Mahmoud Kasem, 36, owner of Al Aqsa, a Palestinian restaurant in Bay Ridge, said he was trying his best to go through the motions, coming into the restaurant from his home in Bayside, Queens and chatting up customers. “But inside it’s boiling, it’s like a volcano,” he said, speaking outside the restaurant on a Thursday […]
Religion
Posted inHigher Ed
Shaken Yeshiva University Students Mourn and Question
On the morning of Oct. 7 in Jerusalem, Steven Galitzer was preparing to go to synagogue with his family when they were surprised by the sounds of sirens. As observant Jews, they avoided the use of technology until the following day, but in cafés across the city they began to learn the news: Hamas carried […]
Posted inBrooklyn, Greenpoint, LGBTQ, Real Estate, Religion
Greenpoint Residents Ask Judge to Spare Church That Hosted Culture and Community
The Park Church sanctuary had served north Brooklyn for more than a decade, offering performance space, day care, a soup kitchen and a homeless shelter.
Posted inEric Adams
Adams Praises Yeshivas as City Hall Fights to Conceal School Assessments
The mayor said that the public system that’s failing to educate Black and brown kids should be “duplicating” what the Jewish religious schools are achieving. But his administration is battling to keep evaluations of 26 such schools under wraps.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Bishop Lamor Whitehead Accused of Deed Theft at Brooklyn Church He Evicted
The lawsuit filed last week, which Whitehead calls ‘frivolous,’ is the latest legal challenge facing the longtime mentee and friend of Mayor Eric Adams.
Posted inAstoria, Religion
Muslim Calls To Prayer Sound on Streets of Astoria For the First Time
Three neighborhood mosques received permits to play Adhan calls outside during Ramadan, with one more permit pending for the area’s oldest mosque.
Posted inQueens
New Yorkers Observe Diwali and Celebrate the ‘Triumph of Light Over Darkness’ Becoming a School Holiday Next Year
That’s not quite a done deal yet, but it would be a welcome change for families whose kids were marked absent from school to celebrate this year and those whose kids missed some of the celebration to be in school.
Posted inEric Adams, Public Schools, Religion, Schools
Diwali School Holiday Hopes Dim as Adams Fails to Act on Day 1 Promise
The mayor has vowed many times to Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain families that kids would get a day off from school to observe. So far, they’ve seen no light.
Posted inEducation
City Hall Blocks Release of Yeshiva Reviews in Court Fight vs. THE CITY
The Department of Education says that releasing documents detailing the findings of a probe into the standards at religious schools would derail an ongoing investigation.
Posted inEducation
Despite Community Backlash, School For At-Risk Youth Puts Down Roots in Midwood
Urban Dove, a charter school relocated to a building owned by a historic synagogue, has won over wary neighbors. But a fatal shooting of a student last year reignited persistent opposition.