In an historic development, women no longer have to sit in the back of a public bus that runs between two predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods of Brooklyn! The Private Transportation Corp., which pays the city $20,000 a year to operate the Williamsburg-to- Borough Park B110 bus, has sent a letter to the DOT insisting that women were never required to sit in the back, despite many eyewitness reports. But the owner of the company is promising to make sure the thing that supposedly never happened doesn't happen in the future. Next thing you know these broads will want to hang out in saloons and chew tobacco! more ›

Now that homosexuals can get married in New York, pedophilia is on the rise, says a fringe Hasidic group in Brooklyn that's launching an "awareness campaign" to save the children from gay married molesters. The Hasidic watchdog blog Failed Messiah, which recently broke news about a series of Yiddish street signs telling women to step aside for men, reports that the group wants signs put up in all-male mikvehs warning of the dangers. more ›

The Parks Department has reportedly removed colorful Yiddish street signs ordering women to stand aside and let men pass in the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of South Willimasburg. Earlier this week, Failed Messiah reported that the signs—which are roughly translated as "Precious Jewish Daughter: Please move to the side when a man approaches!"—were nailed to trees along Bedford Avenue. Today the Brooklyn Paper reports that Parks maintenance workers removed 16 signs because they were nailed to trees. more ›

Last month, an ostracized Hasidic family in Rockland County were attacked by another orthodox Jew who attempted to burn down their house, all because the family had started to go to a different synagogue. In the end, 43-year-old father of four Aron Rottenberg suffered burns on half his body, and his attacker, 18-year-old Shaul Spitzer, was also hospitalized for burns. Now, Rottenberg is speaking out about the incident, the cloistered Orthodox community, and the Grand Rebbe who has "brainwashed" his followers: "They are so isolated that they have no idea what is going on in the world outside. These people feel they are the world." more ›

Earlier this week, chaos reigned for one ostracized Hasidic family when they were attacked by another orthodox Jew who attempted to burn down their house, all because the family had started to go to a different synagogue. In the end, 43-year-old father of four Aron Rottenberg suffered burns on half his body. Yesterday, his lawyer held a press conference in front of the house, and ended up in a verbal confrontation with another orthodox Jew who shouted over him, "It's the wrong thing to go against the rabbi." Watch video from LoHud below: more ›

Here in NYC, when Hasidim attack, the violence is usually reduced to running goy cyclists off the road or fisticuffs over Satmar schisms. But up in Rockland County, it's all HDP (Hasids Don't Play). An orthodox Jewish father of four is currently hospitalized with third-degree burns over 50 percent of his body after another orthodox Jew allegedly tried to burn his house down—because he started taking his family to a different synagogue. more ›

The Hasidic community in South Williamsburg has been very vocal about scofflaw cyclists blowing by school buses picking up and discharging children, but a new video shows it's not just bike riders acting like jerks. The video, shot with a helmet camera, shows a Hasidic school bus driver nearly running a cyclist off the road, and when the cyclist confronts the driver, he's asked, "Do you stop for bus signs?" The cyclists says yes, at which point the driver apologizes. But hey—when in doubt, assume all cyclists are "jerks" and crush them like bugs, right? (We're guessing this driver's a Gothamist commenter in his spare time.) more ›

An Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish newspaper called Der Tzitung could find itself in legal trouble for removing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from that iconic photo taken in the Situation Room during the Osama bin Laden mission. Clinton and Director for Counterterrorism Audrey Tomason were both airbrushed out of the photo because the newspaper's policy is not to publish any images of women in case they could be considered sexually suggestive. But when you think about it, it's amazing anybody in the State Department can get any work done with Clinton flouncing around the office distracting them with her feminine wiles. more ›

The Hasidic community in South Williamsburg may have discouraged immodestly dressed bike riders by getting rid of the Bedford Avenue bike lane, but is the neighborhood now free from kidnappers, too? One rabbi apparently thinks so; today the Chaptzem Blog received an irate email from someone who says they witnessed a teacher at a local Yeshiva school leave 35 5-year-old children unattended in a public playground for almost a half hour—while he went for coffee. more ›

Two cycling activists suspected of repainting the Bedford Avenue bike lane turned themselves in at the 90th Precinct in Williamsburg yesterday. According to the Post, 26-year-old Quinn Hechtropf and 24-year-old Katherine Piccochi were among the bikers who used paint rollers, spray paint and stencils to recreate the South Williamsburg cycling path, which was removed by the city last week with little explanation. more ›

In a stunning reversal, the controversial and unauthorized detour sign on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg is back on top, less than 24 hours after it came down! Is it a testament to the rejuvenating power of Kabbalah Energy Drink, the semi-truck trailer upon which it rests? The Kabbalah connection is a tad awkward, considering that the Hasidic community's behind the detour. But local resident and Kent bike lane opponent Leo Moskowitz explains that one of the co-owners of the parking lot had previously given his blessing to the sign, and it was only removed yesterday without his knowledge. Moskowitz assures us that not only is the sign back for good, but—fasten your seat belts—activists are working on an even bigger sign! more ›

