Shabsie Saphirstein

For years, families throughout Central Queens faced a difficult reality: When a child, teenager, parent, or adult needed mental health support tailored to the sensitivities of Orthodox Jewish life, help required an often-grueling commute to Brooklyn or Far Rockaway. In too many cases, families simply went without the care they needed. Several attendees at a recent VIP pre-opening reception described a longstanding feeling that Queens had been overlooked while major mental health and family service infrastructure expanded elsewhere. During the breakfast reception organized by Ohel Chief Marketing Officer Malka Grossman, participants openly shared their relief, prompting an attendee to confidently remark to this writer, “Finally, Queens is on the map — people are going to utilize this.”

Queens Borough Hall filled with music, community leaders, elected officials, and visible Jewish pride on Monday, May 18, as Queens Borough President Donovan Richards hosted the third annual Jewish American Heritage Celebration at the Helen Marshall Cultural Center in Kew Gardens.

On Monday afternoon, May 18, shortly before 3:30 p.m., a hate crime was reported along 99th Street in Rego Park, where multiple swastikas were found marked on private property and nearby public spaces.

Days after Forest Hills and Rego Park were shaken by images of multiple swastikas sprayed at Jewish institutions, private residences, and a vehicle, Queens was confronted with another disturbing discovery: 11 swastikas spray-painted across Highland Park and Forest Park.

More than 50 donors rolled up their sleeves on Monday afternoon as students, faculty, and community members gathered at Lander College for Men for a blood drive held in conjunction with Maimonides Medical Center and the New York Blood Center.

On Tuesday evening, April 28, members of the Queens Torah community gathered in Kew Gardens Hills for the annual reception on behalf of Yeshiva Beth Abraham Slonim of Jerusalem and its affiliated institutions of Torah and chesed. The evening, hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Kopelowitz, featured distinguished guest speaker HaRav HaGaon Pinchas Eliezer HaKohen Shlaf shlita, Rosh HaKolel for Choshen Mishpat and son-in-law of the Slonimer Rebbe shlita.