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Letters to the Editor

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Rallies and the Rise of Anti-Semitism

Dear Editor:

The small-to-moderate size rallies currently demonstrating the frustration of Jews of conscience over the rise of anti-Semitism in the US, including those in which I have participated, is heartening, but ultimately of little practical effect.

Absent a major and coordinated national response by organized Jewry, it can be said that the “golden age” of American Jewry has peaked and will decline. While right-wing neo-Nazi assailants must be outed and fought, it is the mainly politically liberal orientation of organized Jewry which prohibits them from recognizing and acting against the real threat to support for Israel and American Jewry: the leftist-Islamist alliance.

That alliance is poisoning all academic environments, promoting BDS and delegitimization, destroying support for Israel with false charges amongst academic elites and thus the next generation–and now electing leftist and Islamist extremists into all levels of government. This narrative is not what organized Jewry prefers to discuss. Yes, the neo-Nazis must be smashed–but they are not the threat to the presence of Jews in America, nor can they threaten Israel. First and foremost, the leftist-Islamist alliance’s design is the destruction of Israel.

Sincerely

Jeff Wiesenfeld

 


Shame on Candidates for Boycotting AIPAC

Dear Editor:

You can judge a person’s character by the company they keep. The following Democratic Party 2020 Presidential Primary candidates did not attend the recent American Israel Public Affairs Committee Washington DC Conference. There was no excuse as the event was scheduled many months earlier. This dishonor role included Senators Corey Booker (New Jersey), Bernie Sanders (Vermont), Kamala Harris (California), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), Congressmember Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), former Congressmember Beto O’Rourke (Texas), John Delaney (Maryland), Governor Jay Insle (Washington), former Governor John Hickenloop (Colorado), Mayor Pete Buttigieg (South Bend, Indiana), and former San Antonio Mayor/Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs Julian Castro were nowhere to be found. Several hid in the comfort of their Capital Hill Offices to hold meetings with AIPAC representatives away from any media coverage.

Contrast this with the fact that most found the time to attend and speak at the Reverand Al Sharpton’s Annual National Action Network Conference held this past week in Manhattan. This list included Beto O’Rourke, Julian Castro, John Delaney, Pete Buttigieg, John Hickenlooper, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker. Those who could not find the time to publicly attend the AIPAC Washington conference yet found the time to hold hands and kiss the ring of Al Sharpton looking for his political blessing are not kosher when it comes to being a true friend of Israel. They do not deserve either your vote or campaign contribution.

Sincerely,

Larry Penner

 


Disagrees with Cuomo on MTA Ineptness

Dear Editor,

I was a little irked by the governor’s comments and attitude from your article “Cuomo Slams MTA for Ineptness at Association for a Better New York Luncheon.”

“Vendors are installing technology they designed in the ’80s. I believe there is better technology out there,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “If you can figure out how a car can fly and you can get in a car that drives you by itself to Southampton, you have to be able to have technology where one train can tell you where the other train is on a closed system.”

He’s talking like a true politician. His words mean nothing, and he may not know what he’s talking about. It’s really convenient to be in a position where you can just wish for things that are untenable or don’t exist yet, especially coming from the guy who says he is not in control of the MTA, until he declares an emergency and then does as he pleases while skirting any and all responsibility for the everyday problems of New Yorkers.

The newer technology is on PATH trains now. The railroad was required to meet the PTC mandate. The subway system actually has CBTC on the L train Canarsie line and is working out the kinks on the newly installed CBTC technology on the 7 train Flushing line. The technology, paired with experienced subway operators and dispatchers, could allow lines to operate over 30 trains an hour, which would mean waiting less than two minutes for a train and still having a safer ride. With more train frequency, there is also less dangerous crowding on platforms and fewer delays from dwell time.

Even though this technology is promising, the agency has dragged its feet. The technology would really help the system, as would continuously expanding it. I don’t know what the governor is talking about when he says better technology exists. He ought to let the agency do its work without impugning the character and integrity of so many MTA employees.

Sincerely,

Lisa Friedman

 


The Future of Ride-Share Companies

Dear Editor,

I read your article “Carl Icahn Sold his Stake in Lyft to George Soros Before its IPO” and still wonder how these ride-share companies are even supposed to make money. And this is before we even get into the environmental disaster that these extra vehicles are causing.

Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green rang the Nasdaq opening bell remotely on Friday from a downtown Los Angeles warehouse in a ceremony attended by Lyft drivers, employees and their families, and the stock went up and down since.

Meanwhile, Icahn didn’t give a reason for his sale of his Lyft stake but was reportedly unhappy that Zimmer and Green were given super-voting shares that gave them outsized voting power at the company.

In any case, I still am curious to see how companies like Lyft and Uber progress from here. I wouldn’t expect the standardization of autonomous vehicles anytime soon, and investors had already been helping these companies make the rides their workers provide artificially cheap. As it is, I’ve wondered where people are getting this money to afford paying for these car services when a subway or bus ride costs $2.75 and a bike ride is virtually free. What happens if Lyft has to start charging significantly more?

These vehicles are not the way of the future in cities anyway. Buses and trains can move thousands of passengers at rates far more efficient than vehicles that often have one or two occupants. All of the space taken up by these vehicles adds up quickly, as do the toxic emissions that are harmful to the environment, life, and contribute to climate change.

If only our country had the same enthusiasm about walking, biking, skating, and riding buses and trains as it did for cars, then maybe we would be able to create a more just society where getting around is cheap, sustainable, and brings together the community.

Sincerely,

Amber Rasey

Why the Left Hates Netanyahu So Passionately

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Benjamin Netanyahu left few cartridges in his opponents' arsenals. He has made Israel richer and safer; he used military force without being sucked into war; he has improved relations with hostile neighbors and world leaders and was elected prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to today. Photo Credit: Flash 90

Binyamin Netanyahu is the other Israel. That’s why the Left hates him

Benjamin Netanyahu left few cartridges in his opponents’ arsenals. He has made Israel richer and safer; he used military force without being sucked into war; he has improved relations with hostile neighbors and world leaders and was elected prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to today.

Voters from conservative religious, Russian-speaking immigrants and Mizrahi (Jews from the Arab world) remain his solid base of Likud. They are the nemesis of the leftist élite. Big families from traditional, conservative societies of the Arab world.

The secret of Netanyahu’s success lies in places such as Kiryat Malachi, the “city of angels”, a stronghold of the conservatism of large families. The sons of “Israel hashniah”, the second Israel, which did not establish the state, but became its strength, those of the refugee camps of tents and DDT sprinkled on the new arrivals, the youths relegated to the army to the humblest jobs, while the élite like Shimon Peres climbed the Ministry of Defense. The right-wing revisionists, the religious Jews, the Mizrahi Jews who emigrated from the Arab lands, the petty bourgeoisie of the new cities, all were neglected and hated by the old Israeli establishment.

Labor has the highest number of votes in 28 of the 33 richest cities, while the Likud enjoys a very high majority in the lower-middle economy classes; In 64 of these 77 cities, the first is the Likud. Netanyahu wins in Judea and Samaria, but also on the outskirts of the Green Line, in places such as Sderot (42.8), Ashkelon (39.8), Or Yehuda (40.5), Ramle (39.8), Tiberias (44.5) and Kiryat Shmona (39.9).

