Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY +Pedestrian Struck+

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY +Pedestrian Struck+ A motor vehicle accident on Marcy Avenue and Penn Street, Hatzolah on the scene.

New York, NY - Satmar Chassidim Claim A Miracle With Their Rebbe Out Of Intensive Care

New York, NY - Local Satmar Chassidim saw nothing short of a miracle when physicians at Manhattan's Mt. Sinai Hospital announced that their 91-year-old grand rebbe, Moses Teitelbaum, was being moved out of intensive care and would be returning to his home in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood within two weeks.

The medical crisis - which began when the Reebe's remaining kidney failed, exacerbating his advanced spinal cancer - has apparently passed for now.

The development also seems to have postponed a succession battle that has been brewing for nearly a decade between two of his sons, Zalman and Aaron, and that threatens to explode after the rebbe's death.

Although the roots of the conflict are shrouded in mystery - there have been complaints that the older son, Aaron, has a dictatorial management style - the first public sign of a breach occurred in 1999. It was then that the grand rebbe chose his third son, Zalman, to be the chief rabbi at the Satmar's main congregation in Williamsburg, after already having relegated Aaron to run the congregation at Kiryas Joel in Monroe, NY, the second-largest Satmar community, a small enclave in Orange County, New York.

The move was seen by many as indicating that the grand rebbe favored Zalman as his successor.
The Satmars soon divided into camps supporting Aaron and Zalman, with the feud leading to both litigation and physical violence many times over the last seven years.

There have been numerous street fights between the groups, most recently in October when 26 men widely known as Aaron supporters were arrested and charged with burglary, criminal mischief and petty larceny for charging into the Satmar synagogue in Williamsburg, breaking down a wall and destroying much of the synagogue's property.

At stake here is more than just spiritual leadership over the estimated 100,000 Satmar Hassidim, thought to be the largest hassidic sect in the world.

The Satmar's assets have grown tremendously since the Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum's predecessor and uncle, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, arrived in Brooklyn following World War II. Those assets are now estimated to be worth nearly half a billion dollars and include, according to court documents, 26 properties in Williamsburg worth $339 million and 475 acres of land in upstate New York - 329 acres in Ulster County worth $25m. and 146 acres in Sullivan County worth an estimated $7.3m. There are also large summer camps in the Catskills Mountains, synagogues and schools in Boro Park, Brooklyn, and properties at Kiryas Joel.

Part of these assets has been invested in a plan to erect one of the largest synagogues in world on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg. But the court battle over the control of the corporation has placed the construction in limbo and the site contains only a giant, empty skeleton of a building, waiting to be built.

The conflict might be resolved by a will that the rebbe has supposedly written that would be read after his passing. However many believe that the bad blood between the two brothers and their factions has grown so bitter that any reconciliation is now impossible. If this is true, it could mean the divisions among the Satmars will become permanent, spiting the sect in two.

Ukrain - +Youth Stabbed by Gang+

Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrain - +Youth Stabbed by Gang+ A gang of teens attacked a Jewish youth Shabbos evening while leaving a community dinner, hitting him in the head and stabbing him in the chest.
The boy fell and lost consciousness while the gang of thugs escaped, he was taken to a local hospital and later released.

Meanwhile, Dnepropetrovsk's Chief of Police Alexander Beveilov, who is himself Jewish and who took part in a Passover Seder organized by the Jewish community in the city, promised that police would hunt down the skinheads responsible for the attack.

Brooklyn, NY +Fire At Private Dwelling+

Brooklyn, NY +Fire At Private Dwelling+ A fire Friday night in a 2.5 story private dweeling was D/W/H when Fire Department arrived at 2044 East 9th Street, they stretched one line. FD Command reported one Code-45-3 (serious but not life-threatening), the rest of the searches on the 1st and 2nd floors were negative and they placed the fire under control at about 1:30AM.

New York, NY - Commissioner Of C.A.U. Greenspun Leaving Post

New York, NY - Commissioner of Community Assistance Unit, Jonathan D. Greenspun is moving on to Mercury Public Affairs, leaving his unofficial post as the Bloomberg administration's liaison to the Jewish community.

His departure, of course, comes only a few weeks after the protests in Borough Park. In the aftermath of the demonstrations, many people in the community said they felt they had less access to the Mayor than they did under Giulliani and his chief of staff and Jewish liaison Bruce Teitelbaum.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY +Child Struck+

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY +Child Struck+ A motor vehicle accident on Skillman Street and Park Avenue in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, NY, Hatzolah on the scene requested ALS on a rush for a 12-year-old child that was struck and dragged by an auto, now transporting aided to Bellevue Hospital with ALS on board, child has head and hand trauma but is conscious and alert.

New York, NY - GPS To Speed FDNY and EMT's Respond Time

New York, NY - Ambulances and firetrucks will get to New Yorkers in need of help more quickly now - thanks to a $50 million, high-tech tracking system.

By the end of the summer, all fire trucks and ambulances will be equipped with a GPS-type system called Automated Vehicle Location.

Last September, the city installed the AVL system on 277 ambulances in Staten Island, Brooklyn and parts of Queens to test them out. The results were encouraging - average response times plummeted by 33 seconds.

"This really does make a very big difference," Mayor Bloomberg said.

Monticello, NY +Large Brush Fire+

Monticello, NY +Large Brush Fire+ A large brush fire is burning near Gregory Rd and Starlite Rd in Monticello, NY with the fire doubtful it will hold, fire department requesting Forest Rangers to respond on a rush and declaring a signal 5 for the large area that's involved, additional Brush Trucks and M/A FD for cover up.

New York, NY - Police May Introduce New Vehicles As An Incognito Weapon In The War on Speeders

New York, NY - The New York Police Department is considering introducing a new weapon in its war on speeders, illegal turners, and driving cell phone users.

Drivers glancing into their rearview mirrors will not be able to distinguish the NYPD's new cars from the rest of traffic - until they break a law. Then the lights in the windshield start up with the same intensity as the familiar V-formation of red and blue flashers fastened to the roofs of regular patrol cars.

Police officers call the new cruisers "slick tops" because their roofs are smooth, like typical passenger vehicles. The cars are clearly marked with police decals, but lack the clunky and easily recognizable shape of ordinary patrol cars.

"These offer us the ability to be low-key," an NYPD spokesman said. "It's a variation on the traditional police car that has a number of advantages during patrols for officers."

Police Compstat reports show that summonses issued for moving violations already are up by 9.7% this year compared with the same four-month period last year.

After a pilot program that lasted several months, the NYPD is considering whether to make two dozen slicktop Chevrolet Impalas a permanent part of the fleet of precinct cruisers that patrol neighborhoods.

Berlin, Germany - Charges Against Two For Holocaust Denial

Berlin, Germany - A far-right activist extradited from the United States and a Belgian - both accused of denying the Holocaust - have been charged with incitement.

