Public officials who use their discretionary funds to fund volunteer patrol groups in Orthodox Brooklyn neighborhoods or 'Shomrims' said that they will continue to fund these groups despite the criticism these groups have received.

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Anti-Semitic incidents made up the largest share of New York hate crimes reported in 2009, according to statistics just released by the state's Division of Criminal Justice Services. more>

The kosher division has been drastically reduced in recent years from 11 inspectors to just two. Imminent layoffs to reduce state payroll spending by $250 million will wipe out the remaining jobs.   more>

"Anti-Semitism has no place in our community, and we look forward to seeing those responsible apprehended and charged with hate crimes," said Ron Meier, New York regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. more>

VIDEO :: Congressman Michael McMahon says his record of Jewish advocacy speaks for itself, but some voters are still asking questions. NY1's Mari Fagel reports. more>

The commissioner of the city's Department for the Aging has disputed a report that elderly recipients of Meals On Wheels have been asked to prove they are Orthodox to qualify for the more expensive kosher food. more>

Governor David Paterson has proposed a $5.4 million cut to the State Office for the Aging. Social service advocates and providers have campaigned against indiscriminate cutting, favoring instead an arrangement where some agencies would be exempt from cuts if they provide essential services. more>

The number of households coming to the pantries jumped to 15,000 last month. "We have seen nothing like it," said Met Council CEO and Executive Director William Rapfogel.

VIDEO :: News 12 Brooklyn reported on Masbia kosher soup kitchen in Borough Park Brooklyn. more>

For decades they were a fixture on New York's political landscape: names like Ed Koch and Abe Beame, Andrew Stein and Alan Hevesi, Harrison Goldin, Mark Green and Elizabeth Holtzman. Now that landscape is shifting. more>

VIDEO :: An anthropology professor at UC Berkeley, Nancy Scheper-Hughes, reacts to the arrest of Brooklyn Rabbi Levy Rosenbaum for trafficking human organs. Seven years ago, she informed the FBI about his alleged dealings. more>

Muslim community groups, backed nearly unanimously by the City Council, are pressing for days off in honor of two of their holidays; however, Mayor Michael Bloomberg opposes the idea. more>

"We see people who are not used to thinking of themselves as needy finding themselves for the first time struggling to make ends meet. It's not just the severity of the need but the immediacy of the need." more>


Willie Rapfogel, CEO of Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, talks on economic crisis and need for help among the working and middle classes.

Forged in the fires of the 1991 Crown Heights riots, Project Care is an ad hoc group of community leaders that has met for more than 15 years to keep open lines of communication. more>

“There are some who believe this is being done largely to discriminate against the Orthodox community,” said Daniel Perla, a securities consultant who is president of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, the largest Orthodox synagogue in the area. more>

In his bid for Jewish votes, Sheinkopf said Ferrer will find an obstacle in the support of the Rev. Al Sharpton, who remains an unfavorable figure among many Jews and other whites because of his past role in race-motivated controversies. more>

Subway searches by the police department and other terrorism-related public policy debates have major Jewish organizations in a quandary. more>

Eleven cars on the streets of Midwood were painted with swastikas, the latest in a series of hate crimes in southern Brooklyn. But the spree has also produced a united front against bigotry from ethnic communities that peacefully coexist in the area. more>

Since the layoff of a Russian-speaking employee, residents of a Brooklyn housing project say they have been left in the dark. Many are elderly tenants, who speak only Russian, and face increased difficulty seeking repairs, reading safety instructions and dealing with building management. Claiming that the language barrier does not allow residents to access services, a public interest lawyer has filed a suit on behalf of 16 tenants. more>

In retrospect, the McCall campaign was “too cautious” and lacking focus, according to some politcal observers. They criticized McCall’s campaign for downplaying the historic nature of his candidacy as the state’s first black major-party candidate for governor. Some fear backlash over weak Jewish support. more>

A four-year battle over who can share living quarters at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University ended this month when the school quietly changed its policy, avoiding a trial in a lawsuit by lesbian students who claimed discrimination. The president of the Orthodox Union is disappointed by the decision. The university is unclear about whether its new liberal policy will extend to all its campuses. more>

Controversy escalates over the continued housing competition between the Hasidic and Hispanic communities in Williamsburg. And IPA-member publication City Limits Weekly reports in Never Ending Stories, that the city Housing Authority (NYCHA) and Hispanic and Hasidic advocacy organizations' recent settlement. more>