Chaptzem Blog!      

Noach Dear offers roadside assistance

Noach was seen giving auto advice to a woman on 13th Avenue. The woman refused his advice and told him that she had spoken to her husband and will rather listen to what he said.
8 comments

Prisoners being escorted to court

Prisoners being escorted by Sullivan County Sheriffs to the South Fallsburg courthouse.




5 comments

Skverer Rebbe marries off einikel

The Chasunah will be tonight in Skverer Shtetel.
10 comments

A mini-van parked on the street without plates

This mini-van was supposed to be towed but was parked on the street without plates. The owner left a note in the window explaining why it should be allowed on the street.



3 comments

Beware of major traffic in Swan Lake

Due to the Siedas Hoidueh in Skulen it would be wise to avoid the Swan Lake area if possible.
2 comments

Traffic counter on 14th Avenue

The geniuses decided to count the traffic on 14th Avenue right in middle of the Summer when the traffic is cut at least in half.




4 comments

Kosher crab chips?!


19 comments

Anti-Semitism or major coincidence

The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department has been very busy this year. They apparently spent all winter long figuring out ways how to make it extra difficult for the Heimishe oilem in the mountains.

For instance, all large Yiddishe bungalow colonies now have brand new ‘No Parking Any Time’ signs posted all along the property line. While a couple of yards further, where the colony property ends, parking is allowed. Is there any reason why parking should not be allowed on the grass on the side of the road in front of these colonies? Why has this major inconvenience conveniently been imposed onto the Yiddishe colonies only?

Furthermore, while the usual speed limit in the mountains, outside of village limits, is 45 miles per hour, brand new 30 mile per hour signs have been erected in most of the predominantly Yiddishe areas. Why has the speed limit been lowered in these areas? Could it be to cram more tickets into the too short summer ticketing season?

Also, if you’ve taken a good look lately you’ve probably realized the new tactic that the all-year country dwellers are using to help point out the summer residents. In an organized effort, the all-year residents have been getting themselves specific vanity license plates that uniquely identify them as country dwellers. These plates either have the letters SU (for Sullivan), or SC (for Sullivan County), or MO (for Mountains) on them, followed by a two, three or four digit number. This way a Police Officer can identify a country dweller that may have done something wrong, and then decide at his own discretion whether he wants to pull them over for it or not.

These are the facts, now you decide on your own, anti-Semitism or major coincidence?
10 comments

Fire Department responds to a blown fuse call


3 comments

A Touro College degree


8 comments

Dov Hikind’s political illusion – Blame the victim, deflect the blame from yourself













If you’ve watched Dov Hikind’s press conference on the four-year-old girl’s assault in Boro-Park you’ve seen one of the best pieces of political slight-of-hand performed lately. Once again, before any facts have surfaced a Boro-Park politician, that is very unBoro-Park-like, has gone on a rampage to throw blame on the victim and their family, rather than look at his own job record. Dov Hikind, who, for all means and purposes, does not represent the Boro-Park people or their culture, or even understand them or like them for that matter, has tried one of the oldest political tactics in the book. Dov went in front of the television cameras and, instead of saying in a humble voice “There is a safety problem in Boro-Park and I will do my best to help fix it.”, he rather decided to misdirect the focus and cast all the blame on the mother of this little girl. Dov Hikind hopes that by blaming the mother everyone will forget to ask why the Police are not doing their job of protecting the community and why our politicians aren’t demanding that they do. Dov Hikind will run again for office soon and once again he will run only against Dov Hikind. Now, who does that say more about, us as a community, or him?
43 comments

Yingerman gets hit head-on by an 84 year-old-man

A Yingerman gets hit head-on by an 84 year-old-man that was driving in the wrong lane. Both drivers were uninjured.
3 comments

NYPD puts up a SkyWatch unit in Boro-Park

The NYPD put up a SkyWatch neighborhood monitoring unit on 16th Avenue and 50th Street to help keep an eye on the area and hopefully prevent further crime in the neighborhood. The unit extends to about twenty feet high and is equipped with night-vision cameras. Now if only we could know for sure if there really is a Cop in there.




8 comments

Yiddishe news covers up Boro-Park assault story

As usual, the Yiddishe media covers up and changes the facts with the uncomfortable story of the Boro-Park assault instead of reporting the truth.

