Germar Rudolf and Siegfried Verbeke are accused of "systematically" denying or playing down the Nazi genocide of Europe's Jews in documents and on the Internet and of stirring anti-Semitic hatred, prosecutors in the western city of Mannheim said. Denying the Holocaust is a crime in Germany, where it carries a maximum sentence of five years.
Rudolf, a 41-year-old German was deported to Germany from the U.S. in November to serve a 14-month sentence for a 1995 conviction on similar charges. Verbeke, a 64-year-old Belgian, was arrested in the Netherlands and also was extradited to Germany in November.

Brooklyn, NY - +Belt Pkwy Traffic Alert+

Brooklyn, NY - +Belt Pkwy Traffic Alert+ A motor vehicle accident on eastbound of the Belt Parkway and Bay Parkway at exit 5 with one vehicle overturned, PD on the scene requesting additional units to respond, all lanes to be closed down. ESU and EMS are all on the scene, expect major delays.

Monsey, NY - State To Study Route 306

Monsey, NY - The state Department of Transportation will study safety on Route 306 after two people were struck by cars on the busy roadway within three days this month.

Robert Dennison, director of DOT Region 8, which includes Rockland, agreed to the traffic and pedestrian study after a request from Assemblyman Ryan Karben, D-Monsey.
Karben said Dennison wrote. "We will initiate a study of Route 306 in Monsey and will examine the causes of crashes and explore ways that the infrastructure can be improved to reduce risk to motorists and pedestrians."

Dennison said that the study's main goal would be "to see if there's any infrastructure-based improvements that need to be made."

Karben said he welcomed the DOT's effort to help improve safety for the busy stretch of Route 306, a state road under DOT jurisdiction. "This has become an area that is very, very busy with pedestrian traffic and vehicles," Karben said. "The Monsey business district is actually one of the busier downtown shopping districts in Rockland."

Swan Lake, NY - DEC Orders Review On Construction To Protect Eagles

Swan Lake - Each afternoon, eagles fly over Kelly Bridge Road. Now, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has decided that AJM at Swan Lake Estates, the developer for a proposed 21-lot project on 120 acres here, could adversely affect the eagles. The DEC has ordered a full environmental review and a mitigation plan to protect the eagles.

In 2005, the project sailed through approvals as the Liberty Town Board and Planning Board ruled it would have no major affect on the environment.

In June, the DEC says, mud ran into Swan Lake because a contractor AJM hired to build the road into Swan Lake Estates didn't set up silt fences or retention ponds for erosion. The DEC says AJM also failed to get storm-water permits. AJM paid $12,500 in civil penalties.

In December, the DEC named itself lead agency overseeing approvals, said spokeswoman Wendy Rosenbach, largely due to the eagles. Now, they've ordered a full environmental impact statement.

The developer said the DEC is doing the right thing, and he's donated 31 acres where the eagles nest to the Delaware Highlands Conservancy.

Hanover, NH - Students Upset Over Passover Options

Hanover, NH - Dartmouth College, many Jewish students have sharply criticized the College's Kosher dining option this past Passover, citing Pavilion's poor hours and overpriced food, which has made it difficult for them to keep Kosher during the holiday.
"I feel like my religious practices are not being respected by the Dining Services," Jonathan Eisenberg said. "The hours, the quality, and the expense are all terrible. It really doesn't seem just."

Eisenberg pointed out that the Pavilion was closed on the first two evenings of Passover, with the assumption that students keeping Kosher would be attending Seders at the Roth Cener for Jewish Life on those nights. "Sure, the Seder is a meal, but it's also a three or four hour ceremony. A lot of students like me who don't have time to attend the ceremony still want to be able to eat dinner," Eisenberg said.

David Newlove, the assistant director of DDS, said that the Pavilion has not directly received any complaints from students about the availability of their Kosher option for Passover. "I think we do an excellent job," Newlove said. "We work very closely with the Roth Center to help Jewish students that are on campus get the food they need for Passover."
Newlove conceded that the prices for Kosher food during Passover were "25 to 30 percent more expensive" than the Pavilion's usual Kosher option. He explained that since Kosher dining regulations are much stricter during Passover, the cost of preparing the food inevitably goes up.

Brooklyn, NY - Queen Mary 2 Cruise-Ship Docks in New Terminal

Brooklyn, NY - The Queen Mary 2 sailed into New York Harbor in the predawn hours of April 15th, made an unusual 180-degree pirouette, and docked at the new Red Hook cruise-ship terminal in Brooklyn instead of at its previous berth on Manhattan's West Side.

The arrival of the Queen Mary 2 signaled the formal opening of the new Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, a $52 million facility that New York City officials hope will help them regain some of the cruise business that has been lost in recent years to a rival port in Bayonne, NJ.

"Diversifying our economy is an integral part of our economic development strategy, and investing in growing sectors like tourism and the cruise industry is one of the best ways we can achieve that," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement.

Monsey, NY - FBI Informant Running For State Comptroller

Monsey, NY - A former Clarkstown Planning Board member plans to run for state comptroller for the Libertarian Party in the November election. John J. Cain is sure to win the party's nomination at its April 29 convention in Albany, party Chairman John Clifford said.

Cain won notoriety for wearing a body wire for the FBI and Rockland District Attorney's Office investigation into Monsey developers looking to bribe officials in Clarkstown. The investigation led to the federal convictions of then-Rockland Democratic Chairman Paul Adler and developer Israel Hershkowitz and his sons.

Cain was offered a bribe by the developers of Smith Farm as a Clarkstown Planning Board member. He went to the District Attorney's Office and worked undercover.

Cain also was looking for Adler to get him a government job at the time. Adler, a real estate broker who sold the Smith Farm property, was a consultant for the Hershkowitzes.

Clifford said Cain's honesty is indicative of the Libertarian Party.

Brooklyn, NY - Avis Rent A Car Opens New Facility

Brooklyn, NY - Avis Rent A Car System, is announcing the official opening of a new car rental facility at 211 Atlantic Avenue, near Court Street in downtown Brooklyn. Residents of Brooklyn and all New York City boroughs can now become members of "Avis New York RentControl" program. This program allows frequent renters to earn one free rental day for every five paid qualifying rentals, this program was previously available only to residents of Manhattan.
"By opening in Brooklyn, we're proving that we're committed to bringing our 'we try harder' service to as many New York City customers as possible," says Michael Collins, executive vice president of operations for Avis Budget Car Rental, LLC. "This new location will be a positive addition to the community of Brooklyn by providing residents with a large selection of vehicles ready to answer all of their rental needs. And we strongly encourage every New Yorker to sign up for the Avis New York RentControl program because it's an uncomplicated way to earn free rental days and save money."

The new facility opens with a wide choice of vehicles including minivans, SUVs and luxury vehicles, perfect for the broad variety of activities favored by New Yorkers.

Hours of operation at the full-service rental facility are Sunday
through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to
3:00 p.m.

