| נשלח ב-5/4/2006 02:58 |
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Large Fight in Boro-Park
Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +Large Crowd+ PD on the scene in Boro Park with a large crowd forming and a large fight at 45(h Street and 16th Avenue, Additional NYPD units requested and Hatzolah also on the scene requesting additional units.
U/D: 18:59
NYPD calling for a level one mobilization, and have arrested an 80-year-old man.
For more go to
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| נשלח ב-11/4/2006 23:55 |
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Boro Park's Night Of Shame And Disgrace
By: Dov Hikind
I was sitting in a local hotel room in Albany, after a late New York State Assembly legislative session, when I received the first call that alerted me to a volatile scene in Boro Park. I was secure in the knowledge that the community's relationship with the NYPD and my personal relationship with the 66th Precinct and One Police Plaza would foster a climate of understanding and conciliation.
Confident that Boro Park residents would conduct themselves in the manner of bnei Torah, of shomrei Torah u'mitzvos, I expected the next caller to tell me it was all over, that calm heads had triumphed and that people continued to go about their extensive pre-Pesach preparations. Instead, for nearly four hours lawlessness, chaos, and disorder reigned in Boro Park and cast the community in a light from which I hope we can recover untainted. But I am not sure we will.
I could not believe – I did not want to believe – that in our community, where the most perilous or controversial activity our teens engage in involves the intricacies of a page of Gemara, the same fourteen to seventeen year olds who spend 10 hours a day slumped over books of Jewish law created a chillul Hashem of unparalleled magnitude.
The images of rampaging hordes – of hundreds of teens with long payes, most too young to have even the faintest hint of facial hair – was disgraceful and heartbreaking.
Whatever the flashpoint, it is inexcusable for mobs of teens to set bonfires and descend on a police cruiser, breaking windows and threatening officers inside. We are a law-abiding community, and what happened on the night of April 4 was a disgrace and a tragedy for all of us.
Arson and mayhem should never be tolerated. This runs counter to everything we teach our children and violates every principle upon which this community prides itself. This is not who we are, and those images broadcast across the city by TV news crews have likely done lasting harm to us.
There was so much misinformation and disinformation on the street that night, with people invoking the Holocaust. How dare they? What were they thinking? And to repeatedly yell the anthem of Al Sharpton, "No Justice, No Peace," was beyond what I would have believed our community capable of. To see our young people comport themselves in this disgraceful way was terribly painful, and innocent individuals are dealing with the repercussions.
Bystanders were harmed and had to be hospitalized because a situation that should have been contained only escalated. We all have to do some very serious soul-searching, because this was not an isolated group of troublemakers; there were hundreds in the streets – a mob in every sense of the word. Rabbis and religious leaders must deal with this as seriously as they do any other critical issue that arises in our community.
Within a short while, after repeated conversations with Councilman Simcha Felder, who was on the scene minutes after the original incident, it became apparent that this disturbance was not dissipating and I rushed back to Boro Park to deal with the ramifications of a situation that clearly was out of control. The anguish in Simcha's voice was unbearable as he described the negative developments on both sides. It was a surreal experience for both of us.
From the outset I have stated that those instigators found guilty of inciting the crowd and those guilty of arson should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I cannot, however, disregard the obvious mistakes that were made by the NYPD. At certain points, clearly, police officers should have had more leadership, and command was unclear.
With three helicopters hovering over Boro Park and scores of police squad cars and ambulances racing to the scene, the makings of a surefire spectacle were in play for hundreds of bored teens who don't have enough excitement in their lives and are looking for an excuse to cause mayhem. If the purpose was to neutralize the situation, it wasn't going to happen in a carnival-like atmosphere that could only ensure an escalation.
It was a tragic night for Boro Park and the NYPD, but we have moved toward closure and resolution of the anger and tension. Chief of the Department Joseph Esposito has always been a star, beginning his meteoric rise through the ranks at the 66th Precinct, as commander. I have always held him in the highest regard. He has been a friend and continues to be a friend to me personally and to our community.
Whatever happened this week was out of character, and now we are moving on. We look forward to working with Chief Esposito, clearly stated his position in his letter to Simcha and me:
In directing police officers to disperse a crowd that formed in front of the 66th precinct stationhouse Tuesday night, I used language that was inappropriate. However, I can assure that nothing I said reflects any personal bias against you or the community. The Police Department's and my own principal concern Tuesday was the preservation of public safety as events unfolded in Borough Park. I don't want my words that night, or anything else for that matter, to come between the police and the Borough Park community after decades of excellent relations between both. Towards that end, I am happy to meet with you at your convenience to discuss further this matter or any of the concerns you may have.
