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Gridlock to Worsen This Summer in NYC

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This summer the closing of several ramps on the NJ turnpike to The Lincoln Tunnel will bring more gridlock to NYC

In a region that’s already one of the most crowded in the world and relying on dated and often neglected infrastructure, the 80-year-old NJ-495 viaduct connecting the New Jersey Turnpike to the Lincoln Tunnel’s three tubes is about to become even more reliably backed up with standstill traffic.

An estimated two-and-a-half-year rehabilitation project to shore up the bridge and replace the roadway surface will close one lane in each direction, 24 hours per day for about two years. The New Jersey Department of Transportation is overseeing the $90 million undertaking, which it says will extend the life of the bridge by 75 years.

Motorists should expect “severe congestion,” DOT spokesman Steve Schapiro said. Schapiro didn’t provide a date for when the closures would begin that was more specific than “mid-summer.”

“Oh, gosh. I may need to find another way to get to work,” said Jaymin Patel, a project manager for an ad tech company who takes the bus from central New Jersey each day.

The increased gridlock could force truckers to seek alternate ways into the city.The Holland Tunnel, to the south, bars large trucks, and the George Washington Bridge, to the north, is the second-worst truck bottleneck in the nation, according to a study of truck GPS data by the American Transportation Research Institute.

“We’ll try to do off-hour deliveries as much as possible,” said Gail Toth, executive director of the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, an industry advocacy group. “That depends on the type of industries, because not all are open late at night. The ones that can’t, you just try to find the best route possible.”

Ramps from NJ-495 onto US-1-9, a truck-heavy artery running north-south, will be closed. Southbound motorists will be detoured nearly two miles out of their way and through two cloverleaf turns before heading back under NJ-495.

The towns bordering 495 already get spillover traffic, mostly outbound, when the road is backed up. Officials have been meeting in recent months to hammer out plans for the long slog ahead.

The DOT is urging daily commuters to take public transportation or avoid peak periods, but not everyone has good and practical access to mass transit. Michael Caso, a carpentry business owner who moved five years ago to Long Valley, N.J., has made mass transit work for him 40 miles west of the city to which he commutes.

Caso initially tried driving into the city but found the experience “horrific.” Now, he parks his car in a lot under the NJ-495 viaduct at the North Bergen park and ride and takes a bus.

“I work off-peak hours, so my commute is a little different,” Caso said. “The 5:30, 6 a.m. buses are all the tradesmen. At that time, it’s about 13 to 15 minutes into the city. I have been doing it for five years, and I love it,” he said.

For motorists who want to really get creative, and get some fresh air and exercise while they’re at it, they could try using manpower to get across the Hudson River as one man did last Thursday. Ferry commuters saw Scott Holt paddleboarding across the Hudson River during their morning commutes. He told News 4 he was running late for a meeting so he decided to hop on his paddleboard from Jersey City. The journey took 30 minutes, but before motorists decide to trade in the agonizing slow crawl down the helix to the Lincoln Tunnel for a voyage across the mighty Hudson River, they should be advised that this is not a good idea. A confused cop and an angry ferry captain met the paddleboarding commuter on the shores of Manhattan island.

By: Robin Waters

Shortage of Coney Island Lifeguards Leaves Beachgoers Frustrated and Hot

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If it’s summer in the Big Apple, then it’s time to head to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue on one of four trains, grab some Nathan’s and hit the sand. Even after following the old wives tale and waiting a half hour to swim after eating, would-be swimmers are still getting kicked out of the water. There are no lifeguards in sight at one large, popular strip of sand and shore on Coney Island, infuriating beachgoers, The New York Post reports.

The more than half-mile stretch between West 19th and West 29th streets in the southern Brooklyn peninsular neighborhood lacks lifeguards and hasn’t had any since the city’s beaches officially opened Memorial Day. Residents insist the problem isn’t a one-off issue because they say the problem is perennial.

“It’s been going on for years now,” beach regular Ann Viken, 70, told The Post as she sunbathed in the area without lifeguards on a recent day when temperatures hit the high 80s. “People bring their kids here. They have the bathroom for the kids, and there are no lifeguards here,” Viken said.

The portion of the beach without lifeguards is not closed, and visitors are given no indication that lifeguards are not on duty until they get down to the shoreline and see empty lifeguard chairs. Anyone wishing to swim anyway will eventually meet a Parks Department worker who patrol the area by foot and on ATVs. They blow their whistles and tell the swimmers to vacate the unguarded waters.

Viken said she has been scolded by Parks workers who shout, “Out of the water! Out of the water!”

“They usually have the Parks Department [employees] standing there and going up and down the beach,” Viken said to The New York Post, noting that she frequents the beach near West 27th Street because of its nearby public bathroom.

Jennifer Rodriguez, 27, a Staten Island resident who spent a recent day on the Coney Island beach with her husband and two young kids, said the lack of lifeguards is unfair.

“The kids want to get in the water,” the mom said. “There should be more lifeguards.”

Sunbather Terry Horan, 60, of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, reasoned that if the city can pay Parks Department workers “to stand there and say, ‘Get out of the water,’ why don’t they have lifeguards so people can go in the water?”

When a Post reporter visited the beach, workers for the Parks Department blew their whistles at swimmers, shouting: “You can’t be in the water!” and, “Excuse me, you need to get out of the water!”

