Edited by: Fern Sidman

Manolo De Los Santos, the 35-year-old executive director of The People’s Forum (TPF), a Midtown-based nonprofit, has become a central figure in the wave of anti-Israel protests at Columbia University, as was reported on Monday in the New York Post. His life and career are marked by a deep commitment to radical activism, influenced heavily by his extended stays in Cuba and his roots in the Dominican Republic.

Born in the Dominican Republic and relocated to The Bronx at the age of five, De Los Santos’s journey into activism began early. His initial visit to Cuba in 2006 with the progressive religious group, Pastors for Peace, marked the beginning of a long-term engagement with the socialist state, according to the Post report. Over the years, he has traveled back to Cuba, including a trip as recent as March, to protest the US blockade, which has been in place since 1962.

As the leading voice of TPF since 2018, De Los Santos has been a polarizing figure. His public statements and actions have frequently sparked controversy, especially given his recent descriptions of the October 7 Hamas attack as “heroic” and his calls for Israel to be “erased from history,” as per the Post report. De

Los Santos’s advocacy extends beyond the confines of TPF. His history of participating in disruptive protests in New York City, often accompanied by provocative, incendiary rhetoric, paints a picture of a man whose methods and statements are on the extreme, as was indicated in the Post report. His stance against “US hegemony” and support for the “defeat” of the “US empire” align with his broader anti-establishment philosophy, reflecting a consistent pattern of promulgating a Marxist agenda.

This radical approach has not only made De Los Santos a figure of admiration among certain left-wing circles but also a subject of intense scrutiny and criticism. His refusal to engage with mainstream media, demonstrated by his recent decline to speak to The Post, adds to the aura of a staunch radical unwilling to moderate his stance for broader appeal.

Speaking at a public gathering, De Los Santos declared, “When we finally deal that final blow to destroy Israel, when the state of Israel is finally destroyed and erased from history, that will be the single most important blow we can give to destroying capitalism and imperialism in our lifetime,” the Post report said. This statement, captured in a now-viral video, has sparked a firestorm of criticism and condemnation.

The severity of De Los Santos’s language prompted Ritchie Torres, a Democratic Representative from South Bronx, to denounce his speech as akin to “Nazi rhetoric,” as was noted in the Post report. Torres’s condemnation extended to urging Goldman Sachs to sever its philanthropic connections with TPF, which he linked not only to these inflammatory comments but also to associations with the Chinese Communist Party, the report added.

The specific reference by De Los Santos to the “final blow” to Israel mirrors historical extremist rhetoric, particularly disturbing given the context of ongoing violence in the Middle East, where, as Torres noted, “Thousands of Israelis were massacred, maimed, mutilated, abducted, raped, and tortured at the murderous hands of Hamas,” according to the information contained in the Post report.

Following the backlash, De Los Santos affirmed that he framed the criticism as a “propaganda trick by the apologists for genocide.”

By: Alana Goodman

Two public school employees are suing the New York City Department of Education for “failing to protect public school teachers and students from vile and aggressive anti-Semitism.”

Origins High School in Brooklyn and Department of Education officials declined to discipline students after they marched through campus chanting “f— the Jews,” gave Nazi salutes, and posted swastikas in a Jewish teacher’s classroom, according to the lawsuit. The court filing also accuses Origins High School principal Dara Kammerman of retaliating against teachers who complained about the incidents.

The lawsuit comes amid a surge in anti-Semitism at schools across the country in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. While many of those incidents have taken place on college campuses, anti-Semitism watchdogs say anti-Jewish attacks are also on the rise at lower level schools.

Jim Walden, an attorney for the public school employees who filed the suit, said it was “simply shocking that the DOE refused to protect its own people and—worse—retaliated against them to put a lid on the vile, anti-Semitic behavior.”

The lawsuit was filed by Danielle Kaminsky, a teacher at Origins High School in Brooklyn, and Michael Beaudry, an administrator at the same school, in federal court on Friday. The New York City Department of Education and Kammerman are named as defendants.

Kaminsky, who is Jewish, said she complained to administrators after students at the school chanted “f— the Jews” and “Death to Israel” during a pro-Hamas protest on campus just four days after the October attacks in Israel.

She said the principal, Kammerman, declined to take action and accused her of exaggerating the problem. In the months that followed, a group of students targeted Kaminsky by drawing swastikas on her chalkboard, calling her a “dirty Jew,” and pasting Palestinian flags on her door, according to the lawsuit.

Beaudry, the campus manager at Origins, said his complaints about the anti-Semitism were also brushed away by Kammerman. He said Kammerman discouraged him from reporting to the police a bomb threat from one of the students. Shortly after, another student was caught trying to bring explosives into the school, according to the lawsuit.