What we lost Tuesday night, April 4, was immeasurable: self-respect and the respect of other communities throughout New York City. The images of rampaging youths with sidelocks, black coats and beaver hats are burned onto the consciousness of New Yorkers. We cannot erase that, and we cannot yet know the repercussions for our community in Heaven and here on earth.
Perhaps with our extended families around the seder table and at otherPesach meals, we can devote some time to our children and grandchildren and reiterate what constitutes conduct becoming a religious individual.
On Pesach we recount how we merited the redemption from Egypt because we did not alter our names, our manner of dress, or our language and speech. Three thousand years later, the speech on the streets of Boro Park that day fell very short of those standards.
Analogies to the Holocaust and proclamations of "No Justice No Peace" were a disgraceful desecration of God's name. And it led directly to bystanders being Maced, a 90-year-old man on his way to his evening shiur being forcibly shoved to the ground and having to be hospitalized, and a four-hour spree of firestarting.
Yes, this has been a very painful week for our community. And while it may be over on the streets of Boro Park, it should not be over in our hearts. We have some serious introspection to do, for ourselves and for our children.
Dov Hikind represents New York's 48th Assembly District, an area that encompasses Boro Park, Dyker Heights, Kensington and
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| נשלח ב-11/4/2006 22:31 |
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Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY - A week after rioters set more than 20 fires including one inside a patrol car and vandalized another police vehicle and grabbed a sergeant, possibly in an attempt to take his gun, police have not made any arrests beyond the three that first night.
The controversy has died down since, but several police sources said "There should have been a lot more arrests that night," said one source familiar with the police response. "But it's clear there is preferential treatment. It's been like that for a long time."
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, however, said the NYPD hopes to make more arrests, particularly for the vandalizing of police cars. And Mayor Michael Bloomberg has dismissed any notion of preferential treatment toward the Hasidic Jews.
Several sources say that someone jumped on police Sgt. Angelo Russo and possibly tried to grab his gun. But Russo has told colleagues he never felt threatened and does not believe someone tried to take his weapon. But the sources said that in most other neighborhoods anyone who put their hands on an officer would have been arrested, if not right away then certainly soon after.
Ed Mullins, head of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said the low number of arrests is sending the wrong message. "What I find most disturbing is that the laws are not being enforced," Mullins said.
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| נשלח ב-11/4/2006 22:22 |
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The events of Tuesday evening, April 4, in Boro Park remain subject to interpretation. Prominent local businessman Arthur Schick said he was pulled over by police officers for talking on his cell phone and that he complied with their instructions. Then, he said, the officers asked him for his registration, driver's license and insurance, which he handed over. The 75-year-old Schick then got out of his car and asked the officer for his name.
"In a belligerent way he said, 'Don't you see my badge?' " Schick claimed, and said that when he asked for the other officer's name, he was told to get back in his car.
"Then I said exactly this: 'Sir, do me a favor. Just give me the name of your driver,' " Schick told The Jewish Press. At that point, he said, he was arrested without warning.
"They pushed and shoved me. I pleaded for help to get into the van," but instead he was pushed into the van.
The NYPD did not respond to an e-mail from The Jewish Press, but in other news reports various police sources stated that Schick was uncooperative and resisted arrest.
What happened during the ensuing melee is also a matter of dispute. Was it a riot or a protest? Hundreds of local chasidic men, mostly teenagers, took to the streets in reaction to Schick's arrest. Two police cruisers, as well as a few garbage cans, were set afire. Chasidim chanted "No justice, no peace" in front of the 66th Precinct station house, and some threw garbage and blocked streets.
"From my perspective, the events that happened that night are a sad comment on the education of our children – in what derech eretz means, in respecting everyone, especially people in government," said New York City Councilman Simcha Felder, who witnessed part of the disturbance.
"There are no excuses for what happened," he said. "How do you condone that? It's crazy, nuts." He added that many parents kept their kids back from joining in, and that it's important to note that the overwhelming majority of the community condemns such behavior.
"Perhaps it was only 12 or 15 boys – that's being investigated based on footage by the NYPD – who were the ones who started the fires. If they are caught, I have no rachmanus [pity] for them. I feel bad for them, but I have no rachmanus."
Felder said that in some ways he was caught in the middle. "People were screaming at me that you̓re selling out to the cops," he said. He said that he dispersed 150 people near the precinct and challenged local residents who were justifying the riot.
