Trump Receives NY Conservative Nod

The New York State Conservative Party, with 160,000 enrolled members across the state, gave Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump a boost with an endorsement from a majority of the conservatives gathered at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square this month. Some of the party’s committee members abstained from supporting Trump.

New York State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long told The Jewish Press, “[Trump]’s a strong supporter of Israel, there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. He was the grand marshal of the Israel Day parade. Unlike President Obama he wouldn’t be chastising [Israel Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.”

“I don’t necessarily agree with the suggestions that Donald Trump has flip-flop positions,” Long continued. “Trump has always been against illegal immigration. The message may come across a little differently but he talks policy and we’re beginning to understand his true and exact position on these issues and they are consistent. His policy is consistent with his rhetoric. He clearly is enunciating a conservative agenda. Taxation, immigration, jobs are all conservative views Trump holds. He understands we’re losing jobs to Mexico, to the Far East. He gets elected, that’s going to end.”

“There’s no hope other than if I become president,” Trump told the enthusiastic crowd upon accepting the endorsement. “We’re going to bring jobs back to New York. We have to bring back our businesses. We can’t let our remaining businesses go. If they go and they make a product and they want to move and send the product back over our borders and yet fire all our people and not pay taxes and they think they’re going to send that over the border and there’s not going to be consequences? Not gonna happen.”

Trump had this message for employers who move manufacturing jobs to other countries (as in fact he himself has): “Every time you make your product and you think you’re going to send it over, you’re going to pay a 35 percent tax every single time. We’re going to bring our businesses back.”

Not everyone at the state convention was enamored with Trump. Nachman Mostofsky, a voting member of the Conservative Party, is one of several party members who disagreed with the Trump endorsement.

“He’s not a conservative,” said Mostofsky, a member of the Brooklyn Conservative Committee. “We’re a political party. We have a platform to advance conservatism. He’s not a conservative. He shouldn’t have our party line. My problem is his need to start a tariff war. We should not be rubber-stamping the Republican party’s choice.”

Another party member not enamored with Trump is Ross Brady, the treasurer of the Brooklyn Conservative Committee. His concern about Trump is that “he has no guiding principles whatsoever.”

Brady abstained from the Trump endorsement but supported Trump’s running mate, Gov. Mike Pence. Brady says he is still going to vote for the Trump-Pence ticket in November because “they are the lesser of two evils.”

Jewish Presence Dwindling In State Legislature

Earlier this month New Yorkers went to the polls to cast their ballots in several primary battles. Due to a lack of opposition in November or lopsided enrollment numbers in these district races, many of those primary results in effect determined the final results in November.

There will be at least 15 new faces in the 150-member state Assembly next year (with five other Assemblymembers who came into office earlier this year and will be serving out their first full term), making it a 13 percent turnover rate in the lower house in one year.

Five of the newly filled 20 Assembly seats (or 25 percent) have flipped from being held by Jewish lawmakers to non-Jewish lawmakers. This leaves only 18 members (12 percent) who identify as Jewish. All are Democrats.

In the State Senate there will be six new faces next year with another three running for their first full term, having been picked by party leaders to fill out the term of an incumbent bounced from office. There are nine lawmakers (14 percent) who identify as being Jewish in the 63-member upper house. There are two contested races with one Jewish candidate vying for an open Senate seat in a Republican stronghold. There is only one Jewish Republican in the Senate but Simcha Felder (D – Boro Park) caucuses with the Republicans. There are nine senators who identify as Jewish. After November, there could be a tenth.

There are three Senate districts and 27 Assembly districts that have no Jewish footprint.

Felder Proud Of Diss From Environmental Activists

The Environmental Advocates lobby group releases a legislative scorecard each year that rates whether elected officials voted “correctly” on bills the group deems as important. This year the Environmental Planning Lobby’s scorecard showed the environmental voting record of State Senator Simcha Felder (D – Boro Park) improved from 44 percent to 57 percent over the past year.

Even with his improved score, however, the environmental group bestowed its infamous Oil Slick award on Felder, who graciously and proudly accepted it.