The school later moved Beaudry to “work from home” status, which the lawsuit alleges was in retaliation for his complaints.

New York City public schools spokesman Nathaniel Styer said the department is reviewing the lawsuit. He said schools chancellor David Banks has initiated a “Meeting the Moment” plan to address anti-Semitism “quickly with appropriate discipline, education, and engagement with our communities.”

“Every country in the world is represented in NYC Public Schools, and our schools are not insulated from global events, nor the hate, fear, or bigotry that accompanies times like these,” said Styer. “Students and staff deserve to be safe and respected in their school and Origins High School is no different. We will review this lawsuit.”

The employees are represented in the lawsuit by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under the Law, an anti-Semitism legal watchdog group.

The Brandeis Center’s Mark Goldfeder, who is a counsel on the lawsuit, said primary schools and high schools are experiencing a similar spike in anti-Semitic incidents as U.S. colleges in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

“We are seeing the same kind of ‘anti-Zionist’ anti-Semitism manifest itself earlier and earlier,” said Goldfeder during a press briefing on Capitol Hill on Friday.

           (FreeBeacon.com)

By: Benyamin Davidsons

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has signed contracts totaling close to $7 billion to build two new borough-based jail facilities.

As reported by Crain’s NY, the borough-based jails to be erected in Queens and the Bronx are to serve as replacements for the ailing Rikers Island, which will be permanently shuttered. The contracts inked were with two New York-based design-build teams.  The City’s Department of Design and Construction awarded a $2.9 billion contract to the Sweet Group (which is part of the limited liability company Transformative Reform Group) to build the Bronx facility.   It granted another $3.9 billion contract to Leon D. DeMatteis Construction Corp, to build the Queens facility.  The total for the contracts came to $6.8 billion, as per a notice which appeared in the city register on Monday.

The planned Bronx jail will be built at 745 E. 141st St. in Mott Haven on the site of the former Lincoln Hospital and an NYPD tow pound.

The jail is slated to span 777,150-square-feet.  The Sweet Group, located at 5 Hanover Square in the Financial District, has previous experience working with the city on building out numerous Covid-19 vaccination units across NYC’s five boroughs. The firm is also responsible for erecting the 28-story WeWork building at 10 Wall St. and the Queens Public Library Mitchell Linden Technology Annex Branch expansion.

Per Crain’s, the Queens jail project is planned at 126-02 82nd Ave. in Kew Gardens, on the site of the former Queens Detention Complex.

The 764,350-square-foot facility is to be erected by the Elmont, Nassau County, company run by the DeMatteis family.  The Long Island-based firm is also currently working on the project to construct a 310,274-square-foot Success Academy Charter Schools campus in the Bronx, slated for completion in 2026.

The contracts for the Bronx and Queens facilities are not final and are still subject to a public hearing to take place May 16, as per the city’s notice.  Construction at both sites is slated to begin in August, said a spokesman for the Department of Design and Construction.

The Sweet Group and Leon D. DeMatteis Construction Corp. did not provide comment.

In all, four new facilities are planned to replace Rikers Island. The other two are planned for Brooklyn and Manhattan.  Last year, the city inked a $2.9 billion contract with Los Angeles-based firm Tutor Perini to erect the Brooklyn jail, Crain’s reported. A contract for the Manhattan facility has yet to be awarded. Together the four jails will cost $15.5 billion to build.  Each of the four facilities will hold 1,040 beds, said Jeffrey Margolies, a spokesman for the Department of Design and Construction.  The Queens site will be the only jail for women, with 590 beds to be provided for female detainees from all five boroughs. In total, the four jails will have capacity to detain 4,160 persons.

Rikers jail complex, situated in the middle of the East River, currently has a much larger capacity—and can detain 6,000 prisoners.

In 2017 former-Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to close the notorious Rikers Island, and set up a roadmap to replacing the complex with a smaller “network of modern, safe and humane facilities”.  The legally mandated August 2027 deadline to shutter Rikers, however, seems untenable. In March, Jacques Jiha, the city’s budget director, told the City Council that deadline is “not going to happen.”

By:  Ellen Cans

The New York Times’ executive editor publicly criticized former colleague Bari Weiss, who has since launched the independent news outlet “The Free Press.” As reported by the NY Post, Joe Kahn, who oversees all of the NY Times’ global newsroom operations, quipped about Weiss, telling Semafor  News, “she’s got a single note, and keeps playing it up over and over again.”  Weiss is also “missing a commitment to deeper reporting [at the Times] and a willingness to kind of look at issues from a 360 perspective that if you were only reading Bari Weiss’ version, you would expect never existed,”  Kahn  said.

