Brooklyn Bum Fakes War Wound for Cash

NY Post

(L-R) 1) Robert Mc Mahon appears an arm short. 2) While begging for cash in Brooklyn, he plays up his phony stints in Vietnam. 3) At day’s end, he counts his cash – with both fully functioning arms.

Semper fake!

For years, Brooklyn commuters have opened their wallets for Robert McMahon, handing cash to this heroic and heartbreaking figure, a Vietnam vet in combat fatigues, his left arm missing and his right leg crippled, as he panhandles on Ocean Parkway in Kensington.

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Eber’s Tishrei Liquor and Wine Sale

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Brooklyn’s First Day of Wireless Water Meter Reading

On Monday, August 9, Brooklyn Borough President Markowitz joined New York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway, Lauren Collins, co-founder of the Windsor Terrace Alliance and area residents outside his home to officially commemorate Brooklyn going online for the City’s new wireless water meter program. The installation of an Automated Meter Reading (AMR) unit on BP Markowitz’s home was the 417,000th installed in the City.

Op-Ed: Hamas Hunger Strike or PR Strike on Israel?

by Getzy Markowitz

Israeli soldiers being attacked on the deck of the Mavi Marmara. Inset: Getzy Markowitz.

I first heard about the Israeli commando counter charge of the now infamous flotilla while waiting to cross the U.S. border from Canada. As my wife and I listened to unconfirmed reports of casualties, I was reminded of a time while at the same U.S. entry port, I waited on queue along side a Red Crescent ambulance in tow. The West Bank-bound vehicle was being donated by a Muslim group in Quebec, and was subjected to a mandatory inspection as any vehicle would that was crossing into the United States.

Registration Now Open for Camp VIP Bochurim (a)

The ultimate VIP Israel summer experience of a lifetime. Designed for Boys ages 14-16.

Six fun-filled weeks with exciting trips, outstanding staff including experienced and devoted counselors, mashpi’im and tour guides committed to provide your son with a positive, Chassidish, individual and very powerful overnight camp experience.

Today: Yohrtzeit of Ari Halberstam HYD

Ari Halberstam HYD

On March 1, 1994, a gunman in a car opened fire on a van carrying more than a dozen Hasidic students as it began to cross the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan, critically wounding two young men and injuring two others.

The lone gunman, driving a blue Chevrolet Caprice equipped with a submachine gun, two 9mm guns, and a “street sweeper” shotgun, pursued the van full of terrified students across the bridge.

He fired in three separate bursts, spraying both sides of the van. He then disappeared into traffic as the van came to a stop at the Brooklyn end of the bridge.

The injured Yeshiva students were among dozens who were returning from a Manhattan hospital where the spiritual leader of the Lubavitch movement, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, had undergone minor surgery.

Yvette Clarke takes Step Against Israel, Again

Fifty congressmen signed a letter which was sent to President Barak Obama urging him to put diplomatic pressure on Israel to resolve the Gaza blockade, the troubling signature in the mix was that of Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), who represents the 11th district which includes Crown Heights.

Dying to Help – A Human Response to the Haitian Earthquake

by Getzy Markowitz

Landslide: Many poorly constructed homes were simply swept away by the magnitude of the quake.
Inset: Getzy Markowitz.

Two headlines this week interested me in that I have been following their development since their posting. The first intrigues me in terms of history, the second triggers my sense of humanity. One sheds light onto the other which is shrouded in disaster and darkness.

The number of fatalities in Haiti’s throttling earthquake is still unclear, but as it is expected to exceed one hundred thousand, already the figure confounds the comprehension of man.

A Letter to Pesha Leah

Pesha Leah (Roetter) Azoulay OBM on her wedding day, with a friend.

Tell me, did it hurt? Was it painful? Was there really a bright light at the end of the tunnel, like they describe in the books? Was your relatives who have passed away waiting for you? What was it like?

Were you afraid? Or scared, or even sad? Did you regret not getting the chance to say goodbye? Do you even now long to be back here?

9 Dead After Copter and Plane Collide

The New York Times

A small private plane carrying three people and a New York tourist helicopter with six collided in midair and plunged into the Hudson River off Hoboken, N.J., opposite Manhattan’s West Side, just before noon on Saturday. All on board the two aircraft were killed, the authorities said.

Parents of Israeli MIA March in Salute to Israel Parade

Aviva (left) and Noam Shalit (right), the parents of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, met with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (center) before the start of the annual Salute to Israel Parade in New York City. (Photo by Kristen Artz, Mayor’s Office)

NEW YORK, NY [CHI] — Aviva and Noam Shalit, the parents of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, marched in the annual Salute to Israel Parade in New York City on Sunday, May 31, 2009. Surrounded by supporters, Aviva and Noam Shalit walked down Fifth Avenue and demanded their son’s freedom.

Put on Your Best Clothes Before Going Out: Google’s Camera Car May Cross Your Path

By Corey Kilgannon and Noam Cohen for the NY Times

NEW YORK, NY — Smile, New York — it’s time for your close-up.

In the past few days, a gray four-door sedan with 360-degree panoramic cameras on its roof has been roaming the city’s streets, photographing sidewalks and buildings. It is on a mission for Google, creating a virtual streetscape for Street View, a feature of the Google Maps Web site.