New Square, NY - Firefighters To Be Escorted By Police

New Square, NY - Now Its routine in the Hillcrest (Moleston) Fire District: Any time a call is placed for New Square, Ramapo police must accompany the volunteers as escort. They should no longer be subject to harassment for doing their unpaid jobs.

Monsey, NY - Might Get Walkway On Defunct Rail Line

Monsey, NY - As the Orthodox Jewish population grows, so is the businesses that caters to them. And because many people forgo driving for walking, it's not uncommon to see mothers pushing strollers along the heavily congested Route 59 as they go shopping.
But the roadway lacks sidewalks, which creates a hazard for pedestrians who often have to walk along it and cross it to get to their destination.

Now Ramapo officials plan to meet with Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials next month to present plans for a pedestrian walkway on an abandoned rail line that would alleviate some traffic safety concerns. The proposed $900,000 walkway would connect pedestrians to downtown businesses, a medical center and the post office.

Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said the town's planning consultant, Frederick P. Clark Associates Inc. of Rye, had put together a slide show that would elaborate on the town's plan, in part, to revitalize downtown Monsey. He said he planned to meet with transit agency officials in May.
The walkway would also feature a water fountain, a bus shelter and kiosk, a bike lane, a gazebo, antique clocks, benches and tables.

Miami, FL - President To Proclaim May As Jewish Heritage Month

Miami, FL - President Bush is expected next week to proclaim May of every year as Jewish American Heritage Month.

The proclamation will be the culmination of months of work by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who pushed resolutions through the House and Senate that urged Bush to take action. That's no small feat for a first-term Democrat.

Now it's up to school districts, museums and community groups to make the symbolic designation meaningful. Wasserman Schultz wants these institutions to raise awareness about Jewish contributions to American life, as they have done with Black History Month and Women's History Month.
"We've all observed a precipitous rise in bigotry and anti-Semitism across the country and globally," said Wasserman Schultz. "If through educational and cultural programming we can foster understanding and tolerance, that would be a significant accomplishment."

Bnei Brak, Israel - First Women-Only Department Store

Bnei Brak, Israel - The first Israel's women-only department store has just opened. At first glance it looks like any other department store. Women browse busily through counters of make-up, household goods, clothes and underwear. But look again, and you'll spot the difference, there are no husbands or boyfriends waiting around. In fact, there's not a single man in sight, any male over the age of 10 who does inadvertently stray upstairs is swiftly removed.

And the customers appreciate the unique environment of a modern department store specifically designed for traditional, religious women. "I feel much more comfortable here because you don't have to worry about who is looking at you, " says Adina Slavin, an immigrant from Australia. "And the other modern malls are all full of clothes that aren't suitable for religious women like me."
Mariam Mashiach, out shopping with her 16-year old daughter for a new hat, plans to return. "I'd definitely recommend it to my friends," she says. "Hats are a sign of modesty for married women, and here you can try them on in peace without worrying that men will look at you and your uncovered hair."

The new store is owned by a 33-year old businessman, Yehuda Amar, who has previously been involved in building apartments. "Business is good, and it's better because it's women-only," he says. "It's what the people in this area want. They can look at the lingerie and make-up without worrying about men lurking behind them."

Manager Pnina Greenberg says the mall provides an important social service in an area where the men spend most of their day in prayer and the women have little opportunity to spoil themselves. "I see the satisfaction on their faces and the light in their eyes," she says. "Women are women wherever they are. It's in their nature to shop."

Already, there is a "kosher" mobile phone, approved by the country's rabbinical authorities, which blocks telephone numbers for sex and dating sites.
And those behind Israel's first women-only store believe that "shopping Bnei Brak" may well set a trend in the country.

Estonia - Holocaust Monument Vandalized

Estonia - A monument to 6,000 victims of the Holocaust murdered near Tallin was defaced by vandals.

The monument, placed on the site of the murder, was vandalized on a memorial day for victims of the Holocaust-a clear sign that it was not a random incident. No arrests were reported.

Galilee, Israel - Tomb of Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel Vandalized

Galilee, Israel - Unknown vandals desecrated the tomb of talmudic sage Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel, shattering iron bars at the entrance to the structure and setting it alight.

Located in the Israeli Arab village of Kafr Kana, the tomb is the final resting place of one of the most prominent rabbis of the talmudic era. It consists of a small stone building, which stands over an underground burial cave.

The entrance to the site and the sign hanging over it were partially blackened by smoke as a result of the fire that was set, and mounds of garbage were strewn nearby.

Damage was also inflicted to the interior, including to the stairwell leading down to the subterranean room where the sage's grave is located. Several of the stone steps were smashed, and an adjoining concrete wall was ripped apart.

The grave itself was unharmed, but the surrounding area was despoiled.

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel served as the Nasi, or leader, of the Jewish people just prior to the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. He was murdered by the Romans, and his tomb has been a popular site for Jewish pilgrims over the centuries.

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +Second Night Of Yom Tov Mattress Fire+

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +Second Night Of Yom Tov Mattress Fire+ On the second night of the 2nd days of the Passover Holiday FD had an other fire in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, NY this time the fire sterted on a mattress in a 2 story 25x40 dwelling, fire has been knocked down and no one was injured no special units were needed.

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +First Night Of Yom Tov Kitchen Fire+

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +First Night Of Yom Tov Kitchen Fire+ On the first night of the 2nd days of Passover Holiday a fire that strted in the kitchen on the 3rd floor of a 4 story 100x150 multiple dwelling at 1860 52nd Street FD had all hands working with 2 lines stretched, fire was D/W/H. No one injured.

Washington, DC - White House Spokesman Scott McClennan Is Resigning His Post.

Washington, DC - White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Wednesday he is resigning, continuing a shakeup in President Bush's administration that has already yielded a new chief of staff and could lead to a change in the Cabinet.

Russia - 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake

Russia - A 7.7 magnitude earthquake has struck Russia's Far East, and a Russian emergency official says it caused some damage and possible casualties.

U/D: New York, NY - Rescuers Worked Well Into Yom Tov To Bring 68 People To Safety From Stranded Tramway

New York, NY - The Roosevelt Island tram was stuck for 12 hours Tuesday well into Yom Tov.
A string of miscues delayed the daring rescue operation on the Roosevelt Island tram - leaving many passengers and some on their Choel H'moed enjoyment trip, trapped for nearly 11 hours with little to do but beg for help.

One backup power generator failed and another was being repaired. Engineers from as far away as Switzerland who had been summoned to help failed to find a fix - and neither the NYPD or FDNY were officially in charge in the beginning of this tense drama.

Even though the trams stopped about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, the first people weren't rescued until after 11 p.m., and the last weren't on the ground until after 4 a.m. Wedensday.

Stranded on the 30-year-old gondolas, several passengers called their loved ones on cell phones while others dropped notes to those gathered below. "Please give us ... bottles and diapers for babies," a note that fell onto First Ave. implored.
The handwritten plea, signed "The Stranded," went on to ask for a "pee bucket" and "water bottles."
The desperate passengers also wanted information. "Let us know what is happening," the note begged.

