support public schools’ educational programs, including Pre-Kindergarten and extended-day programs.

Instructional Materials and Supplies Credit

This $10 million component of the Parental Choice in Education Act provides a tax credit of up to $200 per public school educator to support the purchase of instructional materials and supplies for use in teachers’ classrooms. This credit will benefit educators and students throughout the state, and will be administered on a first come, first served basis.

(YWN Desk – NYC)