Afterwards, Felder and New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind complained publicly about remarks made by the Chief of Department Joseph Esposito, the highest ranking uniformed officer in the NYPD. Felder said that he heard Esposito yelling "Get these [expletive] Jews out of here." Esposito has claimed that he said "people," not Jews.
After Esposito issued a formal apology, without specifying exactly what he had said, both Felder and Hikind said the issue was closed.
"We have always held Chief Esposito in the highest regard," a joint press release by the two politiciansstated. "He has been a friend and continues to be a friend to us personally and to our community. In reaching out to us and the community, the chief brings closure to the events which transpired in Borough Park this week."
"If I didn't know him for over 20 years as a good person, a decent person, then I'd be out there even today going after him," Hikind said. "The things said never should have been said."
Hikind was much more indignant regarding the rioting on the streets. (See Op-Ed, page 4) "What people in the community did is unconscionable," he said. "How could this happen? How could people who learn Gemara all day turn into hoodlums? ... For what? It's ridiculous....The anti-Semitism created this week – you can't even measure it.
"Anyone who said it was only a few individuals – it's a lie," Hikind said. "I̓m afraid, though, that there will be no one trying to figure out what went wrong and how kids who sit over Gemara could behave this way."
Both Felder and Hikind responded to criticism that they had been harping on Esposito's comments much more than on the rioting that took place. They both pointed out that the first thing they criticized during their press conference late Tuesday night was the behavior of the community, and that they have been continuously condemning it.
But, Felder said, the moment he mentioned that he had heard an apparent anti-Semitic comment from Esposito, that was all the media was interested in covering.
The NYPD's internal affairs and the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board are continuing to investigate the comments of Esposito, the arrest of Schick, and some other complaints of police actions by local chasidim. In addition to Schick, two other Orthodox Jews were arrested for their alleged parts in the rioting .
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| נשלח ב-11/4/2006 19:30 |
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איך האב היינט געליינט אין די נוסדעי, (איך קען עס נישט טרעפן אויפן אינטערנעט) אז סיז דא געוויסע פאליציי רעכטן ארגעניזאציעס, וואס האלטן אז די בארא פארקע חסידים באהאנדלט מען מיט ווייסע הענטשעך, זיי זאגן אז מ'האט אויסגעשאסן א פענסטער פון א פאליס קאר, אויך האט מען פיזיש אנגעגריפן א פאליס-מאן און מ'האט קיינמאל קיינעם ארעסטירט פאר דעם, וואס אין אנדערע געגענטער וואלט מען שוין לאנג ארעסטירט די אלע וואס האבן דאס געטאן.
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| נשלח ב-10/4/2006 19:59 |
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Received this by e-mail
Ari
Re Margoles & the Post Article
The chutzpah is that Margolis went "on record" with the perception he was speaking for everybody...when in fact it seems he's a "wannabe somebody" speaking for the same.
Was arthur schick wrong for driving the way he did?
Yes
Was the burning boxes and trashing police cars wrong, and embarrassing for us a community that prides itself on restraint and respect for authority
Yes
Does ANY of the above condone what Captain Esposito said?
NOT FOR A SECOND
Last time I checked he's a police officer--a public servant. They say it takes the heat of the moment to see someone's "true colors". As my family is part of the public he serves, I'd be way more comfortable with someone who either didn't refer to us as F***Jews.
...Or at least had the self control to keep his REAL feelings to himself.
We should never forget we are in galus. Remarks like this are the reminders. Idiots like Margolis delude themselves into thinking that by "pandering" to these guys they are diffusing problems.
What they are really doing is what magicians call "misdirection" --get everyone's attention away from the facts by confusing the "oylam" and blurring the "issues".
So Arthur Schick was dealt with according to the law--will the same be true of Officer Esposito? Or that now that a bunch of NYPD wannabees called the "Shomrim" have given him a "thumbs up", will the NYPD use that as a rationale to sweep this under the carpet?
Hopefully Simcha & Dov will continue to demand accountability
Speaking of which, I'll bet if Simcha or Dov referred to Officer Esposito as a F*** Italian (or worse) there'd be hell to pay for that slur more than any riots, burnings, etc.
You know, while I find all the Nazi references as disturbing as the implications of this incident. I can't help but wonder..if the cops acted "Nazi like" in their response, and Officer Esposito acted "Nazi like" in his reaction...does that mean the clown from the Shomrim is now our very own Kapo?
Just a thought...
