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Sunday, April 30, 2006

Eagletronics closing down

As previously reported by the Chaptzem! Blog, Eagletronics is now closing down. Eagletronics had been suffering from various hits over the last couple of months and didn't have a chance or even a plan of surviving. The store's last ditch effort of moving to 39th Street was just a way of unloading their sizeable inventory. Now that the Eagletronics' Shuttle will no longer be operating, people may have somewhat of an easier time getting across 13th Avenue.

5 comments

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Yechiel Brauner has Shtreimel knocked off

Convicted child molester Yechiel Brauner had his Shtreimel knocked off his head in Shul this Shabbos. Brauner, who davens with the early Minyan on Shabbos mornings and roams the streets until noon time when he makes his way home to his family, was cheppening the Bal Tefillah of a later Minyan. The Bal Tefillah was not going to stand for his shtick and came up behind him and sent his Shtreimel and Yarmulka flying. Brauner was stunned and was unable to respond. He sheepishly turned around, bent down and picked up his Yarmulka and Shtreimel and put them back on. Moments later Brauner left the Shul on was on his way. This is not the first time that Brauner has been attacked in Shul. After numerous incidents, Brauner has been beaten and thrown out from many Shuls. He is currently banned from entering any Satmar Shuls, even though he is a Satmar Chasid.

Yechiel Brauner's Record

18 comments
Police Search For Child Predator in Boro-Park

Police are investigating three separate incidents of a man posing as a police officer and trying to pick up young girls in Borough Park.

Two of the incidents happened around 15th avenue yesterday afternoon.

People who live along 15th avenue said they're stunned by the crimes. Yesterday afternoon around 1:45 p.m., police say a man who looked to be 25-years-old, driving a dark colored car, approached a 10-year-old girl, told her he was a police officer and asked her to get in his car to show him how to get to his destination. The girl refused and ran away.

About 45 minutes later in the same area, a man fitting a similar description showed a 10-year-old girl a badge and said he was a Cleveland police officer. The man asked for directions and asked the girl to get in his car. She agreed. Police said that as the man was driving, he exposed himself and started touching the girl. She was able to escape the car and run away.

Police reported a third incident near 11th avenue two-and-a-half weeks ago. A man who appeared to be 30-years-old, driving a dark colored jeep, showed an 11-year-old girl police paraphernalia, exposed himself and asked the girl to get in his car. She refused. People who live in the area said they hope police will catch whoever's targeting the young girls.

Police also reported two other similar incidents in Queens in the past few days, but they have not yet linked them to the crimes in Borough Park.

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_119174313.html

0 comments

Friday, April 28, 2006

'V'al Kilum' - I'll Kill Him

This Shabbos those words in Shemoyne Esreh may have a different meaning than usual. This week it may actually refer to the harriges that might take place in Williamsburg. The New York City Police Department has said that they are preparing for a rowdy and violent Shabbos, and that was just referring to the Ezras Nushim. While during S'firah the Halacha is that we are not allowed to cut our hair or beards, having it pulled out however, is a whole different story. So while Satmar Chasidim world wide have been practicing on all other Chasidim for years, the time for the ultimate showdown has finally come. Unlike the wimpy dueling Bobovers that have been minimally physical in their quest for Rebbeship, Satmar is not that passive. Sources promise that there will be Shtreimlech flying. Chaptzem! sincerely wishes, 'May the best Rebbe win!'

5 comments
4-Year-Old Jewish Girl Dies After TV DVD Player Falls on Her

A 4-year-old Brooklyn girl was killed last night after a television set fell on her, the police said. It was the second such accident in Brooklyn this month.

The girl, identified by neighbors as Debbie Lerner, was home with her father and two young brothers in their home on Avenue M, near East Seventh Street, in Midwood. Just before 6:30 p.m., the girl's father was in the kitchen with her twin brother and a 2-year-old brother when he heard a bang, the police said. The father ran into the living room and saw the fallen television and his daughter bleeding from the head, she said.

A neighbor, Naama Jakobov, said, "The father was hysterical when he came running out to put the girl in the ambulance. His entire shirt was soaked with blood and her head was bathed in blood."

The father took the girl to Lutheran Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, the police said.

The authorities called the death an apparent accident, and no charges were filed. The television set had a 27-inch screen and a built-in DVD and VCR player. It had been resting on a wooden platform atop a rolling stand.

On April 7, a 3-year-old Brooklyn boy was killed when a large television fell off a stand and crashed on top of him. The authorities said the boy, Alexander Williams of Starrett City, died from head injuries.

Alexander may have been using a small chair to climb up and insert a videotape into a VCR on top of the television when it fell, according to news reports.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/nyregion/27death.html

3 comments
New study of young Jews finds signs of growing Orthodox clout

The latest in a flurry of studies on young American Jews suggests that Orthodoxy will become a larger and more influential force in coming decades.

