Community Corner

For one memorable Shabbos, Kew Gardens Hills became home to one of today’s respected Torah leaders. HaRav Shlomo Kanievsky, Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshiva Tiferet Tzion in Bnei Brak, and son of the late Maran Sar HaTorah HaRav Chaim Kanievsky ztk”l, spent the weekend hosted by Kehila Charm Circle on Park Drive East, allowing many residents to meet the Rav before concluding his visit with an intimate Sunday morning gathering on June 21 at the home of Yaakov and Atara Serle on 70th Avenue.

There was a time when a growing Jewish community celebrated the opening of a new shul or yeshivah as a sign that it had truly taken root. Today, another institution has become just as indispensable to communal life: a Hatzalah station.

Standing at the edge of the water in Kissena Park, the children of Avrumie Itzkowitz gathered in the place where their father’s life was stolen on a quiet Monday afternoon, carrying a burden no family should ever have to bear. The 75-year-old longtime Queens resident, respected mashgiach, Hatzalah volunteer, husband, father, grandfather, and former bakery owner was known throughout the community as a man whose quiet acts of kindness touched countless lives. It has been over five weeks since May 18, yet the questions that have haunted the family since that afternoon remain unanswered. Who killed Avrumie Itzkowitz? Why was he targeted? More than a month later, why do those questions still have no answers?

After 132 years, the thunder of hooves at Aqueduct Racetrack has fallen silent. On Sunday, June 28, the historic “Big A” in South Ozone Park held its final day of live thoroughbred racing, bringing the curtain down on a venue that had stood as a Queens landmark since September 27, 1894. Fittingly, the day’s final race was named “It Was a Good Run,” a sentiment shared by the thousands who gathered to bid farewell to one of New York City’s most recognizable sporting institutions.

Towering inflatable air dancers swayed at the entrance to the Lander College for Men (LCM) Quad as festive music filled the air and families streamed in for an afternoon of fun. Children raced excitedly toward giant inflatable slides and bounce attractions while parents paused to greet neighbors and capture photographs before the carnival was even fully underway. Within minutes, the grounds were bustling as youngsters eagerly hurried from one attraction to the next.

For more than a century, Regina Puterman carried memories that few could ever imagine. She witnessed the destruction of her family, survived one of history’s darkest chapters, and endured decades of personal heartbreak. In her final years, she quietly carried the profound pain of believing she had been forgotten. Yet, in her final days—and especially at her funeral—the Jewish community answered that loneliness with an extraordinary act of unity.