Said one Coney Island lifeguard, “We don’t have enough lifeguards overall.”

Another lifeguard added, “We’re straight up short of staff,” and said come Fourth of July, there should be more lifeguards on duty because the students who work as guards are out of school by then.

Maeri Ferguson, a spokeswoman for the Parks Department, which runs the city’s lifeguard program, said, “High season at our city beaches begins July 4th, and our beaches will be fully staffed accordingly, as they are each year.”

The Parks Department said the stretch without guards will be staffed in the coming days, although it wouldn’t give an exact timeline.

According to the agency, many of the city’s lifeguards are students and are still returning home for the summer. After years of this ongoing problem, Coney Island residents remain skeptical.

“We never have lifeguards, for 10 years already,” local Anna Marie Franzes, 66, said, lamenting, “We always get cut out.”

By: Keith Mayfield

Macklowe Properties Eyes Spot Next to Cathedral for Office Tower

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Developer Harry Macklowe, the person responsible for projects like Midtown’s 432 Park Avenue supertall, wants to erect another skyscraper. Claiming to have obtained materials from Macklowe Properties, The Real Deal reports that the company is looking to construct a one million-square-foot office tower near the St. Patrick’s Cathedral that would be known as “Saint Stevens New York.”

The Real Deal reports that Macklowe Properties has been working for the past two years to acquire a five-parcel site at 5-9 East 51st St. and 12-20 East 52nd St. for which the ground-up construction project would rise. The properties will allow for 280,000 square feet combined, and the site does not include any height restrictions. The development company is also reportedly looking to gain additional air rights and an equity partner to back the project.

According to the material obtained, the project, if it moves forward, will be designed by a “world-renowned designer” and will include ceiling heights of at least 15 feet and a grand entrance of about 30 feet high, The Real Deal reports.

Speculation suggests that Macklowe Properties has been silently working to assemble the parcels of land. They acquired the site at 12 East 52nd St. for $32 million in 2016 and its neighboring site at 14 East 52nd St. for an undisclosed amount last month. Both transactions were shielded by a lawyer named Steven Holm and The Real Deal reports the sources have identified Holm as a Macklowe affiliate.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of New York, and one of the city’s most popular landmarks, welcoming 5 million visitors each year from across the globe.

For more than 130 years, St. Patrick’s Cathedral has graced the city, signaling welcome to all who seek tranquility and renewal. To many, St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a spiritual haven. Parishioners, community members, and travelers from around the globe find their way to this sacred home. To countless others, St. Patrick’s is an iconic New York landmark and a national treasure.

The cathedral serves more than 5.5 million visitors each year as a house of prayer and a sanctuary in the heart of this great city.

Founded in the mid-1960s by Harry Macklowe, Macklowe Properties has been an active developer, owner, and manager of a diverse array of real estate investments. The company uses vertical integration, combining design, planning, construction, management, accounting, and executive-level ownership and operation. In aggregate, these developments have totaled over 13 million square feet and have taken place in nearly every commercial and residential submarket of Manhattan.

Macklowe Properties did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by The Real Deal reports.

By: Andrew Goldstein

Washington Heights Real Estate Heating Up

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Washington Heights is becoming the new “hip” place to live (photo: Wikipedia)

It may soon be time to trade picturesque views of Manhattan, just beyond the East River, while standing in the shadows of the Williamsburg Bridge, for views from the hilly upper Manhattan of New Jersey’s Palisades cliffs across the George Washington Bridge. Hipsters in Williamsburg may have to soon start migrating to Washington Heights, which is steadily becoming a new hipster hot spot.

The upper-Manhattan neighborhood has the most millenials of any other city neighborhood. The growing area already has 50,103 residents between the ages of 20 to 34, comprising 10 percent of the area’s population, the latest US Census data show.

The uptown community of 285,876 residents edged out Bushwick was a close second, falling short by 3,422 millennials, with Crown Heights falling short by 6,334 and Williamsburg by 8,536, according to five-year population averages compiled for 200 city neighborhoods.

Rapid gentrification has led to higher rents in Brooklyn, so the move from Manhattan to the outer boroughs has reversed for younger adults that don’t have a lot of money, experts say. People have similarly started moving out of New York completely, going to nearby areas across the river like some Jersey City neighborhoods rapidly growing in popularity and Hoboken, especially because of the ease of using mass transit to commute into New York.

“Williamsburg and Bushwick have become victims of their own success, [and] millennials can’t afford to live there anymore,” said Michael Keane, an NYU adjunct professor of urban planning. “So they’re thinking, ‘Hey, Washington Heights is in Manhattan, it’s easy to get to Midtown, crime is down and the rent is several hundred dollars less.’ ”

Mateo Tate, 26, made the leap from Crown Heights to Washington Heights in 2015, drawn by the cheaper rent, bigger apartments and close proximity to Columbia University.

“I wanted to leave [Brooklyn] because I had lived there for three years, and it was frankly a s- -t show,” Tate said. “I had too many roommates, not enough space, and it was taking me over an hour just to get to school.”

Even though he graduated this year, he’s here to stay. “I like being in Manhattan and being close to everything,” he said.

The Upper West Side, which is only a few miles south of Washington Heights but may as well be a world away, is the opposite in that 25,375 people over age 65 and 4,135 age 85 or older live in that neighborhood. It’s a place people put down deep roots, the New York Post said,

“Why would anyone leave the Upper West Side?” said Sarah Kaufman, the assistant director of the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation. “There are so many amenities and good food and culture,” she said, adding that “It’s a great area for growing old in.”