You know I recently read a piece by Rabbi Berel Wein where he related the story of when he was building his Yeshiva in Monsey, the contractor offered a cross beam that was guaranteed for 150 years.
I don't remember Rabbi Wein's EXACT response, but it was in reference to that being a very optimistic guarantee for us...once you considered our "track record" in Golus
Incidents like last week exacerbated by people like Officer Esposito and pandering pawns like Margoles, make you wonder if Rabbi Wein wasn't pontificating as much as he was prognosticating
Again I feel that we as a community were embarrassing wrong--but that does NOT give a member of NY's Finest to act like "NY's Frighteningest"
Well Ari, thanks for letting me vent--feel free to share this with anyone who actually cares
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| נשלח ב-10/4/2006 17:06 |
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As a resident of Borough Park for the last 30 years, I question why is it that Hasidic Jews in Borough Park should get preferential treatment from the police? I have seen their immunity from being issued parking tickets.
How do they get away with striking police officers? If it were any other religious group, they might have gotten shot.
Obviously they would never have to use guns, there isn't a hava amina that the yidden would have weapons on them.
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| נשלח ב-9/4/2006 23:20 |
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Part of the article in the New York Post from corrupted Jason Margolis is
Chief Esposito has gone out of his way to help out Jewish cops in need both professionally and personally. He has attended more Shomrim events than many of our members, and Shomrim has honored him for his help and dedication to the Jewish members of the NYPD.
That's it he comes to your parties and did you personal favorites, shame on you how would you not be embarrassed to say this in public, such politicians like you have to go, because that's only what you care parties personal favorites, and then be willing to sell us in public like the worst people
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| נשלח ב-9/4/2006 23:03 |
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Jason Margolis
In the end of the New York Post article you said as follow
The Shomrim Society stands 100 percent behind the actions of the police in regard to the Borough Park riot, and backs Chief Esposito completely. We know the accusations against him are totally without merit. And we know that behavior like last week's riot is unacceptable - and shameful - no matter what the circumstances or the ethnic makeup of those involved.
I wonder if the reason you said that is because as you said earlier in that article
Chief Esposito has gone out of his way to help out Jewish cops in need both professionally and personally
Thank you I know he helps you and Jewish cops personally, but what is with us, people from the community we also need help
You are selfish as selfish it comes, because you get favors from them you are willing to throw us and then say shame people of Boro Park
You are surrounded with full of corruption, and I am proud to say shame to Jason Margolis
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| נשלח ב-9/4/2006 22:47 |
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The picture of Jason S. Margolis
His e-mail address [email protected]
Jason S. Margolis is the 2006 president of the NYPD Shomrim Society, and does not represent the Shomrim of Boro Park, (it is a organization with a bunch of idiots) the legal name of the Shomrim or Boro Park is Brooklyn South safety patrol.
Jason S. Margolis hates us and he is trying to do everything to destroy the Shomrim of Boro Park.
Jason S. Margolis when is your yearly party with all the police officers going to be, didn't they threaten you if you don't talk they will not come to your party.
Jason S. Margolis shame on Boro Park, shame on you you, you don't even live in this area who are you to talk
Jason S. Margolis you should know when Joseph Esposito said F***Jews, he meant you to
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| נשלח ב-9/4/2006 21:05 |
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Received this by e-mail
Shame on you – self hating Jew!
What a Chutzpah!
Op-Ed piece by Lt. Jason Margolis President of NYPD Shomrim Society
titled Shame of Boro Park.
While racial slurs and epithets by decorated Police Officers are a far
removed from the moral equivalent of Nazi era oppression, it still is
an ugly form of Anti Semitism and must be decried as such.
Lt. Margolis there were no riots in Boro Park there was no mass
looting, destruction of property or personal injury, as most certainly would
have been the reaction in other minority communities in this city. The
misbehavior of two three individuals does not impeach the entire
community.
The crowd simply protested police brutality in a relatively peaceful
manner and the egotistical cops over reacted.
Note:
Jason Margolis is a resident of Queens NY and has no connection to Boro
Park.
The NYPD Shomrim Society is a Fraternal Police Organization whose
mission is the benefit of Police Officers, not as their name may imply ''the
protectors of the community.''
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/64184.htm
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| נשלח ב-9/4/2006 20:47 |
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Shloma: according to this picture on top of your post, you were not right with an earlier post stating that non Jews sparked the riots, as you could see on that picture that you posted there, it was already dark when the non Jew started his fire, and here you see Orthodox Jews make fires when it is still daylight outside.
Therefor I think you should take down that post.