In this last city Peres and his ministers were whistled at loudly when they visited the city, while Netanyahu was hailed as a hero. These are the cities under Hamas and Hezbollah threats and most of them are cities inhabited by Jews from the Arab world. Netanyahu has 40 percent of the votes in peripheral cities such as Beersheba and Ashdod.

The centrist coalition is strong in the coastal megalopolis from Tel Aviv to Haifa. It is the “white tribe” of Ashkenazi Jews whose families have been in the country longer, they are secular, connected, educated, globalized, with higher incomes. In Kfar Shamriyahu, the richest city in Israel, left-wing parties have 75 percent. It is an amorphous group of Jews of Ashkenazi origin who live north of Tel Aviv and deeply despise the religious Jews. The right-wing Likud was once the party of the educated bourgeoisie. Today it is voted for by the lower economic class, which feels excluded and oppressed by the élite. The majority of the Israeli left is made up of senior state officials, middle-senior pensioners, professors, professionals, whose careers and lives have always been based on state institutions. They grew up in the world of Ben Gurion, while Israeli society was changing.

But the majority of the Ashkenazis do vote for Netanyahu. Like those who have a shop, or are an entrepreneur. The left is voted for by old pensioners in nursing homes raised in a socialist society. The immigrants vote on the right. The young people, those who arrived thirty years ago, also vote right. The poor in Israel are less socialist than the rich.

The ideological consensus is vastly for the right. The strong ideas are that there is no option for peace with the Palestinians; an aggressive foreign policy towards Iran; economically in favor of the free market and less welfare; a cultural traditionalism. The Left would turn Israel into a multicultural society.

In Israel during the 1990s there was a strong attempt by the old elite to say “we have arrived at peace and we have to pay a price”. The Israelis tried for ten years, until Ariel Sharon. Then they woke up. There will be no “peace”.

The Left tried to commit suicide. And it lost all credibility.

(INN)

Speaking Out Against Anti-Israeli Bashing at NYU in Open Letter to College President

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In April 2018, NYU President Andrew D. Hamilton denounced the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This was an amazing step forward for the community and for helping Jewish and pro-Israel students feel safe on campus. Photo Credit: NYU

On April 4th, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) announced on their Facebook page that they were selected to receive the NYU President’s Service Award, given to students that have had an “extraordinary” and “positive” impact on the school’s community. It is clear to so many students on campus, Jewish, non-Jewish and pro-Israel, that this group does the exact opposite of improving the “quality of student life at New York University.” This has not yet been confirmed by NYU, but even the possibility cannot be ignored and must be addressed.

SJP has worked immensely hard each year to demonstrate their anti-Israel hatred, sometimes even violently, in more ways than one. Realize Israel, a pro-Israel group on NYU’s campus, mentioned in a Facebook post that members of SJP have defaced Israel’s flag, physically assaulted pro-Israel students, and continually present factually inaccurate anti-Israel resolutions to the Student Government Assembly. Why celebrate such behaviors with an award? Why give an award to an organization that, in itself, is “anti” and not to an organization that is, solely, “pro?”

We ask NYU’s Senior Vice President of Student Affairs, Marc Wais, if any of the pro-Israel groups on campus will be selected for this year’s award because none were chosen in 2018. We hope that NYU’s leadership recognizes that 1) Israel is at the forefront of improving the world with its focus on human rights, diversity, and equality for all its citizens 2) Israel, a country the size of New Jersey, is leading the world in innovation within the healthcare, agriculture, and various technological fields. 3) When Humanitarian crises strike throughout world, particularly natural disasters, Israel is, always, one of the first countries to utilize their financial resources, technology, and manpower to help recover and rebuild. How ironic is it that, a group, who has blatantly shamed students who devote their efforts to support a country that helps communities all over the world, is now being praised?

In April 2018, NYU President Andrew D. Hamilton denounced the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This was an amazing step forward for the community and for helping Jewish and pro-Israel students feel safe on campus. The Jewish, non-Jewish and pro-Israel community thanked him then and again say now— THANK YOU President Hamilton for standing against the BDS movement. But why is the student organization that very much supports the BDS movement allegedly receiving your prestigious President’s Service Award?

President Andrew D. Hamilton must review this decision. The severity of the situation is unfathomable, as the repercussion of this action would result in a great detriment to the community— especially for Jewish and pro-Israel students who already feel quite unsafe.

As a student studying in New York City and a member of the pro-Israel community, I feel that honoring SJP would be a huge step back in the progress we have made in striving to make our communities feel safe and comfortable. So many students feel ashamed or embarrassed in their pro-Israel ideals because of organizations like SJP, who aim to disregard, deter, and diminish any such freedoms of belief and support for Israel. I hope that this sentiment is recognized and seriously considered before making the mistake of honoring this organization.

In the words on Alan Dershowitz: “No country in the history of the world has ever contributed more to humankind and accomplished more for its people in so brief a period of time as Israel has done since its relatively recent rebirth in 1948.”

Sincerely,

Romy Ronen
Freshman at Columbia University
Member, Israeli-American Council–Act.IL New York Media Room

Turkey’s Elections: What Do They Mean for Turkey and Erdogan?

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On March 31, the Turks went to the ballot box to elect mayors for their cities. Ostensibly the election results marked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 15thconsecutive election victory since his (Islamist) Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November 2002. The AKP won the biggest number of votes (44%) nationwide. Its ultra-nationalist ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) won 7% of the vote. That was good news for Erdoğan. In reality, it was good but incomplete news for Turkey’s Islamist strongman.

“Who loses Istanbul [in elections] loses Turkey,” Erdoğan roared in a 2018 speech, underlying the importance of big Turkish cities in municipal elections.

He may be right. Winning Istanbul and Ankara was how political Islam eventually won Turkey. Precisely 25 years ago, in March 1994, the municipal elections caused a series of seismic events in the then-secular Turkish political landscape: In an altogether shocking election result the (Islamist) Welfare Party (RP) won Ankara and Istanbul, with Erdoğan elected as mayor of Turkey’s biggest city. RP’s leader, Necmettin Erbakan, Erdoğan’s mentor became Turkey’s first Islamist prime minister after he won the biggest number of votes in parliamentary elections in 1995, just a year after the party had won two of Turkey’s biggest cities.

Ironically, 25 years later, Turkey’s Islamists lost Ankara and Istanbul in another municipal election, although Erdoğan’s AKP, citing vote rigging and other irregularities, challenged the results. The claim is particularly ironic as in all of past elections Erdogan was accused of vote-rigging, but only now, for the first time, are they complaining about irregularities. According to the Supreme Election Board, so far known to be a pro-Erdoğan rubber-stamp authority, opposition candidates won both Ankara and Istanbul. Ruşen Çakır, a Turkish columnist, said, perhaps prematurely:

“The election today is as historic as the local election in 1994. It’s the announcement of a page that was opened 25 years ago and is now being closed”.

“While losing Istanbul would be a nuclear defeat for Erdoğan,” said Soner Çagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, “losing Ankara, which is shorthand for political power and government, is a pretty significant loss”.

