Antisemitic remarks in RVC and ATVs in Suffolk
Suffolk County police at the scene where an ATV driver was arrested after fleeing police and losing control of his vehicle in Ridge in November 2021. Credit: James Carbone
Antisemitic remarks in RVC cause outrage
Last week, many of us in the Jewish community were outraged by comments made at a Rockville Centre village board meeting when a resident expressed fear and anger over the thought of a synagogue on "every residential street" because of the existence of a one Chabad rabbi's home ["Woman apologizes over her synagogue remarks,” News, April 13]. Elected officials from both parties have condemned her remarks, but it remains important to keep in mind exactly why this is so upsetting to many of us.
While the offensive remarks were mostly generalized, they targeted one religion, not the several churches in Rockville Centre, but a synagogue, run by "those people."
"Those people"' are Rabbi Mendel Gurkov and wife Rivka Gurkov. He's the son of Rabbi Levi Gurkov and wife Soshie Gurkov, who run the thriving Chabad of Oceanside, where my family prays and where our children attend preschool and Hebrew School. The Gurkovs also run Soul Purpose New York in Oceanside, providing a community for "individuals of all abilities." They have handled this extremely well, which is no surprise to anyone who knows them. But that only adds to the outrage many of us feel.
"Those people" are these people. "Those people" are our people.
Aaron Eitan Meyer, Oceanside
Crackdown on ATVs will avoid accidents
Glad to see the article on illegal, noisy bikes on residential streets and sidewalks ["Suffolk cops in ATV crackdown," News, April 2]. Hopefully, the police "crackdown" will be reality. My small street has a half-S curve at one end. A westbound driver, even without a low sun, cannot see an oncoming bike until the last seconds. Successfully dodging an oncoming bike would be difficult for any car or truck driver, especially when the oncoming bike is on the wrong side of the road. Preteen illegal bike operators disregard road rules and, I believe, are often unsupervised.
Paul Lieberman, Bohemia