The study, which looked at the 1.5 million U.S. Jews between the ages of 18-39, found that Orthodox Jews comprise some 11 percent of all U.S. Jews, and 16 percent of 18-29 year-olds. Among even younger Jews, the percentage of Orthodox is even higher, those behind the report speculate.

Further, the survey found, Orthodox Jews marry at a younger age, have more children and are more Jewishly engaged than their non-Orthodox counterparts.

http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=16556&intcategoryid=4

0 comments

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Satmar feud escalates with Grand Rebbe's death

As the world’s largest chasidic sect mourns the death this week of the Satmar Grand Rebbe Moshe Teitelbaum, the bitter, litigious — and sometimes violent — feud between two of his sons shows no sign of cooling.

In a flurry of courtroom motions, rabbinic rulings and shoving matches on Tuesday and Wednesday, the dispute rapidly shifted from designated succession toward a new struggle between two men, each claiming he is now the new rebbe.

Fighting erupted at a predawn funeral service Tuesday in upstate Kiryas Joel over the inclusion of a grandson of the rebbe among the speakers. There were conflicting accounts of what caused the unrest, which was calmed by state troopers and left two men injured.

Later in the day both sides pointed to events they say designated either Aaron Teitelbaum or his younger brother Zalman Lieb the new rebbe. The rabbi’s will named Zalman, 54, who lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, his successor, but supporters of Aaron, 57, who lives in upstate Kiryas Joel, insist the designation is invalid. Some say the rabbi was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and not competent to make the decision, while insisting the board of directors of the central synagogue, Congregation Yetev Lev D’Satmar are the only ones entitled to make the determination.

A supporter of Aaron’s, Isac Weinberger, claimed Wednesday that meetings would be taking place in Israel, England and upstate Monsey at which Aaron would be declared “the rebbe of Satmar until the Messiah comes.”

In court on Tuesday and Wednesday, in both Brooklyn and Orange County, lawyers for both sides argued over a wide range of issues, including ownership of the rebbe’s property and the definition of membership in the Satmar synagogue. A key issue was whether a supporter of Aaron, Berl Friedman, should have administrative powers on the Satmar board of directors, which Zalman supporters took as favoring Aaron in the dispute.

http://www.ww4report.com/node/1888

11 comments

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

The Satmar Saga Continues

There is still no compromise or resolution in sight in the bitter battle of succession between the two sons of the Grand Rebbe Moshe Teitelbaum, who died Monday night and left a vacuum in the leadership of the Satmar community.

On the contrary, the two factions keep campaigning and claiming victory.

According to a source, this weekend Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum is coming to the city, where a tent will be set up at pier 16 in Williamsburg for thousands of the Rabbi's followers to rally and show their support. Some of those same supporters just issued a statement announcing a ceremony to take place in "the coming weeks in Williamsburg" to appoint the older son as Grand Rebbe. That statement, which claims the support from Satmar congregations "around the world," seems a bit premature, at best.

Scott E. Mollen, a lawyer who represents Zalmen Teitelbaum, said "It's inexplicable how they can claim victory since it is now evident that the Grand Rebbe left a written will that expressed his desire that Rabbi Zalmen succeed the grand rabbi."

He noted that the appellate courts has just yesterday reversed an earlier decision and put the main synagogue and Grand Rebbe's home under the control of Rabbi Zalmen.

Moshe Indig, a supporter of Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, countered that "This is not a court issue, the court has nothing to do with succession."

"This is a corporate issue," Mr. Indig said. "We are talking about a half billion dollars in assets. The board members from Satmar community around the world want him (Rabbi Aaron) to be the successor. "There is going to be a big crowning ceremony."

In other words, don't expect concession speeches any time soon.

http://thepoliticker.observer.com/2006/04/the-saga-continues.html

12 comments
Sons start fight over who's boss



The expected angling for ultimate leadership of as many as 120,000 Satmar Hasidic Jews here and around the world has begun in earnest with the death of Satmar Grand Rebbe Moses Teitelbaum.

Two rival Teitelbaum sons whose supporters have been waging a bitter power struggle in court for five years each met with their partisans before the first funeral for the late rebbe Monday night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and each was announced as the rightful successor, community members said yesterday.

Followers of Zalmen Teitelbaum, the brother who leads the main Satmar congregation in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, boast that a will signed by the grand rebbe on March 4, 2002 - and read aloud before a rabbinical court that night - vindicates their rabbi by naming him the successor.

The will said that Zalmen "shall occupy my position and succeed me without any shortfall, for effective immediately I have granted him the position," according to a news release issued by his supporters' public relations firm.

But that will appears to be just more fodder for the protracted Satmar litigation, another exhibit in a growing pile of court filings. Supporters of Zalmen's older brother, Aron, chief rabbi of the dominant Satmar congregation in Kiryas Joel, question both the validity of the will and its ability to transfer power in the Satmar dynasty.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/04/26/news-camrebbefolo-04-26.html

9 comments

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

And the new Rebbe is...