Across the park, the Upper East Side, including Carnegie Hill, has the second most senior population, with 16,305 over age 65.

“There’s a large concentration of good health care on the east side, [which] is beneficial to older New Yorkers,” Kaufman noted.

Brooklyn’s heavily Hasidic Borough Park produces the most children. The neighborhood has 14,350 children age 5 and under, which is nearly twice as many as Flatbush (8,266) and East New York (7,665).

“It’s quite common among the Hasidic communities to have large families and many children,” Kaufman said. The community takes the commandment to be fruitful and multiply quite seriously.

By: Maria Alexander

Cushman & Wakefield File for I.P.O, Could Be Worth $1 Billion

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Cushman & Wakefield Office in St. Louis (photo: St.Louis Development partnership)

Wall Street will soon have a new real estate company joining all the other publicly traded companies, and this company’s a big one.

Cushman & Wakefield has filed for an initial public offering. The Wednesday filing shows that the company is betting on the continued growth of commercial real estate around the world and greater participation from institutional investors in the property market, Business Insider reports.

The company could seek to raise about $1 billion in the IPO and seek a valuation in excess of $5 billion, according to people familiar with the deal who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, though pricing of the deal can change until a company prices its IPO.

One of the reasons the company, which employs 48,000 people throughout 70 countries, wants to offer itself to the public is so it can use the expected proceedings of the IPO to slash its debt. As at the end of March, the company had over $3 billion in long-term debt, the filing showed.

Cushman & Wakefield employs about 48,000 people worldwide and operates in 70 countries. Its revenue has grown every year since 2015 and totaled $6.92 billion in 2017, the filing showed. It operated at a loss of $220.5 million last year.

DTZ Jersey Holdings, a European brokerage backed by the private-equity giant TPG Funds, bought Cushman & Wakefield for $2 billion in 2015. It has made other acquisitions to become one of the largest commercial-real-estate firms in the world, Business Insider reports.

Key risks to the company’s business include tighter lending conditions, which would make it harder to invest in commercial properties, and difficulty in paying down debt, according to the filing.

The Real Deal earlier reported that the company had for a few years been speaking to bankers and advisers about an IPO.

Cushman & Wakefield’s IPO filing follows its fellow commercial brokerage Newmark Knight Frank’s December listing. The stock in reference peaked at $16.66 in late January but is still up nearly 9 percent from its debut, Business Insider reports.

Morgan Stanley is the lead underwriter for Cushman & Wakefield’s IPO, alongside JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and UBS, Business Insider reports.

A Cushman spokesman declined comment to The Wall Street Journal beyond the registration statement it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cushman & Wakefield’s owners, an investment group led by private-equity firm TPG, purchased the firm and several other commercial real estate businesses in 2014 and 2015 for more than $3.5 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports. The group wants to create a global power that would compete with CBRE Group Inc.

The commercial property brokerage business has been strong in recent years thanks to economic growth in many parts of the world that’s fueled demand for office, retail and industrial space, according to The Wall Street journal, which adds that sales activity also has been high as investors seek assets with higher yields than bonds and less volatility than stocks.

By: Mason Forman

SCOTUS Rules in Favor of AMEX in Merchant Credit Card Case

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The Supreme Court ruled in favor of American Express Monday in a lawsuit over rules it imposes on merchants who accept its cards.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of American Express Monday in a lawsuit over rules it imposes on merchants who accept its cards.

Under their contracts, merchants who accept American Express generally can’t encourage customers to use other credit cards, The Seattle Times reports. American Express prevents merchants who accept its card from offering customers discounts or other incentives to use other cards or expressing a preference for other cards, even as the other credit cards charge a smaller fee. The federal government and a group of states sued over American Express’ so-called anti-steering provisions, arguing that they violate federal law, The Seattle Times reports.

The Supreme Court said the company has traditionally charged higher fees to merchants than competitors because its clientele are wealthy. The higher merchant fees are in place so its cardholders get better rewards.

On Monday the court ruled 5-4 in favor of American Express, allowing it to continue to bar merchants from steering customers to cards with lower fees.

“In this case, we must decide whether Amex’s anti-steering provisions violate federal antitrust law. We conclude they do not,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in an opinion for himself and his conservative colleagues. Thomas said “Amex’s business model has spurred robust interbrand competition and increased the quality and quantity of credit-card transactions.”

American Express cheered the ruling in a brief statement after it was announced.

“The Supreme Court’s decision is a major victory for consumers and for American Express. It will help to promote competition and innovation in the payments industry,” the statement said.

Justice Stephen Breyer, who used to teach antitrust law at Harvard University, wrote a dissenting opinion for himself and three liberal colleagues, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Breyer, who took the unusual step of reading a summary of his dissent from the bench, said the court’s decision was “contrary to basic principles of antitrust law.”

The retail industry also expressed displeasure with the ruling. “Today’s ruling is a blow to competition and transparency in the credit card market,” National Retail Federation general counsel Stephanie Martz said in a statement. “The American Express rules in question have amounted to a gag order on retailers’ ability to educate their customers on how high swipe fees drive up the price of merchandise.”

