SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Look at what some hate-filled clown did. A reader sent this photo in this morning. It happened on Avenue Z and Haring Street, an area where many of the community’s Muslim residents live.

We’re waiting to hear if this was reported to police, and if it’s being investigated as a hate crime.

Update (10:45 a.m.): Reader Vadym S. confirms that police are investigating. We’re still waiting to hear from NYPD whether or not it’s being referred to the Hate Crimes Unit.

Update (12:45 p.m.): Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has weighed in, with a statement condemning the vandalism.

This revolting act of prejudice was meant to intimidate New Yorkers on their streets and in their homes – but because of our unity and our strength, it’s not going to work. We won’t stand for anti-Muslim bigotry – not in Sheepshead Bay, not in Brooklyn, not anywhere in our city. Anyone with information on these perpetrators should come forward right away by calling 1-800-577-TIPS.

Update (2:28 p.m.): District Leader Ari Kagan, a candidate for City Council, also weighed in:

I was deeply saddened and troubled to learn of yesterday’s hate crime, targeting Muslims, in Sheepshead Bay. Southern Brooklyn is a vibrant, diverse community, home to families from all across the world. There is absolutely no place for such hateful behavior in our communities. We must stand with our District Attorney to ensure these perpetrators are brought to justice. Our neighbors will, of course, assist the NYPD with their investigation. I encourage any one with information on this crime to step forward.

Kagan, it’s worth noting, is against the Voorhies Avenue mosque, protests over which some say has made this kind of anti-Muslim sentiment publicly acceptable.

The aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing. Source: hahatango / Flickr

Ripples of sadness and concern rippled through the predominantly Russian neighborhood of Bright Beach when it was learned that the bombings at the Boston Marathon were allegedly perpetrated by two Chechen brothers.

The New York Daily News reported that local Russian immigrants, while saddened by the tragic events in Boston, were also worried that it will now be tougher for Russians to gain entry to the United States.

Reactions from across Brighton Beach ranged from empathy to anger over the alleged acts of terrorism by 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his now deceased brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

“The people who did this listened to the devil,” Elena Rasinkina, 59, told the New York Daily News. “It’s simple — they were evil.”

“I’m glad they found the people who did this. I hope it never happens again,” said 29-year-old Jesse Chase, a local worker at the Best Buy International Food on Brighton Beach Avenue.

Others expressed fear that the actions of the Tsarnaev brothers would make it harder for Russians of all faiths to immigrate to America:

Fara Sabivov, a Russian Muslim who moved to Brighton Beach from Uzbekistan about 10 years ago on a green card, fears that other Russians will be denied entrance into the U.S. because of the Boston bombings.

“Everybody is sad over this,” the 35-year-old restaurant manager said.

“For Russians coming to America, it’s going to be even harder. They’re worried.”

Despite the concern over potentially stricter immigration laws, most were mainly as stunned as the rest of the country over why anyone would perpetrate such a heinous act.

“It’s shocking,” Munira Ruzehaji, 59, a Turkish Muslim told the Daily News. “Who would want to do this?”

Jewish and Turkish-Muslim teenagers come together to share experiences through the Peace Builders program. (Source: youngpeacebuilders.org)

In New York, people of all races, religions and opinions are crammed together in a vibrant democracy that has forged a unique situation never seen before in world history. Still, even in a place as diverse as New York, we can still find ourselves divided by color, ethnicity or religious beliefs, a painful reinforcement of centuries old barriers of intolerance. That’s what makes the Young Peace Builders (YPB) of Southern Brooklyn so special. The Young Peace Builders is an organization that consists of teenage Muslims and Jews working together to improve their community.

The Young Peace Builders program was launched three years ago as a cooperative effort by the Kings Bay Y (3495 Nostrand Avenue), a Jewish Community Center, and the Amity School (3867 Shore Parkway), a K-12 school that predominantly serves a Turkish-Muslim student body. The program, recently covered by the Jewish Week, so far for girls only, primarily serves as a symbol for an increased linking between Muslim and Jewish groups in the area as well as a training ground for future leaders in the area of interfaith cooperation.

“This can serve as a template for Jewish-Muslim relationships,” said Leonard Petlakh, executive director of the Kings Bay Y. Rabbi Robert Kaplan, who coordinates the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York City’s outreach to various religious and ethnic groups, calls the Y and Amity School “mainstream organizations … within their [respective] communities,” with the ability to influence their own communities. “There is no reason there should not be more and more” Jewish-Muslim programs like those in southern Brooklyn.

The Jewish Week also described how a large amount of credit for the group’s existence belongs to Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz:

The two religious groups, who were neighbors but virtual strangers to each other, were brought together by State Assembly member Steven Cymbrowitz, whose district includes Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach and part of Brighton Beach; his constituents are Jews and Turkish Muslims. After participating in a legislators’ mission to Turkey a few years ago, he brought leaders of his neighborhood’s Jewish and Turkish communities together.

“It’s through education that we can get to understand each other,” Cymbrowitz told The Jewish Week.