In addition, the opposition bloc won several big cities that had traditionally voted for Erdoğan’s AKP. With Sunday’s results, the entire Turkish coastline of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas — as well as the capital, Ankara, some major cities in Central Anatolia, the entire Thrace region and two provinces in northeastern Turkey — went to the opposition. The predominantly Kurdish southeast was, as always, divided between the pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party and AKP.

What do the election results mean for Turkey and Erdoğan? A few observations:

Allegations about Erdoğan’s/AKP’s vote-rigging have never been unconvincing, but the magnitude was hard to prove. It was anyone’s guess: from 1% to 10%. This author has been on the lower end of the wide spectrum. The election results in Istanbul, now disputed by the AKP, put the opposition candidate into the lead by a margin of 23,000 votes in a city with 10.5 million voters.

It was the economy, not politics, that caused the average Turk, otherwise a staunch supporter of Erdoğan, to feel bitter about the government. In 2018, the Turkish lira hit record-low levels against major Western currencies; the unemployment rate hit a nine-year-high; inflation spiked, and the economy shrank by 2.4% in the last quarter of the year and 1.6% in the third quarter. Jesse Colombo of Forbes wrote:

“Though Turkey’s government and many commentators are blaming the Trump administration and foreign speculators for the country’s economic downturn, the reality is that it was already ‘baked into the cake’ many years ago due to the credit bubble that formed”.

That “baking into the cake” is Erdoğan’s worst nightmare. His election defeat, coupled with a new wave of economic and financial crises (a new Turkish lira plunge, surging bond and inflation rates, several conglomerates in the defaulting queue, more jobless voters, price hikes, more taxes and banking restrictions) could force Erdoğan into early presidential and parliamentary elections (now scheduled for June 2023). Erdoğan, relying on his nationalist partner, MHP, has played down the message of the municipal elections, ruling out early national elections at any time. “Please do not be heartbroken with this result,” Erdoğan told party loyalists after the March 31 election results came in. “As of tomorrow morning, we will start finding and making up for our shortcomings,” Erdogan added.

Ironically, the two “kingmaker” forces in the near future of Turkish politics will be the two camps that have traditionally been most hostile to each other: Turkish and Kurdish nationalists, both of which have around a 10% popularity in nationwide elections. Until 2016, Erdoğan courted the Kurds and deeply antagonized Turkish nationalists, including his best ally, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli. He then scrapped all peace talks with the Kurds, made a U-turn and allied himself with Bahçeli — a smart maneuver that earned him votes in the 2018 presidential race. After March 31, Erdoğan can easily calculate that his dependency on Bahçeli has grown even bigger. Bahçeli, for his part, could be tempted to abandon Erdoğan and, before a near-crisis has turned into a perfect storm, call for early national elections, by citing economic mismanagement.

Simple religious Islamist conservative and ultra-nationalist populism are still keeping Erdoğan in power, but there are signs that, if the economy keeps getting worse, those forces may not be able to save him. There are many signs that this is taking place.

(Gatestone Institute)

Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey’s leading journalists, was recently fired from the country’s most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

An Open Letter to the Pulitzer Prize Committee: Don’t Reward Fake News

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Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Among the leading candidates for a Pulitzer Prize in investigative journalism is the Miami Herald and its reporter Julie K. Brown for its series on the Jeffrey Epstein case. The series, however, was not based on rigorous and objective investigation, but rather on one sided, and largely false tips from self-interested lawyers who used the series to their financial advantage. Brown refused to investigate and/or publish highly credible information that undercut the simplistic and largely false narrative fed her by her biased sources. I know, because I have been providing her with much of the documents and information she chose to bury rather than report. Had she reported this contradictory material, she would have endangered the Pulitzer Prize she has been aiming to win. The Pulitzer Committee should not reward such biased and result oriented “reporting” by giving her the prize.

Here is the truthful narrative Brown refused to report. Every fact can be documented. At the center of Brown’s story in a woman in her mid-30s named Virginia Roberts Guiffre, who has a long and documented history of lying about sexual and other encounters with famous people, including presidents, prime ministers, princes and other politicians and celebrities. She sold a story for $160,000 to a British scandal sheet in which she described in great detail meeting Vice President Al Gore, his then wife Tipper and President Bill Clinton on Jeffrey Epstein’s Caribbean island. The only problem is that Secret Service and other records conclusively proved that none of them was ever on that Island and that the Gores didn’t even know Epstein.

Yet she subsequently committed perjury by swearing to these falsehoods. Among the men she accused of having sex with her when she was underage were a former Senate Majority Leader, a former United Nations Ambassador, a former Israeli Prime Minister and a head of state. She also accused Leslie Wexner, a billionaire owner of Victoria’s Secret, of having underage sex with her on multiple occasions and making her wear Victoria’s Secret-type lingerie. Yet her own employment records prove that she was well above the age of consent when she claims these liaisons occurred— in the unlikely event they ever occurred at all.

There is one set of allegations that I know for certain was completely made up. She accused me of having sex with her on six occasions in different places, although I have never even met her. I was fortunate enough to have travel, cell phone and AmEx records that conclusively prove that I could not have been on Epstein’s Caribbean Island, New Mexico ranch, Palm Beach mansion or private airplane during the relevant time period. A careful review of these records led Giuffre’s own lawyer to conclude — in a lawfully recorded conversation— that it would have been impossible for me to have been where she falsely claimed to have had sex with me, and that his client’s accusations against me were “wrong,” “simply wrong.”

A thorough review of these records and other evidence also led the former head of the FBI to conclude that the allegations against me were disproved and false. Even Giuffre’s best friend said that Giuffre told her she had never accused me until she was “pressured” by her lawyers to do so. There are also sealed emails and a book manuscript written by Guiffre that conclusively prove I was falsely framed. Hopefully they will soon be unsealed.

So how did Pulitzer candidate Brown deal with all this evidence discrediting her primary source? She simply omitted any mention of it and presented Giuffre as an entirely credible witness with no doubts about her truthfulness.

In an email to her editor which she copied me (deliberately or inadvertently) she said that I had presented no evidence that “prove [my] innocence.” She discounted the findings of the former Federal Judge and FBI Director Louis Freeh with the following put down: “[Freeh] is a former Attorney General whose work has been questioned.” No, Freeh’s investigations have been relied on by universities, corporations and other institutions throughout the world. Brown didn’t even bother to call Freeh.

Brown deliberately and mendaciously misled her readers— and the Pulitzer Committee — by choosing to omit from her narrative every single document, sworn testimony and other proof that would raise questions about the credibility of her primary source. She admitted to me in a consensually recorded conversation that there is absolutely no evidence corroborating or supporting Giuffre’s accusation against me, but she did not publish that important fact. Nor did she publish the fact that Guiffre refused to accuse me on the record.

This is not journalism. It is certainly not prize-worthy journalism. It is advocacy, and it is advocacy that would get a lawyer disciplined for willfully withholding exculpatory evidence. It is also advocacy that hurts the “#MeToo” movement by encouraging false reports that damage the credibility of an important movement.