Who will be the next Satmar Rebbe to carry the torch of anti-Zionism that was lit so many years ago? Or rather the fires that were started so many years ago. Will it be R' Ahron from Monroe or Moishe Gabbe, oops, I mean R' Zalmen Leib? Who will decide this multi-million dollar question? Will it be 'Kol D'alim Govar' or will it end up in Supreme Court in front of Justice David I. Schmidt like all the other Rebbishe cases? I guess time will tell. In the meantime, 'Yechi Adoinayni Moirayni Verabayni' Foyyyy!

34 comments
Exclusive Chaptzem! pictures from the Satmar Rebbe's Levaya







5 comments

Monday, April 24, 2006

Rebbe Moses Teitelbaum, Leader Of Satmar Hasidic Sect, Dead At 91

Thousands of observant Jews are in Brooklyn tonight mourning the passing of Rebbe Moses Teitelbaum, the leader of the Satmar Hasidic sect.

The rebbe, or Grand Rabbi, died Monday at the age of 91.

Teitelbaum had more than 100,000 followers worldwide, most of them in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and the upstate village of Kiryas Joel. His Satmar sect is the largest Hassidic Jewish sect in the United States.

Police in Williamsburg began cordoning off streets late Monday afternoon in expectation of the large crowds.

The rebbe died at Mount Sinai Hospital, where he had been treated since late last month for spinal cancer and other health problems.

He leaves behind two daughters and four sons, two of whom have fought over who will succeed their father. In 2004 the pair went to a Brooklyn judge, who ruled it was up to the rebbe himself to choose his spiritual heir.

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=58889

7 comments

Sunday, April 23, 2006

New home sweet for disabled man

There's a happy ending in sight for a disabled Holocaust survivor who has been living as a virtual prisoner in his Brooklyn home.

After two years of legal wrangling, tomorrow Chaim Indig, who uses a wheelchair, is set to move into a handicapped-accessible co-op in Premier House - a luxury Midwood building whose board initially had turned him away.

"He indicated he's excited about the move," said his daughter, Shevie Sinensky, who must speak for Indig because Parkinson's disease has robbed him of the ability to talk. "I am grateful to God he will finally have a comfortable home to live the rest of his life in dignity and comfort."

The Borough Park house he's vacating has 10 steps outside the front door, so he can't get out without a stretcher and two men to carry it.

The apartment where Indig, 83, a survivor of Auschwitz, and his wife, Sara, will live has handicapped-accessible elevators. He can join other elderly residents who sit outside the building in wheelchairs, Sinensky said.

He also will be able to get fresh air on his own terrace, and use a wheelchair-accessible shower instead of taking sponge baths.

"Mr. Indig gets to live the rest of his life in freedom and peace, without the bars of his Holocaust prison or the steps of his house," said Adam Bailey, who had been the Indigs' lawyer.

Son-in-law Gary Sinensky bought the $412,500 co-op at 1401 Ocean Ave. for Indig after a legal settlement with the Premier House board. The seller was board member Solomon Rokowsky, who purchased the flat after Indig was turned down in his bid to buy it in March 2004.

The Indigs and Gary Sinensky had sued Rokowsky and other board members, alleging discrimination against Indig because of his disability.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice David Schmidt dismissed the discrimination charge. But an appeals court reversed that decision, and Schmidt pressed everyone to make peace.

"The judge used his good offices to bridge the gap between the two parties," said Israel Goldberg, a lawyer for the board. "There's no animus."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/411168p-347833c.html

2 comments

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Kol Bobov takes Boro-Park by storm

The new Bobov propaganda newspaper put out by R' Mordche Dovid Ungar is being mailed to every Jewish home in Boro-Park. The newspaper which regularly features events that take place on his side of the Bobover camp is in full color and is so far one of the best propaganda vehicles being used by either side. Unless R' Bentzion makes a Chasunah for a poor Schvartze Baal Tshuva from Mozambique that is marrying a geyoires from Zanzibar, it will be hard to beat the attention that this newspaper is getting.

23 comments

Friday, April 21, 2006

Respect from New Square

This must now be the routine in the Hillcrest (Moleston) Fire District: Any time a call is placed for New Square, Ramapo police must accompany the volunteers as escort. They should no longer be subject to harassment for doing their unpaid jobs, and police should arrest those who interfere.

It is simply a great lack of respect that some in New Square, a religious-based village north of Hillcrest, picks on these firefighters, who are there to save lives and property. That Hillcrest fire officials, including longtime department volunteer and Rockland Fire Coordinator Gordon Wren Jr., have complained about dangerous building and fire code violations is not justification for such ill treatment.

Where are the village elders?

Hillcrest firefighters recently filed a criminal complaint claiming they had cornered two boys they believed were setting fires but that a New Square official helped them escape, saying they were involved in a religious ritual supervised by adults. Fire officials also told Ramapo police that New Square residents gathered and became hostile to firefighters as they tried to follow the two boys, according to the complaint, which seeks a criminal charge against the unnamed village official.