For the Yiddishly challenged; this Yiddish language news booklet falsely reports that due to the noise made by the girl during her abduction, her abductor let her go after seven minutes of captivity and she was found completely untouched.
19 comments

Police car stands guard in front of assault victim's home

Since the assault on a four-year-old girl in Boro-Park, a Police car has continuously been standing guard in front of the victim's home. Are the Cops afraid that she might be assaulted again? I wonder what the reason for the car is besides for helping to publicly announce exactly where the victim lives. If the Cops are to really accomplish something, they should have that car looking for leads on the street and arresting people rather than schmoozing up the neighbors.
2 comments

Massive flood at Shomer Shabbos in Boro-Park

The large amount of rainfall today caused a drain overflow, sending heavy amounts of rain water into the basement Shul of Shomer Shabbos. The entire basement was covered with over three inches of rain. Observe the Bal T'filah standing on a cardboard island.




































Thank you Yankel for the pix
12 comments

Four-Year-Old Girl Sexually Assaulted In Brooklyn


7 comments

Annual Emes and the Law conference tonight

The annual Emes and the Law conference will be taking place tonight at the almost defunct Vizhnitzer hall in Boro-Park. Chaim Zwiebel will once again be chairing the event. Also, this year we will have the honor to hear from Chaim Leshkowitz, CPA, Esquire, the brother of last year's speaker Yossi Leshkowitz, CPA. Let's see if Chaim's as 'hotzy totzy' as his brother Yossi. Mincha will be at 7:15 pm, followed by the conference and Mariv at about 10:45 pm, after the conference concludes.
9 comments

Fake-degree plot alleged at Touro college

Teachers, students and administrators tampered with a private college‘s computer system to change grades and create fake degrees for money, prosecutors charged Monday. Among the fake degrees given were those for physicians‘ assistants, they said.

Those indicted include Touro College‘s former director of admissions, the former director of the school‘s computer center, three former Touro students and three public school teachers, Manhattan prosecutors said.

Records found in the home of Andrique Baron, a former admissions director at Touro‘s campus in Manhattan, showed he was running the scheme as early as 2003 and possibly earlier, Morgenthau said.

Baron‘s main accomplice was Michael Cherner, former director of the computer center at the school‘s Brooklyn campus, Morgenthau said.

Money was collected from the teachers by a bagman identified in Baron‘s cell phone by the nickname Jimmy Bag, the district attorney said.

The scheme was "confined to what appears to have been a betrayal of trust by persons with responsibility for the integrity of the record-keeping," she said.

Lawyers for Baron and Cherner did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment Monday.

Six of the 10 defendants were arrested at various times from March to July on charges of computer trespass, computer tampering and falsifying business records. Baron, Cherner and the bag man also were charged with bribe receiving. All the charges are punishable by up to four years in prison.

http://www.onelocalnews.com/pioneertimesjournal/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=133707
6 comments

Monster bee in Boro-Park - Chaptzem Exclusive

A monster bee has been seen in Boro-Park. While the average bee measures about 3/4 of an inch in length, this bee measures in at an astounding 2 inches. Watch out for that stinger.
























The ruler has been added to show the scale of the 8 inches of the brick versus the 2 inches of the bee.
8 comments

Lakewood woman rips into Town Appliance for advertising a home theater


24 comments

Two local teenagers charged in Jewish camp, bungalow break-ins

Two teenagers burglarized a seasonal camp and a bungalow colony over the past week, police say,
Bryon Santiago, 18, of Woodbourne, and Darrin Darby, 18, of Grahamsville, were both charged Wednesday with third-degree burglary and fourth-degree grand larceny, felonies.
Fallsburg police said the two men burglarized buildings in at least three seasonal communities, including Bush Garden Estates and Camp Tubby in Woodbourne.
Walkie-talkies, cigarettes, a blender and other similar things were taken, cop said.
Police say that the men were arrested at a home in Woodbourne and had some of the stolen good with them at the time.
Darby and Santiago were arraigned and sent to Sullivan County Jail, each in lieu of $10,000 bail, pending appearances Monday in Fallsburg Town Court.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/NEWS/70713018/-1/NEWS06
0 comments

JEWISH KID CLEARED IN 'HATE' BASH

One of five Orthodox Jewish teens accused of beating a Pakistani man last year after calling him a terrorist is off the hook.

Justice Sheryl Parker said the evidence presented to the grand jury didn't show that Shulomi Bitton, 17, had taken part in the assault.

David Brach, 16, Yossi Friedman, 17, Yitzi Horowitz, 15, and Benjamin Wasserman, 16, remain charged with assault as a hate crime, harassment and menacing.

They're accused of attackIng Shahid Amber, 24, last Oct. 29, hitting him with brass knuckles, and shouting, "Go back to your country!"

