Two pedestrian safety islands installed less than a year ago on Eastern Parkway are slated to be removed by the city in order to accommodate ‘floats’ for the upcoming West Indian Day Parade in Crown Heights.
People gathered on Eastern Parkway today, Sunday, for a ‘festival’ marking 25 years since the Crown Heights Riots. The event was the first part of a controversial ‘day of festivities’ which was organized to commemorate those dark and tragic days.
A somber memorial service was held today to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the murder of Yankel Rosenbaum, HYD, who was stabbed to death shortly after the Crown Heights Riots broke out in the summer of 1991.
Due to dire financial circumstances, in which teachers are owed over a half a year’s pay and the inability to hire new teachers, Beis Rivkah has sent a notice to all parents that they cannot yet schedule a first day of school for the coming year.
As we approach the 25th Yahrtzeit of Yankel Rosenbaum, HYD, who was murdered in cold blood on account of being a Jew during the infamous Crown Heights riots in the summer of 1991, the Rosenbaum family has reacted with shock and indignation that the anniversary of the riots will be marked with a ‘neighborhood festival.’
Following the sudden and untimely passing of Reb Yankel Ziskind OBM, his wife and four children – two of whom have special needs – are now faced with bills and expenses from medical care and the funeral, along with the future family costs. In response a fundraising campaign has been launched by Bikur Cholim.
Rabbi Bentzion Yaakov Wosner, Av Beis Din Shevet Halevi Monsey-Beit Shemesh, has come out with a second letter in support of the Crown Heights Eruv, laying down the Halachic basis for its validity, and going so far as to claim that “it’s impossible that the Lubavitcher Rebbe was opposed to the construction of an Eruv in Crown Heights, and that anyone who says so is being deceitful.”
On Monday, a Federal Judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, led by Rabbi Yehudah Krinsky, against Vaad L’Hafotzas Sichos, led by Rabbi Zalman Chanin, seeking injunctive relief for the Vaad’s unauthorized use of the Kehot logo on volumes of Likutei Sichos and other publications.
After over four years of fighting and litigation, the dispute over control of Congregation Ahavas Mosche of Crown Heights, popularly known as ‘the Maple Street Shul,’ has been settled amicably by both sides. On the day before Gimmel Tammuz, four members of the Shul have signed a letter of apology to the Shul’s caretaker of over 40 years, Rabbi Eli Blachman, and agreed to no longer seek control of or interfere with the affairs of the Shul.
Col. Jacob Goldstein, formerly the chairman of Community Board 9, which encompasses the southern portion of Crown Heights, has filed a Federal lawsuit against Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams for allegedly violating his First Amendment rights by firing him from the board for speaking out to the media.
Rabbi Sholom Ber Shuchat, Crown Heights resident and Dayan on the Beis Din of Agudas Harabonim in New York, has inspected the Crown Heights Eruv and written a comprehensive Halachic pamphlet on its validity. He is the first Chabad Rov to publicly come out in support of the Eruv, albeit with the stipulation that it should be improved so that it complies with the Halachic approach of the Chabad Rebbeim.
Following the release of a letter by R’ Bentzion Wosner of Monsey/Beit Shemesh proclaiming that those who use the Crown Heights Eruv are not being Mechalel Shabbos, two Rabbonim have released harsh responses, castigating him for contradicting the ruling of the local Beis Din in their own jurisdiction.
A few weeks after the completion of the Crown Heights Eruv, during which several Rabbonim – including the members of the Crown Heights Beis Din, headed by Rabbi Avrohom Osdoboa, and Rosh Kollel Rabbi Yosef Heller – came out in fierce opposition to it, two prominent Rabbonim have come out in support of the authenticity of the Eruv and in defense of those who use it.
In a follow-up Shiur on the Crown Heights Eruv delivered on Thursday, Rosh Kollel Rabbi Yosef Heller doubled down on his previous comments lambasting the Eruv and those who use it, saying it is akin to Reform Judaism. The Shiur coincided with the release of a Halachic ruling from the Crown Heights Beis Din prohibiting the use of the Eruv.
A bold new plan is being rolled out by the NYPD in the 71st Precinct which will change the face of patrol under the new Neighborhood Policing Plan, which will see the return of the ‘beat cop’ whose job is to become personally familiar with his ‘patrol sector’.
An apartment building which is home to many large Jewish families has been the scene of repeated gun violence in the last few days, and residents feel it’s only a matter of time before a major tragedy occurs – one which can be averted should police act.
A video that has gone viral showing a man in Lefferts Park behaving in a ‘creepy’ manner around children prompted a number of concerned parents to call Shomrim after observing the same man in the park once again today. He was taken into custody.
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