That confrontation was the latest dispute between the Hillcrest Fire Department and the Hasidic Jewish village. Fire officials have long complained about large trash-bin fires, young men setting blazes and dangerous buildings and conditions for fighting fires. They have been met mostly with official indifference.

While New Square leaders have said the children in the latest instance were not setting fires but were burning non-kosher food in a religious preparation for Passover, such blazes must be managed or they can get out of hand. The housing in New Square is closely placed and largely overbuilt. It would not pass any other community's zoning regulations and slaps the face of reasonable fire and building codes. Firefighters, emergency service workers and police would be hard put not to lose their lives or those of residents, including the many children who live in New Square, if there were an out-of-control blaze. It is a tinderbox of Texture-111 plywood add-ons.

Last year, Hillcrest volunteers responded to 69 New Square calls, 33 of which were for fires. Instead of blasting Wren and the Hillcrest firefighters, New Square ought to be working with them on fire prevention and better building practices. Deputy Mayor Israel Spitzer says "The relationship is fine on our end. I want to stress that we are very, very concerned about the safety of our residents. Our No. 1 priority is to make sure no one gets injured in a fire situation."

Yet the proof is in the doing, and judging from the frustration shown by the volunteers, harmony is not yet in place. Until that happens in a meaningful way, Ramapo police must monitor county Fire Radio 44-Control calls and immediately send officers to accompany the volunteers, to provide a safe escort and to arrest any resident who threatens interference.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060421/OPINION01/604210410/1015

0 comments
Pizza vs. Chulent

The Motze Pesach - Leil Shishi war has begun. Throngs of Boro-Parkers have packed away their Pesach dishes and are parading down Thirteenth Avenue trying to make up their mind on what to eat. On one hand there is the Chiyuv D'oiraisah of eating Pizza to make sure that they are not oiver on Bal Toisef. While on the other hand there is the equally important Mitzvah of eating chulent on Leil Shishi. In order to circumvent this dilemma some people are opting to eat first the Pizza and then to wait on line for the Chulent for a half an hour, this way they can be mekayim both Gevaldige Mitzvos. I don't know, but if you ask me, the only thing that I can think of that is worse than a Pizza baked in five minutes is a five-minute Chulent.

6 comments

Thursday, April 20, 2006

66th Precinct shows their presence over Yom Tov

Boro-Park's 66th Police Precinct made sure that they were seen in various high traffic areas in Boro-Park this Yom Tov. Police cars were parked in all directions in these streets and the Cops were seen milling about. Passersby said hello to the officers and schmoozed them up. Children hung around them trying to get their attention. Boruch Hashem during this past week, thanks to our recently roughed-up friends from the New York City Police Department, Boro-Park residents felt so much safer. It's so reassuring to know that our Cops are hocking a chynik rather than giving tickets over Yom Tov. I guess if the Yidden aren't driving around there's nobody to ticket anyway.

0 comments

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Heimishe hit the beach

Heimishe women, children and men hit the beach this week in the bi-annual Chol HaMoed Coney Island extravaganza. For the first time in 2006 there were more Chasidim on the boardwalk than Russians. Hoards of carriage pushers stormed Astroland fighting for a place in line to put their shefelech on the little caterpillar and to wave to them as they pass by. There were Kosher L'Pesach refreshments available for sale at a stand in the park. Potato chips, apple juice box drinks and water were being sold for a little less than $20 each. However the real action was a little further down the boardwalk where all the bored, ausgemitcheter, nuchgeyugter fathers had gathered to smoked their cigarettes and stare at the horizon, basking in the glow of the sunlight with smiles of contentment on their faces from escaping for those few precious moments.

5 comments

Monday, April 17, 2006

Orange all set for sewer flow

The Orange County sewage treatment plant on River Road used to be a facility in crisis, unfit to handle the rising tide of wastewater in the county's fast-growing southeastern corner.

But this month, after an 18-year saga of sewer-hookup bans, lawsuits by developers and environmentalists and a fine for excessive discharge into the Ramapo River, the crisis recedes with the completion of a $26 million plant expansion conceived a decade ago.

Suddenly, things are looking good.

Not only do they have a bigger Harriman plant, but county officials say they plan - at least in the short term - to keep using the Kiryas Joel sewage plant they borrowed as a stopgap measure, which adds another cushion of capacity.

What's more, there's a fallback option if things get tight again: new filter technology that would enable the Harriman plant to process another 3 million gallons a day, according to consultants who just tested it.

Add up all the factors, and a region habitually short of sewage plant space could ultimately find itself flush with it - the key, whether residents like it or not, to continued development in the region.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/04/17/news-camsewer-04-17.html

1 comments

Sunday, April 16, 2006

City begins probe of cops' actions in Brooklyn mayhem

The city's Civilian Complaint Review Board has started investigating the NYPD's response to last week's fiery mayhem in a heavily Hasidic area of Brooklyn.

