Search Results for 'History of Crown Heights'

Amidst the hustle and bustle; meaningful programming for Bochurim

The streets of Crown Heights are bursting with action, men women and children from around the world have gathered for “Tishrei in the Rebbe’s Court”. While sometimes the extra load of people can be burdensome; extra long lines in our local stores, extra pushing and shoving in 770, over flowing usage of the Mikva’s, to name a few. We know that the Rebbe was very supportive of hachnosas orchim, and the residents of the Shechuna, as always, have stepped up to the task.

Amidst all this hustle and bustle, The Vaad Hatmimim – International committee for bochurim – have taken upon themselves the task of making the month long stay meaningful and inspirational, for the estimated 1000 guest Bachurim. A wide array of programming assures that the bachurim not only use their time here wisely, but also that they go back home with a greater understanding, in how they can be real Chassidim in today’s trying times.

Councilwoman Wins Primary for House Seat

A black city councilwoman won the racially charged primary for a Congressional seat in central Brooklyn yesterday, beating back a challenge from a white councilman to win a seat created nearly four decades ago to increase minority representation in Congress.

The councilwoman, Yvette D. Clarke, 41, narrowly beat three opponents to capture the seat, which has been held by blacks since the 1968 victory of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress.

Congressional Candidates in Dead-Heat Race Look for a Last-Minute Edge in Brooklyn

With the high-profile race to replace Rep. Major Owens in Brooklyn’s 11th congressional district shaping up as too close to call, the four candidates were scrambling to energize their supporters and to raise last-minute funds in the final full day of campaigning.

The Democratic primary is tomorrow, and unlike the campaigns for Senate, governor, and attorney general, there is no clear front-runner in the 11th, an election that has generated widespread attention for its racial dynamic. A City Council member, David Yassky, has run circles around his opponents in fundraising, but he is the lone white candidate in a district that is nearly 60% black. He has faced relentless charges that he moved into the district with the idea of dividing the vote among the three African-American candidates.

Coalitions And The Clubhouse

Carl Andrews has a wide range of supporters, but ties to scandal-plagued Brooklyn Democratic machine have dogged his bid for historic Brooklyn House seat.

Stepping out the door of his Nostrand Avenue campaign office on Tuesday, state Sen. Carl Andrews took a minute to express pride in the diverse coalition backing his congressional bid.

“Who else can bring together Eliot Spitzer on the left and Dov Hikind on the right, and Tom Duane on the left and Rhoda Jacobs on the right, and David Dinkins on the left and Carl Kruger on the right?” asked Andrews as he stepped out into a light drizzle.

Courting Black Voters’ Support, a Candidate Hits a Hurdle

In setting Brooklyn politics astir as a white man trying to take a Congressional seat traditionally held by black politicians, Councilman David Yassky has faced one huge challenge: capturing the support of black voters, who are the majority in the central Brooklyn district.

As part of his effort to attract these voters, Mr. Yassky’s campaign sent out fliers over the last month that discussed his passion for gun control laws, an issue that resonates among many minorities. One flier featured an endorsement by Thelma Davis, the mother of James E. Davis, a black city councilman who was killed by a gunman in City Hall three years ago.

Fatal bus accident boy ordered to foster care

The 8-year-old boy accused of causing the bus to run over a little girl has been ordered placed in foster care. The girl, Amber Sadiq, was run over and killed Monday by a school bus in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Police say the troubled boy fiddled with the controls and caused the bus to roll backwards over Amber.

There were two major developments here this afternoon. First the child’s father has been stripped of custody of the child. He will be placed in foster care for at least the next eight months.

Charge of Negligent Homicide for Boy, 8, in School Bus Death

An 8-year-old boy who climbed into a parked school bus, released the emergency brake and sent 26,000 pounds of steel rolling through Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on Monday was charged yesterday with criminally negligent homicide in the death of Amber Sadiq, 8, who was crushed between the bus’s right undercarriage and a street pole.

The boy, Tafari James, had been suspended from second grade on Friday for climbing onto another unattended bus, officials said yesterday in Family Court in Downtown Brooklyn.

Investigators said it was unclear whether he released the brake on Monday intentionally. Witnesses saw him board the bus alone, on Nostrand Avenue near Crown Street, around 3:15 p.m. He rode the bus as it gathered speed down a slight incline and jump off as it thudded to a halt after traveling 100 feet, the police said.

Va’ad HaKohol Responds To Comments

After many readers commented on the letter issued by Moshe Rubashkin in the name of the Va’ad HaKohol, we received a response from the Va’ad addressing issues raised by individual’s comments.

Presented in the extended article are the responses to the comments along with letters from Rubashkin in response to; R. Mangel, Nash and Sprelin. Update: Letter From Nuchie Gross.

Torahs ‘R’ Us

About 50 pairs of confused eyes tried to identify the source of the sonorous and authoritative voice addressing them from state-of-the-art loudspeakers hung on the walls of the dimly lit auditorium. Colorful scenery – balconies, a stage, podia with electronic buttons and a giant screen – imparted to the auditorium in the Jewish Children’s Museum in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights the look of a television game-show studio. “Boys and girls, welcome to the game show you’ve been waiting for!” the voice thundered. “Welcome to ‘Torah Concentration!’”

A small, hidden door in the stage slowly opened opposite the seats packed with children (all of Korean heritage) and dozens of excited faces fixed on it, eager for a first glimpse of the master of ceremonies of this game with the mysterious name. A few seconds later, the mystery man burst into the studio. He was a short, young, bearded fellow with a purple skullcap and a Madonna-style microphone attached to his head, wearing black jeans and a white shirt with his long tzitzit (fringes) sticking out. He stood center-stage, taking in all the dropped jaws and wide-eyed faces. He smiled. The audience was his.

An ‘exodus’ at B’klyn museum

Even as frogs began falling from the ceiling, a group of fifth-graders visiting the new Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn didn’t miss a beat.

They knew what to expect as dozens of the toy amphibians, suspended on strings, stopped short of their heads.

They were experiencing – vicariously – one of the biblical 10 plagues depicted in “The Exodus,” an unusual interactive show at the $35 million, one-of-a-kind museum in the borough’s Crown Heights section.

Timed to coincide with Passover, which begins April 13, the story of the Jews’ enslavement in ancient Egypt and their miraculous escape is brought to life in an educational and entertaining voyage through history that is being presented through April 17.