Assemblyman Karim Camara who was born raised in Crown Heights, took a tour of the Jewish community with his chief of staff Thursday. The tour given was led by Rabbi Beryl Epstein of Chassidic Discovery Center. The Assemblyman who has a Lubavitcher working in his office, said that he was inspired and amazed by all he had learned about Lubavitch during his tour and he would do all he can to help our community.
More pictures in the Extended Article.
On Chol HaMoed Sukkos Residents of Carroll Street arranged a meeting the Command of the 71st Precinct which included the Commanding Officer D.I. Vega, Executive Officer Cpt. Shouldis and Lt. Cantwell, also present from the Precinct were Community Affairs officers Martinos and Gordon
The meeting stemmed from an outrage of the residents at the spike in crime on and around Carroll St. the meeting took place in the Raiim Ahuvim Shul on the Corner of Carroll and Schenectady and was not advertised, just the residents of Carroll St were notified. At 8:00pm the Shul filled up with Men, Woman and Children a number of which were victims of past crimes, all were present to make a demand for a resolution.
More in the Extended Article.
This months Precinct Council Meeting started prematurely with a very large crowd led by Geoffrey A. Davis founder of the James E. Davis Stop Violence Foundation who were there to protest the alleged beating of 23-year-old Patrick Lawrence in his apartment. Mr. Davis began with yelling ‘no justice, no peace’ with the crowd chanting after him. This was in response to officers of the Gang Squad of the Brooklyn South Task Force’s execution of a search warrant based on information that there were illegal guns and drugs in the President St. Apartment.
The Commanding Officer of the 71st Precinct, D.I. Vega got up to speak and the crowd continued chanting not allowing him to respond, the crowd made their way outside where they continued their chanting to the cameras and then dispersed. After the crowd left Mr. Vega said that it would only be right that after they were given the chance to talk he were given the chance to respond. He then explained which incident they were upset about.
More in the Extended Article.
Leaders of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council met with Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, City Council Member Letitia James, and representatives from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to discuss actions being taken to combat the recent wave of crimes in the area.
Reacting to a series of muggings and assaults where local residents have been brutally attacked by roving gangs, District Attorney Hynes gave his assurance that he will work with the community and the police to keep track of all incidents and to prosecute those caught to the fullest extent of the law. Mr. Hynes also presented certificates of honor to two local residents who helped the NYPD arrest three of the recent attackers who assaulted a young man on his way home from synagogue on the night of Yom Kippur.
More in the Extended Article.
Click Here for a newscast of this event (NEWS12)
At 6:00pm Wednesday the sidewalk in front of 770 filled up with residents fed up with the sharp crime increase in general and the increase in biased violent assaults. Three weeks ago a Bochur was smashed in the face with a baseball bat, and then on the night of Yom Kippur a 16 year old Bochur was violently beaten by a group of 7 Black Youths.
Residents fed up with this increase in crime and the police’s disregard for the situation and hiding behind the ‘compstat’ numbers saying that crime is actually declining. One of the members of the community that got up to speak and yelled that ‘we are fed up of police reports being swept under the rug’.
More pictures in the Extended Article!
In response to the numerous comments that have been posted to my previous letters, i would like to address some of them and hope that this letter will clarify the purpose of my original letters.
My objective was not to inflame the rampant fires that have engulfed us all, but rather to point out the fervor of dissention that we have witnessed since the elections three years ago. I did not place the blame on any one Rov, and had no intention of publicly besmirching a Rov. I simply noted that this public debacle began at that time.
It is regretful that those that wish to misconstrue my words are using them as fodder for further controversy.
It is with awe and trepidation that I pen these words but the situation in our Shechuna has fallen to a fathomless depth without an inkling of foreseeable hope or salvation.
Being a staunch “Rightist” for many years and practicing tolerance towards all persuasions in Lubavitch (Mashichists, Anti’s, Leftists, Rightist, and an assemblage of many others) I had a sense of relief when an additional Rov was voted in to the Bais Din three years ago. I felt that the enormous amount of issues facing the community (and unfortunately there are many) was too much for one Rov to handle. In addition the political complexities in regards to kashrus demanded a more balanced handling of our kashrus supervision. The amount of controversy was causing complete mayhem. As in many other situations personal egos were obfuscating the practical issues.
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