In 2010, the Obama administration and more than a dozen states sued American Express along with Visa and MasterCard, which had similar anti-steering rules. While Visa and MasterCard agreed to change their practices, American Express decided to go to trial. The company accounts for about a quarter of the credit card market in the United States as measured by transaction volume and has about 50 million cards in circulation in the United States, The Seattle Times reports.

By: James Rybach

Social Media Photo App Instagram Worth $100 Billion

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As social media explodes, many people can’t even wrap their heads around the newest ways to share life with friends and family. It’s easy to get caught in the whirlwind of innovation and apps and miss the fact that some of these social media outlets are worth quite a lot of money, even if it’s a mystery to many how they work and why people would spend hours upon hours on these platforms.

Those artsy photos on social media may be worth a lot more than people would think. Instagram is now worth $100 billion.

The social network, which Facebook purchased in 2012 for a then-stunning $1 billion, has increased its value 100-fold, according to Bloomberg estimates.

Instagram last week revealed that it had surpassed the 1 billion user mark for the first time and will likely see its revenue top $10 billion in 2019, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

The photo/video-sharing site has become the top social network among teen users and is on track to surpass 2 billion users by 2023.

The new valuation comes less than a week after Instagram announced IGTV, a platform that will allow high-profile users to post videos of up to an hour long, The New York Post reports. Instagram posts were limited to one minute.

One advantage for Instagram is its popularity with younger people. Earlier this month, a survey showed that more U.S. teens are using Instagram, YouTube, or Snapchat over Facebook.

A Pew Research Center survey found that 51 percent of U.S. teens, ages 13 to 17, say they use Facebook, which is a decline from the last survey of teen social media use in 2014 to 2015.

Back then, 71 percent of teens reported being regular Facebook users. In 2018, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat are used by sizable majorities of this age group over Facebook, PYMNTS reported. Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social networking service that was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. When it launched in October 2010 exclusively on iOS, the creators never could have dreamed it would become as valuable and ubiquitous as it is now.

In addition, last month, Instagram unveiled new features that will help users contact companies and enlist them for goods and services. The tools will also enhance companies’ visibility on Instagram. Instagram said 200 million active Instagrammers visit a business profile each day, and more than 150 million have a conversation with businesses on a monthly basis, the company said.

Shares of Facebook, led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, fell 2.7 percent, to $196.35, The New York Post reports.

By: Ilya Boruch

People Erring Away from Saving Money, Even in Healthy Economy

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Recent signs of an economy on the upswing has consumers more willing to spend than to save money. Even with economic indicators like rising wages and falling unemployment, almost a quarter of Americans said they still have no emergency savings, according to an annual Bankrate.com report released Wednesday.

The study found that people were more likely to at least have some amount of money available in a bank account in a sign that people who were really struggling are doing at least a little better. The amount of people with no money readily available in either a checking, savings or money market account fell to a seven-year low of 23 percent, a decline from 24 percent last year, the study found. The poll was conducted in June by research firm SSRS, using a national sample of 1,006 people.

“People are not making headway in savings, largely in part because they don’t prioritize saving,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

The percentage of Americans who at least have some savings but not enough to cover three months’ worth of expenses increased by 2 percent from last year’s 20 percent, the report said. The percentage of people who could cover expenses for three to five months increased to 18 percent, from 17 percent last year. There are still only 29 percent of Americans who have enough emergency savings to cover at least six months’ of expenses, down from 31 percent in 2017. Financial advice dictates that people have at least enough savings to cover six months of expenses.

“Despite the enormous wealth gains we have seen in the stock market and in the housing market, that wealth is very unevenly distributed,” said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York. He said that the disparity is overriding any gains made in the job sector.

The median family simply has fewer resources, Slok said, citing a 2017 report he authored on U.S. income and wealth inequality. About a third of American families have no wealth or negative wealth, not counting the value of their home. “It’s obviously not good from a vulnerability perspective,” he said.

Despite the lack of people who have an adequate amount of savings stored, most Americans don’t seem to be worried about their financial situation. Sixty-two percent say they are somewhat or very comfortable with their emergency savings. About one in five Americans with no emergency savings at all said they felt comfortable as well.

McBride finds the thinking illogical. “In some cases, it’s just denial,” he said. He continued that “they’ve never been out of work, had a big medical expense or experienced a significant event that threatened their emergency savings.”

Lower-income households are more likely to have no emergency savings, but 27 percent of the lowest-income households have accumulated enough savings to cover at least three months’ expenses, suggesting that savings is not a function of income, Bloomberg reports. About a quarter of the highest-income households either have no emergency savings or just enough to cover fewer than three months’ expenses.

The Northeast has the highest percentage of Americans who claim to have enough saved to cover six months of bills. The South has the lowest percentage.

By: Katt Deibart

Mandelblit Denounces Proposal for Political Appointments of Legal Advisors

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Attorney General of Israel Avichai Mandelblit at Elyakim Rubinstein's resignation from the position of Deputy President of the Israeli Supreme Court. Jun 13, 2017. Photo by Noam Moshkovich/Pool

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit blasted a proposal to change the way government ministries choose their legal advisors, telling the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Monday that a proposal tabled by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked would emasculate the legal advisors’ ability to effectively do their jobs.

The proposal would require government ministries to choose from a list of approved lawyers to head their legal departments, and to obtain the approval of the attorney general for the appointment. The list of acceptable candidates will be chosen by a search committee headed by the director general of the relevant ministry, replacing the current system of publishing public tenders for the positions in order to ensure professionals appointments.