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07132007/news/nationalnews/kid_cleared_in_hate_bash_nationalnews_alex_ginsberg.htm
6 comments

Call to 'talk to haredi pocketbooks' may be a stretch

Glatt kosher sushi, English lessons and health foods are some of the new haredi consumer trends identified by participants in a Ramat Gan conference Wednesday that was from start to finish an ode to haredi buying power.
But the call by haredi ad men and media people to "talk to the haredi's pocketbook" might have been more hype than concrete business advice, as long as haredi employment levels are low and haredi poverty is high.

"With more and more haredim joining the work force and a growing presence of haredim from abroad - especially France - settling in Israel, or at least owning a house here, the haredi consumer market has gone through a revolution in the past few years," said Shalhevet Hasdiel, editor-in-chief of Fine, a magazine devoted to haredi high fashion and consumer trends.

"The affluent haredi is no longer a rare specimen," added Hasdiel. "Rich ultra-Orthodox Jews are up on the latest dress styles - but only the modest ones. They want highline interior design - but they leave room for a large bookcase in the salon and two sinks, one for milk and one for meat, in the kitchen. They buy expensive cars - but they prefer vans that can transport all the children."
The conference, sponsored by Hamil (The Israel Center for Management) and called Gefilte with Sushi - Turning Haredi Consumer Potential Into Reality, was attended by Arkadi Gaydamak and Communications Minister Ariel Atias (Shas).

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1184168543473&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
0 comments

Rabbinical students visit prison



There are only a handful of Jews in the Stafford Creek Correctional Center. They say a general lack of understanding about their faith is stressful. So is what feels like constant Christian proselytizing by fellow inmates and the occasional corrections officer.

But they say that even the neo-Nazis who roam the prison aren’t as obnoxious as the day-to-day indignities they face for wearing yarmulkes, or having to explain why pork pepperoni is not kosher.

Corrections Department Chaplain Gary Friedman in Olympia acknowledged that being estranged from the faith community is hard on Jewish inmates. “They build prisons (in rural areas)” where there aren’t many Jews, Friedman said. He estimated that 95 percent of the Washington State Jewish community — indeed, most of the “minority faiths,” like Islam and Buddhism — is on the I-5 corridor.

Which is why the Aleph Institute, a non-profit organization based in Miami, sent rabbinical students Mendel Sossonko, 23, and Berel Zaklikofsky, 24, across the Western states to visit prisons, including Stafford Creek. The mission is to connect Jewish inmates with their communities.

“We’re here to spend good Jewish quality time,” Zaklikofsky said Tuesday.

As Sossonko would tell the 10 or so inmates who dropped into the class at various times, “When one Jew meets another Jew, it is a happy thing. It’s a good day.”

That morning the rabbinical students had been at the Women’s Correctional Center at Purdy near Gig Harbor, where they had two inmate visitors, both of whom were unaware of the existence of the other Jewish inmate.

“We are here to hook it up,” Sossonko said, the English slang tinted with the young Hasid’s accent.

http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2007/07/11/local_news/01news.txt
5 comments

Video Renews Beefs About Rubashkin’s Practices

A video from a kosher slaughterhouse in Nebraska is reigniting concern about the way the nation’s largest kosher meat company handles its animals.

The three-and-a-half minute video shows bloody images of cows being killed at the Local Pride slaughterhouse in Gordon, Neb., which is owned by the Brooklyn-based Rubashkin family. The footage was filmed and released by the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The Rubashkins, adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic sect, also own the Postville, Iowa-based AgriProcessors, the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse. In 2004, AgriProcessors came under sharp criticism from a number of rabbis and animal rights activists after PETA released a separate video from the Postville slaughterhouse that showed gruesome footage of cows walking around after having their necks cut. Since then, AgriProcessors has also come under fire for the treatment of its workers.

The new video shows much less gut-wrenching detail than the one from 2004. A PETA spokesman said that allegations this time around are more limited. Unlike the previous video, which was filmed clandestinely, the new one was made with the knowledge of the workers, according to PETA. The group alleges that the video provides proof of the Rubashkins’ failure to follow through on reforms that they agreed to make after the previous video was released, including a promise to use a gun to immediately kill any animal that is not rendered insensate after the kosher cut is administered.

http://www.forward.com/articles/11145/
6 comments

Three-car accident on 15th Avenue and 43rd Street in Boro-Park

Two cars collided into each other and hit the third car. Each driver claims the other ran a red light.






