Community Corner

Defendant Allegedly Desecrated Rego Park Jewish Center with Hate Symbol;

The Accused Faces Time in Prison if Convicted

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced last Friday that Ramtin Rabenou, 41, has been charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime and other crimes for allegedly defacing the Rego Park Jewish Center on Queens Boulevard with a swastika and for scrawling graffiti at multiple other locations in the area in February 2021.

Join The Largest Jewish Charity Fighting Poverty In New York
And Top Mayoral Candidates At The 2021 New York City Mayoral Forum:
Ensuring All New Yorkers Recover From COVID 

How New York City will recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure no New Yorker is left behind is the central question as we enter the final months of both the pandemic and the 2021 New York City mayoral campaign. New York City’s path to recovery will require leadership that recognizes the challenges facing needy New Yorkers are not a result of the pandemic, but long-existing crises exacerbated to horrifying levels in the past year. Met Council on Jewish Poverty is hosting their 2021 Mayoral Candidate Forum on April 26 at 6 p.m. and will press New York City’s leading mayoral candidates on this central question and other issues the next mayor will need to take on.  

Reflecting on the life of Rabbi Jerome “Jerry” Acker z”l, Yaakov ben Ephraim Fishel, whose levayah took place on March 30, evokes a wholesome feeling of a compassionate man who dedicated his days to the voice of the Torah and the Jewish community of Kew Gardens. Rabbi Aryeh Sokoloff, mara d’asra of Congregation Adas Yeshurun, a.k.a. the Kew Gardens Synagogue (“The Big Shul”), remembered Rabbi Acker for his remarkable attributes. “Rabbi Acker was the standard-bearer for the minhagim and nusach of our beis ha’k’neses, who from a young age represented the values of our shul,” said Rabbi Sokoloff.

This past Thursday, April 15, the Queens Jewish Link joined State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo at the grand opening of a COVID testing site in Kew Gardens, where the mission remains to take care of the people of our community and make services available with ease. The Lefferts Boulevard location is on the border of Addabbo’s New York State District 15 border, and this gave the senator even more of a reason to join the opening, addressing the need to expand responsiveness for COVID-19 testing

Two months after joining Queens Borough President Donovan Richards on the steps of Queens Borough Hall to condemn hate in New York City, another rally was held this past Sunday morning addressing the recent rise in anti-Asian and anti-Semitic attacks. These acts are rooted in racist and xenophobic sentiments where the aggressors generally have little concern for age or gender and aim to instill terror.

A familiar face in former District 30 City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley has reemerged in an attempt to unseat Queens Borough President Donovan Richards from his post. Crowley, who had the unwavering support of Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld and community activist David Reich one year ago in the special election for this race, has vowed to fight for Queens’ families and lead the borough’s comeback from COVID.