What was all the tzimmis (fuss) about? A bill sponsored by Felder and supported by members on both sides of the aisle in both houses would establish a prohibition on the imposition of any tax, fee, or local charge on carryout merchandise bags.

There were eight cosponsors to this measure. One senator, Diane Savino, received a lower overall score than Felder. Another, Andrew Lanza, received the same overall score as Felder and four cosponsors received overall scores of 82 or greater. This shows that even those considered friends of the environmental lobby group went against the wishes of the environmentalists.

Felder was given the Oil Slick award because the bill “would have blocked communities statewide from taking action to reduce needless plastic bag waste, which is costing local taxpayers as it damages wastewater systems, pollutes waterways, and gets landfilled,” said Peter Iwanowicz, executive director of EPL/Environmental Advocates.

Felder countered the environmentalists’ position with a public health argument:

“If customers do begin to provide their own carryout bags, as those who support this tax or fee intend, such reusable bags will undoubtedly present a serious public health issue. For such reusable bags often present the risk of bringing into the store a contaminate of food-based disease, bacteria or other illness, which can cause serious cross-contamination or infection for both the customer, or other customers, or store employees. Issues such as salmonella, or other bacteria or viruses, which escape from food previously carried in the reusable bag, or which are being spread from the exposure to customer’s own home environment, can be easily spread from exposure to the reusable bag.

Orthodox Rabbis Urge Leniency In Child Porn Case

The Albany Orthodox Jewish community was rocked by the sentencing of Michael Isaacson, convicted in federal court on three counts of child pornography charges.

“On March 1, Isaacson admitted that he distributed child pornography files over the Internet,” according to Richard Hartunian, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York. “He also admitted to possessing more than 1,000 image files, and more than 30 video files, depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit poses or conduct, some children were less than 12 years of age.”

The images were obtained from Internet websites and peer-to-peer file sharing network, according to the indictment. Isaacson was snagged by a law enforcement agent acting in an undercover capacity.

Isaacson, 34, was sentenced on August 1 to five years in a federal penitentiary and 25 years of supervised release. During his incarceration he will be required to participate in the Bureau of Prisons Sex Offender Treatment Program, mental health treatment, and must register as a sex offender, a lifetime societal stigma.

In letters of support from several people from the local Jewish community, including three rabbis, it was revealed Isaacson suffers from ADHD/ADD, Asperger’s Syndrome, and unnamed physical maladies.

The three rabbis and several community leaders wrote to U.S. Senior Judge Gary Sharpe that because Isaacson has become an observant Jew since his indictment two years ago, he should be treated leniently during his sentencing. Isaacson’s supporters attested that he is kind, gentle, introverted, troubled, and a good person.

“I realize that Michael stands accused of serious criminal internet usage,” wrote Rabbi Yisroel Rubin, spiritual leader of Congregation Shomray Torah. “I truly plead that he not be judged too harshly, as he is basically a good person who can be rehabilitated rather than completely crushed.”

“I think Michael is a good citizen and a safe, upright productive member of society and deserves a second chance,” wrote Rabbi Mendy Mathless. “I hold Michael’s character in high regard and hope you would consider a shorter sentence based on who I believe Michael truly is.”

“I sincerely believe Michael has learned from his experience and given the proper medication, mental health support, and rehabilitation he will be able to return as a positive member of our community and society,” Rabbi Dr. Moshe Bomzer, Isaacson’s spiritual advisor and a licensed social worker, wrote in his letter of support.

Addressing Isaacson’s incarceration, Rabbi Bomzer requested that the sentence be served at the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution in New Jersey.

“It is a facility able to care for his psychiatric needs as well as his religious needs. It is a facility close enough to be visited by clergy (from Lakewood) and volunteer alike and be supported by family and friends.”

“Despite Michael’s legal and moral aberration, he had been faithfully attending a small Orthodox synagogue in Albany and was attempting to further his understanding and practice of Judaism,” wrote Sanford Rosenblum, a respected personal injury attorney from Albany and Monsey, who is closely connected to Rabbis Rubin and Bomzer.