So shame on Brown. Shame on the Miami Herald. And shame on the Pulitzer Committee if it fails to investigate Brown’s reporting and encourages such fake news and shoddy journalism by rewarding it.

  (Gatestone Institute)

Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School and author of The Case against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump (Hot Books, January 2, 2019), and a Distinguished Senior Fellow of Gatestone Institute.

College Bribery Scandal Heats Up; Co-Chair of NY Law Firm Wilkie Farr Pleads Guilty

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The quad at Harvard University. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Gordan Caplan, the co-chairman of the law-firm Wilkie Farr, said on Friday that he would enter a guilty plea on charges that he paid a large sum of money for his daughter’s ACT test score to be artificially increased so that she may get admitted into an elite university.

“I apologize not only to my family, friends, colleagues and the legal bar but also to students everywhere who have been accepted to college through their own hard work,” Mr. Caplan said in a statement released by his legal team. “The remorse and shame that I feel is more than I can convey.”

Mr. Caplan is just one person caught up in an elite college bribery scandal last month and charged by federal prosecutors in Boston.

Founded in 1888, Willkie Farr is one of New York’s most well-known law firms.

Mr. Caplan was suspended by the law firm last month after prosecutors alleged in a charging document that he paid $75,000 to a non-profit organization linked to William Singer’s infamous college preparatory business — in order to bribe test proctors to correct his daughter’s exam after she finished it.

“I’m not worried about the moral issue here,” Mr. Caplan told Mr. Singer in a phone call recorded by federal investigators. “I’m worried about the … if she’s caught doing that, you know, she’s finished.”

Mr. Singer said that no one who he accepts bribes and performed services for had ever been caught in his 20-years of doing it and that no one ever will be unless someone told federal investigators.

“She won’t talk,” Mr. Caplan said in one recorded phone call.

“She had no knowledge whatsoever about my actions, has been devastated to learn what I did and has been hurt the most by it,” Mr. Caplan said in a statement. He said that his daughter is a junior in high school and has not yet applied to college.

“Between approximately 2011 and February 2019, Singer allegedly conspired with dozens of parents, athletic coaches, a university athletics administrator, and others, to use bribery and other forms of fraud to secure the admission of students to colleges and universities including Yale University, Georgetown University, Stanford University, the University of Southern California, and Wake Forest University, among others,” the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Massachusetts said last month in a statement. “Also charged for their involvement in the scheme are 33 parents and 13 coaches and associates of Singer’s businesses, including two SAT and ACT test administrators.”

NY’s Time-Life Building Renovations Leading to New Tenants

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Costly upgrades to the Time-Life building at 1271 Sixth Avenue is leading to new interest from prospective tenants. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Costly upgrades to the Time-Life building at 1271 Sixth Avenue is leading to new interest from prospective tenants.

H.I.G. Capital, which manages $30 billion in assets, is the latest tenant at Time-Life, located on Sixth Avenue between 50th and 51st street. H.I.G. signed an agreement to lease 58,000 square feet of office space on the building’s 23rd floor as well as part of the 22nd floor.

One source told the New York Post that the asking price per square foot was over $90.

The renovation, which includes a “glass curtain” wall, a newly-designed lobby and plenty of upgrades, began after Time Inc. relocated to Brookfield Place several years ago. The renovation cost the Rock Group $600 million to bring the building into the current era.

77-percent of the building has been leased since its costly mid-2016 renovation.

The largest tenants to date include Latham and Wakins, which leased 406,000 square feet, Bessemer Trust, which leased 240,000 square feet, and Blank Rome, which leased 138,000 square feet.

Other companies at 1271 Sixth Avenue include the Rockefeller Group, Vornado Realty Trust, the Durst Organization and Fisher Brothers.

Knight Frank’s Brad Needleman and Jason Perla brokered the least to H.I.G. Capitol.

The Rock Group, in their lease, was represented by their own in-house representatives, Ed Guiltinan and Jennifer Stein.

“The building offers outstanding office space, an impressive lobby, a prominent location, ease of access for employees and clients, desirable amenities, and a world-class reputation that will serve as a strong fit with our global platform,” Ira Weidhorn, the Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital, said in a statement.

“Rockefeller Group made a major commitment to redevelop and reintroduce 1271 to the New York business and real estate communities, and it is extremely rewarding to see companies like H.I.G. Capital respond to the opportunity and choose to relocate to the building,” Bill Edwards, the Executive Vice President and Head of Core Holdings for the Rockefeller Group, said in a statement.

“The decision by H.I.G. is another testament to the extraordinary location, infrastructure, and efficiency that 1271 Avenue of the Americas always had,” CBRE’s John Maher, who also represented the Rockefeller Group, said in a statement.

“An icon of mid-century modern architecture, 1271 Avenue of the Americas has always used design to inspire and elevate the work day,” an online description of the Time-Life building says. “An extensive top-to-bottom renovation means that this world-renowned building will continue to turn heads well into the future.”

“1271 Avenue of the Americas is where everything comes together for today’s business,” the building’s website says. “Fully redesigned, it has the efficiency and infrastructure of a new building, combined with the history and prestige of one of New York City’s most recognized business addresses.”

Syrian Jewish Community of Jersey Shore Meets With Mayor on Summer Safety Issues

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Left to right: Councilman John Napolitani, Daniel Bergman, Dr. David Fisher, Mayor Chris Siciliano, Charlie Saka, Raymond Saka

Thus far the Syrian Jewish community has been residing on the majestic New Jersey shore for over seven decades in various townships. The majority of residents, however, only dwell there during the summer months as the preferred destination spot for this vibrant and expansive community. While residing on the Jersey Shore, those who call this lovely area home, be it on a permanent or temporary basis, gladly pay their full share of taxes to the townships, state and the school district. For summer vacationers, however, the only disappointment is that they only enjoy a small portion of their contribution since they don’t utilize the public system or any other services the townships provide except for garbage pickup during the two months a year that they are there.

In the quaint village of Ocean Township there lives a leading member of the Syrian Jewish community named Charlie Saka. Both Charlie and his family decided to get more involved in community affairs and work towards the improvement in the quality of life for summer time and all year-round residents of the Jersey Shore. On Sunday, March 31st Charlie and his wife Brenda hosted for a fundraising breakfast for over 30 community members from New York and New Jersey. Present at the gathering were the Mayor of Ocean Township Chris Siciliano as well as township Councilman John Napolitani and Dr. David Fisher; a local chiropractor with a practice in nearby Oakhurst. Also present at the gathering was Margie Donlon, MD, a physician at Meridian Rehab Center and Councilwoman Donna Schepiga, who has served on the Ocean Clean Communities Committee & Shade Tree Commission.

As a dedicated public servant, Siciliano has served as mayor of Ocean Township since 2015 and prior to that he served as a councilman for 15 years. Siciliano is the recipient of the NJ Senate Service Award and the NJ Assembly Leadership Award. The mayor is also a youth leader, serving as a little league baseball and wrestling coach.

Councilman Napolitani is a teacher with 20 years experience in the middle and elementary schools and is the President of the Asbury Park Education Association.

During the sumptuous breakfast Mayor Siciliano graciously responded to multiple issues in detail that are concerns for the residents. Many of the issues raised could not be classified as “major” ones however the mayor pledged to work diligently to address them to the satisfaction of his constituents.

