The Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island was awarded almost $500,000 in federal funding to repair damages that occurred during Superstorm Sandy. The Federal Emergency Management Agency originally allocated $1,860 to the council for the devastation its buildings received during the October 2013 hurricane. On Friday, FEMA allocated an additional $482,500. “This is great…
The Lady Aye from Jewish Daily Forward on Vimeo. “For me a lot of the skill is not so much in shocking the audience — it’s in building the suspense,” explained Ilise S. Carter, a professional part-time sword swallower in New York who performs under the name “Lady Aye.” And it’s true. Most of us…
New York beachgoers were stunned over the weekend when a plane flew overhead trailing a banner bearing a swastika. The Raelian group, an organization who believes that the swastika should be reintegrated as a symbol for peace, commissioned the fly-by, which was visible from heavily Jewish beach neighborhoods like Brighton Beach and Coney Island. The…
Pinny Dembitzer bounced his SUV past the “For Sale” signs lining Sea Gate’s Atlantic Avenue, slamming his way through potholes in this gated community on the western tip of Coney Island. Dembitzer apologized for the rough ride. His car, like most cars in the neighborhood, replaced one that was destroyed in October 2012, when Hurricane…
Seated on the balcony of his apartment in the Far Rockaway section of Queens with a spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean, Mike Greenstein, 92, is matter-of-fact about his Superman powers. Just recently, he participated in this year’s Olde Time Coney Island Strongman Spectacular, pulling a truck with a chain clenched between his teeth. “It’s…
The Coney Island statue depicting Jackie Robinson was rededicated in a special ceremony on Monday, the New York Daily News reported. Earlier this month, the statue had been covered in racist graffiti and anti-Semitic slurs, which the city Parks Department has since removed. The vandals have not been found, and a $50,000 reward has been…
The Wonder Wheel is revolving, the air is awash in overly sweet smells and tinny music is everywhere. Soon the curtain will once again rise on the iconic Sideshows by the Seashore. The last time I visited, it was a windless, midwinter day. Brooklyn’s Coney Island was eerily desolate, and the only sound was that…
At age 81, the photographer Harold Feinstein is developing cataracts. But he’s been wearing glasses since he was a boy, and he scoffs at the idea of surgery. “Imagine someone telling me I’ll see better,” he said with an impish grin beneath his flowing white beard. Feinstein is not one for false modesty. Early in…