But Mandelblit said the bill was a threat to the rule of law.

“In the State of Israel public service is professional and does not express its personal views,” Mandelblit said. “I came here to uphold the rule of law. (The proposed bill) is a threat to the rule of law in the country…(it) could enormously damage the role of legal advisers as gatekeepers.”

Shaked countered that she expects legal advisers to represent their minister’s political outlook.

“We need to trust the political leaders,” said Shaked. “We are not criminals. When a minister is replaced the legal advisor should reflect the policies of the new minister.”

The Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee, Shaked fellow Jewish Home MK Nissan Slomiansky, said the current situation makes it difficult for ministers to execute the policies they were voted into power to carry out. “We must find a better balance ministers to govern without harming the independence of legal advisors and their role as gatekeepers.

Several government watchdog NGOs, including the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, as well as a range of leading jurists including former Supreme Court presidents Meir Shamgar, Aharon Barak and Dorit Beinisch; former Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir; and former Supreme Court justices Edna Arbel and Gabriel Bach came out strongly against the bill.

“This is another attempt to run over the gatekeepers, as part of a series of bills designed to promote the idea of ‘governance,’ which in fact is aimed at creating an autocratic leadership while harming the independence of supervisory bodies representing the public interest,” the Movement for Quality Government said.

Zamir told the Law and Justice Committee that the proposal poses a “great danger” for the State of Israel.”

“The proposal contradicts a basic principle of the public system: Conflict of interest. It is unacceptable that the audited party will appoint the auditor,” Zamir said. “The law may create a situation in which the public will suspect the legal advisor because of his appointment by the minister. For the sake of the State of Israel as a state of law, do not advance this proposal.”

By: TPS Staff

Rivlin to Prince William: ‘Send Abbas Message of Peace’

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Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, met with President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Monday, following a visit to the Yad Vashem national Holocaust memorial earlier on the first day of his royal visit to Israel.

President Rivlin told the Prince to “send a message of peace” to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, whom he is set to meet in Ramallah on Wednesday.

“I know that you’re going to meet President Abbas,” said Rivlin, “I would like you to send him a message of peace. Tell him it is about time, it is about time that we have to find together the way to build confidence. To build confidence as a first step to an understanding that we have to bring an end to the tragedy between us that has been going on for 120 years.”

“There’s only one God, and we are letting everyone worship God according to his belief. All of the other problems have to be solved first of all with the understanding of both sides that we’re not doomed to live together, our destiny is to live together. We are destined to live together,” Rivlin continued.

Prince William, making the first-ever official visit to Israel by a member of the British royal family, avoided political statements, saying that he looked forward to but rather said he looks forward to “absorbing and understanding the different issues, the different cultures, the different religions, culminating in a visit, which will be very symbolic and very interesting for me, in the Old City on Thursday which I am very much looking forward to seeing.”

Rivlin, who was born in Jerusalem in 1939 under the British Mandate, told the Prince that he was born as a British subject and walked to school every day on a street named after a British king.

“Your Royal Highness, I was born as a British subject, Rivlin said. “I walked to school every day down King George Street, but also past King David Street. We were here 100 years even before the Balfour Declaration, a declaration which helped the People of Israel, the Jewish people from all around the world bring to reality the idea and the belief that the Jewish people have to return to their homeland,” Rivlin said.

“This land knows about history and you’re writing a new page of [that] history,” he added.

Before his meeting with the President, Prince William held a short meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem. During the meeting, the Prime Minister and his wife, together with the Prince, met with descendants of Haimaki and Rachel Cohen, who were saved during the Holocaust by Princess Alice, Prince William’s great-grandmother. Haimaki Cohen was a Jew and former member of the Greek parliament from Tricala in northern Greece.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife gave the Duke of Cambridge a replica of a Righteous Among the Nations Certificate for Princess Alice, who was granted the title in 1993.

Earlier in the day, Prince William visited the Yad Vashem national Holocaust memorial, which he said had left him “profoundly moved.”

“I had a very moving tour around Yad Vashem this morning which really taught me quite a lot more than I thought I knew about the true horrors of what happened to the Jews during the war,” he said.

By: Yona Schnitzer
(TPS)

Livni Seeks New Role as Head of Opposition; Herzog Supports Her

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MK Tzipi Livni, who’s Hatnua faction of the Zionist Union party holds just five Knesset seats, said Monday that she intends to replace outgoing MK Yitzhak (Bougie) Herzog as leader of the parliamentary opposition the latter assumes the role of Jewish Agency chairman at the beginning of August.

Speaking at the first Zionist Union party meeting at the Knesset since Herzog was chosen to become head of the Jewish Agency, Livni said “the job of head of the opposition is a critical one for the continued partnership of the Zionist Union, which is comprised of the Labor Party and Hatnua.”

Earlier in the day, Herzog told the Israel Broadcast Corporation (Kan) that he would recommend Livni to replace him as leader of the parliamentary opposition, despite reservations by Avi Gabbay, who is the chairman of the Labor Party but is not a member of the Knesset.

In 2015 Herzog, then the chairman of the Labor Party, agreed to join forces with Livni’s Hatnua faction to create the Zionist Union party. He told the Hebrew-language Israel Broadcast Corporation (Kan) Monday that the deal to join forces included an agreement to bequeath the role of opposition leader to Livni, who served as foreign minister from 2006-09 and justice minister from 2013-14, in the event that Herzog did not complete his term.