The board, which probes allegations of police abuse, got 14 complaints after mobs, who falsely believed cops had beaten 75-year-old Arthur Schick during an April 4 traffic stop in Borough Park, ran amok.

Review Board officials said during their meeting yesterday that it could be months before the probe is complete.

"We're in the very early stages," said board Executive Director Florence Finkle.

One of the 14 complaints was filed by Schick, who cops pulled over for talking on his cell phone while driving and blocking traffic at 16th Ave. and 47th St. Cops say he became belligerent and refused to hand over his registration and driver's license.

Schick says cops forcefully pushed him into a police van and then used the N-word.

Another complaint alleges that Chief of Department Joseph Esposito yelled to other cops during the protests: "Get the f------ Jews out of here!"

Esposito has admitted using inappropriate language but has denied uttering anything anti-Semitic. Police officials have said he shouted, "Get these f------ people out of here!"

As many as 12 other people allege they were roughed up by cops during the chaos but none of them was injured.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/408444p-345772c.html

0 comments
Chief recalls last Satmar Rebbe's funeral

Back then, Bob Kwiatkowski was a Woodbury patrolman. Neighboring Monroe had fewer than 15,000 people, and only a small percentage of them lived in the recently incorporated Hasidic settlement known as Kiryas Joel.

But when the revered leader of the Satmar Hasidic sect, Joel Teitelbaum, died in 1979, Kwiatkowski and others would soon learn the magnitude of grief his passing could command. As the Times Herald-Record reported at the time, as many as 100,000 mourners descended upon an unsuspecting Orange County to attend the funeral and burial of the Satmar grand rebbe.


"I remember they gridlocked Route 17," says Kwiatkowski, today the chief of the Woodbury department. "Nothing moved. They parked cars in the driving lanes and walked into Kiryas Joel."

This time around, police know what to expect. They've been planning for months how to handle the traffic that will pour into Monroe and Woodbury when 91-year-old Moses Teitelbaum, a nephew who succeeded Joel Teitelbaum as grand rebbe, dies and is brought to Kiryas Joel to be buried beside his uncle.

Kwiatkowski, a veteran of one rebbe funeral, vows, "This is going to be a well-coordinated response."

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/04/16/news-southnote16-04-14.html

3 comments
More condos coming to Kiryas Joel

Anyone driving down Bakertown Road through Kiryas Joel lately may have noticed the sudden absence of trees and brush on a hill behind the lot where a flotilla of school buses are parked.

What you see there is the next development frontier in Kiryas Joel. For the last several years, housing construction has been concentrated on the opposite side of the village, where hundreds of condos have risen and continue to rise beside County Route 44.

But now a hill crested by water towers off Bakertown Road - and adjacent to ACE Farm - has been cleared for construction of 293 condos. Village Administrator Gedalye Szegedin says the work will likely be completed within two years.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/04/16/news-southnote16-04-14.html

0 comments

Saturday, April 15, 2006

R' Mordche Dovid people hand out free Gedolim cards

In the new series of Gedolim cards, R' Bentzion's picture appeared with the words Rebbe of Bobov under it while R' Mordche Dovid's picture mentioned nothing of Bobov. This enraged R' Mordche Dovid's people. In an attempt to get even R' Mordche Dovid's people printed their own Gedolim card with the picture of R' Mordche Dovid on it and R' Bentzion's card number and distributed it for free. This way when the new R' Mordche Dovid card would be pasted into the collector's book in R' Bentzion's place, the words, Rebbe of bobov would be under his picture instead.

8 comments

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Own a piece of Boro-Park history - SPONSORED POST

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3 comments
Preparing for Satmar grand rebbe's death

Three levels of law enforcement are choreographing how to manage the traffic that will inundate the Monroe-Woodbury area when the Satmar grand rebbe dies and tens of thousands of mourners pour into Kiryas Joel for a funeral and burial.

The 91-year-old spiritual leader has made a surprising recovery since he fell unconscious at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan last week. But his grave illness forced state, county and local authorities in Orange County to renew preparations for the expected crowds - a production that their New York City counterparts reportedly have dubbed "Operation Sundown."

The state police, who are coordinating the response in Orange County, won't release details of the plans, such as whether any roads outside of Kiryas Joel will be closed or how many troopers from other places will assist those based in Monroe.

Capt. Michael Cahill of Troop F headquarters in Middletown said yesterday that law enforcement has been developing plans for nine months to a year, focusing on traffic control.

Road updates will be posted on message boards on Route 17, he said. But he warned drivers to steer clear of that road and New York State Thruway (I-87) once the throngs of mourners descend upon southern Orange.

"This is all going to happen very quickly," Cahill said. "Avoid 87 and 17. I don't recommend anyone come to be a spectator."