Weiss worked as an opinion writer and editor at the NY Times from 2017 to 2020, and then left the Times and founded The Free Press in January 2021, expanding her Substack newsletter entitled “Common Sense”.  Weiss’ exit from the NY Times had made quite a stir, as the 40-year-old journalist had posted her resignation letter on her news organization’s website.

In it, she had criticized “the paper’s failure to anticipate the outcome of the 2016 election,” which Weiss said “meant that it didn’t have a firm grasp of the country it covers.”  “The lessons that ought to have followed the election — lessons about the importance of understanding other Americans, the necessity of resisting tribalism, and the centrality of the free exchange of ideas to a democratic society — have not been learned,” Weiss wrote, adding that “Twitter has become its ultimate editor” and the NY Times has become “a kind of a performance space.”

Weiss didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment regarding Kahn’s criticism.

Despite Kahn’s harsh words, he admitted to Semafor that he still reads The Free Press.

“She’s built a whole media organization around combating and what she sees is excess of The New York Times and elsewhere,” Kahn added of Weiss, noting that the site still has “valuable reporting.”  He added, “I think there’s some stuff that they’re doing that is worth paying attention to. Do I think she’s right about the [Times]? Not really, no.”

When asked about the upcoming election in November, and whether it’s his job to help Joe Biden win the matchup against GOP nominee Donald Trump, Kahn said that the NY Times is a “pillar” of democracy but not a tool of power. Kahn did admit, however that the Times presents “a much more favorable view of Biden’s conduct over foreign policy at a difficult time than the polling shows the general public believes.”  “I think the general public actually believes that he’s responsible for these wars, which  is ridiculous, based on the facts that we’ve reported,” Kahn told Semafor, adding that the Times doesn’t make a big deal about Biden’s age like other papers do.

AllSides, which measures media bias ratings for news organizations, has identified the NY Times as left leaning, meaning its content “aligns with liberal, progressive or left-wing thought and/or policy agendas.”  By AllSide’s standards, the Free Press has no lean and is categorized as “center”.

By:  Hal C Clarke

The tranquility of Columbia University and the City College of New York was shattered Tuesday night as police raided encampments, leading to the arrest of numerous individuals. What made this incident particularly noteworthy was the revelation that many of those apprehended were not even students of these esteemed institutions but seasoned anti-Israel protesters.

The NY Post’s Kevin Sheehan, Joe Marino, David Propper and Ronny Reyes, dove into the backgrounds of the radicals on campus.

As details emerged, it became apparent that the massive police response was necessitated by the escalating chaos on the campuses besieged by protests. Over 280 arrests were made, with Columbia University witnessing rioters breaking into academic buildings and camping out on the South Lawn. City College, located 20 blocks north, also saw its share of unrest, with protesters taken into custody.

Among those detained was Fernando Bobis, a 42-year-old internal medicine doctor from Washington Heights. Bobis, arrested at CUNY, expressed his grievances about the conditions he endured behind bars, highlighting the challenges faced due to his Type 1 diabetes. His account shed light on the ordeal faced by the arrested protesters, who spent hours in holding cells without basic amenities.

Another prominent figure among the non-student detainees was Jesse Pape, a known anti-Israel protester who has previously clashed with law enforcement during similar rallies. Pape’s arrest on assault charges underscored the volatile nature of the protests, with allegations of violence against law enforcement officers.

The presence of individuals like Pape, who have a history of involvement in anti-Israel demonstrations, raised concerns about the underlying motivations behind the protests. Pape’s social media activity, which included posts advocating for Palestinian liberation and using controversial slogans, further fueled speculation about the ideological underpinnings of the protests.

James Carlson, another non-student arrested at Columbia, faced charges related to burglary and his involvement in past protests that disrupted local infrastructure. His arrest was emblematic of the broader trend of individuals with a history of involvement in civil unrest being drawn to the protests at Columbia and City College.

Nora Fayad and Amelia Fuller, both non-students arrested at City College, added to the complexity of the situation. Fayad’s previous participation in protests chanting pro-Hamas slogans and Fuller’s involvement in blocking the Williamsburg Bridge highlighted the diverse backgrounds of those arrested in connection with the protests.

The arrest of Barnard College student Maryam Iqbal, who had previously been arrested during an attempt to clear out encampments at Columbia, underscored the involvement of students from affiliated institutions in the protests. Iqbal’s commitment to the cause of Palestinian liberation, despite facing suspension and eviction from Barnard, reflected the deeply held convictions of many involved in the demonstrations.