“I was voted out (of the party leadership) – deposed, if you like, however you want to put it. The Zionist Union has two terrific leaders, Avi Gabbay and Tzipi Livni. I’m currently the head of the opposition but I’m not the head of our political camp.

While throwing his support behind Livni to replace him as opposition leader, Herzog said that Labor Party Chairman Avi Gabbay was correct to think carefully if and how the future partnership between the Labor Party and Hatnua will progress. “Naturally, he wants to think about the future of the partnership between the parties and to make sure that this is not just a platform for Hatnua.

“I’ve got till the end of July until I resign from the Knesset. By that time, I am sure we will find the right conditions (to solve this issue),” he said.

Herzog also told the national broadcaster that he would put improving relations between Israel and Diaspora Jewish communities and streamlining the process of accepting conversions performed outside Israel as a central focus of his tenure at the head of the Jewish Agency, quoting the Biblical story of Ruth the Moabite to illustrate Judaism’s welcoming attitude towards converts.

However, Herzog – the grandson of Israel’s first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Herzog – misquoted the relevant verse, omitting Ruth’s pledge that “your God will be my God,” and replacing it with the words “your homeland will be my homeland,” which does not appear in the original text. It was not clear if the change was intentional or not.

Despite the misquote, however, non-Orthodox leaders praised Herzog’s election and welcomed the Agency’s stab at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who the non-Orthodox leaders say has consistently refused to address their concerns out of political expediency to maintain government peace with his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners.

By: TPS Staff

Israel to Rethink UNESCO Exit; Group Delays Decisions on ‘Palestinian’ Heritage Sites

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The World Heritage Committee session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) postponed a decision to list the Old City of Hebron, the Cave of the Patriarchs, the Old City of Jerusalem and the Old City walls on its list of endangered world heritage sites, and to list the Old City of Hebron as a “Palestinian” world heritage site.

The World Heritage Committee session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) postponed a decision to list the Old City of Hebron, the Cave of the Patriarchs, the Old City of Jerusalem and the Old City walls on its list of endangered world heritage sites, and to list the Old City of Hebron as a “Palestinian” world heritage site.

Last week Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-HaCohen said Jerusalem could reconsider the decision to exit UNESCO depending on the outcomes of the World Heritage Committee session, currently meeting in Manama, Bahrain.

Last December Israel notified the UN culture watchdog that it would leave the organization because of a systemic anti-Israel biased, but last week Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-HaCohen said Jerusalem could reconsider the decision depending on the outcomes of the World Heritage Committee session, currently meeting in Manama, Bahrain.

“We must not ignore the new spirit that is blowing from UNESCO… This is a dramatic change in which the most active international organization against Israel has become the quietest arena, even though this is the only organization in which the Palestinians are recognized as a state for all intents and purposes,” said in a statement.

Reports last week that Israel would participate at the session in Bahrain evoked strong public scrutiny as the two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations although the two sides are believed to have maintained secret contacts in recent years. Israel and Bahrain both fear Iran’s growing influence in the region, and in May Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalida Khalifa accused Iran of attacking Israel from its proxy in Syria, adding that Israel has the right to self-defense.

In December an official delegation from the Gulf nation traveled to Israel to spread a message of peace and tolerance from the Bahraini people and King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.

By: Mara Vigevani
(TPS)

J’slm Rabbinic Org to Offer Kosher, Non-Rabbinate Weddings

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Hashgacha Pratit, a Jerusalem-based private rabbinic organization, announced Tuesday that the group would offer halachic (Jewish law) weddings to Israeli couples that are either ineligible or who choose not to register their marriages via the chief rabbinate.

The decision is the latest in a string of decisions by Orthodox groups to challenge the haredi-dominated rabbinate on two central issues of religion and state – kosher food oversight, and now marriage. Earlier this year, the better-known Tzohar organization launched a private oversight certificate, taking care to abide by the High Court of Justice’s ruling that the word “kosher” can only be used by the chief rabbinate. Hashgacha Pratit, which had maintained a non-rabbinate oversight apparatus in Jerusalem for several years prior to Tzohar’s launch, folded immediately into the new group.

With regard to marriage, Tzohar, headed by Shoham Municipal Rabbi David Stav, also offers “user friendly” services to non-observant Israelis, and increasingly to national religious couples, who feel alienated by the chief rabbinate. Yonatan Peleg, a spokesman for Hashgacha Pratit, said the new body will not challenge Tzohar’s market but rather enters the playing field to compliment the offerings available.

“I have nothing but praise for Tzohar and their marriage department,” Peleg told TPS in a phone interview. “But they are providing marriage preparation services and conducting weddings inside the Rabbinate framework. We are offering halachic weddings, with Orthodox rabbis and traditional wedding preparations to couples who meet all the halachic criteria to have a Jewish wedding but are either ineligible or unwilling to get married via the Rabbinate.”

In a statement announcing the new body, Hashgacha Pratit said it would take care to observe both Jewish religious law (halacha) and Israeli civil law, which grants a monopoly on Jewish marriage to the chief rabbinate and provides criminal penalties for breaking the law.

