Shabsie Saphirstein

For residents of Kew Gardens Hills, seeing a line a block long on 72^nd Avenue for the Passover food distribution hosted by the Chazaq Organization and Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty is quite eye-opening. For others, the experience of seeing the charity in their neighborhood is heartwarming, but for all it is the selfless dedication of these two organizations and their staff and volunteers that brings out the best of a community on the precipice of a holiday that promotes family, progress, and renewal.

If you live or work in Kew Gardens Hills, you may remember Robert the Watchmaker, 71. The man with a smile, the Main Street staple is gone but never forgotten. Look at the photo of the short man with a goatee and a kind smile, sometimes with a loupe in one of his eyes as he tinkers with a watch in his small shop nestled between the Main Sweet candy shop and the Men’s Famous barbershop, on the same block as Main Street Cinemas.

Over the past number of years, the Queens Jewish community has been hit with an increasing number of addiction cases that have led to severe issues, including death on more than one occasion. Rabbi Yaniv Meirov, CEO of the Chazaq Organization, has not taken this issue lightly.

Hundreds of mishloach manos came pouring into Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation from community yeshivos, shuls, and residents in celebration of Purim. Ezra Academy and Shevach High School both organized hundreds of bags, while Israel Root of the Five Towns once again coordinated a special delivery with many more boxes full of holiday gifts for the residents of the center. The Queens community drive was led by Ellona Kravitz, who joined with her family for the distribution around the facility.

Through The Eyes Of Some Of Our Rabbanim And Community Members

Tribute from Yaakov Serle, Co-Publisher

Queens Jewish Link and Bukharian Jewish Link

On Sunday morning, March 20, Lynn Schulman was formally inaugurated at the Queens Museum as the New York City Council Member for District 29, representing the communities of Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens, and Richmond Hill, following the widely contested 2021 primary and general election races.