Assemblyman Rory Lancman has introduced a piece of legislation that would protect houses of worship from vandalism and theft. And assemblymen Charles Lavine, Michael Simanowitz, and State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky are backing it.
The legislation is a direct response to the recent round of incidents aimed at houses of worship across the five boroughs, including the recent mosque bombing in Jamaica.
On Monday, the elected officials stood with Rabbi Nahum Kaziyev and some members of Congregation Ohr Natan in Rego Park – which was subject to anti-Semitic vandalism last November – to express their support of a bill that would increase penalties on those convicted of such crimes.
“We want to make sure that our police and court system are taking those acts of vandalism and theft as seriously as possible, and hopefully deter anybody that is cowardly and lowly enough to steal from or vandalize a house of worship from doing so,” Lancman said.
The legislation would increase the penalty for theft or the intentional damage to a scroll, vessel or any other item used in connection with religious worship in any house of worship to a maximum of seven years in prison from four.
It would classify those kinds of crimes as third-degree grand larceny and second-degree criminal mischief, both Class D Felonies. Currently, those charges would only apply in cases where items worth more than $3,000 have been stolen, or where items have sustained more than $1,500 in damages.
The bill also aims to increase the penalty for theft of any scroll, religious vessel or any other item valued at more than $250 and used in connection with religious worship in any house of worship.
Currently the penalty carries a maximum of seven years in prison by classifying those types of crimes as second-degree grand larceny, which is a Class C felony. If the bill is passed, the maximum years in prison would be 15.
The bill also aims to increase the penalty for any intentional damage to house of worship-owned property to a maximum of four years in prison from one year, by making it a Class E felony. Currently, this penalty applies only where the damage is worth more than $250.
“A crime of hate against one person or one synagogue defiles everybody,” said Stavisky, who is co-sponsoring the bill in the State Seante. “It is a crime against everybody regardless of religion, regardless of nationality.”
Lavine noted that the bill does not require that anyone caught committing vandalism or stealing from a house of worship have any specific intent to commit a hate crime.
According to the law, hate crimes requires proof of a hateful intent. Lancman’s legislation would not require that proof. A suspect would be prosecuted under the law regardless of whether they were motivated by hatred, bigotry or something else.
The bill is drawing up hope for houses of worship who were hit with vandalism or theft, such as Congregation Ohr Natan.
In November, Congregation Ohr Natan was vandalized with anti-Semitic messages, threatening the community of Bukharian Jews who worship at the temple. Rabbi Kaziyev recalled the day vividly.
“I remember the Sunday morning when we came here for services and the members of our center alerted me to the disgusting note we had in big letters on our walls,” he said of a graffiti message that read, “We will never be friends.”
“It’s very hard for something like this to happen in 2011, it’s not easy,” he added. “Our congregation was very upset; We have programs from morning to evening here, we have kids and seniors, and people were concerned.”
Kaziyev said the congregation has increased security around the building since the incident. They now have eight security cameras inside and outside. The suspect has not yet been found.
“We are now more alert,” he said. “Hopefully it was just a one-time incident that won’t repeat itself.”
In addition to the incident at Congregation Ohr Natan, a mosque on the Van Wyck Expressway was fire bombed at the beginning of 2012. In 2008, The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Church in Ozone Park had its 9/11 memorial lights smashed on church grounds, nd the Avenue Z Jewish Center in Sheepshead Bay had money stolen from its donation box in 2010.
“These crimes are more than the measure of the value of the item that have been stolen; they literally instill fear in the community that uses those houses of worship and for that reason, we think it’s justified to increase the penalties,” Lancman said.

Workers from airports around the city are calling on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to require employment agencies it contracts with to pay higher wages.
A coalition of Southeastern Queens clergy members, community residents and civic organizations held a press conference at the Greater Refuge Church of Christ on Sutter Avenue in Jamaica on Friday, February 24, demanding the Port Authority take more of an interest in developing the communities near LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark airports.
The coalition referred to a report compiled by New York University’s Women of Color Policy Institute which found that more than 14,000 service passenger contract workers earn less than those employed directly by the Port Authority.
Service passenger contract workers, who are located in the front of airports and include baggage handlers and check point operators, make an average of $16,000 a year, according to the coalition.
However, speakers at the conference said the Port Authority is receptive to their concerns. In a statement, Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye said he is sympathetic to the issues raised by the coalition and in the NYU study.
Regina Gilbert, an employee at JFK Airport, said at the conference that she works for $7.25 an hour, the current minimum wage.
“I’m one of the first persons you meet after you drop off your bags, which is an important service to passengers,” Gilbert said. “We are fighting for better wages, better benefits. We want to look just like everybody else.”
Contract employees are also pushing for an opportunity to unionize. Coalition members said the workers are receiving support from the 32BJ Service Employees International Union.
Speakers said that if contracted airport workers made more money, it would translate into economic development for their communities. Higher wages and health care would equal less homelessness, addiction and illness, they said.
Councilman James Sanders Jr. also attended the conference, where he spoke to the Port Authority directly, referring to it as “mister.”
“Mr. Port Authority, I know that you would not want your daughters working for $16,000 a year,” he said. “I know that you would have the biggest fit if they came in and reduced your salary to $16,000 a year.”
He called on the Port Authority to hold meetings to end “low-bid contracting,” which allows contractors to pay low wages, with the involvement of the affected workers and their communities.
But, “let’s not let this be a long meeting, because we understand that justice delayed is justice denied,” Sanders said. “Let’s not have to explain that $16,000 a year is not enough to live on.”
In a statement, Foye said he comes from a union family and is directing Port Authority staff to review the NYU report’s findings. He added that he recently met with members of SEIU 32BJ.
“While the workers mentioned in the report are not Port Authority employees, I am sympathetic to the concerns raised in this report about the employees of contractors hired by the airlines and other tenants at our metropolitan area airports,” Foye said. “I will seek recommendations on how we can work with our aviation partners on ways to improve the current situation.”

