Past New York Mayor Ed Koch was laid to rest today during a Temple Emanu-El service attended by thousands. Preceding the funeral, President Barack Obama noted Koch’s “irrepressible character,” calling him a “quintessential New Yorker.” “He took office at a time when New York was in fiscal crisis, and helped his city achieve economic renewal, expand affordable housing, and extend opportunity to more of its people,” Obama said. “In public office and beyond, his …More

Voters in New York and New Jersey affected by superstorm Sandy will be permitted to vote at any polling place in their respective states using a provisional ballot. “Just because you’re displaced doesn’t mean you should be disenfranchised,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday, a day before Americans went to the polls to pick their next president. Some polling places were completely unusable due to the storm, and some voters had sought shelter far from their polling places. President …More

Austria permits circumcision to continue. [The Jewish Daily Forward] Netanyahu has not decided whether to order military intervention to Iran or not. [The Times of Israel] The 54,000 yeshiva students who have legally deferred national service through their religious studies become obligated to fulfill their military obligations to Israel once the Tal Law expires tonight. [The Jerusalem Post] Defense Minister Ehud Barak says that the IDF troops' salaries should be gradually raised to minimum wage and the period …More

This year’s Celebrate Israel Parade saw blue skies and plenty of sunshine, a blessing for the estimated 35,000 marchers and hundred thousand-plus onlookers who took part. Attendees crowded a 20-block stretch of Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue Sunday, as the Jewish community came out in droves to honor the Holy Land. “We thought it was a great event, we were all really pleased,” said Mike Mittelman, director of the parade. “The day captured the excitement, people were just happy to come out …More

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch called the Republican-led state Senate “disgraceful” if, as expected, it proposes new legislative districts that will protect their political power this weekend. "I believe there is no question but that the Legislature is going to adopt maps which are going to be primarily supportive of incumbents to make sure they get re-elected," said Koch to the Wall Street Journal. Koch had secured pledges, most signed, from every Senate Republican during the 2010 campaign that …More

Jewish writer Naomi Wolf was arrested last week at an Occupy Wall Street protest. Detailing her experience in an article for The Guardian, Wolf wrote, “Last night I was arrested in my home town, outside an event to which I had been invited, for standing lawfully on the sidewalk in an evening gown.” Wolf and her partner were attending Game Changers 2011, an event that would also be attended by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Over 200 of the Occupy Wall Street movement's protestors assembled outside, …More

The NYPD is deploying additional resources around New York City in response to the threat of a car or truck bomb attack on the 10th anniversary of September 11. In a statement, Matt Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, called the threat “specific, credible, but unconfirmed.” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg emphasized the uncorroborated nature of the threat. At 9:45 p.m. on Thursday, the Mayor held a news conference to urge locals not to overreact. “The …More