Some of the issues discussed were:

1) Twice a week regular garbage pick up from Memorial Day to Labor Day. With summer temperatures hovering around 90 plus degrees, leaving refuse in the streets can be a safety hazard as well as leaving a noxious odor.

2) Plan for new LED streetlights to be installed on main roads. For safety purposes, community members thought it best to replace the 100-year old street lights for much brighter ones. They cited such concerns as those walking to synagogue on Friday night who need illumination to ensure a safe journey.

3) Street paving. Community members took note of the fact that the streets in their township have quite a number of potholes and have not been paved for years.

4) Crossing lights around the synagogues. For purposes of safety of all individuals, crossing lights around the synagogue need vast improvements and the community discussed this matter with the mayor as well.

5) Mayor Siciliano advised the attendees that Ocean Township offers a free social work counseling and services network, should any residents need to avail themselves of such services.

6) A plan for deer management. According to recent information, there are at least 800-1000 deer on the Jersey Shore and they roam free; especially in people’s yards. As a result, the deer eat foliage and cause damage to property. A program of neutering the deer was discussed as shooting them is illegal.

7) Working with the police department on safety and crime prevention. Members of the community voiced their concerns about the great majority of homes that are left vacant for 10 months throughout the year. These homes are vulnerable to robberies and break ins. As a result, the community asked the mayor whether the local police could step up the frequency of their patrols of the area.

It goes without saying that in order to effectively maintain a respected voice in our neighborhoods we must participate in the election process. Public officials help those who help them get elected.

In the last election, only 182 out of approximately 4000 members participated. Our votes count. Your voice will be heard. The next election is Tuesday, May 14th. If you are registered, please vote and you can do it by mail.

To register to vote go to: OCEANTWP.ORG

Click on the Mommouth voter registration form 062212.pdf

“Never Look Away” – A Film That Captures the Nature of Both Nazism & Communism

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Kurt is an artist. He speaks little. He is watchful, keen-eyed, not very emotional. But he ultimately depicts everything in his art work, beginning with the loss of his beloved aunt to the Nazi atrocity—and the capture of the Nazi doctor who headed the “eugenics” and euthanasia program

And, for more than three hours, I never did. Time stood still. I was swept up into a moving panorama of pre-and post-WW2 Nazi Germany—every bit as amazing as the film The Russian Ark which captures 300 years of Russian history.

Please understand: I can no longer bear movies about Nazis who, today, are the cheap and safer stand-ins for other looming evil-doers and Jew-haters. I did not really like Schindler’s List—imagine that! And why? Because, while it focuses on a good German who saved a thousand Jewish lives, Spielberg does not simultaneously hold in his artistic embrace the six million who were not saved. I much prefer Defiance, The Counterfeiters, The Darien Dilemma, and Operation Finale. Resistance and Justice interest me deeply.

From the title in English, (Never Look Away), one might think it a horror movie but the film is far from that; actually, it is a horror movie but one that does not disguise its preoccupation with evil in a secondary way. The film captures the nature of both Nazism and Communism—as well as the transcendent and brooding power of Art, Love, and Truth.

Also, understand: While my apartment is being renovated I am holed up at Hotel Horrible in the city’s poshest district and since I’m quite miserable, I’ve decided to partake of Manhattan’s fabled Culture: The ballet, the cinema, the opera, and of course, Broadway. And so I’ve been watching movies, both in my hotel quarters via Roku and in actual theaters as long as they are still standing.

And now to my latest film and its awesome and splendid themes.

From the title in English, (Never Look Away), one might think it a horror movie but the film is far from that; actually, it is a horror movie but one that does not disguise its preoccupation with evil in a secondary way. The film captures the nature of both Nazism and Communism—as well as the transcendent and brooding power of Art, Love, and Truth.

The movie embraces it all: The Nazi doctor who “euthanized” (gassed) the mentally ill—and then the Jews, the gypsies, the male homosexuals, the political dissidents, followed by the victorious Russian Communists who then occupied what became East Germany where they tried to crush all individuality, deaden every soul, for the greater glory of “the working class.”

The film is not propaganda. As in life, the evil are not all apprehended and brought to justice. A few are caught and tried, many escape, some land on their feet for the rest of their lives. While the film also depicts a romance and marriage between Kurt and Elllie Seeband, née Elisabeth, gorgeously played by Paula Beer, the sins of the fathers lie heavily upon them—and they COMPROMISE the next generation.

Despite the historical sweep, we come to care about the characters, they are real, haunting, pitiful, brave, human. As the protagonist, Kurt Barnert and his aunt Elisabeth (beautifully played by Paul Schilling and Saskia Rosendahl) both understand: “Everything that is true is beautiful.”

In his Ode on a Grecian Urn, Keats put it this way: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all Ye know on earth and all ye need to know.”

Kurt is an artist. He speaks little. He is watchful, keen-eyed, not very emotional. But he ultimately depicts everything in his art work, beginning with the loss of his beloved aunt to the Nazi atrocity—and the capture of the Nazi doctor who headed the “eugenics” and euthanasia program. He was only a child, but now he sees everything, he remembers it all, and he turns Historical Memory and Loss into Art.

His aunt, the very kind and creative Elisabeth is gassed, presumably as a “schizophrenic,” by the very sadistic Nazi doctor, “Herr Professor Carl Seeband,” brilliantly played by Sebastian Koch, who eventually becomes Kurt’s father-in-law. The Nazi past remains in play, as well as up close and very personal. The director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck has not forgotten anything.

He is a great filmmaker. His cast is superb. The cinematography (Caleb Deschanel) and the music (Max Richter) is haunting, spiritual, uplifting, awesome.

Kurt’s character is based upon the life of the German artist Gerhard Richter—who apparently does not like the liberties taken with his biography.

But for me, time stood still. I lost all sense of it and sat there mesmerized for more than three hours. I suggest that you all see this wonder, this painful and beautiful rendering of the 20th century in Germany.

(INN)

The writer is a Ginsburg-Ingerman Fellow at the Middle East Forum, received the 2013 National Jewish Book Award,.authored 18 books, including Women and Madness and The New Anti-Semitism, and 4 studies about honor killing, Her latest books are An American Bride in Kabul, A Family Conspiracy: Honor Killing and A Politically Incorrect Feminist.

“Jewish Refugees in Shanghai” Program Series at Bklyn Public Library Teaches Lessons on Int’l Compassion for People in Crisis

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Jewish Refugees in Shanghai is open to the public and includes documentary films and discussions about the experiences and stories of survivors, as well as an exhibition of historic images and ephemera of the European Jews who were displaced during the war. Photo Credit: www.bklynlibrary.org

Hear survivors, refugees, descendants, and experts tell untold stories as Brooklyn Public Library partners with Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum and Amud Aish Memorial Museum for multi-branch exhibition, film & discussion series through May 10th

A multi-branch program across the Brooklyn Public Library system underway through May 10th brings together survivors, descendants, and experts to share untold stories of European Jewish refugees displaced during World War II who found sanctuary in Shanghai before their eventual emigration to the United States, many of whom settled in Brooklyn, NY.

