Results tagged “synagogue”

            

Yesterday, the zany zealots of Kansas's Westboro Baptist Church were in Brooklyn, bringing their brand of hate to a few synagogues. And, like at Westboro's earlier protests, there were many more counter-protesters present (example: dog wearing a "Dog Loves Fags" sign vs. Westboro's "God Hates Fags" sign).

Well, the New York Post earned its fifty cents today. Let's start with the cover, which at first glance seems like a work of fantasy but actually documents a real-life, tough-talking rabbi and his plastic pistol-packing "God Squad." Jewish security forces are hardly new to New York (Hasidic communities like the Satmar Jews in Williamsburg have their own private patrols, for instance), but none have produced a training video as uplifting as this one. A mix of Wes Anderson, Adam Sandler, and the "Sabotage" video, it depicts Rabbi Gary Moscowitz, who was an NYPD cop for nine years and holds a black belt in karate, training his fellow Jews to defend their synagogues. Enjoy!

Two rabbis at a Brooklyn Heights synagogue are committed to helping a career criminal who's a suspect in repeated break-ins at their house of worship. Rabbis Aaron Raskin and Simcha Weinstein (the "funny" Rabbi!) befriended suspect Davis Duvallya, 43, several years ago, giving him money and food whenever he asked. Duvallya has 29 arrests on his record and an apparent drug problem, and it seems he sees his charitable friends as gullible targets. He was recently convicted of burglarizing Congregation B'Nai Avraham on March 3rd, stealing a stereo and a charity box containing about $50, and police say he's the main suspect in several other break-ins, which cost the synagogue a laptop computer and toaster. Rabbi Raskin says Duvallya most recently tried to break in on Thursday at 3:30 a.m., but a cleaner scared him off. Now police are searching for him, but Rabbi Raskin tells the Daily News that if Duvallya surfaces, he'll won't turn his back on him: "I feel you have to separate the person from the act. If he's a thief, don't let him in. But what, you don't feed him? He should die? No." But should a man be rewarded for noshing the hand that feeds him?

On Tuesday, calls were made claiming bombs were set at three synagogues along the Jersey Shore. All were evacuated, but authorities found no signs of explosives. Now the NJ local and state authorities as well as the FBI are looking into the threats; MyFoxNY reports, "The person who made the threats is described as a man who spoke with what sounded like a Middle Eastern accent, police said." One resident told WCBS 2, "I'm wondering where this threat came from. I don't really believe it came from our own type of people. It sounds like it's an anti-Semitic type of thing." And because the synagogues were in Long Branch and Deal, some other locals wonder if the threats are some sort of revenge, since some of the figures from the NJ corruption probe—including rabbi Edmund Nahume and government informant Solomon Dwek—are associated with the synagogues.

The four men indicted on charges of a terrorist plot to blow up two Riverdale synagogues and shoot down military planes were arraigned today, pleading not guilty in a Westchester courtroom. Before the judge arrived, one of the defendants, Laguerre Payen, had to be removed from the court when his baggy pants fell down, exposing his boxer shorts. The Haitian-born Payen is a diagnosed schizophrenic, whose attorney said that he is illiterate and does not understand the charges against him. Payen told the judge, "I don't understand, like the stuff the courts talk about." A federal prosecutor said that Payen's behavior is an act, telling the court, "On April 28th, he is on a very clear recording talking about beating the case in a very sophisticated way. It's very different from the way he's talking now in an effort to mislead the court." The four men face life in prison if they are convicted of the eight-count indictment.

All Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz wants to do is build a nice little $64 million concert hall in Coney Island's Asser Levy Park, but the local critics won't stop trying to undermine him. Opponents say that besides gobbling up precious park land, it would be so close to nearby synagogues that concerts couldn't be scheduled on Friday nights and Saturdays, because city law bans amplified sound within 500 feet of a place of worship during religious services. Also, they think it looks weird. Opposition leader Ida Sanoff tells the Daily News, "It's going to be like a spaceship plunked down in the middle of a park across from people's bedrooms." And all this negativity is really starting to get to Marty, who says the criticism's "hurtful because I don't deserve it. I've entertained the people in that neighborhood since 1991. I've put a smile on their face for 31 years. Why would I want them to frown?" The amphitheater's architect promises the state-of-the-art sound design would focus the sound toward the audience, not the neighbors, but naysayers like Sanoff remain unconvinced: "We don't need this. We have benches and walkways now." Construction's expected to start in the fall anyway.