2 comments

New Satmar camp opens up

To ensure an oilem at the new camp, Satmar has said that kids that do not attend camp for at least one half of the summer will not be allowed back to cheider next year. Was that meant as a punishment or a treat?
6 comments

Rubbing out all evil

The sign originally had a 'www.' before the store's name and a '.com' after the name, until some kinoyim took care of it in typical Williamsburg fashion with some 'Jewfitti'.


6 comments

Major fire at Gerrer Camp in Hurleyville

Two bungalows burned down in Gerrer camp Friday night. One person suffered minor injuries to their arm.
4 comments

Gal-Paz fixes their crumbling wall

Gal-Paz removes their sign and fixes their crumbling wall that had been found by fire inspectors.



2 comments

Fire inspectors find crumbling wall under Gal-Paz sign



5 comments

Williamsburg attempted rape - Fact or fiction?!

Now that mass hysteria has set in and hitching has been banned and everyone is being blamed for an attempted rape in Williamsburg, let's take a deep breath and mull it over for a moment. Did this attempted rape really occur, or is it just another one of those typical Williamsburg scare and control tactics? This isn't the first time that a horrific story has been spread in Williamsburg in order to invoke fear and control in the community.

The whole hitching issue has long been of controversy between the Williamsburg bus company and the community. The bus company loses a lot of money due to the hitching and has unsuccessfully tried many times to get the Williamsburg community leaders to asser it. Could this be a last-ditch effort on their behalf to stop the hitching?

The point is, before we go around condemning Chasidishe men and their 'taivos' and inability to 'help themselves', and how women should stay home and cook, let's stop and think. Is this so called attempted rape fact, or just a mere scare and control tactic, created to further push down and oppress the community in general and women in specific.
14 comments

Bobover bocherim going off to camp


5 comments

Der Villiamsburger Oilem attending the fireworks services



7 comments

Boro-Park Shop-Rite Kosher eateries close down

The two Kosher, one milchig and one fleishig, eateries that were in the Boro-Park Shop-Rite have been closed down by their owner. The stores, which are owned by the same person as Friedman's Grocery on 13th Avenue and 39th Street in Boro-Park, had been open for a little over two months and had been struggling terribly to bring in money. Experts say that the placement of the eateries on the outgoing side of the Shop-Rite cash registers, rather than on the store side, coupled with having a dairy and meat place side-by-side is what seemingly led to their demise.
4 comments

Saxophonist Arkady puts out video to raise money for drummer Matt Miller

Neginah Orchestra Chasunah drummer Matt Miller is seriously ill. Neginah Orchestra saxophonist Arkady and other musicians got together and put out this video on his behalf.



Information on how to help
19 comments

IDF enlists exempt Haredi youth who feigned mental illness

In an effort to encourage ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, the army has recently enlisted religious youths who received exemptions from the military for psychiatric reasons.

IDF Human Resources Directorate head, Major General Elazar Stern, allowed five individuals, who had regretted feigning mental problems in order to dodge military service, to join the haredi Netzah Yehuda Battalion.

According to Stern's new directive, enlistment of such candidates for military service will require renewed professional approvals by private sector and army psychiatrists ensuring their mental stability.

Most military enlistment-aged haredi youths who study at yeshivas receive exemptions, but those not enrolled at religious schools often claim they are incapable of joining due to mental problems.

In recent years, a growing number of graduates of national religious yeshivas -the majority of which join combat units- have also asked for exemptions using the same practice.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/877804.html
3 comments

Drug dealer arrested in Lakewood Yeshivah

Police said they arrested a township man early this morning on drug charges and confiscated suspected cocaine, heroin, marijuana and Xanax.

Around 12:05 a.m., Anthony Martinez, 19, of Lakewood, was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute, possession in school zone, and obstruction. He was also issued summonses for motor vehicle violations, police said.

Officer Christopher Matlosz saw Martinez drive away from County Line Road after a reported fight in the area, police said.

When Martinez saw the police car, he took evasive action, then turned off his lights and pulled into the parking lot of the Yeshiva Torah Chaim School on Ridge Avenue, said Sgt. Guillermo Clarke.

The officer saw Martinez moving around in the vehicle, and then drop items - which turned out to be suspected drugs - outside the car, police said.

Police seized 22 grams of suspected cocaine, along with two packets of suspected heroin, some suspected marijuana and pills believed to be Xanax, said Clarke.

Matlosz received assistance from Officers Lenny Nieves and Michael Marzocca and Dennis Dowden.

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770702002
7 comments

Annexations from Village of Woodbury and Monroe would boost Harriman

This tiny village of 1 square mile has always lived under the shadow of its two larger municipalities, the Towns of Monroe and Woodbury, which divide it down the middle.