Jewish Refugees in Shanghai is open to the public and includes documentary films and discussions about the experiences and stories of survivors, as well as an exhibition of historic images and ephemera of the European Jews who were displaced during the war.

Special events include a discussion on the afternoon of April 16th at the Brooklyn Central Library with survivor Lisa Brandwein, moderated by librarian and program manager Frank Xu, on her personal experiences growing up as a Jewish refugee in Shanghai 80 years ago, and a discussion on April 4th at the Borough Park Library featuring Flatbush resident Benson Chanowitz, whose father, two uncles and one aunt escaped to Shanghai from Japan during WWII. Benson will discuss what happened with his family in the years after they left China and the impact the experience had on multiple generations.

The series tells the stories of how, with the outbreak of WWII, many Jews chose to flee their hometowns, and a considerable number of them took refuge in Shanghai, China—a city they could travel to without a visa. Around that same time, students from the Mir Yeshiva in Vilna, Lithuania, also made their way to East Asia to escape the Nazi regime, setting up yeshivas in their new home. Many of these students—and their families—emigrated to Brooklyn, NY, following Japan’s surrender in 1945.

The series is put on by the Brooklyn Public Library in collaboration with the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum and the Amud Aish Memorial Musuem. The exhibition is part of BKLYN Incubator, empowering library staff to build public programs and services in partnership with the communities they serve. Generous funding for BKLYN Incubator is provided by The Charles H. Revson Foundation and Robin K. and Jay L. Lewis.

Speaking on the importance of the program, Chen Jian, Curator of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, said, “We are proud to support this program to share more information about this important period of history, and to help new audiences to understand the friendship, love, and support the Chinese people provided to these Jewish refugees during the war.”

Following the conclusion of the program series, the exhibition panels will be open to be borrowed and displayed at local community centers, schools, or cultural organizations interested in sharing this history with their communities.

 

Exhibition Dates & Locations

March 4–April 12

Borough Park Library

1265 43rd Street

Brooklyn, NY 11219

Exhibition Details

March 4–April 12

Mapleton Library

1702 60th Street

Brooklyn, NY 11204

Exhibition Details

March 11–May 10

Central Library

10 Grand Army Plaza

Brooklyn, NY 11238

Exhibition Details

April 22–May 31

Kensington Library

4207 18th Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11218

Exhibition Details

 

Calendar of Events

APR 4

Discussion: The Jewish People in Harbin During WWII

Tiger Wang, Senior Librarian, leads a discussion on how Jewish people went to Harbin as refugees, and what contributions they made to their new communities.

Documentary Film: Survival in Shanghai

Thu, Apr 4 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm Kensington Library

Produced by Shanghai Mass Media Group, this documentary tells the extraordinary stories of Jewish refugees in China during WWII.

Discussion: After Shanghai: A Jewish Refugee’s Story

Thu, Apr 4 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm Borough Park Library

Benson Chanowitz, whose father, two uncles and one aunt escaped to Shanghai from Japan during WWII, discusses what happened with his family in the years after they left China.

APR 11

Documentary Film: Survival in Shanghai

Thu, Apr 11 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm Borough Park Library

Produced by Shanghai Mass Media Group, this documentary tells the extraordinary stories of Jewish refugees in China during WWII.

Discussion: The Story of Anna Lincoln: the Case of the WWII Polish Jew in Shanghai and the Idea of Transnationalism

Thu, Apr 11 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm Kensington Library

Izabela Barry, Senior Librarian of Brooklyn Public Library, talks about how the polish refugee family of Anna Lincoln was able to make their home in a foreign country like Shanghai during WWII migration.

APR 15

Discussion: Jewish Shanghai Memories: Perceptions & Intercultural Communication

Mon, Apr 15 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm Central Library, Info Commons Lab

The research conducted by Dr. Shuming Lu from Brooklyn College examines how Jewish descendants perceive this part of Jewish history in Shanghai and its impact on Jew’s intercultural communication with Chinese in general.

APR 16

Dialogue with a Survivor: Lisa Brandwein

Tue, Apr 16 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm Central Library, Info Commons Lab

Lisa Brandwein leads a discussion on her personal experiences growing up as a Jewish refugee in Shanghai 80 years ago. Moderated by BPL librarian Frank Xu.

APR 18

Documentary Film: Survival in Shanghai

Thu, Apr 18 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm Mapleton, Basement Auditorium

Produced by Shanghai Mass Media Group, this documentary tells the extraordinary stories of Jewish refugees in China during WWII.

APR 20

Documentary Film: Survival in Shanghai

Sat, Apr 20 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Central Library, Info Commons Lab

Produced by Shanghai Mass Media Group, this documentary tells the extraordinary stories of Jewish refugees in China during WWII.

MAY 2

Jewish Refugees in Shanghai Exhibition & Reception

Thu, May 2 5:00 pm to 5:30 pm Kensington Auditorium

This exhibition includes images and ephemera of European Jews who were displaced during the war, films and lectures about their time in China, and a discussion about their eventual emigration to the United States.

Documentary Film: Ark Shanghai

Thu, May 2 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm Kensington Auditorium

Produced by the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, this documentary film traces the history of Jewish Refugees in Shanghai during WWII.

New Jewish Journey Haggadah to Spice Up Your Passover Seder Table

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Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz has come out with a new Haggadah for Passover called “The Jewish Journey Haggadah”

According to some published reports, there are over 7,000 printed versions of the haggadah. And every year seems to bring a new group of haggadot that appeal to a different constituency. An issue that our family faces every year is what kind of Haggadah to use at our seder. The first night is geared just for our immediate family, but on the second night, we open it up to a larger group, many of whom are frum, but others who aren’t. We want everyone to feel comfortable but over the years it has proven a challenge to keep those with minimal backgrounds engaged.

The Jewish Journey Haggadah by Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz (Gefen Publishers)

That’s why when I saw the newly released The Jewish Journey Haggadah by Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz (Gefen Publishers) I felt that our problem had been solved. This is a user-friendly family Haggadah that is perfect for those of any background. It features the full traditional Hebrew text, together with an easy-to-read translation and transliteration. The photos by Shira-Hecht Koller are simply gorgeous.

It has color coding for different features such as questions to ask, a kid’s corner, as well as meaningful commentary, stories, fun holiday parody songs and jokes. There are multiple translations of Ma Nishtanah, not only into English but Ladino, Arabic, Spanish, French, Yiddish and Russian. There are even Seder recipes by chef Amy Rosen, including a Sephardic charoset, along with activities to delight both adults and children. I reached out to Rabbanit Berkowitz to explain what motivated her to write this.

She shared with me that “one of the most often asked questions at a seder is ‘when do we eat?’ While it is natural to be hungry given the late hour of the seder, I wanted to design a haggadah that would keep hosts and guests so engaged that they would forget to ask that question! I wanted to have a Haggadah that would help make the Passover story come alive and convey the vibrancy of our mesorah, our tradition in a way that everyone can find meaning. And most of all realize the power of Pesach and it’s message for today.”