“Fort Dix is only 20 minutes from Lakewood, New Jersey, where there is a thriving Orthodox Jewish community that does significant outreach to nearby Jewish prisoners. We believe that the kind of support Michael is sure to receive from the Lakewood community would not only ease the challenges he faces but may actually allow him to benefit spiritually.”

Goldfeder Gets YU Gig; Will Not Complete Assembly Term

Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (D – Far Rockaway, Queens) has agreed to take a position as the head of government relations for Yeshiva University.

University officials confirmed that he will begin his position in the fall. Goldfeder’s legislative term ends December 31, 2016, which means he will resign from office prior to the end of his term.

Goldfeder, a Brooklyn College graduate, concentrated his coursework in the fields of political science, marketing, and sociology.

According to his biography, Goldfeder began his career in public service as a community liaison for the New York City Council. He was offered a position as the Queens director for the mayor’s Community Affairs Unit under Michael Bloomberg. He then moved on to become director of intergovernmental affairs for U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D – Brooklyn).

Goldfeder was elected to the Assembly in September 2011. Since he assumed office his legislative battles have included improving transportation, increasing healthcare, and creating jobs. Committee.

Under state ethics laws, Goldfeder is barred from lobbying state lawmakers for two years but can lobby the New York City Council, Congress, state agencies, and the governor’s office. “Goldfeder will comply with all his legal obligations,” university officials told The Jewish Press. “The rest of the university’s government relations team will help support any areas he is unable to provide.”

Goldfeder currently lives in Far Rockaway with his wife, Esther, and their three children.

Vying to succeed Goldfeder is Democrat Stacey Pfeffer Amato, 50, daughter of Goldfeder’s predecessor, Audrey Pfeffer, the Queens County Clerk. Rockaway Republican Alan Zwirn, 66, a retired city public school teacher and member of the West End Temple in Far Rockaway, is also vying for Goldfeder’s seat.

Albany Jewish Developer Seeking to Upgrade Troy

Elected officials and community leaders gathered at the building that once housed the Troy Record newspaper to announce the conversion of the vacant building into a 101-unit mixed-use loft five-story apartment building. The Rosenblum Companies purchased the property last September for $1.6 million. The project is expected to cost $23.4 million and take 18 months to complete.

“While we’ve entered a new phase of growth at The Rosenblum Companies, our focus is not on being the biggest, but undertaking innovative, sustainable projects that create lasting value for our company, clients and communities,” said Seth Rosenblum, chief executive officer of The Rosenblum Companies.

“To take part in Troy’s renaissance by giving the historic Troy Record building a second life, bringing the first new construction market rate apartments to downtown, and reinforcing the walkability between RPI and the Central Business District, is a one-of-a-kind opportunity that checks all the boxes.”

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D – Manhattan) has issued a multi-count indictment against Lawrence Rosenbaum, 64, of Albany, accusing him with fraudulently soliciting more than $1 million from a number of investors to advance the production of kosher and halal cheese in upstate New York.

Rosenbaum was also planning on developing alternative bio-energy companies from the waste produced by cows in the cheese and milk facilities.

Rosenbaum is accused of luring investors, many of whom he had established relationships with over his decades-long career as an insurance broker, and then diverting their monies for his own personal use.

The indictment only lists five individuals and one corporate entity, totaling investments of $76,250, not the $1 million alleged in the news release. As we went to press the attorney general’s office had not responded to a request for an explanation of the discrepancy.

Prosecutors also allege that Rosenbaum failed to file New York state personal income tax returns since at least 2008, thereby evading taxes on the money he diverted to himself over the six-year scheme.

“Investors should be able to trust that their hard-earned money is being is properly managed and is not being pocketed for personal use,” said Schneiderman in a prepared statement. “My office takes allegations of securities fraud seriously and we will continue to advocate for victims and hold fraudsters accountable.”

Rosenbaum has been remanded to the Albany County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. In a jailhouse interview, Rosenbaum told The Jewish Press he’s known for the past three years that prosecutors were investigating his business dealings. During that time Rosenbaum says he stepped up efforts to produce kosher and halal cheese in various factories across the country. He changed the name of his company from the Saratoga Cheese Corporation to Rosenbaum Cheese Company a few years ago.