But Mayor Bloomberg and city officials had a vastly different take after courageous cops and firefighters pulled off the high-wire rescue.

Bloomberg insisted everything "worked perfectly. It ... showed that all of these people worked together," he said. "We did what we had to do. We got everybody down safely."

Police and fire officials said they worked in partnership under the city Office of Emergency Management's oversight - even though cops appeared to take a lead role, they all worked under a unified command: NYPD Chief Joseph Esposito, Calvin Drayton of the Office of Emergency Management and Chief Joseph Pfeiffer of the FDNY, with EMS and Hatzolah standing by. Cops and firefighters said they chose to move slowly rather than rushing and risk making a deadly mistake.

Yet the rescue operation didn't really get underway until after the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp., which runs the tram, had spent three hours in a futile effort to restart the gondolas - even calling an engineer in Switzerland in a failed attempt to find a solution.

Roosevelt Island officials still don't know why the power blew, destroying three massive fuses. They also revealed that one backup generator had broken in September and a second wouldn't start though it was last inspected less than a month ago.

It wasn't until 8:30 p.m. that Roosevelt Island officials turned over the operation to the NYPD's ESU.
The elite cops spent several hours setting up special rescue baskets that could go along the tram line. But only after they got one basket in place to pluck 47 people from the tram closest to Roosevelt Island did engineers tell them that they couldn't use another basket at the same time to save the 21 other people above First Ave.

Officials finally summoned a massive 200-foot crane at midnight to help lower the people in the second gondola to safety.
Crane operator Kerry Jones, 50, said he was asleep by the time he got a call to come to the job at 1 a.m. "Usually we get a phone call right away for an emergency," he said. "We were surprised it took so long."

At 2:55 a.m., ESU cops using the emergency cage plucked the last 11 passengers from the gondola closest to Roosevelt Island. "We said, 'We gotcha so just trust us and we'll get you to the basket,'" said Detective David Fiol, 43, one of the officers who risked his life during the rescue. "Safety was paramount."

Slightly more than an hour later, cops rode a basket attached to the crane and began guiding passengers above First Ave. to safety. Firefighters later joined the cops on several trips.

Long hours of drama

TUESDAY

5:22
Cops respond to report of a Roosevelt Island tram failure and find 68 people stranded on two gondolas because of a power outage.

5:23-8:23
Tram engineers try unsuccessfully to get the power running. The power kicks on briefly at 8:15 p.m., allowing the trams to move 75 feet before the system breaks down again. Officials call Switzerland and wake up tram manufacturers, but no fix can be found. The tram had no working backup power generator.

8:30
NYPD devises rescue plan from Roosevelt Island. Two rescue cages, designed to hold 15 people each, are assembled and hoisted onto tram superstructure.

10:45
Ten Emergency Service Unit cops board a rescue cage and conduct a test run.

11:00
Rescue begins. Cops roll the cage along the tram line to the Roosevelt Island-bound gondola, removing the first 13 people, they reached Roosevelt Island around 11:30 and they were greeted with cheers, cookies and for several that were Chasidic Jews, they had Matzo for them.

WEDNESDAY

12:00
After being told by an engineer that cops can’t use a second cage on the Manhattan-bound gondola, a city Office of Emergency Management official requests that a crane assist in the rescue.

12:20
Cops rescue nine more people from the Roosevelt Island-bound tram.

2:00
Fifteen more people safely evacuate the Roosevelt Island-bound gondola.

2:15
A giant crane arrives at E. 60th St. and First Ave. in Manhattan from Bay Crane in Long Island City, Queens.

2:55
Eleven more people are plucked from the Roosevelt Island-bound gondola, using the rescue cage. The gondola is now empty - but no one has been removed yet from the tram on the Manhattan side of the river.

3:30
The crane is erected on First Ave.

4:00
Crane operator, ESU cops and firefighters rescue the first 11 people from Manhattan-bound gondola, including a 13-month-old girl and a 14-month-old girl.

4:07
The last nine people are rescued from the Manhattan-bound gondola with the crane, concluding the operation.

Manhattan, NY +Brooklyn Bridge Major Traffic+

Manhattan, NY +Brooklyn Bridge Major Traffic+ Multiple vehicles involved inan MVA on the Brooklyn Bridge Brooklyn bound, causing major traffic delays, avoid this area to be home for Yom Tov.

Manhattan, NY +Labor Union Protest+

Manhattan, NY +Labor Union Protest+ NYPD are requesting additional resources for a protest rally by the labor union of the doorman and apartment workers on Parke Avenue between 79th and 85th Street's roads are being closed down avoid the area.

Manhattan, NY +Tram Stuck Over Water+

Manhattan, NY +Tram Stuck Over Water+ NYPD ESU has been requested to assist with removing people from the tram that's stuck near Roosevelt Island over water for the last 45 minutes, Aviation and Harbor are all responding.

U/D: 18:19
ESU Truck 1 and 2 are on the scene attempting to bring it down manually.

Monsey, NY - Car Driver Ticketed After Critical Crash With Motorcyclist

Monsey, NY - Eliezer Heifetz was ticketed after he cut with his vehicle in front of a motorcyclist erev yom tov in Monsey, leaving him in critical condition.

The 33-year-old Rico Johnson of Monsey was driving his 2002 Kawasaki east on Carlton Road when Eliezer Heifetz turned a 2003 Infiniti left across the road onto Ruth Court.
Johnson crashed into the passenger side of Heifetz's car, crashing his head against the passenger side window, and the window broke.

Emma, who heads the Ramapo police accident investigation team, said Johnson had the right of way, and police issued Heifetz three traffic summonses. Heifetz was accused of failure to keep right of the center line; failure to yield the right of way; and turning left into the wrong lane.
Johnson wasn't wearing a certified helmet, and that might have contributed to the extent of his head injuries, Emma said. Johnson remained critical in Westchester Medical Center with head fractures and deep cuts to his face.

New York, NY - Dow Jones Soared

New York, NY - The Dow Jones industrial average has soared nearly 200 points on news that Federal Reserve policymakers believe their run of interest rate hikes is likely nearing an end.

Brooklyn, NY - Five Charged In Fraud Scheme

Brooklyn, NY - Four men from New York City and one from Ronkonkoma have been indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in New Haven, Conn., in an alleged "boiler room" investment scheme that federal prosecutors say scammed $2.5 million from at least 50 people.

Those indicted include Digby Ferrera, 33, also known as Casper Weiss, of Brooklyn; John Blot, 26, also known as Victor Morgan, of Brooklyn; Shawn Haber, 33, also known as Leo Schwartz, of Brooklyn; Leslie James, 35, also known as Daryl McKinney, of Jamaica; and Scott Ciappetta, 38, also known as Steven Stiles and Steven Markowitz, of Ronkonkoma.

