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Each year, New York’s political establishment gathers in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the SOMOS Conference, a nonpartisan forum designed to bring together legislators, city officials, and community advocates for dialogue and coalition-building beyond Albany’s usual confines. Originally centered on Latino concerns—somos meaning “we are” in Spanish—the conference has evolved into a dynamic meeting ground where leaders across political, ethnic, and religious lines exchange ideas on issues ranging from education and housing to healthcare and public safety.

The sukkah refused to fall. For two years in a quiet backyard in Alfei Menashe, it stood through wind and rain—the temporary shelter that Ilan Dalal and his son Guy had built together for Sukkos, left untouched as a silent tefillah. Before driving off to the Nova music festival in October 2023, Guy had told his father, “Wait for me, Abba. We’ll take it down together when I get back.” This week, that promise echoes thousands of miles away in South Florida, where Miami Beach and its leaders are opening their arms to Guy and his childhood friend, fellow former hostage Evyatar David, turning their arrival into a moment of kavod, chizuk, and remembrance for all the hostages.

There’s something uniquely uplifting about a Motza’ei Shabbos in Queens. The leichter are put away, the Shabbos tablecloths are folded, and the streets come alive as pizzerias and restaurants fill with families easing back into the week. And among that energy, another kind of liveliness takes hold in the beis midrash of Bnei Yeshiva on 73^rd Avenue, where fathers and sons once again gathered for the beloved Avos U’Banim program.

The announcement of the new Queens Holocaust Memorial—held on Tuesday, November 25 after being rescheduled from Monday to accommodate key officials—marked an emotional and historic day for the borough. What began nearly three years ago as a quiet meeting between Holocaust survivor Vladimir Epshteyn and QJCC Board Member Judith Rosen has now become a fully funded memorial initiative supported by city leadership, state legislators, and Jewish communities across Queens.

A Story of Faith, Persistence, and the Queens Activists Who Refused to Let His Memory Fade

For 4,118 nights and days, the image of Lt. Hadar Goldin z”l hung in the corridors of remembrance – a silent vow that Israel does not leave its own behind. On November 9, 2025, that vow was finally fulfilled.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz is continuing to push hard against unlicensed cannabis shops across the borough. In her latest enforcement sweep, carried out together with the New York City Sheriff’s Office, six stores were shut down, and a significant amount of illegal product was taken off the shelves.