“Now is the time to introduce other gourmet cheeses, made CY [chalav Yisrael] and command the same normal gourmet market cheese prices,” Rosenbaum had declared to investors. “We are currently at Stage 1 and have produced our first test run of 600 pounds of gourmet goat feta cheese. It will be packaged by November 21, 2015. We are also prepared to produce some English style gourmet cheeses as CY, such as Cheshire, Double Gloucester, and Abergele in Wisconsin. We are also formulating our distinctive CY Chedam Cheese 108 slices, to compete against the 108 slices CY American Processed Cheese.”

Rosenbaum also claims he can use by-products from the cheeses for kosher for Passover alcohol with the highest of rabbinic certifications.

“Projected profit from the first three million pounds of cheese production is expected to be $1million from cheese sales and $1 million from the sale of the whey by-products; whey protein concentrate, and permeate. Because our whey is chalav Yisrael, it has very special value. The permeate will be sold to a separate company on premises, which will distill the permeate into potable non-grain alcohol, kosher for Passover, exported to Israel, for the Passover season.”

Rosenbaum had been networking his business in various circles and since the probe by the attorney general commenced he has been to at least two KosherFest business-to-business trade shows, the shluchim convention in Crown Heights, and the Islamic Center in Rockaway, New Jersey.

At least one investor contacted by The Jewish Press is standing by Rosenbaum and says having him in prison because he cannot make the high bail only hurts the progress Rosenbaum was making developing the business. Chaim Schaffer, a real estate agent and part-time actor in Albany, says he spent several hours earlier this year speaking to prosecutors from the attorney general’s office.

Child Abuse Takes Center Stage In Albany

A particularly frustrating and gut-wrenching issue dominating the final days of the legislative session concerns a push to remove the statute of limitations for prosecuting sex abusers of children.

The law currently states that after a victim or survivor of abuse reaches the age of 23 he or she cannot prosecute the perpetrator either criminally or civilly.

Since abuse victims are often very slow to come to grips with what happened to them – some not until middle age or even later in life – the bill sponsors, Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth, Queens) and Senator Brad Hoylman (D-Greenwich Village, Manhattan), contend the statute of limitations needs to be eliminated.

Earlier this month more than 150 Jewish organizations held a two-day rally at the Capitol lobbying lawmakers to support the legislation.

Even though he is not a New Yorker, one case in point involves 40-year-old Manny Waks, an Australian who was sexually abused twice, once at age 11 and again at age 14. Waks is chief executive officer of Kol v’Oz, a nonprofit focused to prevent child abuse in the global Jewish community.

“I was sexually abused at the age of 11,” Waks said on “The Jewish View,” a television program taped in Albany. “I grew up in a [frum] community in Melbourne, Australia. I’ve got 16 brothers and sisters. There were two perpetrators in my case. Both were in their 20s at the time. One of the perpetrators is currently sitting in jail in Australia and the other one is free in New York…. shielded by the statute of limitations.”

These incidents had a major impact on Waks and his family.

“Between the ages of 11 and 14 I was rebelling against religion. For example, at my bar mitzvah I was completely disinterested in the religious component of it. I forced myself to eat non-kosher even though I was very uncomfortable doing it. I forced myself to turn the light off on Shabbat,” Waks said.

One day Waks said he heard about Operation Paradox, which encouraged people to report abuse to the authorities.

“Until that moment, for some reason, I had never even considered going to the authorities. By the time I reported my abuse I was totally secular. I had no interest in religion or going to a bet din, where there is no statute of limitations, so that was never an option. I disclosed my abuse at the age of 20. At that point I went straight to my father, told him what happened and to his credit, he contacted the police. I told my father because I couldn’t tell my mother. This is still a topic we rarely discuss,” noted Waks.

Now Waks is married and a father of three children.

In a compassionate explanation of their opposition to the legislation, Agudath Israel of America and Torah Umesorah wrote to Markey “fully acknowledging the horror of child sexual abuse and the devastating long-term scars it all too often creates. Our rabbinic and lay leadership is acutely aware of the emotional trauma and damage caused by the perpetrators of such abuse. We are committed as a community to do whatever we can to institute preventative measures designed to prevent child abuse, to root out perpetrators of child abuse from our schools and other communal institutions, and to help victims on the road to healing and recovery.”