Through the YPB, Jewish and Muslim teens have gone on trips to Israel, Turkey, Boston and Washington DC. On these trips, the teenagers have shared hotel rooms, prepared each other’s meals and celebrated religious holidays together. Teenager Hayrunnisa Kalac expressed the hope that the founders of the program hoped to instill in all its participants.

“We’re planting the seeds of something that can be very big” — an example of tolerance, Kalac told the Jewish Week.

Inspiring stuff and a great read. Check out the full article by clicking here and read more about the Young Peace Builders and their mission by clicking here.

Correction (1:47 p.m.): The original version of this article erroneously referred to the name of the organization as Young Peace Keepers instead of their actual name, Young Peace Builders. We regret the mistake, and any confusion it may have caused.

Mosque construction in February. Photo by nolastname.

A Voices of NY article reveals a major change in local demographics within the next 30 years.

It states:

According to the Faiths and Freedom Project for Religious Diversity of CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College, ‘Within 20 to 30 years the Russian Jewish – or WWII generation – will have lost its dominant status as a majority in Brighton Beach.’

The article goes on to highlight the demographic change from the Russian-Jewish population to a Pakistani-Muslim majority.

The influx that started in the 90′s is poised to grow. A 2000 U.S. Census counted 960 Pakistanis in the neighborhood. Ten years later, the population increased to 1,901, which is a 98 percent increase.

“When I came here 23 years [ago], there were very few Pakistani people and no mosques,” said Abdul R. Bhatti, in the article. “Now there are three mosques – a Pakistani one, a Lebanese and a Turkic.”

Local leaders state that they are working hard to build bridges between the two communities.

“We have worked hard to develop stronger relations with the other communities of Brighton Beach,” said Susan Fox, executive director of the Shorefront YM-YWHA.

Fox said the Shorefront YM-YWHA had a lot of connection to the Russian-speaking community and knew how to reach out to the Latino population, but had little experience with the Pakistani community, which is concentrated around Neptune Avenue. Thus one of the organization’s main priorities is to establish relations with the Muslim population and help as many people as possible.

“We have no problems with the other people here,” said Rasid Tauquir, a Pakistani resident. “We all live here – together.”

Now would someone tell these people?

State Senator Marty Golden. Source: NYSenate.gov

According to a report in Vos Is Neias, New York State Senator Marty Golden reversed his stance on the NYPD’s controversial ”spying program,” which allegedly targets mosques and other Muslim gathering points in a citywide counter-terrorism effort.

Golden, a Republican, who had previously provided his signature to a letter praising Police Chief Ray Kelly and the NYPD in their efforts for “going to precisely the source of the problem,” now has stated the opposite at a forum hosted by the Arab-American Association of New York.

“Anybody that would spy on any religious institution is absolutely wrong. I do not stand by anybody who would do that,” said Golden in response to a question wondering if Kelly should apologize. “If [Commissioner Kelly] has, he should apologize – but it hasn’t been proven that he has.”

The spying program, which, according to the AP, targeted “Muslim student groups, put informants in mosques, monitored sermons and cataloged every Muslim in New York who adopted new, Americanized surnames.” It has led to no leads, cases, or arrests.

Golden’s call for an apology was not overlooked by Democratic challenger Andrew Gounardes, also present at the forum, who reminded voters of Golden’s previous support for the initiative.

We wrote back in July about State Senator David Storobin’s attempts to get the city to revisit the issue of the Islamic mosque and community center at 2812 Voorhies Avenue, hoping they’d squash the project. Some time between then and now, the mayor’s office wrote back to Storobin, but his answer must have been unsatisfactory to the local pol: Storobin sent another letter, again pushing the issue.

Storobin’s original letter focused largely on building and zoning issues related to the project, but closed with a suggestion that the mosque’s backers, the Muslim American Society, has ties to radical organizations.

A request for a copy of Bloomberg’s letter to Storobin did not receive a response, but something in it must have made Storobin ditch all that language about zoning, and focus solely on those alleged ties and the “well-being of my constituents.”

Check it out below:

Storobin’s Second Letter to Bloomberg Urges City To Revisit Voorhies Mosque Issue

Mosque construction in February. (Photo by nolastname.)

The ongoing issue of the proposed mosque and Islamic community center slated to be built in Sheepshead Bay has the community divided and the local politicians spinning the story from all angles.

Most recently, we covered a backpack giveaway that occurred at at 2812 Voorhies Avenue, at the mosque’s construction site. The giveaway was sponsored by the Muslim American Society (MAS) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and it received no less debate than the proposed mosque itself. In fact, there was a small protest at the site on the day of the giveaway event.

The New York Times ran a piece that tied the backpack giveaway to the larger issue of the split opinions related to the construction project.

The Times writes:

The mosque’s backers say 150 to 200 Muslim families who live within walking distance are in need of a local place to pray. The mosque, they want to reassure neighbors, will be an asset, providing afterschool activities to children, a Boy Scout troop open to all and charity events, like the school supply giveaway.