The unauthorized detour sign near the intersection of Kent Avenue and Broadway in Williamsburg came down this morning after the property owner was alerted to the presence of the sign, which was attached to the top of a disused Kabbalah Energy Drink semi-truck trailer in the parking lot of Gold Warehouse, next to Giando restaurant. Co-owner David Gold insisted he knew nothing about the sign, which directed motorists one block east to Wythe Avenue in order to avoid delays caused by Hasidic school bus drivers blocking traffic to protest the contentious Kent Avenue bike lane. more ›

Hasidim chafing at the increasing number of bike lanes on three consecutive roads through South Williamsburg are making good on their promise to block traffic in protest. According to the Post, someone has posted an unauthorized detour sign on private property by the intersection of Broadway and Kent Avenue, where the newest bike lane has sparked a backlash from the ultra-Orthodox Satmar community, as well as business owners who say neither customers nor delivery trucks can find parking. more ›

As we announced on Monday, a group of cycling clowns rode along Kent Avenue in Williamsburg today to protest what they call a growing "anti-bike sentiment in Brooklyn." Organized by Times Up, the ride was a response of sorts to vocal community opposition to the bike lane, which some residents and business owners blame for a sudden dearth of parking. Last month Hasidic Jews in the largely Satmar section of South Williamsburg vowed to protest the bike lane by blocking traffic on Kent. more ›

We continue to receive emails about the controversial Kent Avenue bike lane in Brooklyn, which has become the front line in the battle over bike lanes. On one side are business owners and residents who insist that the new "No Stopping" signs on Kent, installed to accommodate the bike lane, are onerous; on the other side are cyclists who enjoy the sense of a safer commute between north and south Brooklyn, and cherish the hope for a Brooklyn Greenway completely separate from traffic. Here's an email in response to yesterday's story about a cyclist who says Hasidim in South Williamsburg are making good on their promise to obstruct traffic in protest:

Things have gotten pretty terrible in the saga of the Kent Ave. bike lane, at least for the people who live or work on this block. Today I had to drive home my 5 year old daughter from hospital, after she went through surgery last week, it was 6 p.m. when we arrived in front our home at 450 Kent Avenue and it was freezing cold outside, after driving around for 15 minutes, I finally found a halfway illegal parking spot 4 blocks away from my home, I had to walk with my cranky just out of hospital daughter in my hands, all while she was complaining why I had to park so far. more ›

The battle over bike lanes is heating up, with members of the Hasidic community in South Williamsburg vowing to block traffic in protest against a new bike lane on Kent Avenue. You'll recall that some of the opposition has to do with the increasing number of female cyclists riding through the neighborhood wearing immodest clothing. The Hasidim are also fuming over a parking ticket blitz last October when, to make way for the bike lane, traffic cops enforced a new change in parking rules on Shabbos, when Orthodox Jews don't operate machinery. more ›

Obama won big in Brooklyn (79%–20%) November 4th, but not in South Williamsburg, where the largely Hasidic population voted overwhelmingly for John McCain. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the three election districts populated by Satmar Hasidim voted for McCain over Obama by 84% to 16%—while nationwide Obama won 77% of the Jewish vote. What's up, Hasidim? Reporter Zeke Faux finds the landslide "ironic" because the Satmars believe the Messiah will only come after Israel falls, and McCain surrogates portrayed Obama as anti-Israel. But McCain voter Shlomo Friedman says, "Israel wasn’t a big issue. It’s more people here are not going to go with someone [Obama] who’s not so stable." Another insisted that McCain would be better "running the economy." Faux also theorizes that the McCain support could be explained by an inclination among Hasidim to respect elders. more ›

Saturday, DOT, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means Orthodox Jews don't work, don't handle money, don't drive a car, and sure don't roll their wheels to the opposite side of the street to obey city parking regulations. Nevertheless, traffic cops went ahead and enforced a new change in parking rules in the predominantly Orthodox enclave of South Williamsburg, writing tickets for over 90 vehicles that hadn't been moved by 6:30 a.m. Saturday. The new parking rules have been implemented so the DOT can begin installing more bike lanes through the neighborhood, a move that's already prompted opposition from community members who object to the surge in cyclists—most of whom are immodestly dressed. DOT spokesman Scott Gastel tells the Post that the "DOT gave advance notification to community leaders and ... officials that signage would change." But because of the outcry, Gastel said all the $110 tickets would be dismissed. more ›

A real estate developer with close religious and social ties to the Lubavitcher Hasidim community managed to swindle 40 families out of their homes in what the Daily News describes as one of the biggest scams of the recent housing crisis. more ›

An influential group of rabbis have put the kibosh on a concert planned for next Sunday at MSG’s WaMu theater. Billed as The Big Event, the show was to be headlined by popular Hasidic pop singer Lipa Schmeltzer and raise money for an Israeli charity that finances weddings for orphans. But after an edict was issued against the event, Schmeltzer dropped out, saying, “I have to get out of the fire.” more ›