Woodbury police will direct traffic at Nininger Road and Route 32, the first possible choke point for traffic pouring toward Kiryas Joel from the Thruway. They will also patrol part of Highland Mills to keep traffic flowing on Ridge Road and Seven Springs Road.

"Our ultimate goal is to keep everything open," Woodbury police Chief Robert Kwiatkowski said.

Orange County officials plan to monitor the event from their Emergency Operations Center, a basement bunker they normally occupy during disasters such as floods and hurricanes.

Walt Koury, the county's emergency services commissioner, said yesterday that he's concerned that gridlock in Monroe-Woodbury might prevent first responders from getting to their firehouses and ambulance garages to respond to calls.

Monroe and Woodbury fire chiefs, anticipating that problem, said their crews might man their stations ahead of time so they won't have to fight traffic to get to them in emergencies.

Monroe-Woodbury School District could cancel classes or dismiss school early, depending on when the mourners are expected to come. In one planning scenario, the district would bus some students to Pine Tree Elementary - out of the main traffic zone - to be picked up by their parents.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/04/11/news-camplan-04-11.html

0 comments
Firefighters file complaint against New Square official

Hillcrest firefighters have filed a criminal complaint claiming they had cornered two boys they believed were setting fires, but a village official helped them escape, saying they were involved in a religious ritual.

Fire officials also told police that New Square residents gathered and became hostile to firefighters Sunday evening as they tried to follow the two boys, according to the complaint.

The complaint, which seeks a criminal charge against the New Square official, was filed with Ramapo police.

The confrontation marked the latest dispute between the Hillcrest Fire Department and the Hasidic Jewish village. Fire officials have long complained about large trash-bin fires, young men setting blazes and dangerous buildings and conditions for fighting fires in the village.

New Square leaders yesterday said the children were not setting fires but were burning non-kosher food in a religious preparation for Passover's start tomorrow.

Deputy Mayor Israel Spitzer said the children were burning challah bread and were supervised by adults. He said firefighters had been called to another fire and noticed the fire on Bush Lane as they were leaving.

Spitzer described the fire as a "very, very minor fire ... less than a grill in your backyard."

"Maybe they were frustrated for some reason," Spitzer said. "They jumped out in a rush as if there was a terrible situation. And they handled it without control. They overreacted."

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060411/NEWS03/604110341/1019/NEWS03

0 comments
The Boro-Park riot aftermath

Now that the riots are over and the stories have disappeared from the news, what will the aftermath be like?
Will there be changes in the Police Department? Will new policies be put in place? And if so will they be stricter in nature, to gain more control? Or will they be looser, in order to relax a little bit on the community?
And with regard to our Politicians. Are they really doing a good job? Or is it time for them to be replaced? And furthermore, does Dov Hikind really represent our community? Or even care about it for that matter?

What do you think?

3 comments

Monday, April 10, 2006

Hatzolah ambulance hits car

A Hatzolah ambulance while on the way to the Hospital with a patient crashed into a car on New Utrecht Avenue and 54th Street. From an early surveyal of the scene it does not seem like rioting is imminent.

0 comments

Sunday, April 09, 2006

NYPDrant 'Jew Riot' thread

The NYPDrant, a popular gathering place for New York City Cops and a cybercenter for Police anti-semitism has started a thread about the Boro-Park riots. In order to understand the mentality behind our 'protectors' this thread is a must-read.

Link to NYPDrant

19 comments
Hamodia sticks to Pareve reporting

The Hamodia newspaper, the self-proclaimed voice of Orthodox Jewry, did their usual thing with their extremely Pareve, wishy-washy reporting of the Boro-Park riots. While being truly fair and unbiased when reporting a story is highly commendable, however, to omit facts in an attempt to be favored in the eyes of certain entities goes against the fundamental rules of journalism. I wonder why the word Hamodia has to be synonymous with the concept of dry, spineless and overly censored news. Why can't a Jewish newspaper actually be what the words 'Jewish Newspaper' mean, a newspaper that keeps the integrity of the news and the facts while simultaneously keeping the integrity of true Yiddishkeit. It's that simple. The one thing that did however surprise me about the Hamodia's news piece on the riots was that it wasn't just their usual cut and paste from the AP as with all their other stories, there was actually a human behind this one. I guess I have to give credit where credit is due.

5 comments

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Buy exclusive Boro-Park Riot apparel

Now you can buy your very own exclusive Boro-Park Riot apparel all emblazoned with the official Boro-Park Riot logo.

Here's a sample below.




