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| נשלח ב-9/4/2006 18:45 |
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Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY - Arthur Schick Has History Of Explosive Temper
Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY - Employees who worked with kosher caterer Arthur Schick in a Manhattan Hotel, weren't surprised to hear Police Commissioner Ray Kelly claim he incited a riot in Borough Park on Tuesday night.
He's one grumpy old man, they said yesterday. "He was loud, he tried to intimidate people, he got pushy, and he would touch people," a worker at the Hilton New York said, recalling his close encounters with Schick years ago. "He would physically grab people and try and get them to clear off tables. The waiters asked the hotel security to remove him, and the hotel had to call the police. He was banned since then to cater any party."
A second hotel employee said that there was "no disguising" the 75-year-old Schick's explosive temper. When Schick was pulled over by cops in Brooklyn Tuesday for driving while talking on his cell phone - a traffic violation - he loudly complained of police mistreatment, and hundreds of Hasidic Jews went on a four-hour rampage, roughing up cops, damaging police vehicles and setting dozens of bonfires.
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| נשלח ב-9/4/2006 17:51 |
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The Young and the Restless Opinion Columnist
THE Orthodox Jews of Borough Park in Brooklyn lead a double life. They are at once an insular community, deliberately isolated from what many see as the corrupting force of the surrounding culture, and an integral and recognizable part of New York. That duality was on display last Tuesday, when protests erupted after an encounter between police officers and an Orthodox Jew who was stopped for talking on his cellphone while driving.
Of all the Jews in Brooklyn, about 37 percent call themselves Orthodox, and of all the neighborhoods in Brooklyn, none is a better known Orthodox heartland than Borough Park (or, as the locals spell it, Boro Park). The neighborhood, which took on a suburban character in the 1920's when rows of houses were built on tree-lined streets, has been transformed over the last 40 years from "suburb to shtetl," as the sociologist Egon Mayer put it.
The Hasidim and other ultra-Orthodox Jews make up a significant proportion of what seems to many outsiders an extraordinarily closed society, with its Yiddish vernacular and expressive Jewishness. which has more than 110 yeshivas, 240 synagogues and many Jewish specialty shops, and where the sexes are segregated to the greatest extent possible, they often you could feel that you are visiting another country.
Community leaders and most of the adults in the enclave know that they depend on the police to make their island in the city secure. They value their officers — even if they are certain that many have no understanding of the culture and society they protect. This is a profound change for a group that includes a great many children of Holocaust survivors as well as survivors themselves; in their collective memory, the police were often a part of the problem rather than a source of security. It is not surprising, therefore, that many of these older people, including the 75-year-old man at the center of the incident, were unwilling to condemn the police unequivocally.
Young people, born and raised in New York, were the ones who caused most of the hubbub last week, and for all the efforts their elders have made to insulate them from the surrounding culture, they've absorbed it. When they began yelling, "No justice, no peace," they were not quoting the Hebrew prophets or the Torah; they were echoing their African-American neighbors in the borough, who abhor what they perceive as disrespect from the police.
These young Orthodox Jews have learned how a beleaguered and threatened minority in this city can respond when it wants to rein in the police or the powerful. This Passover season, as the Jewish people celebrate their liberation from slavery, these youngsters wanted to express their liberation from what they saw as another too-powerful arm of tyranny — even if the problem was nothing more than a misunderstanding, rather than a return to the bondage of Egypt.
Their rabbis and elders must surely be concerned about this turn of events. More threatening than the incident with the police is the possibility that their children, the products of so much concern and education — the future of their community — may have become too much like the other New York, the one outside the enclave.
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| נשלח ב-9/4/2006 17:49 |
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Should Chief Esposito Be Disciplined
A New York media news outlet has launched a "Snap Poll" feature, which allowed subscribers in New York City to use their remote control to answer poll questions.
The results was
Yes 21.0%
No 76.0%
Undecided 2.0%
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| נשלח ב-7/4/2006 21:04 |
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By the way what's the whole point of an investigation, the mayor himself said already that he does not see that the police or police commissioner did anything wrong,(I guess they are close friends)
I would like to see an investigation with people from our community involved (not our politicians), to make sure that the right investigation takes place
In the mayor's speech he only accused us for demonstrating, he did not accused the police commissioner for using dirty language, I think this itself needs a complete investigation
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As a resident of Borough Park for the last 30 years, I question why is it that Hasidic Jews in Borough Park should get preferential treatment from the police? I have seen their immunity from being issued parking tickets.
How do they get away with striking police officers? If it were any other religious group, they might have gotten shot.