At the same time, however, Yonatan Peleg said there is a large number of Israelis who are halachically Jewish but prevented from getting married via the rabbinate. Peleg added that this number is likely to grow even further in the coming years as growing numbers of Israelis vote with their feet to avoid the rabbinate.

“In the past two years, the number of couples getting married via the rabbinate has fallen by eight percent,” he said. “That’s not a statistical blip.”

Predictably, women’s groups and civil rights organizations praised the new body, with Hashgacha Pratit founder Rabbi Aharon Leibovitch saying that problems with the rabbinate’s marriage apparatus have been growing for years.

“We have been witness to the growing, hurtful discrimination on the part of the rabbinic establishment with respect to new immigrants, converts, women and secular Israelis. This has nothing to do with Jewish law, and the time has come to present people with an alternative to obtain an halachic marriage,” Leibovitch said.

By: Andrew Friedman
(TPS)

Human Rights at the UN? Think Again!!

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12/20/10 Columbia, SC: Gov. Nikki Haley official portrait. Photos by Renee Ittner-McManus/rimphotography.com

The headquarters for what one might easily misidentify as the The Barnum and Bailey Circus sits on First Avenue and 42nd Street in NYC. There are no dancing elephants nor high wire artists in these UN buildings but they harbor instead many clowns and sleight of hand artists. One such group of far too many congruent ones is the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). Established in 2006, then President GW Bush refused to join it but in 2009 one of the first actions of President Obama was to contaminate this nation by jumping into this group. Last week, President Trump announced we are out. Good move.

NY Democratic Congressman, Eliot Engel came out in support of the HRC with these words: “By withdrawing from the council, we lose our leverage and allow the council’s bad actors to follow their worst impulses unchecked.”

Our UN representative, Nikki Haley called the 47 member council, “a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias.” Trump long has been critical of the HRC, which he has accused of showing a bias against Israel. Haley last year slammed the body for its, “relentless, pathological campaign” against Israel. And that’s the major reason we took a hike. This group has been anti-Israel from day one. Israel has been hit with a total of 78 condemnations outstripping the 55 for all the other nations in the world, combined.

The HRC has even named Israel as the world’s worst human rights abuser. And leave it to our own NYC Democrat Congressman, Eliot Engel, who is now a major Jewish supporter of the Iran Deal, to come out in support of the HRC with these words: “By withdrawing from the council, we lose our leverage and allow the council’s bad actors to follow their worst impulses unchecked.” Excuse us, Mr. Engel, but what good did our membership in this group have since we don’t have a veto power and are only one of 47 equal members? And Eliot, would you want to rub shoulders with the reps from such nations as Venezuela, Pakistan, the Republic of Congo, Burundi, Cuba, China and Qatar and do what, chat with them in a friendly manner? Were we to remain in the HRC that would have further legitimized that evil group.

Since President Trump’s inauguration a little over one and one half years ago, he has shown great strength and determination to keep his pre-election promises. He has withdrawn from the Paris Accords, UNESCO, the Iran Deal and has moved our Embassy to Jerusalem. And although the likes of wimpy Jews such as Engel, Schumer,

Debbie Schultz and Ted Deutch may weep at his accomplishments, we Israel loving Jews together with Christian Zionists salute President Trump for his fearless moves to make the World Great Again.

Merkel’s War Against Trump

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Instability and wars initiated by Germany were the bane of the 20th Century for Europe and the world. Tens of millions died and countless others suffered in WWI and WWII. The United States had to send its valued youth across the seas twice to fight, die and be maimed to bring peace to that continent, twice. And without our support post WWII we would have surely seen the enslavement of Europe by Soviet Russia. Not good for us! And now another problem seems to be incubating specifically in Deutchland, the land of beer and schnitzel, with its leader Angela Merkel picking fights with President Trump.

And she began this “war” before the 2016 U.S. election with these words about Hillary: “I value her long political experience, her commitment for women’s rights, family issues, and health care. I value her strategic thinking and that she is a strong supporter of the transatlantic partnership. Whenever I had the chance to work together with Hillary Clinton, it was a great pleasure. “ Well, Hillary lost and Merkel, stoked the flames of discord with Trump by telling one of her beer hall crowds that the days when Europe could completely count on others were “over” to an extent.

We have to know that we must fight for our future on our own, for our destiny as Europeans.” And this was just after Trump criticized major NATO allies and refused to endorse a global climate change accord which would have harmed his nation. Throw in his telling the G-7 crowd that he supports tariffs on European steel imports and thinks that Europe’s handling of its immigration crisis is “crazy.” Bold moves and we agree.

He was elected by Americans to Make America Great Again, not to once again shore up the lunatic Europeans who have taken in millions of Muslim “refugees” who have gone on to rape, pillage and destroy once Christian Europe. Strange, how well Trump understands the problem their immigration policy is creating. “The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition. Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!”

Not only that but Trump understands and is repelled by the deep loathing the citizenry of that continent have for Israel. He stands with the Jewish State. He moved our embassy to Jerusalem spotlighting Europe’s disdain for Israel. He cares not what foreigners think of him. He owes his allegiance only to America and its firm allies. So Angela Merkel, Emannuel Macron and the other wimpy “major” world leaders have a choice: stand by America and win its support both moral and military, or fight your own battles…..and for a change, try to win.

Letters to the Editor

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Are American Jews in Peril?

