News

Every graduating class hopes to be remembered, but the senior class at Torah Academy for Girls (TAG) in Far Rockaway will be remembered for something no diploma can measure. What began with a classmate’s heartbreaking cancer diagnosis became an extraordinary expression of achdus, inspiring thousands and offering a moving reminder of what Torah values look like when they are lived rather than simply taught. The story reached a broad audience after being shared by community news networks, drawing emotional responses from people who had never even met the students involved.

There was a time when a growing Jewish community celebrated the opening of a new shul or yeshivah as a sign that it had truly taken root. Today, another institution has become just as indispensable to communal life: a Hatzalah station.

For more than a century, Regina Puterman carried memories that few could ever imagine. She witnessed the destruction of her family, survived one of history’s darkest chapters, and endured decades of personal heartbreak. In her final years, she quietly carried the profound pain of believing she had been forgotten. Yet, in her final days—and especially at her funeral—the Jewish community answered that loneliness with an extraordinary act of unity.

Towering inflatable air dancers swayed at the entrance to the Lander College for Men (LCM) Quad as festive music filled the air and families streamed in for an afternoon of fun. Children raced excitedly toward giant inflatable slides and bounce attractions while parents paused to greet neighbors and capture photographs before the carnival was even fully underway. Within minutes, the grounds were bustling as youngsters eagerly hurried from one attraction to the next.

After 132 years, the thunder of hooves at Aqueduct Racetrack has fallen silent. On Sunday, June 28, the historic “Big A” in South Ozone Park held its final day of live thoroughbred racing, bringing the curtain down on a venue that had stood as a Queens landmark since September 27, 1894. Fittingly, the day’s final race was named “It Was a Good Run,” a sentiment shared by the thousands who gathered to bid farewell to one of New York City’s most recognizable sporting institutions.

Standing at the edge of the water in Kissena Park, the children of Avrumie Itzkowitz gathered in the place where their father’s life was stolen on a quiet Monday afternoon, carrying a burden no family should ever have to bear. The 75-year-old longtime Queens resident, respected mashgiach, Hatzalah volunteer, husband, father, grandfather, and former bakery owner was known throughout the community as a man whose quiet acts of kindness touched countless lives. It has been over five weeks since May 18, yet the questions that have haunted the family since that afternoon remain unanswered. Who killed Avrumie Itzkowitz? Why was he targeted? More than a month later, why do those questions still have no answers?