The indictment alleges that the five men falsely told investors that they worked for Blue Square Management, which prosecutors say was a fraudulent company with no legitimate operations. The defendants allegedly told potential investors during unsolicited calls that they could buy securities in a company called Cash Money Lending Corp., which prosecutors say was another fictitious company.

The potential investors were told that CMLC had a lucrative business managing thousands of ATMs nationwide and that an initial public offering for CMLC or a buyout of the company was upcoming in the near future. The defendants allegedly told the investors that they would see significant profits from the IPO or buyout.

Brooklyn, NY +MVA+

Brooklyn, NY +MVA+ A motor vehicle accident downtown Brooklyn at Tillry Street and Gold Street, Hatzolah responding to the scene.

New York, NY - Satmar Rebbe Recovers From Grave Illness

New York, NY - The 91-year-old leader of the Satmar Chasidim is conscious, breathing on his own and out of intensive care, having survived a medical crisis that seemed to have brought him to his last days.

A former aide who has been staying at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan with Satnar grand rebbe Moses Teitelbaum, said today that the spiritual leader was transferred from the intensive-care unit to a private suite on Sunday, once he no longer needed a respirator. "A big miracle happened," said Moshe Wertheimer, the rebbe's former butler.

Rabbe Teitelbaum is still taking antibiotics for the infection that began the crisis. But his one remaining kidney "" which failed in the midst of his sudden health problems "" has resumed functioning, said Wertheimer, who expects the rebbe to return home within two weeks.

Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY +MVA With Pin+

Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY +MVA With Pin+ A serious motor vehicle accident between 2 vehicles with one of them into a tree and the other overturned on its side with a few aided pinned inside the vehicle at East 13th Street and Avenue "O", Hatzolah on the scene requesting multiple ambulances, FD and Squad are requested, ESU also responding.

U/D: 14:54
A total of 4 aided with all extricated and non with life threatening injuries.

West Hartfort, CT - Vandals Strike Holocaust Memorial Again

West Hartfort, CT - For the second time in just days a Holocaust memorial is vandalized.

On Sunday morning a swastika was found painted on the monument, and it happened again today.
Now vandals have painted a newer, larger swastika on the Holocaust memorial on Albany Avenue in West Hartford. The monument holds the ashes of holocaust victims.

Albany, NY - Black-Market Inspection Stickers Sold By DMV Employees

Albany, NY - Two Department of Motor Vehicles employees were accused of taking part in the illegal sale of up to 13,000 vehicle inspection stickers.
Danyele T. Bueford, 26, of Troy and Michael A. Jones, 47, of Albany allegedly stole the vehicle inspection stickers by intercepting pre-addressed, sealed packages of the stickers. The stickers were then given to Troy resident Spencer Howell, 25, who sold the stickers to motorists.

Legally, inspection stickers sell for $21 in upstate New York, with $6 going to the DMV. An estimated $75,000 in revenue was lost due to the stolen stickers.

Howell, Jones and Bueford have been charged with third-degree grand larceny. Bueford, a temporary employee, has been terminated from her position at the DMV. Jones has been suspended without pay, according to the agency.

More than 40 drivers have been charged with buying the black-market stickers.

Tel Aviv, Israel - Plane Lands Safely After Wheel Exploded

Tel Aviv, Israel - An El Al airplane landed safely at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport after a wheel exploded, rescue officials said.
Israel's Army Radio said that the airplane destined for Moscow had turned around after a pilot heard the explosion and feared the body of the airplane had been damaged. Authorities had said that the crew and passengers on board remained calm throughout the incident.

About 30 ambulances and fire engines were stationed at the airport, where a state of emergency had been declared, a rescue spokesman said. More than 100 passengers and crew were on the aircraft, he said.

New York, NY - Complaints Against The NYPD Soared More Than 34 Percent

New York, NY - Police-brutality claims are up 34.3 percent for the first three months of this year compared with the same period a year ago, according to the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board.

From January through March of this year, the CCRB tallied 1,622 allegations of excessive force against New York's Finest, compared with 1,208 during the same period last year.
The 414 more allegations range from possible instances of needlessly pointing a gun at someone to putting on handcuffs too tightly to roughing up a suspect with a police radio or flashlight.
The sharp rise in force allegations in the first quarter of this year is part of a trend - in 2005, force claims rose 17.2 percent over annual totals for 2004.
Meanwhile, for the first three months of this year, total complaints to the CCRB alleging a variety of wrongdoing jumped 18.2 percent from a year ago - from 1,557 to 1,864 - with the more serious brutality charges rising fastest of all, the data suggests.
In fact, through March 31, more than half the 1,864 allegations detailed by civilians - 51.4 percent - involve a claim of improper force. "What we've been seeing over the past four years is an increase in abuse of authority complaints, so the more rapid increase in force complaints is something new," said CCRB spokesman Andrew Case.

Excessive-force claims are difficult to prove and the overwhelming majority are dismissed by the CCRB.

Tel Aviv, Israel - Tehillim Spares Rabbi's Life

Tel Aviv, Israel - Amid the aftermath of the Palestinian suicide attack that killed nine comes news of a rabbi's life that was spared when a Tehillim (book of Psalms) held in a pocket next to his heart was ripped in two by a piece of shrapnel.

Rabbi Avishai Batshvilli and his wife were among the people near Tel Aviv's old central bus station when the suicide bomber blew himself up yesterday as Israelis celebrated the fifth day of the Passover holiday. Along with the dead, more than 60 were wounded, at least 10 of them seriously.
The rabbi's son-in-law said that his father-in-law "had a small Tehillim in his shirt pocket next to his heart. One of the (pieces of) shrapnel penetrated his jacket and hit the Tehillim tearing it in two," he said. "I am now holding this Tehillim, it's unbelievable, this fragment could have entered his body, Heaven forbid."

Batshvilli and his wife, have been hospitalized with moderate injuries.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY Construction Fall Accident+

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY Construction Fall Accident+ A construction worker fell 3 floors at a construction site at the rear of 26 Broadway near Kent Avenue, while sweeping up debris on a sixth-floor balcony, the worker fell to the second floor, EMS requested on a rush by NYPD of 90th Pct. for the aided who addears to be in likely to expire condition, Building Dept has been requested as well to the scene by the the police department.

U/D: 11:03
Aided is being transported with a NYPD Highway escort to Woodhull Hospital, Hospital has been notified.
NYPD Detectives Squad have been requested to the scene.

U/D: 04/21/06 08:56
The worker, 37, whose identity was not released, was taken to Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center with a severe head injury and was pronounced dead,

The Department of Buildings issued a citation to the construction company, TFN Development/East Coast, for failing to provide protection on the balcony.

