The NY Post is clinging to Rabbi Leib Glanz like a tenacious dybbuk. After exposing the perks he arranged for Jewish inmates at the Manhattan Detention Complex—from allowing one to throw his son's bar mitzvah at the Tombs to allegedly allowing sex with female prisoners—Rabbi Glanz resigned. But the Post is still all over him, and on Friday they caught him using an official Uniformed Firefighters Association placard. more ›

Former Tombs chaplain Rabbi Leib Glanz apparently was so good at throwing parties for inmates, politicians and his Satmar community alike that his power extended well beyond the jailhouse bar mitzvah where we first encountered of him. Whether it was arranging for ferries that took 10,000 Satmars from Williamsburg to the Jacob Javits Center or hosting a dinner for where his local state senator attempted to get the Orthdox community on board for Governor Paterson's election, Glanz created "a perception that he had political influence...that could help (people's) careers." The rabbi even implied his connections went beyond the earthly plane, saying that he saw "the hand of God" in Paterson's ascension to governor. The Post continues to talk to Corrections officials and inmates who crossed paths with Glanz and now claim that he completely ran the Tombs and could have those who disagreed with him there transferred to Rikers. A worker for the 2005 Bloomberg campaign who dealt with the rabbi tells the Times, “This is the problem: He always erred on the side of helping a little bit too much.” more ›

When Mayor Bloomberg gave an "oy vey" and expressed restrained indignation last week at the revelations about city jail chaplain's pampering of Jewish inmates, he said he didn't want to get in the way of the ongoing investigation of Rabbi Leib Glanz. What he didn't say is that his administration might end up as part of that investigation. Now a report reveals that Bloomberg's top aide, Kevin Sheekey, had three scheduled meetings last fall right before the now-infamous Bar Mitzvah thrown by the well-connected Glanz, who resigned just yesterday. For one of them, Sheekey even trekked out to a catering hall near Glanz's Williamsburg home. A spokesman for the mayor's office says that the meetings were "an effort to listen to different perspectives on similar community issues." He added, "Kevin never had a conversation with Rabbi Glanz that was at all related to the rabbi’s part-time chaplain work. Ever. And he learned about the New York Post story from reading The Post." more ›

Oy vey: The Post reports that Rabbi Leib Glanz has resigned as a city jail chaplain, as tales of his generous ways towards Orthodox Jewish inmates—from allowing one to throw his son's bar mitzvah at the Tombs to entertaining some with clowns and allowing them to have sex with female prisoners—grew. Glanz, who was suspended after the unorthodox bar mitzvah (held at the Manhattan Detention Complex's gym, complete with knives), said, "Yes, I resigned. I decided it was best for everybody." more ›

With one retired Corrections official calling Rabbi Levi Glanz's use of detention facility the Tombs as a lavish social club for Orthodox Jewish prisoners as being "systematic" and something "going on for years that everyone knows about," even more accusations are flying about just how over-the-top the atmosphere could get. The Post talks to Corrections officials who tell them about "a TV satellite truck (coming) to the lockup so that a Jewish inmate could watch a relative's wedding on a live feed." The tabloid deems the live two-way hookup to the wedding in Israel "Jew Tube." One official adds, "The rabbi had brought in wine and food and everything ... and they sat in the visiting area for hours. The rank-and-file [guards] were like, 'You gotta be shittiing me.'" Glanz is currently serving a two-week suspension from his chaplain as the Department of Investigation continues to look into the many allegations that have come out in the days since. more ›

Up until this week, Catholics seemed to have a monopoly on calling The Tombs their party spot, the name of a famous sports bar near Georgetown University. But as more details emerge about the Manhattan detention center of the same name, it seems that Orthodox Jews were truly able to take the morbid moniker and turn it into a hotspot. Today an ex-inmate tells the Post, "It was like a party every day. It was great." more ›