In this Haggadah, you will find contrasting views as to how much you can eat at the first dipping, as well as the origin of the word ‘afikomen”. Within The Jewish Journey Haggadah, you can find references to seder customs not only of Ashkenazic Jews, but Sephardic and Yemenite Jews as well. You can read about the experiences of Russian Jews, Ethiopian Jews as well as Holocaust survivors.

One of the most moving stories concerned a Holocaust survivor who was a slave laborer in a salt mine, where the Nazis had the prisoners work on building rockets. Many years later the survivor was invited back by the then East German government as part of a program reaching out to Holocaust survivors. She returned to the mine where she had been enslaved and one of the engineers who was there broke off a large piece of salt and told her to take it home as a remembrance of her years as a prisoner. When she returned to the U.S., she realized what she would use it for: Every year before the Pesach seder, she would break off a piece of the salt and drop it in water, making the salt water for her seder from the very salt in the mine where she had been a prisoner !

Reading that story reminded me of the idea in “B’chol dor vador”— in every generation we must all concretize for ourselves, we must actually see and feel as if we left Egypt. I learned in this haggadah that it was Maimonides, Rambam who changed the text of the Hebrew word to ‘liharot- not just to see but rather to demonstrate.

In this Haggadah, there are various creative ways discussed how to bring the seder text to life by demonstrating, by “acting out“ different parts, and in so doing making the reader feel the backbreaking labor and the deprivations of Egypt and the joy of liberation. If you are looking for a Haggadah that is insightful, easy to use, and can appeal to people of various backgrounds, look no further. The Jewish Journey Haggadah should find a place on everybody’s table. And I think Rabbanit Berkowitz is right. You’ll forget to ask ‘When do we eat?!

(Available on Amazon and local Jewish bookstores.)

Tin Ceilings Still Have A Soft Spot For Some New Yorkers

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Tin ceilings used to be quite the smash hit. They even got their start in the city, and some people still have a fond place in their hearts for good old tin. Photo Credit: Alistair Tutton/Wikimedia Commons

As fancy new flats pop up left in right from hip lofts to the towering high rises, there is a lot of attention on what’s new and flashy. There is still more than just a niche community though for the simpler things, like tin, and tin on ceilings.

Places like SoHo saw these types of ceilings grow in popularity back when the neighborhood currently full of eateries and boutique stores was becoming an industrial powerhouse. Back in the 1850s, tin ceilings became more commonplace as cast-iron facades also started lining the southern portion of Broadway. As the New York Post explains, this material added a feeling of elegance, but it didn’t come at the cost of other popular materials of the time like marble.

Tin ceilings grew out from those few downtown neighborhoods and became commonplace across the country. The tin even provided tenants with some great benefits on top of the vanity purpose of the tin. Ceilings made with tin actually had a better durability and were fireproof.

The New York Post spoke with one of the people who has a tin ceiling, two in fact at his East Village shop at 6 E. Second St. and his nearby apartment. He joked that the tin, while at one time in history very popular, would draw confused and annoyed reactions. “When I first opened the store 24 years ago,” he said that he would “hear either ‘Charming!’ or ‘Ugh, tin!’” He said that people warmed up to the tin by now.

Art historian, author and former contractor Jonathan Lopez, 49, explained to the New York Post how “Old tin ceilings were actually ‘tinned’ ceilings.” These ceilings “were made of steel coated with an amalgam of lead and tin to inhibit rust.”

The material was actually known as “terne metal.” Thanks to advances in science and government oversight, there isn’t lead in these materials anymore, which “now use a galvanized coating of almost pure tin” that goes over the steel.

Terne is traditionally an alloy that is made up of lead and tin. The ratio will usually be typically four-to-one, that is used as a coating in producing terneplate. In recent years, zinc used in 50/50 rations have taken over for lead.

Terne can coat steel sheets in order to produce a strong, corrosion-resistant product that can commonly be found on gasoline tanks, packaging, roofing, and for other uses where lead is desired but would be too heavy.

As Corrosionpedia continues to explain, “Terne metals are produced by coating carbon steel, stainless and other select metals with a specially formulated alloy consisting of zinc, tin and trace amounts of other elements, in order to dramatically increase a metal’s corrosion resistance by up to ten times.” A terneplate is also a steel sheet that has an actual coating of terne metal on it.

Lawsuit Claims 58-Story Condo Tower in Manhattan Has 3 Inch Tilt

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Rendering courtesy of Goldstein Hill & West / Fortis Property Group

A Manhattan civil suit claims that a newly constructed 58-story condominium tower in Manhattan’s Financial District has a three-inch tilt as a result of a skewed foundation — a defect that could cause bits of the tower to fall to the street, according to claims.

The alleged tilt of the tower at 161 Maiden Lane was caused by cost-cutting measures on the part of the developer, Fortis Property Group, claims the lawsuit, filed by project contractor Pizzarotti.

According to a story in the New York Post, “Fortis allegedly opted not to drive piles into the soft ground of the site by South Street Seaport on the East River before it laid the foundation, saving them $6 million, the suit alleges. “The building structure has settled and moved to such a degree that the structure is encroaching on a neighboring property line,” according to the papers filed last month in Manhattan Supreme Court. The lean on the 670-foot-tower could cause windows to plummet, the suit claims.”

A structural-engineering expert reportedly told the newspaper that the lean “could also cause doors to open randomly, leaks or uneven floors. All of this will only get worse as the weight of the building — which is currently unoccupied and under construction — increases when water, tanks and fixtures are added, the documents claim.”

The story adds, “Pizzarotti wants to break their contract with the developer, arguing it’s unsafe for workers or future residents to step inside. But Fortis argues this is just a last-ditch attempt by Pizzarotti to pass off blame for their own shoddy work.”

Pizzarotti’s web site (pizzarotti-usa.com) describes the building this way: “New construction of the first all-glass residential tower on the waterfront in the Historic Seaport District in Manhattan. Rising 670 feet, the tower will accommodate 99 luxury apartment and amenities. Overall the construction site is very tight, approximately 4,200 square feet. The site is built on landfill over the original piers along the East River. The curtain wall system is a custom engineered, prototypical design providing maximum glazing heights with narrow site line framing.

“The construction of the foundation would have required extensive dewatering and deep piles, due to its proximity to the East River. Instead, the Owner opted for a foundation design of soilcrete and piles, whereas the subgrade was injected with formulated grout to a depth of 30’- 50’. Perimeter piles were formed/poured to a depth 50’ to create a bathtub to minimize groundwater flow. The top 12’ of soilcreted grade was excavated to enable the pouring of the 12’ thick foundation mat slab. Specific perimeter piles have embedded steel rods which will tie into the mat slab, and post-tensioned when the superstructure height reaches 48 floors. The foundation also contains (4) steel rods, anchored into bedrock, at a depth of approximately 200’. These rods are surveyed monthly to measure calculated settlement of the soilcreted subbase, and building structure as a unit.”

NY Jets Unveil New “Gotham Green” Uniforms

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The New York Jets have new uniforms – and they are Gotham Green, Spotlight White and Stealth Black.

Before a crowd of 400-plus Jets fans and both local and national reporters at Gotham Hall in Manhattan, the Jets staged their long-anticipated uniform unveiling, the team reported on its web site. The evening was emceed by actor/comedian/writer J.B. Smoove and was set to music by artist MAX performing his signature “Still New York.”

