Queens Jewish Link
Connecting the Queens Jewish Community 
Less than a week after Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul attended a community forum on anti-Semitism at the Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan, the Jewish community of West Hempstead had its own forum, hosting Nassau County Legislator John Giuffre.
The completion of the Kew Gardens Interchange reconstruction - a $739 million project that tied up traffic in Kew Gardens Hills, Briarwood, Kew Gardens, and Forest Hills for the past decade - was declared this week by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Seeking to promote discipline and talent among children, a gemach for violins was founded last summer in West Hempstead. This Motza’ei Shabbos, participants of the West Hempstead Violin Gemach will have their public concert, hosted by Creative Corner.
Following divisive redistricting proposals that led to lawsuits and do-overs for City Council, State Senate, and Congressional districts, a bipartisan panel announced new State Assembly lines this past week that will come into effect ahead of the 2024 elections.
Across the landscape of New York City and its suburbs, Jewish names appear on streets, parks, schools, and other points on the map. We often expect such names to appear in visibly Jewish neighborhoods, honoring rabbis, politicians, and activists. But as Brad Kolodny notes in his research, much of Long Island’s early Jewish history began further to the east. He is the founder of the Jewish Historical Society of Long Island, which highlighted Hartmann’s Pond in Amityville as one such example.
Prior to becoming the first president elected on the Republican ticket, Abraham Lincoln experienced multiple defeats in his runs for state and federal office. Closer to home and in the present day, Brooklyn Councilman Ari Kagan’s road to City Hall was also marked by defeats until his election last year in the district covering Coney Island, Gravesend, and Bath Beach. His decision this week to switch parties, and run for reelection as a Republican, surprised party insiders, but it also reflected recent trends among voters across the city.