Boro-Park Riot Apparel Store

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Friday, April 07, 2006

So called 'Orthodox' Bloggers make Chillul Hashem by condemning the community

Many of the so called 'Orthodox' Bloggers in their overzealous anxious attempt to distance themselves from the 'rioting Hasidim' sold their soul to make their point. The Daily News' blog published quotes from these bloggers denouncing the community and everything that they had done, without putting even a drop of onus on the Police for their grave mishandling of the incident. While Chaptzem! does not condone what took place, however to jump onto the coppo bandwagon and rush with baited breath to be the first one to quickly denounce the community in order to disassociate themselves from what happened before any of the facts come in is just utter stupidity. Stupidity which the Daily News is using to say, "Look even the Orthodox think that the Hasidis are animals." So while trying to condemn a Chillul Hashem, these bloggers are actually perpetuating one. Now that the facts are rolling in we get to see exactly what happened and exactly who is to blame for what. Firstly, we now see who actually lit the fires in the street. Secondly, I want to see what will happen in Harlem or even in Midtown Manhattan if a Chief of Police would come down and yell at the residents there, "Get the F***ing Niggers outta here, I wanna see heads rolling." I wonder how big the flames would be then. I wonder how many Police would be murdered then. I wonder how many minutes it would take for the Police Chief to come down to the community begging for forgiveness on his hands and knees and then get thrown off the force anyway. The point is we are Jews. Jews don't riot, we react. A 75 year old man was treated like a serial cop killer and dragged around like a dog. The community reacted. Nobody was injured and nothing was vandalized. Can you say that about any other minority? NO! Mi K'amcho Yisroel!

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Thursday, April 06, 2006

HASIDIM LIGHTING FIRES IN BORO-PARK, oops, it's a goy!

Where are the headlines now?

GOY LIGHTS FIRE IN BORO-PARK



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Do you think you deserve a riot?

Have you ever been the victim of Police anti-semitism in BoroPark?

If you have and you believe that there should have been a riot on your behalf post your story here.

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Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Press conference with Dov Hikind and Simcha Felder at 66th Precinct

Dov Hikind and Simcha Felder held a press conference today in front of the 66th Police Precinct in Boro-Park. Although they started out by blaming rogue teenagers as the reason for the riot, they quickly came around and began to point fingers in the direction of the Police. Simcha began by saying that there was a higher-up, Chief Joseph Esposito, that acted very wrong in the way he handled last night's events. Simcha mentioned that he and many other witnesses had heard him yell to the cops at the scene, "Get the F***'n Jews outta here, I wanna see heads rolling!" Also he yelled at Simcha Felder, "If you can't help me Simka, get the F*** outta here!" Dov and Simcha both said that there was no reason for war tactics to be taken on such a community. Joseph Esposito has been coming under fire lately from the Jewish community after he botched a couple of situations in Williamsburg. Joseph Esposito used to be the Commanding Officer at the 66th Precinct, where he formerly received years of tuches licking from the Boro-Park Shomrim. To Shomrim; this is how licking pays off, to Simcha and Dov; I'm glad you guys have woken up, and to Joseph Esposito; it was nice knowing you, I hope you do well in your second career.

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More exclusive Chaptzem! pictures of the Boro-Park riot










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Exclusive Chaptzem! pictures and videos of the Boro-Park Riot






Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

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Pictures from the Boro-Park riots




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Riot Update 4: Curfew to be imposed on Boro-Park

Cops will impose a curfew on Boro-Park residents tonight. Anyone found on the street after the curfew time will be immediately arrested.

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Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Riot Update 3: Police car on fire

A police car is currently on fire. The Fire Department is trying to put it out. Police are waving their clubs and are arresting people left and right. Police have closed off 16th Avenue to all people. Anyone found on the Avenue is now being arrested.

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Riot Update 2: Boro-Park riots spreading out over the neighborhood

Since Riot Police have moved the crowd, the Boro-Park riots have taken on a new form. People have begun to light fires all over Boro-Park. News helicopters are sprawling all over the airspace hoping to get footage of the fires. The biggest fire at this time is at the 18th Avenue park. Riot Police are walking down the street shoulder to shoulder in an attempt to clear the people away. Where's Country Yossi when you need him.

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Riot Update 1: Riot cops and Simcha Felder Show up at the Boro-Park riots

After hours of leaving the crowd without any Police presence, Riot Police in full gear showed up to disperse the crowd. Using Police helicopters to light up the streets, the Riot Police pushed the people onto the sidewalks and cleared them out of the are. After the crowd had calmed down, Simcha Felder came to the scene. People began yelling, "Simcha, we voted for you, do something!". Simcha responded by saying, "Come to my office and we'll talk". I guess he expects the people who were arrested to come to his office too if they need help.

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Rioting on 16th Avenue and 45th Street in Boro-Park

A man driving on 16th Avenue was pulled over by Police for driving while talking on his cell phone. While the Police Officer was writing the ticket the man got out of his car. The Police did not realize him getting out and was taken aback when he saw him outside and jumped at him and began to beat him. Seeing what happened, crowds of people began to gather in the street. When the crowd became large and noisy the Police took off and disappeared. Fires were being lit in the streets and total chaos broke out. The Fire Department was called to the scene. When they arrived they were blocked by people and were not allowed to enter the street. Members of the press quickly surged to Boro-Park and were interviewing people that were at the scene. I guess we'll all see now how successful this upstanding was by how bad the upcoming ticket blitz will be.

