Sergey Kadinsky

While hundreds of laws are passed in Albany every year, amendments to the New York State Constitution are rare. Yet, that is just what was proposed by New York legislators last week in an “extraordinary session,” and its results could have significantly weakened religious freedom in the state.

The skyline of West Hempstead could rise if a planned apartment building is approved by the town zoning board.

Governor Kathy Hochul and her running mate, Antonio Delgado, visited the Kew Gardens Hills home of Nati and Revital Elishaev last Sunday in a final push to secure the vote of the Queens Jewish community. They listened as local elected officials and community leaders spoke of their support for the pair and the need for Jews to vote in the primary this past Tuesday.

David Musheyev grew up in Kew Gardens Hills and attended Townsend Harris High School, where he learned about the inventor of the polio vaccine, Dr. Jonas E. Salk, an alumnus of the school. Five years later, after graduating from the honors program at Queens College, he was named as a recipient of the fellowship carrying Salk’s name.

The only public school district on Long Island where voters rejected the proposed budget in May had its revote on Tuesday. Residents of West Hempstead cast their ballots on how much in taxes they will be paying in property taxes to support their public school district. Outside the West Hempstead Middle School, the scene was less tense than last time, when the proposed tax increase was 2.14 percent. This time it was 1.5 percent, following a series of newsletters, a public presentation, and pleas from public school parents. The proposed hike is lower than the average for a Nassau County district.

With the growth of frum families in West Hempstead, the evening kollel has been picking up in attendance. It is the venue where working men can hear a speaker discuss a halachic matter before a chaburah, and then the participants break up into pairs to tackle the topic at hand, the Daf Yomi, or other subjects on their minds.