Though a plot to bomb two synagogues in the Riverdale section of the Bronx was foiled by federal and city authorities, concerns remained about the safety of the Jewish Center and Riverdale Temple. Yesterday, Governor Paterson and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced that the two institutions would receive $25,000 in federal money for security. Paterson said, "We will make sure that these two institutions as well as all others in the state of New York are protected," while Gillibrand "noted that the Urban Areas Security Initiative, a homeland security grant program, provided money to organizations at a high risk of a terrorist attack, but that fewer than half of eligible applicants received financing this year." Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt of the Riverdale Jewish Center told the Daily News, "The children of [the suspected terror plotters] will also be welcome in this house of God. I want them to know that we will fight for them and for their future, because in their future is the true ticket to our real safety."

With the four men accused of plotting to bomb Bronx synagogues and attack the National Guard base in Newburgh, NY being held in custody without bail, their family and friends have been speaking out about the arrests. The mother of David Williams (pictured) says the government informant—known as "Maqsood"—told her son he'd take care of getting a liver transplant for Williams' dying brother. And Williams' girlfriend defended him to the Daily News, as did the girlfriend of alleged ringleader James Cromitie. Kathleen Baynes said that the informant gave Cromitie "cash, free food, rent money and even bags of marijuana," saying, "This is entrapment. They come and hit a brother who is down and out, and tell him they'll give him the world. Maqsood is no different than a pimp or drug dealer sitting on 42nd St."

Yesterday, the city honored the 110 members of teams from the NYPD, FBI and other agencies who helped foil the terror plot to bomb Bronx synagogues and attack the National Guard base in Newburgh, NY. Mayor Bloomberg said, "I feel safer today in this city than ever before. They have prevented what could have been a terrible loss of life." And Governor Paterson said, "The work was simply outstanding, and it demonstrates the increased sophistication that counterterrorist activity has had to undergo to keep up with the widespread threats. I can't thank all of them enough."

More details have emerged about the four men accused of plotting to bomb synagogues in the Bronx and shoot military places at the National Guard bas in Newburgh, NY and their ultimately unsuccessful plan. The men, Onta Williams, 32, James Cromitie, 44, David Williams, 28, and Laguerre Payen, 27, all Newburgh residents who were arrested after planting a 37-pound bomb (actually made of fake materials, provided by an FBI informant) outside one of the synagogues, are described as being Muslim, but the NY Times reports none of them were particularly active in their local mosque. The uncle of Onta Williams said his nephew "was not born Muslim. He's an institutional Muslim... He wasn't raised that way," adding that Onta Williams started following Islam after a stint in jail.

Three of the four men who were arrested for allegedly plotting to plant bomb outside two Bronx synagogues and shoot planes at a National Guard base in Newburgh, NY were charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction within the United States and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles. James Cromitie, 55; David Williams, 28; and Onta Williams, 32 appeared in court and were held without bail; assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder said, "It's hard to envisage a more chilling plot to bring murder to a ...community... These are extremely violent men. These people who are eager to bring death to Jews."

Baby Jesus is coming strapped this Christmas—with GPS! Many churches and synagogues in the area are equipping their nativity scenes and menorah displays with the locating system to impede hooligans who often use the holiday season to get their jollies via vandalism, costing the places of worship up to thousands of dollars for the sometimes pricey decorations. New York-based firm BrickHouse Secruity offered free, short term loans of GPS to religious institutions that now will be notified immediately by email if their display is moved. Reverend Bob Gorman of St. Ambrose Church in Old Bridge, New Jersey told The Star-Leger, "We call it God's Positioning System." Their church is currently planning to to drill a hole in Baby Jesus' backside to slip in the GPS device before the figure is placed in the manger on Christmas Eve. Somewhere King Herod wonders in defeat, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Over the past week, temples in the NYC area have been vandalized. In Staten Island, swastikas were spray-painted on a Bay Terrace synagogue; there is a $13,000 reward for information leading to a suspect's arrest and conviction. At a Dix Hills, Long Island synagogue, the word "JEWS" was spray-painted on the exterior on Saturday. And also on Saturday, torahs were stolen from a Queens synagogue--the suspect had access to keys and was able to disarm the alarm. The Queens Jewish Center hopes for the safe return of the torahs, which are worth $500,000.

In a few days the city will begin its promised crackdown on the glut of parking placards issued to civil servants. But according to Uncivil Servants, a website that documents illegally parked cars displaying city permits, employees of Park East, an Upper East Side synagogue, have been using bogus DIY parking placards for years. And since they don’t even work for the city, their privileges won’t be affected by the new rules.