Bad Arolsen, Germany - Tensions Rise In Long Feud Over Access To Nazi Archives

Bad Arolsen, Germany - Boxed away in a former Nazi SS barracks in this central German town is the core of one of the largest collections of historical documents from World War II. All told, the archive contains 50 million records that list the names of 17.5 million people, including concentration camp prisoners, forced laborers and other victims of the Third Reich.
For 60 years, the International Committee of the Red Cross has used the documents to trace the missing and the dead, especially those of the Holocaust. But the archive has remained off-limits to historians and the public, fueling an increasingly bitter dispute among Holocaust researchers, Jewish groups and the 11 nations that oversee the collection.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and diplomats from the United States, France and the Netherlands are pressing to open the archive to researchers and make digital copies of the collection available for inspection outside Germany. Possessiveness and a refusal to change with the times have kept the records closed, some critics contend.

Some German officials and other people argue that disclosing intimate details about the fates of concentration camp inmates and slave laborers would violate their right to privacy.

The dispute has percolated for nearly a decade. Unless a settlement is reached within a few weeks, a political brawl could break out next month in Luxembourg at the annual meeting of the commission that oversees the International Tracing Service, as the archive is formally known. German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries is to meet in Washington on today about the issue with the director of the Holocaust museum, Sara Bloomfield.

The International Tracing Service provides a unique window into the Nazis' obsession with documenting all facets of their rule, including lice inspection reports from concentration camps and records of insurance policies that German firms were required to maintain when they used conscripted workers. The bulk of the collection is German papers seized by Allied forces; it also includes meticulous Allied records on efforts to settle refugees after the war.

Germany and Italy have resisted proposals for opening the archives, including a plan to share digital copies of the records with each of the 11 nations. German diplomats said they worry their government could be sued if the privacy rights of individuals named in the documents were not protected.

Omaha, NB - Kashering For Trucks To Keep It Kosher

Omaha, NB - Two trucking companies near Omaha have built Kosher Truck-Tank Washes to "Kasher" trucks, to meet the demands of food manufacturers. The washes are necessary for transportation of kosher food or their ingredients.

"Most companies now are totally kosher, totally following the kosher rules," said Rick Jasa. He and wife Linda Ingram-Jasa opened Ingram Tank Washes Inc., in Blair, Neb., about two months ago. They also operate Jasa Transit, which hauls only kosher food loads.

About $190 billion, or 40 percent, of products sold in U.S. grocery stores in 2005 were kosher certified. Only about $10 billion of those products are believed to have been purchased specifically because they are kosher.
The OU, one of the organizations that certifies kosher products and monitors them throughout manufacture and transportation, reported that some nonkosher consumers seek out kosher products because of concern for food safety and quality.

There are strict rules about slaughter and food preparation, and all ingredients must meet the requirements. Equipment used to prepare nonkosher food cannot be used on kosher food unless it has been cleaned with a special process.
At OFC/Schmidt Liquid Service in Plattsmouth, Neb., co-owners Roger Schmidt and Mike Beins reserve some of their 110 trailer-tanks as kosher certified. They said they are careful to follow the strict rules about how they can use those trailers. "You can't haul a load of soybean oil to the West Coast and haul grape juice back in the same tank," Schmidt said. "Animal fat is taboo. They don't want you to haul milk."

During a kosher wash, water is held at a higher temperature for a longer period of time, usually at least 190 degrees for at least 15 minutes. The process specifies standards for water filtering for particulates, for pre-rinsing and final rinsing, and for detergents used in wash cycles. Each tank is sealed with numbers that correspond to paperwork for the wash.

In Blair, Jasa said he and his wife spent about $1 million on the kosher wash and its facility, with about half the investment going for the pumps, boiler and other equipment. His company spent $450,000 last year alone on kosher washes for their trucks, Jasa said. Now they wash their own trucks as well as charge other companies to wash theirs.
Some trucks belonging to other companies might not need a kosher wash, but they get one anyway. "If we do a wash, it's easier to make everything a kosher wash. And we're meeting the highest standard across the board," Jasa said.

The Jasas' computerized systems include digital keypads allowing operators to request different types of washes depending on what was in the tank.
The wash systems produce printouts that are kept on file and inspected by a rabbi from the organization that certified the tank wash as kosher. Each truck tank also must be individually kosher certified. If a non-kosher food is hauled in the tank, the tank must be recertified as kosher.

Ukrainian Synagogue Attacked

Kirovograd, Ukrain - Several windows were shattered when vandals threw stones into the Choral Synagogue downtown Kirovograd, in what is believed to be an anti-Semitic attack, but no one was hurt.
Local police are investigating the case but no arrests have been reported.

According to local Jewish leaders, the incident was only the most recent act of vandalism against Jewish institutions in the central Ukrainian city during the past few years.
Vitaly Kakhnov, director of the Kirovograd charitable center Hesed Shlomo, said that community members believe this attack was motivated by an anti-Semitic act since it took place on Passover.

Monsey, NY +Motor Vehicle Accident+

Monsey, NY +Motor Vehicle Accident+ A MVA with injuries in Monsey at Highview and College Road, Hatzolah on the scene.

West Hartford, CT - Holocaust Memorial Target Of Swastika

West Hartford, CT - West Hartford police are investigating an anti-Semitic incident involving a Nazi symbol.

An unidentified person spray-painted a large swastika in red paint on a Holocaust memorial outside a synagogue on Albany Avenue.

New York, NY - Transit Union Fined By Judge

New York, NY - A judge has fined the Transport Worker's Union Local 100 representing bus and subway workers $2.5 million for the illegal strike that shut down the city's mass transit system in December.

Pittsfield, MA - Swastika Carved Into School Slide

Pittsfield, MA - Police are investigating the carving of a swastika into a playground slide at Sinai Academy of the Berkshires, a Jewish school on South Street.
The symbol, "3A2," surrounded by a circle, believed to mean, "3anarchy2," also was inscribed, according to school authorities.

The incident prompted the school's president, to write a letter to the parents and community about their concerns over the anti-Semitism. "While this deplorable occurrence is a rarity for Sinai," they wrote, "we know from painful experience that it takes only one incident of anti-Semitism to affect an entire community. ... We condemn in the strongest terms the anti-Semitic vandalism at Sinai and elsewhere. Such hate has no place here in the Berkshires and runs counter to our community's values of acceptance and respect for differences."

The school leaders also pointed to the latest statistics, that in 2004 and 2005, 13 percent of anti-Semitic graffiti occurred on school property in eight states with the highest totals of anti-Semitic acts.

Manhattan, NY +Pedestrian Struck+

Manhattan, NY +Pedestrian Struck+ A MVA with a pedestrian that was struck by a sanitation truck on West 48th Street and 5th Avenue, Hatzolah on the scene and Medics also responding.

U/D:14:31
Aided was removed to Bellevue Hospital in serious condition, NYPD Highway A.I.S. Team enrute for the poss job.

U/D: 14:44
NYPD Highway-4 Sgt at the Hospital and canceling the A.I. Job.

Garching, Germany - Town Postpones Tribute To Nazi-Era Engineers

Garching, Germany - A German town has postponed plans to honor German aviation engineers Willy Messerschmitt and Claude Dornier -- known for their aircraft production in the Nazi era -- after protests by Jewish groups and local leaders.