Dear Editor:

We American Jews are in peril. Over 70% of us voted to turn our backs on Israel and domestic Jewry. Over 70% of us voted twice in favor of Barack Obama, whom we all knew was an overt Jew hater who sat in the church pew of just about the most outrageous Jew hater in the country for over 20 years. Obama had as his Jew hating buddies, Rev. Wright, Rashid Khalidi, Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Louis Farrakhan, Al Sharpton and Valerie Jarrett, to name just a few. And Jewish voters knew nothing of this? Nonsense.

In fact, as a result of their dropping any concern for their ancestral beliefs and especially for their new support for the enemies of Judaism they should no longer be referred to as Jews but rather be referred to as members of a new religious group: Believers in Liberalism. They should be publicly repudiated for further describing themselves as “Jews.” If we remain silent and ignore the hatred of these Believers in Liberalism, we are doomed as a group.

Sincerely

Alan Bulwarky

 

Mourns the Death of Baseball Player

Dear Editor:

I’m still wiping away the tears, but I’m trying my best to channel one of the only lessons we can learn from a story as terrible as “Town Mourns Tragic Death of Former NJ Baseball Star and His Father.” You really do have to live your best life because it can all go away in an absolute instant. Spend time with family, or at least make sure to call a few times a week. Losing a family member prematurely must be about the worst feeling in the world. I would think having regrets would only worsen that unimaginable pain. It’s natural for us to get annoyed and angry at each other, and that’s perfectly fine. That’s part of living life. But you have to really stop and think about the bigger picture. Is it really worth it to feel such anger at a brother or sister over something that will seem so trivial a week from now? G-d forbid something happens to a family member, but having your last memory with that loved one be feelings of anger over something stupid would probably haunt me forever.

It’s so touching to see the outpouring from the community of Old Bridge to show such love, kindness, and support for this family in need. If anything can come close to close family, it’s friends and neighbors. While this tragedy of a young and promising young man and his dad break my heart, the support they continue to receive gives me hope and makes my heart hurt a little less.

Sincerely,

Patsy Degnan

 

Do We Need Another Apple Store?

Dear Editor:

Don’t we already have enough Apple stores? Just when I’m finally ready to check out the new location, a brand new store opens, and then I realize that the new location I originally wanted to go to was actually like the third-most brand new store anyway. The redundancy is too much! It’s an embarrassment of riches.

Now with all of that said, I couldn’t help but chuckle when I read your article in the June 22 issue that was called “Azrieli Group Negotiating to Open First Apple Store in Israel.” Who am I kidding? I’m so thrilled when I read that news! Even though I want to roll my eyes sometimes when I see yet another Apple store in the Big Apple, I know for sure that my heart will warm and fill with joy when I make the journey back to the Promised Land and pass by a slice of American capitalism. But how about we keep it at one store, Israel? Okay, maybe two or three.

Sincerely,

Regina Magarov

 

Wants Sports Betting in NY

Dear Editor:

I’ve been following all the coverage of sports betting now being legal and where it is being offered. When I read your June 15 article, “NJ Gov Murphy Signs Sports Betting Bill into Law After Supreme Court Ruling,” my excitement quickly turned to that of annoyance with New York State’s complete inaction on expanding sports betting in the state. Besides being a fun activity, sports betting will bring the state some extra cash.

I’m not the biggest fan of gambling. It can get out of hand quickly, and we know people become addicted. It just makes no sense anymore though to keep something that is so widespread illegal. The black market is huge, with people still handing over stashes of cash in concealed bags to each other in the middle of a city sidewalk so shady online operations based overseas can stay afloat. The Supreme Court ruling will go a long way towards making these images a thing of the past, but states like New York need to get their acts together.

Sincerely,

Max Parsons

 

The City’s Poor & Vulnerable Suffer

Dear Editor:

I am appalled after reading your article from June 15 titled “City to Pay $1B to Fix NYCHA Nightmare; Feds Charge Cover-Up.” How could people be so cruel and vile to not only see the conditions in which our city’s poorest and most vulnerable are living but then make a concerted effort to do nothing about it? And worse than that is the fact that the cover-up efforts probably required more thought and energy than just doing things right in the first place! It really makes you think. Who else can’t we trust with basic yet crucial tasks?

It’s encouraging to at least see the judge suggest the possibility of individuals being charged, but it’s still outrageous that NYCHA won’t be charged and that the perpetrators aren’t being put on trial at this very moment. Why are they allowed to get away with this gross malfeasance and lack of humanity? Most of us wouldn’t have that luxury nor would we want it. Helping each other out makes the world go ‘round and repairs it.

Sincerely,

Samantha Yates

 

Trump Plays By His Own Rules

Dear Editor:

Your May 18 article, “Trump, Michael Cohen Were Told of Abuse Charges vs Schneiderman in 2013,” is a reminder that the president plays by different rules and lacks any sort of compassion.

While Donald Trump or his fixer, Michael Cohen, may not have been able to come right out and say what they knew about the disgraced former New York State attorney general, they never seemed to do anything to combat the issue. After the news came out about Schneiderman’s patterns of abuse, the president gloated rather than showing even the slightest concern for Schneiderman’s victims or victims of abuse at large. I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised about a man who stands credibly accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault in some cases by 16 women and admitted to repeteadly grabbing women below the belt because “when you’re a star, they let you do it.” We deserve better. Victims of abuse most certainly do.

Sincerely,

Henry Robert Capalini