Community Corner

On Thursday afternoon, June 3, Queens rabbonim and community leaders gathered at Haym Salomon Square by Vleigh Place and 72nd Avenue in Kew Gardens Hills to lend support to NYC Comptroller candidate David Weprin as the June 22 Primary election nears. Weprin, a Yeshiva of Central Queens graduate and Holliswood resident, has been a longtime public servant with vast knowledge in finance and is currently a local Assembly Member.

Over Memorial Day Weekend, Queens Borough President candidate Elizabeth Crowley met with several Jewish leaders in the Kew Gardens Hills area and toured several small businesses in the area.

Responding to a letter from Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) and a broader outcry, Google CEO Sundar Pichai last week removed his corporation’s Global Lead for Diversity Strategy and Research, Kamau Bobb. The letter from CJV, an organization that represents over 1,500 Orthodox rabbis, called for Mr. Bobb to be replaced for having authored – and retained – a blog post on his personal website that contained markedly antisemitic content.

This past Thursday evening, the Queens community marked the Shloshim of the 45 k’doshim from Meron with an awe-inspiring community-wide kumsitz held at Kehilas Torah Temimah. Singing sensation Eli Levin took the crowd on a moving journey with each tune.

Kew Gardens Hills has been in the limelight of the political arena ever since it was declared a red zone at the height of the pandemic. More interest followed, with national attention surrounding the James Gennaro’s successful City Council race against an antisemitic opponent, where the City’s Ranked-Choice voting methodology was first put to the test. Since then, Assembly Member Daniel Rosenthal has been credited with keeping the focus on Central Queens.

Linda Lee hopes to be the answer for Jewish causes of Eastern Queens. This message was made clear at a gathering held this past Sunday evening at the Holliswood home of Michelle and Danny Gejerman to hear from the District 23 City Council candidate. Community leaders and friends gathered to hear from activists who helped James Gennaro win his Special Election in nearby District 24 back in February when he was faced with a DSA-endorsed candidate. The anti-Israel candidate in Lee’s race has won the endorsement of AOC.