Those against the mosque cite parking and traffic concerns mainly.

“We understand that this is the First Amendment, that everyone has a right to pray, but what about our rights as a residents?” said Victor Benari, 58, one of the two protesters on hand last month. “It’s provocation, 100 percent. Why here? Why not build on a nice big commercial street?”

There are, however, others who believe that it will divide the neighborhood.

“Yes, they are smiling, but you know what’s behind their smiles?” said Leonid Krupnik to the Times. He was one of the two protesters at the giveaway. “Hatred. They want to create a caliphate. They want to push people out of this neighborhood.”

Krupnik belongs to a local group who calls themselves the Bay People. The group’s efforts center on blocking the mosque from being erected. However, due to laws which make it very difficult to oppose a house of worship, the best they can do is delay the project.

The Times writes, “Mr. Krupnik and other opponents say they are being unfairly typecast as xenophobes and racists. They do nevertheless worry that the neighborhood will change so much that non-Muslims will want to leave and they fear that the mosque will be used to promote radical thinking.”

It does seem, however, that opposition is loosening. Whereas last year, the police were called to the backpack giveaway to keep order, this year only the two protestors came. For the backers of the project, this is good news.

To celebrate the new school year, local Muslims, the Muslim American Society (MAS) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) are teaming up to give out free school bags and school supplies to the Sheepshead Bay community this Saturday, August 25.

A total of 300 school bags containing notebooks, pens, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, rulers, crayons and more will be distributed. The giveaway is part of a larger event organized by ICNA, in which 5,000 bags packed with supplies will be given out to needy children around New York City through August and September.

“Many families in New York are under financial pressure; some have lost jobs and find it difficult to buy school supplies for their children,” said Salman Khan, Project Director for ICNA NY. “We hope this initiative will cater to these needs of low-income families, and help build a better future for our children.”

When: Saturday, August 25, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m.
Where: MAS Sheepshead Bay Center, 2812 Voorhies Avenue

Other dates and locations can be found on the organization’s website. Above is a video produced by ICNA promoting the event.

Source: Ben Akselrod for Assembly

Reader and Bay People member Victor Benari e-mailed us last week, attaching a quote from Ben Akselrod, who is facing off against Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz in the Democratic primary next month.

The quote, originally published in the Russian newspaper The Reporter, refers to the so-called “Ground Zero” Islamic Center, as well as the proposed mosque at 2812 Voorhies Avenue. It was translated as follows:

I do not believe that most representatives and officials from the state and the city approve of the construction of a mosque at the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack and in this neighborhood in Sheephead Bay where Muslims certainly don’t live. These representatives are quiet and vote “yes” because it is politically correct. They lie to themselves and their constituents. I’m not a xenophobe; I’m not against mosques, churches and synagogues. But if one mosque – an insult to the memory of victims, the other – a challenge to the community living in this area, so I would like to sort things out, who is behind this, and where does the financing come from for this provocative demonstration. And I would request an investigation as to how the city officials gave permission for the construction of such a large-scale structure on the narrow Voorhies Ave and which officials have signed-off on this.

There are so many things that I simply cannot tolerate as a citizen, but I see that my representatives and the representatives of people like me circumvent this issue-no matter what the outcome as long as they don’t hurt themselves.

The quote confirms what Sheepshead Bites speculated back in May, when Akselrod announced his campaign, when the candidate made thinly-veiled references to the mosque construction in an attack against Cymbrowitz.

“Nobody should be defending illegal construction in your backyard because of political correctness,” Akselrod said.

The quote appeared to be in reference to the Sheepshead Bay mosque being built at 2812 Voorhies Avenue. Opponents of the mosque frequently mix arguably legitimate complaints about building violations and zoning with racist, anti-Muslim rhetoric– and the main opposition group, Bay People, along with the Brooklyn Tea Party, has slammed Cymbrowitz in the past for not speaking out against the mosque’s development. Akselrod appears to be doing no different here, conflating concerns about over-development with fear-mongering speculation about the mosque’s financing.

Akselrod elaborated on his concerns regarding the mosque’s backers to Brooklyn Daily.

“The Muslim American Society — the organization behind this mosque — originate from the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that was outlawed in the U.S.,” said Akselrod, alleging the mosque backers have terrorist roots.

However, the Muslim Brotherhood has not been “outlawed” in the U.S., and the government even recognizes some of its more radical chapters. The group is not considered a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and has renounced violence – though is sympathetic to violent anti-Israel groups such as Hamas.

The mosque is not in Cymbrowitz’s district, the district that Akselrod is running for.

In related news, Askelrod led a march against hate on the Brighton Beach boardwalk this weekend, in the wake of the anti-Semitic vandalism at Holocaust Memorial Park.

Mosque construction in February. (Photo by nolastname.)

State Senator David Storobin sent a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, urging the city to reexamine alleged zoning issues surrounding the planned Islamic mosque and community center at 2812 Voorhies Avenue.

See what it’s all about, and read the letter.