But two potential annexations, which pit the village against the two larger towns, could significantly grant it more influence as a southern gateway into the county.

One annexation, a part of the former Nepera property, would take 53 acres of prime commercial land near Route 17 from the recently incorporated Village of Woodbury. That would potentially boost Harriman's tax revenue while decreasing property taxes for its 2,273 residents.

The proposal is drawing heated opposition from Village of Woodbury residents, who gathered for a public hearing about it at Harriman Village Hall on Church Street last week. Most of the opponents complained of the revenue loss for the Village of Woodbury, which is paying an additional half-million dollars a year for its newly incorporated government.

Woodbury incorporated almost all of its town as a village largely to prevent its Hasidic neighbor, the Village of Kiryas Joel, from encroaching on its boundaries. It remains unclear if the new government would fight the annexation.

The other proposed annexation into Harriman would allow a developer to build a 189-unit senior housing development on 11 acres of land near the intersection of Route 17M and Route 17. About 8 acres of the total property would have to be annexed from the Town of Monroe, which has vehemently fought the annexation since it was first proposed in 2003.

Monroe wants the land to remain part of its commercial corridor along Route 17M. The town has argued that annexation would deprive it of crucial tax revenue, as well as inhibit the growth of more businesses along its primary commercial strip.

Annexation of the property would provide Harriman its only senior housing development, as well as give it a foothold for more expansion farther south along Route 17M.

Harriman Mayor Stephen Welle said that a three-judge panel of the State Appellate Court recommended early last month to allow the annexation, as long as the developer, American Senior Communities LLC, builds the senior homes within five years. Failure to do so would return the land to the Town of Monroe.

A ruling on the annexation could come within the month, Welle said.

Monroe Supervisor Sandy Leonard said her government would continue to fight the annexation.

"I do not want to give up any of the town's commercial tax base," she said.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070702/NEWS/707020323/-1/NEWS
0 comments

Kashering a song

How MBD kashered Yidden again for his new album.


5 comments

Better than the iPhone, the jPhone


2 comments

Summer in Sullivan - What to do when the population hits 250,000



Summer means barbecues, the sun and the beach. In Sullivan County, it also means gridlock — on roads and in supermarkets — and knishes.

This is the weekend when Sullivan's population triples, jumping from about 78,000 to more than 250,000 seasonal folks who flock to camps, bungalows and getaway homes. They turn country roads into city streets, express checkouts into slow lanes, and boarded-up shops into busy businesses.

Here's how to survive and thrive during Sullivan summer:

Traffic: Driving through South Fallsburg on Route 42, where an Orthodox Jewish community springs to life every summer, can feel more like a rush-hour trip through Times Square. When the Sabbath ends Saturday nights, cars pack Woodbourne. Traffic doesn't move — it creeps, crawls and lingers.

The same goes for Route 17B, on which thousands will travel to Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

"What I say to the public is stay away from 17B as much as possible to avoid traffic," said Ray Neuenhoff, a Bethel constable. (For the back way to Bethel Woods, see recordonline.com)

Getting jammed in a long line of cars is almost inevitable. So how do you cope?

Leave early, bring music and be patient. Some folks use less congested back roads or Route 17. They don't travel Friday afternoon or Sunday evening.

Shopping: The checkout lines can be so long they drive shoppers into neighboring counties. Rather than fight crowds at Sullivan's three most crowded stores — Wal-Mart and ShopRites in Monticello and Liberty — some people head for Ellenville, or western Sullivan.

But if you must go to Sullivan's big three grocers, when is the best time? A cashier at one of those shops thought about it. Then, with the timing of an old Borscht Belt comedian, she said, "Never."

She reconsidered. "Maybe Saturday."

Translation: That's the Sabbath for Orthodox Jews. But"¦

"Everyone else shops on Saturday," she says.

So what's the best time?

"September," she finally says.

Treats to eat: Craving delicacies like kasha varnishkes? Killer knishes?

Now's your time to feast — in spots like Monticello, Fallsburg and Liberty. Many fine Jewish bakeries reopen as seasonal residents settle into their homes.

Steve Moss, owner of the Rock Hill Diner, said his favorite is Izzy's Knish Nosh in Loch Sheldrake. He's been eating their treats since he was a boy in Brooklyn.

"I just bought a dozen," he said. "I keep 'em in the fridge, freeze 'em and throw 'em in the microwave."

So grab a knish. It'll keep you happy if you get stuck in traffic.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070628/NEWS/706280345
0 comments