Aidan Parisi, a postgraduate student at Columbia, found himself embroiled in controversy after hosting an event that sparked backlash for its perceived support of Hamas. Parisi’s suspension from the Ivy League institution and subsequent involvement in the protests highlighted the tensions surrounding free speech and political activism on college campuses.

As the dust settled on the raids and the arrested individuals awaited legal proceedings, questions lingered about the role of outside agitators in instigating and perpetuating the unrest. Mayor Eric Adams’ assertion that “outside agitators” were responsible for radicalizing young people underscored concerns about external influences shaping the trajectory of the protests.

Amidst the turmoil, voices of dissent from Marxist and racist radicals  emerged from within the academic community, with professors and students expressing frustration over the handling of the protests by university administrations.

By:  Serach Nissim

A pair of state lawmakers are introducing a bill that would prop up New York wine and liquor stores to help their businesses.

As reported by the NY Post, NYS Sen. Michelle Hinchey quietly introduced a controversial bill which would allow wine and liquor stores and their distributors to sell “non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic beverages”.  This is a small but quickly growing niche that liquor store owners say could help sales, which have slowed since the end of the pandemic.  The bill, however, is sure to be unpopular with grocers and their supporters.  NYS is among only 17 states that don’t allow wine and liquor stores to sell non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits. It is also, however, one of only 10 states which does not allow grocery stores to sell wine or liquor. Supermarkets and grocers, which are only allowed to sell beer in NY, have been lobbying heavily against this law, which has been untouched since the Prohibition era.

Last year, grocers pushed a bill to grant them the right to sell alcohol, but it failed to pass due to strong opposition from liquor stores, per the Post.

Over the past 12 months, sales of alcoholic beverages in the United States inched up just 0.8% to $105 billion.  During that same timeframe, sales of non-alcoholic booze jumped an impressive 34% to $620.4 million, according to NielsenIQ.  So, although still modest in market size, the non-alcoholic booze is becoming a significant niche worth fighting for.  Currently, grocers and convenience stores are the ones legally allowed to sell non-alcoholic wines, spirits and mocktails, along with specialty stores which sell only non-alcoholic beverages.

Wine and liquor store owners say their sales are down by more than 10 percent over the past year, per members of the Albany-based Metropolitan Package Store Association, which represents 3,500 liquor stores. “2023 was a difficult year for us,” Daniel Posner, owner of Grapes the Wine Company of White Plains, told The Post. “Most retailers’ sales were off anywhere from 15% to 35%.”

“Consumers are not purchasing as much alcohol for at-home consumption,” noted Kaleigh Theriault, NielsonIQ’s director of beverage alcohol thought leadership. Michael Correra, a Brooklyn liquor store owner who is executive director of the Metropolitan Package Store Association, suggested “I think the legalization of marijuana is taking business away.” Correra added, “And Ozempic is an issue for us because people are not drinking when they are taking those drugs.”

“It’s incredibly important to us to support our liquor stores,” Hinchey told The Post. “They are family owned, local small businesses that are on our main streets and this could be a new revenue stream for them.”  State Assemblyman Al Stirpe has put forth a companion bill in the lower house. So far, the bills haven’t garnered too much opposition.  “There hasn’t been a big push yet,” Hinchey said.

“It’s a new bill.”

Many, however, expect severe backlash from grocery stores.  Nelson Eusebio, who heads government relations for the National Supermarket Association, which represents 600 independent stores in NYC, said he hadn’t heard about the bill before he was contacted for comment by the Post.  “It’s a fair trade provided that we get to sell the wine,” Eusebio said. “We would block their bill if they don’t allow us to get wine. They keep making a scene about us selling wine, so why would we give them even potato chips?”

By: Ilana Siyance

In the latest sign of the looming migrant crisis, another posh hotel in the center of Broadway is reportedly being utilized as a shelter.

As reported by the New York Post, The Square Hotel, located at 226 West 50th Street between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, across the street from Gershwin Theatre, has been converted into a shelter. The Square Hotel posted a message on its Facebook page saying: “To our valued guests: it is with great sadness that we announce the Square Hotel will be closed for the foreseeable future. We appreciate your patronage and hope to welcome you back someday soon.” The hotel’s website has a similarly cryptic post, making no reference to its use as a shelter, saying: “Please pardon our appearance as we slip into something new! We look forward to welcoming you in the future.”

