Van Cortlandt Jewish Center had its Town Hall Brunch welcoming our newly elected State Senator Alessandra Biaggi. Also joining us was Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz. Council Member Andrew Cohen was invited but had a scheduling conflict and couldn’t make it. It was held on Sunday, September 15, 2019 in the ballroom of the Van Cortlandt Jewish Center. The event started at 11:00 AM and ended at 1:00PM.

Over 100 people were in attendance; both members of VCJC and from the Van Cortlandt Village community. The event started with a large assortment of foods for brunch including salads, white fish, lox, rolls, muffins, bagels, coffee, juices and much more. During brunch, participants submitted written questions for the officials. The audience and elected officials were then welcomed to VCJC by the President, Robert Gillman, who introduced the moderator for the day, Michael Stoller. Michael Stoller told how when his grandmother went to vote, she would look for the Jewish names AND State Senator Biaggi’s grandfather, Mario Biaggi, to vote for.

Each elected official gave short opening remarks. This was followed by a question and answer period. State Senator Biaggi and Assemblyman Dinowitz answered questions on several topics. Many people asked what could be done about parking and the cost of housing. One question that had a lot of interest was on the BDS Movement and anti-Semitic feelings across the country.

Both officials were strongly against sanctions and anti Semitism. They spoke for several minutes on how wrong and anti-American these topics are. The Town Hall concluded with closing statements by both officials. Both officials mentioned that they have local offices in Riverdale and if anyone had any issues, to contact their offices. State Senator Biaggi can be reached at 718-822-2049 and Assemblyman Dinowitz can be reached at 718-796-5345. After the closing statements, a 50/50 raffle was drawn and the winner was Jack Spiegel. We’d like to thank the following sponsors:

• Amalgamated Housing Corporation
• Kingsbridge Riverdale Van Cortlandt Development Corporation (KRVC)
• Riverdale Kosher Market
• Van Cortlandt Cooperative Federal Credit Union (VCCFCU)
• VCJC Sisterhood

This event couldn’t be done without the following people: Ceil Hartstein, Marcy Gillman-Harris, Stu Harris, Glenn Fleischman, Howard Kamiel, Bob Gillman, Michael Stoller, Phil Friedman. Roberta Seidner, Claire Haime and Jack Spiegel. Thank you all.

Because of the huge success of this event, we hope to have more community events in the future. Our next event, which will be open to all, will be our Bazaar & Carnival which will be on December 8th. Watch for more information.