In the past few years I’ve been spending much of my time outside of New York, but now I’m here and I find that coming back is a bit challenging. When I’m in town I’m oblivious to the changes happening around me. Yes, I have eyes and I can see the changes but more often…
The Sabbath fire that killed seven children in an Orthodox Jewish family in Brooklyn on Saturday was at least the fourth deadly blaze in the borough resulting from Sabbath and holiday observance in the past 15 years. In all 11 people have been killed in the four fires, all but one of them children. At…
(JTA) — Naftali Berger’s quest for perfection ends in victory when the 24-year-old kollel student enters Tsvi Dahan’s trailer on Wallabout Street in the haredi Orthodox Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. “Find something wrong with it – find it!” a glowing Berger exclaims Monday as he holds his treasure: a bumpy, lemon-like fruit. In open-air markets…
A New York City firefighter killed in a weekend blaze earned accolades in the Satmar Hasidic community for saving a 7-year-old boy’s life just weeks before his tragic death in a Brooklyn public housing high-rise. Lt. Gordon “Matt” Ambelas was among the firefighters who rescued Mendy Gotlieb after the Satmar boy’s head and arm were…
Recently my 9-year-old son came home from school demanding I sign him up for sleep-away camp, which, he insisted, his best friend is attending for the entire summer. I nearly fell off the chair imagining my kid, who often forgets to remove his pajamas before he puts on his shorts on summer mornings, fending for…
Hasidim walk through Williamsburg / All photos courtesy of Mo Gelber Pro tip for anyone considering a tour of Hasidic Williamsburg: It’s not that big a deal. You do not need to wear a hat, broad-brimmed or otherwise. You may visit during the week, and you may visit on weekends. You may bring along with…
Five haredi Orthodox Jewish men were indicted for attacking a gay black man in Brooklyn. The five were charged Wednesday in New York state Supreme Court in Brooklyn with gang assault and other counts for the December attack, but not for hate crimes, WABC-TV reported. They were associated with a civilian neighborhood watch group, the…
The New York Police Department has arrested four Hasidic men in the December beating of a black gay man in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, according to news reports. The NYPD confirmed to the Forward that four men were in custody, but had no information about what they were being held for. The December 1 attack took place…
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