The southern city of Garching, a Munich suburb, planned to honor the two late engineers along with 24 scientists with plaques in a new underground station near Munich's Technical University.

But the Jewish community protested against the proposal, saying the firms of Messerschmitt and Dornier served the Nazi regime by developing planes for the Luftwaffe in World War Two and exploited thousands of forced laborers in their plants.

Garching's deputy mayor said the town council would now review the plans in two weeks. and a historian would provide details about the men's wartime role. "We will take another look at the matter," the mayor said.

Historians say both aircraft engineers had close ties to the Nazi regime.

Gaza - Palestinian Militants Threaten To Attack Jews Abroad

Gaza - Palestinian militants linked to Fatah movement threatened to attack Jews overseas to force Israel to release Palestinian prisoners from its jails.

"This is an open call to all our fighters in the homeland to focus on kidnapping Israeli soldiers and civilians inside our occupied land.
And if the enemy does not release our prisoners, then Zionists outside Palestine will be an easy target for our fighters," the group said in a statement.

The threat was made shortly before a Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and other people in Tel Aviv, an attack claimed by both Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa.

Waterbury, CT - Jewish Community Helps Develop Learning Center In Berlin

Waterbury's Yeshiva Gedolah is sending students to Berlin -- the one-time capital of Hitler's Nazi regime -- to help develop a central place of Jewish learning in central Europe.

Ten students visited Berlin to serve as role models for Orthodox Jews living at the fledgling Beis Midrasch d'Berlin yeshiva, the first Jewish synagogue built in Germany in decades. The yeshiva largely educates Jews from former Soviet bloc countries.

Waterbury's Yeshiva Gedolah is the only organization in the country that sends young men to the Berlin yeshiva.

Germany is now a growing Jewish population in Europe. As recently as 1990, there were only 33,000 Jews in Germany. Today there are 200,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Israel, whose parents fled to what was then Palestine before the war, who have settled in established Jewish communities around the country.
Beis Midrasch, opened in 1999, serves 35 students, most from former communist countries, by providing an intense program so those with little to no background in Jewish studies can achieve a high level of Jewish literacy within two years.

U.S. To Pay Two Museums In Final Settlement Of Nazi Gold Train Case

Two checks totaling $500,000 is being sent to Jewish museums in the United States and Israel for Holocaust research and documentation of the historic Nazi Gold Train case.

It is the final piece of the settlement between Hungarian Holocaust survivors and the U.S. government. The money is going to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Yad Vashem museum in Israel.

In 1944, the Nazis loaded $200 million in gold, jewelry, furnishings and pricey art work onto dozens of railway cars bound for Germany from Budapest. The so-called "Gold Train" was abandoned by the Nazis in Austria and recovered by the U.S. Army on May 16, 1945.

A report by a presidential advisory commission in 1999 said most of the treasures vanished. The suit alleged that high-ranking U.S. Army officers furnished their villas and officers' clubs with Gold Train loot as they oversaw the rebuilding of Europe after the war.

In October, the United States apologized for its actions, as part of the $25.5 million settlement approved by a Miami federal judge.

The first allocation of $4.2 million was distributed by 27 social service agencies worldwide, including four in South Florida.

Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY To The Rescue For Orange County's Sewer Problems

Harriman - The Orange County sewage treatment plant on River Road used to be a facility in crisis, unfit to handle the rising tide of wastewater in the county's fast-growing southeastern corner.

But after an 18-year saga of sewer-hookup bans, things are looking good. Not only do they have a bigger Harriman plant, but county officials say they plan - at least in the short term - to keep using the Kiryas Joel sewage plant they borrowed as a stopgap measure, which adds another cushion of capacity.

As of last month, the county had spent about $4 million to lease, staff and power the Kiryas Joel plant, county spokesman Steve Gross said.

The Harriman plant can now treat up to 6 million gallons of wastewater per day, having just gotten a 1.5-million-gallon boost. With the Kiryas Joel plant, the county has another million gallons at its disposal.

Add up all the factors, and a region habitually short of sewage plant space could ultimately find itself flush with it - the key, whether residents like it or not, to continued development in the region.

Manhattan, NY - +Subway Traffic Alert+

Manhattan, NY - +Subway Traffic Alert+ A pedestrian was struck and killed in the subway on the Upper West Side. The person was struck at the 81st Street Station on Central Park West causing suspensions on the B,C,D and A line.

Tel Aviv, Israel - +Suicide Bomber Blows Himself Up+

Tel Aviv, Israel - A suspected Palestinian suicide bomber has blown himself up in a Tel Aviv bus station near a fast-food restaurand, and has killed at least eight people and 60 people are wounded.

U/D: 17:46
Officials say Israel has carried out an airstrike in Gaza City.

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY - City Begins Probe Of Cop's Actions In Mayhem

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY - The city's Civilian Complaint Review Board has started investigating the NYPD's response to last week's fiery mayhem in this heavily Chasidic area of Brooklyn.

The board, which probes allegations of police abuse, got 14 complaints after mobs, who falsely believed cops had beaten 75-year-old Arthur Schick during an April 4 traffic stop in Borough Park, ran amok.
Review Board officials said that it could be months before the probe is complete. "We're in the very early stages," said board Executive Director Florence Finkle.

One of the 14 complaints was filed by Schick, who cops pulled over for talking on his cell phone while driving and blocking traffic at 16th Ave. and 47th St. Cops say he became belligerent and refused to hand over his registration and driver's license.
Schick says cops forcefully pushed him into a police van and then used the N-word.

Another complaint alleges that Chief of Department Joseph Esposito yelled to other cops during the protests: "Get the .... Jews out of here!"
Esposito has admitted using inappropriate language but has denied uttering anything anti-Semitic. Police officials have said he shouted, "Get these .... people out of here!"

As many as 12 other people allege they were roughed up by cops during the chaos but none of them was injured.

Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY +house Fire+

Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY +house Fire+ A working kitchen fire with extentsion in the basement of a 3 story occupied multiple dwelling at 4 Orshava Ct, and Satmar Drive. KJFD working the scene, Command requesting Monroe FD to respond, KJ Public Safety evecuated the entire building.

U/D: 23:02
KJFD has fire knockd down.

Passaic, NJ +Child Struck+

Passaic, NJ +Child Struck+ A child riding a bicycle was struck by a motor vehicle and is in critical condition, Hatzolah Medics have rushed the child to St. Jones Hospital.

NY State Thruway +Traffic Alert+

NY State Thruway +Traffic Alert+ A motor vehicle accident on the New York State Thruway southbound at M/M 22 near exit 14 is causing heavy traffic delays for more than 3 miles on southbound and northbond lanes, Hatzolah EMS and Rockland Medics are working the scene.

New York - NYPD Deploys First Of 500 Security Cameras

New York - Along a gritty stretch of street in Brooklyn, police this month quietly launched an ambitious plan to combat street crime and terrorism.
But instead of cops on the beat, wireless video cameras peer down from lamp posts about 30 feet above the sidewalk.

