Results tagged “orthodoxjewish”

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: An overturned vehicle on the Triborough Bridge, which can't be good for all those getting away for the weekend; an escaped prisoner in The Bronx; and multiple pedestrians were struck Dyckman Street & Broadway.
• Early this morning in Bed-Stuy, a police officer sitting in a marked vehicle was shot in the arm. The officer was treated and released from Kings County Hospital but the NYPD is still searching for the shooter.
• A cat rescue group was formed to trap Roosevelt Island's feral cats (there are about 100, but many die during the winter)
• If you're going to shoot a Tylenol commercial that isn't site-specific, why film at the Hotel Chelsea?
• Still stuck at work or out of vacation days already? Perhaps you should try getting a job at IBM, a company that doesn't keep track of how many vacation days you take a year. While the policy sounds great, apparently it makes people work longer hours and work during vacations.
• PETA is crying foul over the Orthodox Jewish and Hasidic ritual kapparot, where sins are symbolically transfered to a chicken that is swung over ones head. PETA says the chickens are disposed of improperly and possibly mishandled, but a Hasidic activist says the tradition where as many as 50,000 chickens in Brooklyn are used, will continue.
• Kew Gardens residents are upset with the Department of Education for creating a transfer school for "older students who may have had difficulty at their previous schools" in their neighborhood without telling them.

The Khalil Gibran International Academy––a new bi-lingual school dedicated to teaching children Arabic and instructing students about Middle Eastern history––received a new principal after the abrupt departure of its founder Debbie Almontaser in a flap over a t-shirt. The new interim principal is Danielle Salzberg, who is an Orthodox Jewish woman that has been working with the Dept. of Education to establish the Khalil Gibran school.

An excellent Hasidic outdoor advertising update: Back in January, we noticed that an East Williamsburg poster of an Orthodox Jewish boy had been been updated for the boy to look more Hasidic - and it was splashed with some Hebrew graffiti. It turned out the graffiti was part of the ad, which is trying to encourage the Hasids in the neighborhood to donate cars to Oorah, a children's charity.

There is an incredible feature about British author Will Self visiting NYC in the NY Times Arts section. Why a feature and why so incredible? Well, Self decided to walk from JFK Airport to Manhattan - all 20 miles - and Times writer at large Charles McGrath and Times photographer Casey Kelbaugh went along for the journey, too. So it's incredibly brilliant and incredibly nuts at the same time.

Last weekend, a 24 year old Pakistani immigrant was beaten up by a group of Orthodox Jewish teens. Shahid Amber had been outside a Dunkin' Donuts in Midwood when one of the teens asked him if he was Muslim. When Amber said he was, the group attacked him. Witnesses called 911 to say 10-12 men had jumped him and Amber told the Daily News, "They hit me in the face with brass knuckles four or five times while somebody held my hands. Then they all beat and kicked me. They were screaming 'Muslim m-f-r. You m-f-g Muslim terrorists. Go back to your country.'"

A little girl eager to board her school bus was hit by a car on Marcy Avenue near Lorimer. A BMW fatally struck 5 year old Chana Friedlander yesterday morning, and she was laid to rest in the afternoon, in keeping with Orthodox Jewish tradition. A few things about the accident raise a couple questions. The bus driver says the flashing lights were on and the stop sign was extended to warn other drivers. However, the BMW's driver, Trisha Thomas, says the there were no warnings. What's more, police say there would not have been enough room for the BMW SUV to pass between the bus and other parked cars with the stop sign extended.

A home in Midwood exploded, killing one man and seriously injuring two others who had been installing a mikvah in the basment. Firefighters believe that the vapors from the chemicals they were using somehow igniting, blasting one wall and shattering the the home's windows as well as windows in neighboring residences. A neighbor told NY1 that he tried to help one of the workers, who was still on fire, “I tilt him over a little bit and hold him off the ground and get the fire off his body, but the boots were still burning. I can't get the boots off, and so I took a fire hose, which I have in the backyard, so I took the fire off his boots and took the boots off.” The Department of Buildings issued summons to the contractor, JM Periera, for not having properly ventilated space, and said that home owner Tzipora Friedman did not have a permit for the work being done. The city also issued a stop work order.

in the cases, surfaced last year in the NYC area. The city's Health Department has been trying to step in, even considering banning the practice, to uproar from both those in the ultra-Orthdox community and those outside it. The Mayor has stepped in recently, having a conversation with rabbis and the health department. Since the issue is so complicated, as it begs the question whether religious rituals should continue at the expense of public health (especially when a baby is involved), some wonder if the Mayorsaved this controversial issue for after the election. Well, this topic certainly is as sexy as affordable housing or the public school system, but it's way way grosser.

A nice anecdote, we thought, and one we could definitly relate to. And then we promptly forgot about it and went on with the rest of our lives. But then on the subway we opened up our copy of the Post (don't give us that look you, we read the Times on the way home) only to have a Hasid with a photoshopped hot-red mohawk staring out at us. Needless to say we were instantly reminded of Ms. Maltz's previously mentioned moment. Sadly the Post's photo didn't make it onto the internets, but the accompanying story did. And as the subject of the story, a new book called Unchosen : The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels by Hella Winston, is in fact the point of this post that's kind of ok by us. Basically Winston spent some months exploring the underbelly of the Orthodox Jewish experience as research for her CUNY doctoral thesis. She talked to people who have left the faith, remained in, or have foudn ways to sit somewhere in the middle (think secret televsions, hidden heels and slicked back sidelocks). As we regularly, for no particular reason, find ourselves fascinated with exceptions to orthodoxy, we totally want to read this book now.

He's an Orthodox Jewish Reggae singer that got his start performing in the parking lot at Phish shows, but don't call him a gimmick. Matisyahu's recent accomplishments include a co-headlining spot at the recent Reggae Carifest on Randall's Island and a sold-out show at Irving Plaza. Thursday night he'll pack Webster Hall. Phish fans who can't get a ticket should consider Benevento Russo Duo at Bowery Ballroom instead.

Gothamist loves stories about the eating habits of political candidates, because even if we disagree about the issues, at least we know we all like food. But the NY Times published a somewhat controversial story over the weekend about Mayor Bloomberg's new election year diet. He has cut out the following: Wine; bacon and eggs (or is he trying to woo more Orthodox Jewish votes?); saltines with cream cheese and salt; and his "favorite lunchtime fare," Chinese food. Cutting out Chinese food? Perhaps the most popular take-out in the city, this side of pizza? While the Chinese vote won't make or break his candidacy, perception is everything, especially when you think about how many Chinese people there are on this Earth and how many Chinese investors are looking to make their mark in New York; news like this would be like gold to the Asian tabloids. The NY Times followed up with some Chinese restaurant owners and diners. The owner of Joe Shanghai's said, "He is making big mistake," and added that Chinese people are always skinny. Perhaps "usually skinny" is a better term, Gothamist wonders if the Mayor is not drinking tea with his Chinese lunches, because one adage says the tea helps flush out the fats. Anyway, the Mayor's spokesman, Ed Skyler, tried to calm Chinese food enthusiasts by noting the Mayor is eating tofu and broccoli with oyster sauce for lunch and saying, "Having shared a lot of meals with him over the years, I can assure owners of Chinese restaurants across the city that this is a mayor who has and will continue to deeply love Chinese food." We should hope the Mayor's advance team is scheduling a trip to a Chinese restaurant stat!

Steven I. Weiss, Journalist/Blogger