Hundreds of staff, parents and students gathered in front of Grover Cleveland High School in Glendale at 7 a.m. last Thursday morning to protest its possible closure due to what the Education Department refers to as a lack of improvement.
Protesters marched around the perimeter of the school, at 21-27 Himrod Street, holding posters denouncing Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s educational policies and shouting “save our school,” before locking arms to form a human chain in front of its entrance.
“I want my school to stay open,” said Tatyana Taskova, a music teacher and Grover Cleveland graduate, whose son is currently a senior honors student at the school.
She said the school has a high non-English speaking population, which the staff should be praised for taking on instead of threatened with closure.
“We’re doing a good job, we’re going out of our way to help children and we do get children with a lot of problems,” Taskova said.
“We do a lot more than we are believed to do,” she added. “We’re blamed for something that’s really not our fault and our children are doing the best they can but we just have a lot of issues that need to be resolved in the school.”
According to the Education Department (DOE), graduation rates at Grover Cleveland were at or below 55 percent for the last five years. In addition, the school is named one of the “Persistently Lowest Achieving” schools in the state.
Although DOE currently has no specific plans for Grover Cleveland, options include a turnaround method which would eliminate 50 percent of its staff, possibly including the principal.
The school could be phased out by not accepting new students, helping current students graduate and bringing in a new district or charter school to the building.
According to DOE, bringing in mentor teachers with higher salaries and introducing new education programs are also options.
But staff at the rally said DOE would hire cheaper, less-experienced teachers. If the turnaround method were implemented, the school’s entire staff would have to reapply for their jobs and go through an interview process.
However, the excessed teachers would remain on the city’s payroll, they said. In addition, all students currently enrolled in the school are guaranteed a seat in September, but could have 50 percent less teachers.
“If they’re guaranteeing seats and they’re going to let all the teachers go, what are they going to do with those students?” asked Dorina Barretta, a teacher.
Students want Grover Cleveland to stay open and fully staffed because they love their school, several said as they stood on Metropolitan Avenue chanting and asking passing cars to honk their horns in support.
“When I come back to visit Grover Cleveland, I want to be able to come back to visit my old teachers,” said Vashtee Ragoonanan, a senior. “I don’t want to come back to a different high school.”
She added, “I grew up here.”
Josue Perez, a junior, said more than 1,000 students could have their futures jeopardized if the school closes.
“Despite what people say, it’s a great school,” he said. “Don’t let this happen.”
Perez said Grover Cleveland is the first in his student career to make him feel school spirit. He said its students arrive on time, study and strive to pass their classes.
In addition, the school’s “unity and diversity” motto teaches them tolerance and respect, he said.
“You’ll find a table full of African American kids and West Indian kids and Hispanic kids, sitting together, because kids get along,” Perez said. “Cleveland has to stay together and fight for our school. Let Bloomberg give us a fighting chance.”

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Ridgewood may be home to a new Planet Fitness, if a special permit the corporation is submitting to the Board of Standards and Appeals passes.
A representative from the company visited a Community Board 5 meeting in the Christ the King High School cafeteria in Middle Village on Wednesday, February 8, as the application has to win its members over first.
Board members were skeptical of the gym’s lack of off-street parking, but welcomed graffiti cleanup at its proposed site, 329 Wyckoff Avenue. The building is said to have the worst graffiti vandalism in the district.
“You realize you’re landlocked on two sides,” said board Chairman Vincent Arcuri, Jr. when asking about the parking situation. “I think that’s a problem.”
However, Josh Rinesmith, who spoke on behalf of Planet Fitness, said a study showed that 85 percent of its members who live in areas with mass transit use it for transportation to the gym, or they walk.
“Planet fitness tries to make itself accessible and affordable to all members of the community,” Rinesmith said, adding that the location is in close proximity to the M and L trains.
“Right now, the property owner is doing an extensive renovation,” he said. “Once that is complete, we’d like to be able to come in and renovate the rest of the interior of the building to have a fitness center.”
Planet Fitness would occupy a small portion of the first floor of the 29,000-square-foot two-story building for a reception area, and the entire second floor for physical activity.
The gym would occupy about 17,300 square feet in total, Rinesmith said. It would be wheelchair accessible.
The gym would operate 24 hours, seven days a week, with roughly 135 people per hour in its peak hours.
“We’ve been particularly well regarded and popular with municipal workers,” Rinesmith said, specifying “hospital workers who work these 12-hour shifts and are able to stop in and work out either before they go in to their late-night shifts or after.”
One board member asked if Planet Fitness would be willing to consult the local supermarket to possibly share its parking lot. Rinesmith said the company would be open to that idea.
As for the graffiti, “the least we would expect from anybody utilizing their property is to clear every inch of graffiti,” Arcuri said, “and maintain the cleaning. We need that kind of commitment before we can approve anything.”
The application will go before Board 5’s Zoning and Land Use Review Committee next.

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