The cameras are the first installment of a high-tech surveillance program to place 500 cameras throughout the city at a cost of $9 million. Hundreds of additional cameras could follow if the city receives $81.5 million in federal grants it has requested to safeguard Lower Manhattan and parts of midtown with a surveillance "ring of steel" modeled after security measures in London's financial district.

Chicago, Illinois - Gov. Signs Mezuzah Law

Chicago, Illinois - Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich signed into law legislation inspired by Chicago Jewish Star reports that some Chicago condominium boards were forbidding the posting of religious objects in doorways, including the mezuzahs traditionally displayed by Jews.

The new law "will guarantee condo owners can freely observe the doctrines of their religion at home, including being able to display objects on their front door," the governor's office said in a statement.

The bill unanimously passed both chamber of the Illinois General Assembly and will go into effect next Jan. 1.
In explaining the need for the new state law, Blagojevich cited an episode from the Jewish Star reporting by its Editor Douglas Wertheimer in which an elderly woman returned from her husbands funeral to find that the mezuzah on her doorway had been removed by her Chicago condominium's management company. The woman, Lynne Bloch, has filed a lawsuit against the condo company, and lodged a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General's Office and the Chicago Commission on Human Relations.

Washington, DC - U.S. Bars Americans From Doing Business With Palestinian Authority

Washington, DC - The U.S. Treasury Department bars Americans from doing business with Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

Brooklyn, NY +MVA+

Brooklyn, NY +MVA+ A serious motor vehicle accident on Coney Island and Avenue "X" with some injured and pinned, Hatzolah responding and ESU requested.

Tehran, Iran - Promising Aid For Palestinian Authority

Tehran, Iran - Iranian state media has reported that Tehran will give $50 million to the struggling Palestinian Authority.

Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY +House Fire+

Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY +House Fire+ A fire on the 2nd floor of a 2 1/2 story 25x45 private dwelling at East 17th Street and Avenue "I" FD on the scene using all hands Hatzolah responding, fire remaind D/W/H.

Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY - More Condos Coming

Kiryas, Joel, Monroe, NY - Anyone driving down Bakertown Road through Kiryas Yoel lately may have noticed the sudden absence of trees and brush on a hill behind the lot where a flotilla of school buses are parked.

What you see there is the next development frontier in Kiryas Joel. For the last several years, housing construction has been concentrated on the opposite side of the village, where hundreds of condos have risen and continue to rise beside County Route 44.
But now a hill crested by water towers off Bakertown Road - and adjacent to ACE Farm - has been cleared for construction of 293 condos. The Village says the work will likely be completed within two years.

Monticello, NY - Feds Want Study Of Impact Before Plans For A Casino Could Move Forward

Monticello, NY - Federal officials decided recently that more environmental reviews are necessary before plans can move forward for an Indian-run casino at the Monticello Raceway.

Empire Resorts, owner of the raceway, announced hat the necessary additions to the track's environmental assessment were already underway, although no time frame was given for resubmission to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Charlie Degliomini, vice president of Empire Resorts, declined to say what additions the Interior requested.

Monsey, NY - Clerk Charged In Alcohol Check

Monsey, NY - A store clerk was charged with violating state liquor law when he sold alcohol to an undercover youth.

Police, in conjunction with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, sent a 16-year-old undercover and a plainclothes police officer into six Ramapo stores between 4 and 6 p.m., hours when teenagers are more likely to buy alcohol.
The 22-year-old Monsey man, employed by the Super Value gas station at 68 E. Route 59 in Monsey, was charged with violating Section 65-1, prohibited sales of alcohol, of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control law, and the store was referred to the state liquor authority.

The other five stores checked were found in compliance with state law, which prohibits the sale of alcohol to people younger than 21. Saddle River Deli, 316 E. Saddle River Road, Airmont. Indian America Grocery, 64 E. Eckerson Road, Hillcrest. G & G Saigon Corp., 308A N. Main St., Hillcrest. EZ Stop, 362 N. Main St., Hillcrest. Liquorland, 250 Route 59, Airmont.

Police attempted to check Grapevine Fine Wines & Liquors at 455 Route 306, Monsey, but the business was closed for the day.

Iran - President Targets Again The History Of The Jewish Holocaust

Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a speech that there's a "serious doubt" if the Jewish Holocaust during the World War II really happened.

Israeli statesman Shimon Peres, responded by saying, that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would end up like Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

Brooklyn, NY - The NYPD Has A Riot Plan For When Satmar Rebbe Passes Away

Brooklyn, NY - The NYPD has prepared a massive mobilization in Brooklyn to brace for crushing throngs and potentially unruly crowds if the beloved 91-year-old grand rebbe of Satmar passes away.

A contentious succession battle between the two sons of the Satmar Grand Rebbe Moses Teitelbaum has split the sect and forced cops to ready themselves for potentially violent clashes.

The clashes could come between supporters of Aaron Teitelbaum, who heads the Satmar faction in upstate Kiryas Joel, and his brother, Zalman, the leader of the Williamsburg, Brooklyn faction. "You would hope nothing happens during this time, but we have to be prepared against an outbreak of fights between the two sides," a police source said. His death would set the stage for one of the largest local funeral processions in recent memory, they said.

In preparing a response, called "Operation Sundown," police will have about 400 cops with barriers ready to pen in the expected crowds and expect to shut down the streets around the main Satmar synagogue on Rodney Street in Williamsburg. In addition to closing Rodney Street, police are prepared to shut down Lee and Bedford avenues.

In Upstate NY They Are Also Preparing.


Chief of Woodbury Police Department recalls last rebbe funeral.

Back then, Bob Kwiatkowski was a Woodbury patrolman. Neighboring Monroe had fewer than 15,000 people, and only a small percentage of them lived in the recently incorporated Chasidic settlement known as Kiryas Joel.
But when the revered leader of the Satmar Hasidic sect, Joel Teitelbaum, died in 1979, Kwiatkowski and others would soon learn the magnitude of grief his passing could command.
As many as 100,000 mourners descended upon an unsuspecting Orange County to attend the funeral and burial of the Satmar grand rebbe.
"I remember they gridlocked Route 17," says Kwiatkowski, today the chief of the Woodbury department. "Nothing moved. They parked cars in the driving lanes and walked into Kiryas Joel."

This time around, police know what to expect. They've been planning for months how to handle the traffic that will pour into the area.
Kwiatkowski, a veteran of one rebbe funeral, vows, "This is going to be a well-coordinated response."

Manhattan, NY +Road Closures+

Manhattan, NY +Road Closures+ Due to some parade on the streets of Manhattan, the NYPD will be closing down 5th Avenue from 57th Street to 49th Street from 10:00 to 17:00.

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +Bias Crime+

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +Bias Crime+ NYPD Bias Crime Units and officers of the 66th Pct Squad Team with Shomrim Patrol are all on the scene at 1320 47th Street for the investigation of a swastika that was found written on the wall inside that building.