As the measure relates to eliminating the statute of limitations and allows for civil penalties against a private religious institution in perpetuity, Agudath Israel parts company with the sponsors of the legislation.

“This legislation could literally destroy schools, houses of worship that sponsor youth programs, summer camps and other institutions that are the very lifeblood of communities like ours…” wrote Rabbi David Zwiebel, executive vice president of Agudath Israel. “This bill would allow lawsuits only against private organizations but not against public schools and other public institutions. There is something very wrong with that dichotomy. Simply stated, as currently worded, this bill could subject schools and other vital institutional in communities like ours to ancient claims and litigation and place their very existence in severe jeopardy.”

Waks, however, said the groups are “putting their interest and the interest of their institutions above the interests of the victims and that’s what I said earlier and its time that we put the interests and well-being of victims and survivors and their families ahead of the interests and the well-being of the perpetrators and their enablers.”

Despite the opposition, the 74-year-old Markey vows not to leave office without the bill being passed by both houses and signed into law. The bill is currently being held in Assembly and Senate Codes committees.

Corruption Update: Calls For Pension Forfeiture

Three former top lawmakers were sentenced this month after being convicted on federal corruption charges. It seems good government groups are more upset about this rash of misdeeds than the public, even though since 2000 there have been 17 senators and 27 assembly members who have left office after facing a judge and being convicted on a raft of charges including conspiracy, extortion, solicitation of bribes, embezzlement, obstruction of justice, making false statements, bribery, fraud, lying to federal agents during a corruption investigation, felony tax evasion, money laundering, election irregularities, per diem travel voucher scam, using campaign funds for personal expenses, sexual harassment of legislative employees, groping, intimidating, and manipulating young female staffers.

Good government groups such as the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), Common Cause, Reinvent Albany, Citizens Action and the League of Women Voters want lawmakers to pass an ethics reform package with preventative measures discouraging legislative corruption, such as loss of pensions for convicted former officeholders.

“We agree that the judges should have the power to yank the pensions [for state lawmakers],” declared Blair Horner, executive director of NYPIRG. “I would think perfecting my hedge clipping skills wearing an orange jumpsuit would be a far more scary prospect than losing my pension. Going to prison, hanging out in the slammer, being in the pokey, however you want to put it, should be the deterrent as compared to losing the pension. Given the historic nature of the incredible levels of corruption and scandal that engulfed the state Capitol, for the only response to be taking away someone’s pension, that’s not good enough.”

Felder May Return To Democratic Conference; EITC Defeated Once Again

The failure to include the Education Investment Tax Credit (EITC) in the latest state budget has many factions roiled. It is seen as a victory for the teachers’ unions and another blow for groups such as the Catholic Conference, Agudath Israel of America, (AIA) and the Orthodox Union.

Two weeks prior to passage of the state budget, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick (D – Greenwich Village, Manhattan) released a statement in her newsletter regarding the tax credit proposal.

The EITC, she said, “would create a tax credit for 75 percent credit up to $1 million for donations made to private, parochial or public schools,” Glick wrote. “The Assembly rejects this proposal.”

Glick is the chairwoman of the Assembly committee on Higher Education and a member of the powerful Rules and Ways and Means committees.

Senator Jesse Hamilton (D – Crown Heights, Brooklyn) says he voted for the EITC bill when it came up on the first day of session. He also voted for the budget bill that did not include the EITC. He says that despite his support of EITC, unions will still support his reelection.

“I have a vested interest in this too,” Hamilton said on “The Jewish View,” a television program taped in Albany. “My son goes to parochial school. The unions will still back me. One issue doesn’t define Jesse Hamilton.”

Hamilton is advocating for a compromise solution.

