Community Corner

For the first time in its history, Queens Hospital Center held a public Chanukah menorah lighting inside the hospital, drawing a packed crowd of staff, administrators, community leaders, clergy, and elected officials. The gathering was notable not for ceremony, but for context: a public institution making visible space for Jewish life at a moment when many feel increasingly unseen.

On Monday afternoon, children in small velvet yarmulkes spun dreidels on the tables of the New York State Executive Mansion in Albany, surrounded by Jewish leaders, activists, and state officials who had traveled from across New York for Governor Kathy Hochul’s annual Pre-Chanukah celebration.

The KTT Youth Department’s annual Chanukah event, held at KTT in the YCQ Jr. High multipurpose room, brought parents and children together for a celebration that was both festive and communal.

Thanksgiving is a time for gratitude and, each year, our community makes sure that gratitude reaches those who are often forgotten.

This past Motza’ei Shabbos, families gathered in the gymnasium of The Queens Cheder in Jamaica Estates, where an evening of inspiration was about to unfold. Behind the head table hung a banner featuring the Cheder’s emblem and imagery of the campus, grounding the event in the legacy of what had been built—and what continues to grow.

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.