“But the stars of the show were the Jets players — Sam Darnold, Robby Anderson, Quincy Enunwa and Chris Herndon for the offense, Leonard Williams, Avery Williamson and Jamal Adams for the D — modeling the different variations of the new uniform, which feature a new number/nameplate font and “Jet Edge” design elements, on the short Gotham catwalk that they will wear into battle for the 2019 season.”

It didn’t take long for Jets players themselves to weigh in on their new mode of dress.

“We’ve been waiting all offseason for it,” said Williamson. “We knew they were going to be nice. I can’t wait for this fall. Oh, yeah, we’re excited to change this thing around. Jet up, baby.”

Added Anderson, “Man, I felt like new money. It felt great. I’m excited.”

“These all blacks, obviously, this new color wave is crazy,” said Williams. “I’m proud to be the first one wearing it, and I’m happy for all my guys, too.”

The event included opening remarks from Jets owner Christopher Johnson and president Neil Glat, who according to a team release “were in the forefront of the process of working with the NFL and with Nike since 2014 to design these uniforms as one of the key pieces in the rebranding of the organization, the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center and MetLife Stadium.”

“Can you tell that I love this team? I love the hell out of this team,” Johnson said. “This is not only a big moment for us but for our fans. When you see the new uniforms, you’ll notice two words stitched across the chest — ‘NEW YORK.’ They represent the identity of the franchise moving forward: tough, hard-working, resilient, determined.”

“We are definitely delighted with the results,” Glat said. “Our new uniforms are built to perform on the world’s biggest stage and are designed to be both modern and innovative.”

In addition to the implementation of black into the overall color scheme, the team said on its web site, the Gotham Green “was a shade developed exclusively for the Jets. The font will be edgy and unique, and the city that inspired it all — NEW YORK — will be stitched across the chest of each jersey.”

“It’s a statement about the future. I think it’s a statement about how we want to be perceived as a little bolder, a little more innovative and a little greater,” Glat said. “I don’t want to interpret too much into uniforms and logos but we think that’s what we’re trying to capture and hopefully that gets reflected on the field.”

Bezos Ex-Wife is Now Third-Richest Woman In World with $35B Settlement

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Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos are going through the end of divorce proceedings, and through it all, MacKenzie will be only the third richest woman in the world. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos are going through the end of divorce proceedings, and through it all, MacKenzie will be only the third richest woman in the world. The New York Post reports that for all the negative things her husband did, she could have made much more.

Jeff Bezos gets to keep 75 percent of their shared Amazon stock and also still about all of the almost 20 million shares, though she gets to take home $35 billion, according to the New York Post. Jeff Bezos will still have all of his Washington Post shares and also will have Blue Origin, his venture capitalist space company.

There is no indication as to what happens to the kids, following this divorce that was sprung mostly from another relationship that Jeff Bezos has with a woman from television.

“Grateful to have finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff with support from each other and everyone who reached out to us in kindness, and looking forward to the next phase as co-parents and friends,” Bezos’s former wife tweeted.

“Happy to be giving him all of my interests in the Washington Post and Blue Origin, and 75% of our Amazon stock plus voting control of my shares to support his continued contributions with the teams of these incredible companies.”

The Jewish Voice reported when Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, claimed The National Enquirer tried to blackmail him after getting its hands on humiliating pictures of him with a woman other than his wife.

Unverified press reports have suggested that Bezos’ private texts to one-time television host Lauren Sanchez were leaked to the National Enquirer by Sanchez’s brother, Michael Sanchez.

For his part, Sanchez is said to have commented in an email that, “As the ‘Amazon investigators’ proved, I was never sent the numerous penis photos Jeff Bezos sent my sister Lauren. And I never had access to the penis photos. Therefore it is impossible for me to have provided Jeff Bezos’ penis photos to The National Enquirer.”

The feud escalated quickly. “When Jeff Bezos was battling the National Enquirer over the exposés about his private life, he had a simple message for his top lieutenants: Stop feeding the coverage,” wrote Fox News’ Howard Kurtz. “Stop responding to journalists’ questions. Stop engaging with the media even if you’re trying to correct a bad story.”

That order came as the Amazon founder believed he had tangible evidence that the supermarket tabloid was willing to abide by a cease-fire. It was then that Bezos authorized discussions with his adversaries about the nightmare that began when the paper exposed his affair with Lauren Sanchez.”

The Enquirer has seldom been afraid of controversy. Back in June of 2017, MSNBC morning-show hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough suggested in the pages of the Washington Post that members of the Trump administration had said they would publish a piece in the Enquirer about their as-yet-unacknowledged romance unless they “begged” for the story to be spiked. They didn’t, and the Enquirer did, indeed, run with the story.

Robert Kraft Massage Parlor May Have Destroyed Potential Evidence

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The owners of a Jupiter spa frequented by people like Robert Kraft apparently kept records on its clients, but those records wound up being thrown out mysteriously right around the time that the feds busted in to break up an alleged sex trafficking ring. The new information comes from a recently unsealed arrest warrant.

Jupiter detectives made the discovery by doing some classic dogged investigating, by searching through a dumpster to see if they could find anything of use for the case against Orchids of Asia Day Spa. This is how investigators discovered that the spa actually kept detailed records on clients and transactions.

The New York Post reports about one time last November when they were able to recover and compile paper documents that helped them learn various details about what was happening inside. They could see spreadsheet information that kept track of the alleged illegal activities, like what the name of the client was and other information like how much cash paid and for what services, the unsealed warrant revealed.

Investigators even sent some wet napkins to the forensics lab, and they came back positive for semen. Keep in mind that this business is supposed to just provide massages but stands accused of secretly providing sexual services.

Kraft recently made his first public comments since the shocking news that the billionaire allegedly solicited prostitution at a massage parlor in Florida, ESPN reported.

“I am truly sorry,” Kraft said in a statement. “I know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends, my co-workers, our fans and many others who rightfully hold me to a higher standard.” He added that his silence is the result of his ongoing legal situation, in which he’s been charged with two misdemeanors that could mean jail time.

“Throughout my life, I have always tried to do the right thing,” Kraft, a powerful old white man who allegedly solicited sex from young and exploited sex slaves, said.

Kraft’s lawyer, William Burck, told ESPN: “There was no human trafficking and law enforcement knows it. The video and the traffic stop were illegal and law enforcement just doesn’t want to admit it. The state attorney needs to step up and do the right thing and investigate how the evidence in this case was obtained.”

The Jewish Voice reported about when police in Florida said that the owner of the NFL’s most successful franchise in recent years solicited prostitution from a spa in Jupiter. The facility, Orchids of Asia Day Spa, was raided as part of an investigation into alleged sex slavery practices, according to police.

CNN reports that the sting was months in the making and that two separate trips he made to the spa got him tangled up in the probe. A spokeswoman for the local police department, Kristin Rightler, made sure to clarify that “charges have been filed” against Kraft, “but he has not been arrested.” The Patriots organization had only a short comment that it would provide about the ongoing situation. “We categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity. Because it is a judicial matter, we will not be commenting further.”