“I think it has to be modified somewhat,” he said, “where if you just look at it from that parental point of view where if a parent is getting it versus someone who has no child in the school that might be more palatable for some opponents to swallow. If it was just geared to the parents, where if I’m a parent and I paid $10,000 and I can get $9,000 back as a tax credit, that’s more palatable. To let some investment banker get a tax credit for donating to any school they want, such as a school their best friend’s child is going to [is not right]. I think it has to be more for the parents who are paying the money, not for investors who are donating the money to the schools because the parents should be the one getting the tax credit not some person who has no child in the school system.”

AIA, which was lobbying hard for passage of EITC, said the budget is a mixed bag of successes and disappointments for the group.

“We of course appreciate the funding for safety equipment for nonpublic schools and the increases in reimbursements of Mandated Services and CAP (Comprehensive Attendance Program) – these are very important and we are very grateful,” said Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Agudath Israel’s executive vice president. “For those of us who deal with the State Education Department on an ongoing basis, having a dedicated Office for Religious and Independent Schools will make a real difference in accessing services for our yeshivas. We are, however, disappointed at the absence of any form of education tax credits. Agudath Israel will continue to battle for the interests of yeshivas, the most precious communal asset we have.”

The repercussions of this failed attempt to pass the EITC may lead to a defection from the Republican conference by a frustrated Senator Simcha Felder (D – Boro Park, Brooklyn).

On “The Jewish View,” Hamilton said he thinks Felder will come back to the Democratic side of the aisle because he’s upset with the Republicans.

“Simcha felt that the Republican Senate didn’t fight hard enough for it so the last vote for the budget, Simcha was the only person who voted ‘no’ to voice his opposition to what had happened,” Hamilton said. “I voted for the bill because it also included the minimum wage, paid family leave act, it had a lot of things in it. I was upset because they gave us the budget two hours before we voted on it. I got the budget at 7 o’clock in the morning after being up for 20 hours. I think Simcha is trying to get the best for his community and he realized with the Senate Republicans he could not get the support he needed.”

Two New York residents, one of them identified with the Ku Klux Klan, tried to sell to Jewish groups a deadly X-ray radiation device that one of them described as “Hiroshima on a light switch” and which he designed to zap people to death, according to the FBI, which unsealed its complaint in Albany on Wednesday.

The FBI charged Glendon Scott Crawford, 49, who is an industrial mechanic with General Electric in Schenectady, and alleged co-conspirator Eric J. Feight, 54, who works for an electronics company in Columbia County, with material support to terrorists, including use of a weapon of mass destruction.

Crawford told undercover FBI agents dujring a year-long investigation that he is “a member of the Ku Klux Klan, specifically, the United Northern & Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.”

His device was designed to be mounted on a truck and remotely controlled with the capability of aiming a laser beam of radioactivity at people.

He searched for a source of radiation and found supposed a ready supplies who actually were FBI agents, working after apparent tip-offs from two Albany synagogues Crawford approached.

He approached one synagogue in April 2012 and “asked to speak with a person who might be willing to help him with a type of technology that could be used by Israel to defeat its enemies, specifically, by killing Israel’s enemies while they slept,” the FBI complaint says.

The “enemies” referred to by Crawford are Muslims and enemies of the United States to whom he referred as “medical waste.”

Crawford contacted a second Albany area synagogue the same day with a similar offer.

The FBI complaint states, “Crawford also told the (FBI source) that the target of his radiation emitting device would be the Muslim community. Crawford described the device’s capabilities as ‘Hiroshima on a light switch’ and that ‘everything with respiration would be dead by the morning.'”

He ended his meeting with the agent by stating, “How much sweeter could there be than a big stack of smelly bodies?”

The investigation advanced to the point that in December, the FBI requested and received a search warrant enabling agents to monitor Crawford’s and Feight’s cell phone calls, emails and text messages.

Crawford had successfully tested the remote triggering system, without a radiation supply, which could work from a little less than a half mile away from the weapon, according to the complaint. The suspects met in Albany on May 20 with the device in hand, and they planned to test it in a dry run out at a hotel, without a radiation system.

Crawford and Feight met again last Wednesday, when Crawford was to have been provided with an unfinished radiation system.

FBI agents, posing as South Carolina Ku Klux Klan members, who were interested in buying the device and financing the plot, arrested them on the spot.