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Have Schtick, Will Travel















This month, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach becomes a family-adviser-on-the-road hosting a reality TV show, "Shalom in the Home," scheduled for prime-time broadcast on The Learning Channel.

Shmuley (as he likes to be called) is a former rabbi-in-chief at Oxford and the author of 16 books on family and marriage, including his latest, "Ten Conversations You Need to Have With Your Children."

America may not need another show pairing our deepest familial dysfunctions with our obsession for navel-gazing, but it may need a Shmuley showcase. This one -- which has the rabbi touring the country in an Airstream trailer outfitted with video and audio gear to monitor and advise the 10 families he visits -- is compelling not only in its gimmicks but in its host's charisma and ability to identify and deal with deep-seated family woes.

Shmuley points out that he has more than a little experience in these areas. The child of a messy divorce, he says he vowed early on to help other families -- and to live his own life differently. (He's been married for 18 years; his eighth child was born in March, during the final week of the show's taping.)

His rabbinical work has not been without controversy, especially among ultra-orthodox Jews who criticized his popular Oxford L'Chaim Society, a student organization, for recruiting non-Jewish students as members and installing a black non-Jew as its leader. Neither did his frank discussions of sexuality and religion, especially in his book "Kosher Sex," go over well with traditionalists.

A former close relationship with Michael Jackson also raised eyebrows, even among the secular. A friend introduced him to the King of Pop shortly after Jackson left the Jehovah's Witnesses and was spiritually adrift. "Michael Jackson needed a rabbi," explains Shmuley. "He still needs a rabbi or priest."

The 39-year-old Shmuley is more than Dr. Phil with a Hasidic beard. And "Shalom in the Home," he says, is no nanny show about unruly kids: "It's about how Mom and Dad's relationship affects the whole family."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/03/AR2006040301367.html?nav=rss_health

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Bobov - Camp Gila Supreme Court schedule


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Overturned tractor

A tractor turns over in Flatbush on the corner of Ave P and East 15th Street





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Monday, April 03, 2006

High School Students From Across US Launch Projects to Make a Difference in Their Communities

Seventy-five high school students from across the country recently attended a groundbreaking conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on, Community: Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? The three-day leadership conference was a combination of discussion groups and activism training program that addressed the challenges of boundaries and gave the students tools to develop their own framework for a better understanding of their own communities.

“Our goal is to challenge young people to develop solid, well thought out opinions about difficult issues,” said Judy Goldgrab, director of the Eimatai Leadership Project under the auspices of Yeshiva University's Center for the Jewish Future.

Some of the challenging topics that were addressed included, “How do young people define their community? How do Orthodox Jews relate to non-Orthodox Jews, converts or interfaith families?”

As part of the conference, each school develops a program to implement in their school and/or community. Two Eimatai advisors serve as mentors for each school and guide them through the needs assessment for their project.

Each of the nine participating schools returned home armed with plans to make a difference in their communities. The Ramaz Upper School created project Food for Friends, which aims to help Israeli families with Shabbat meals. Students from Yavneh Academy of Dallas, TX decided to adopt a public school in south Dallas to create interactions with students, mentoring and encouraging dialogue to deflate racial tensions.

http://spider.mc.yu.edu/news/articles/article.cfm?id=101152

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Sunday, April 02, 2006

Pictures of the Tnoyim in Monroe



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Matisyahu reaches 'Youth'

IT's a name that has risen to prominence in reggae over the past few months and it seems there is no escaping it.

The name alone is enough to attract attention, but his appearance also has many intrigued.

Instead of 'flossing' large gold chains and flaunting half-naked women in his videos, Matisyahu - a Hasidic reggae singer - sports a wide-brimmed felt hat and traditional Jewish garb.

Not quite what one would expect from a reggae artiste.

Matisyahu, 26, recently released the album Youth, which sold more than 119, 000 copies in its first week and peaked number four on the U.S. Billboard charts.

"It feels good ... I don't really know what to say. As far as the numbers go, I don't really know what that means, it's just a number. What really means a lot is when I receive a card from someone saying I changed their life and helped them through hard times," Matisyahu told The Sunday Gleaner.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060402/ent/ent2.html

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Saturday, April 01, 2006

Man suspected of locking up wife for giving birth to girl

Police arrested over the weekend a 41-year-old man from the Wadi Ara village of Kafr Kara who allegedly abused his wife and locked her in their house for a month because she had given birth to a daughter.

The woman, a Jewish immigrant from Hungary in her 30s, managed to escape. She filed a complaint with the Hadera police against her husband.

The woman, who has no family in Israel, met the man about three years ago, and subsequently converted to Islam. When she became pregnant the couple decided to marry. The abuse, including her incarceration, began after their baby was born.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/701183.html

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