The 141-room boutique hotel, centrally located in the theatre district and less than 10 minutes’ walk to Rockefeller Center, was built in 1904 and last renovated in 2017. The 7-story hotel boasts “Art Nouveau styled hotel rooms” with “sophisticated furniture, plush beds with down comforters and deluxe linens, flat-screen televisions with cable”, and a rooftop terrace. It still features a Japanese restaurant and bar in its lobby. According to the information in the Post report however, the scene inside the hotel has completely changed. There is now a National Guard soldier stationed at the entrance of the lobby. A couple signing in with luggage was escorted by National Guard troops.

Critics were disappointed that the hotel would convert into a shelter. “These hotels could be doing a fine tourist business right now, but they are being lazy, and a sure-thing 100-percent occupancy on the city dime, and without having to provide traditional hotel services, is just too good a deal to pass up,” said Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute in a highly astute comment.

Other pro-business advocates said it’s sad that the city and the hotel industry are turning the iconic Broadway District into a hub for illegal migrants. “We consider the Broadway District a key to the city’s economy. There is only one Broadway —in the entire world!” said state Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar, who seeks to preserve the legacy of the “Great White Way” and what it means for New York City.

The head of the Hotel Association of New York City said hotels are helping the city deal with the migrant crisis. “The hotels make their own choices as to whether or not to participate. During the Covid crisis, hotels stepped up to the plate, and when it ended they went back to their normal course of tourism business,” Hotel Association CEO Vijay Dandapani said, in a statement, according to the Post report.

For their part, the migrants say the shelters are their only hope as they flee their homelands, which are in upheaval and where poverty is the only option. They say the shelters act as a lifeline while they adjust and find work to become self-sufficient. “We all pay the price for one or two bad guys. One guy goes to do something bad and then they say all Venezuelans are bad,” Jesus Delber, 27, told The Post. “But not everyone is like that. I came to work. I didn’t find work for three months. But I didn’t give up,” added Delbert.

By: Rob Otto

The tranquil streets of the Upper East Side were jolted into a state of disquiet as news spread of a disturbing sight within the confines of Ignacio’s Tailor shop on East 60th Street. A Nazi swastika, a potent emblem of hate and persecution, hung in plain view, sending shockwaves through the community and eliciting a chorus of condemnation from patrons and neighbors alike. What followed was a tumultuous saga of apologies, investigations, and soul-searching, as the shop found itself at the center of an unexpected storm.

The NY Post reported extensively on this local story, which displays Jew hatred in permeating NYC.

The management of Ignacio’s Tailor shop wasted no time in addressing the incendiary situation. In a public statement, Jorge Hernandez, a manager at the establishment, expressed profound dismay, characterizing the incident as a malicious attempt to harm the business. “For me, I feel like it’s a hate situation. It’s the first time we had this situation… they want to hurt the business,” Hernandez lamented, his words laden with frustration and disbelief.

City Councilwoman Julie Menin, upon learning of the distressing display, took swift action, sharing a photograph of the offensive symbol on social media. “A constituent in my district alerted me to the fact that a tailor on the UES has this hanging in his queue to be tailored. I have reached out to this business and they will not be tailoring this item and @NYPDnews is currently investigating,” Menin declared, amplifying the public outcry and signaling the commencement of an official inquiry into the matter.

Amidst the furor, Jewish activist Lizzy Savetsky emerged as a vocal critic of the shop’s involvement in handling the swastika-adorned garment. Drawing from her family’s harrowing history in the Holocaust, Savetsky underscored the profound significance of the symbol and demanded accountability from those responsible. “The tailor allegedly knew what the symbol was and took the job anyway,” Savetsky asserted, her words resonating with a potent mix of anger and sorrow.

As the spotlight intensified, questions emerged regarding the circumstances surrounding the presence of the offensive symbol within the shop’s premises. Hernandez provided insights into the sequence of events, detailing how a photograph of the swastika surfaced before the management was made aware of the situation, leading to widespread public outcry and a flurry of negative reviews.

Efforts to trace the origins of the garment revealed a perplexing scenario involving a couple who purportedly dropped off the offending item. “I say, ‘what is this?’ I have to do [my job]. It’s very disgusting, very bad. It’s a very bad thing that happened,” Hernandez lamented, reflecting on the disturbing turn of events and the toll it had taken on the shop’s reputation.

In the aftermath of the incident, Ignacio’s Tailor shop found itself besieged by irate phone calls and negative reviews, its once-pristine image tarnished by association with the abhorrent symbol of hate. However, amidst the tumult, a voice of compassion emerged from a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, who recognized the shop as a victim rather than a willing participant in the distressing episode.

As investigations continue and the community grapples with the far-reaching repercussions of this unsettling event, profound questions linger about the prevalence of hate symbols and the responsibilities of businesses in confronting such manifestations of bigotry. The saga serves as a stark reminder of the enduring power of symbols and the urgent need for vigilance.