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For more than two decades, Pesach Osina has been a familiar presence in Far Rockaway, connecting residents with essential services and supporting local organizations. Now, with the November 3 election approaching, the Orthodox Jewish father of six is the Democratic nominee seeking to succeed retiring Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato in New York’s 23rd Assembly District.

Security guard reimbursements paid to Queens yeshivos over the past month are bringing financial relief to schools grappling with the growing expense of protecting their students and staff. New York City reimbursement records provide a school-by-school account of public funding across the borough, while a recent study shows that security costs at participating New York Jewish schools have nearly doubled in three years.

Congressman Tom Suozzi had introduced legislation protecting access to houses of worship when he learned that Republican Congressman Brad Knott of North Carolina was pursuing a similar measure. The Long Island and Queens Democrat agreed to combine their efforts, helping develop the bipartisan Right to Worship Act.

For nearly three decades, there’s hardly an event in the Queens Jewish community where one wouldn’t see Rabbi Avrohom Hecht, the sociable activist, working the room among the elected officials, rabbis, and volunteers. Last Sunday, he took the stage in Rego Park to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of Project Lead, honoring local elected officials for providing funding that covers its food pantry, programs for youth, and senior events, in particular for Holocaust survivors. “We assist thousands of clients with human services, distribute over 200,000 pounds of food per year, visit dozens of homebound elderly, and a myriad of other services,” said Rabbi Hecht. “Youth activities, Holocaust survivor services, emigre empowerment, and community development.”

Security staff at Manhattan’s Center for Jewish History discovered a notecard near the institution’s front entrance bearing the message “Nuke Jews, Save Lives,” according to an October 16 essay by its president, Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, published in The Forward.

The Chazaq organization is renowned for its inspirational lectures and for its outreach to the unaffiliated offering life-changing after-school programs for public school youth and transferring hundreds of students to yeshivah.