Queens Borough President Helen Marshall installed Jeffrey Gurdus (Bellerose Jewish Center) to a third term as President of the Northeast Queens Jewish Community Council (NEQJCC), Sunday November 2 at a packed Installation and Awards breakfast at Bellerose Jewish Center,said NEQJCC Chairman of the Executive Committee Corey Bearak, who added the program included honors to Hadassah National Vice President Dr. Sandra Alfonsi, and its own long-time officer and community activist, Joseph M. Varon.

          Bearak presented the Council's Award for Outstanding Service to the Community of Greater New York to Dr, Alfonsi, also Past-President of the Queens Region Hadassah and the Queens Jewish Community Council, and Rabbi Meir Bilitzky, a past-president and chair of the NEQJCC�s clergy council, presented the Council's Award for Outstanding Service to the Northeast Queens Community to Mr. Varon, according to NEQJCC President Jeff Gurdus [Bellerose Jewish Center]. Others speakers included Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, Member of Congress Anthony Weiner, Metropolitcan Council on Jewish Poverty CEO William Rapfogel, Rabbi Michael Miller of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New York, State Senators Frank Padavan and Toby Stavisky, Members of the Assembly Mark Weprin and Jeff Klein, City Councilmen David Weprin and James Gennaro. Members of the Assembly Ann Margaret Carrozza and William Scarborough, Councilman Leroy Comrie, Civil Court Judge Bernice D. Siegal and representatives of Councilman Tony Avella and Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin also attended, according to NEQJCC Executive Director Gail Eisenberg.

          In addition to Jeffrey Gurdus [Bellerose Jewish Center], Borough President Marshall installed First Vice President Helene Zaro [Bell Park Jewish Center], Second Vice President Ethel Levine [Hillcrest Jewish Center], Third Vice President David Weprin [Young Israel of Holliswood and Young Israel of Jamaica Estates], Secretary Dr. Leonard Stieglitz [Jewish Center of Bayside Hills] and Treasurer Michael Karpinos [Oakland Jewish Center].

          Community and communal leaders also attended this annual event, including Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New York Director Rabbi Robert Kaplan, Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty Chief Financial Officer Herb Friedman, Director of External Relations Kalman Yeger and Project Liberty Director Karen Guinness,Democratic District Leader Jim Wrynn, Past NEQJCC President Dr. Arnold Honig, Samuel Field YM&YWHA Executive Director Steven Goodman, Queens Jewish Community Council President Jan Fenster, Executive Director Manny Behar, Administrative Director Jerome Demner and Past-President Daniel Friedenreich who is also President of Bell Park Jewish Center, Bellerose Jewish Center Rabbi Jerome Dattelkramer who delivered the invocation and President Jeff Berzon, Cantor Arnold Cohen of the Jewish Center of Bayside Hills who sung the National Anthem and Hatikvah, Rabbi Barry Hammer of Young Israel of New Hyde Park, Manny Korman and George Fener of the Council of Supervisors and Administrators, Lois Raff who is Counsel to the Queens District Attorney, Mark Scott who is Director of Capital budget for the Queens Borough President, Joseph Goldbloom who served as Chief of Staff to Council Majority Whip Comrie, Central Queens Historical Society President Jeff Gottlieb who also represented Assembly Member Brian McLaughlin, former NEQJCC officers Larry Greenberg, Marcia Federman and Max Singer, Royal Ranch Homeowners President Rhonda Kontner, Community Board 8 member Sylvia Weprin, Eastern Queens Democratic Club President Lois Marbach and board chair Morshed Alam, Hilltop Village Cooperative President Marc Haken who also serves a a Community Affairs Coordinator for Council Finance Chair Weprin.

          Mr. Bearak said the NEQJCC, an association of 30 synagogues and other religious, education, fraternal and community organizations, covers Bay Terrace, Bayside, Bellerose, Douglaston, Floral Park, Fresh Meadows, Glen Oaks, Holliswood, Hollis Hills, Jamaica Estates, Little Neck, New Hyde Park, Oakland Gardens and Queens Village (north).

          "Our projects include , neighborhood development, Jewish continuity, Lay Leadership, social action, fostering intergroup understanding and building a multi-cultural coalition," said Mr. Bearak. "The Council combats anti-Semitism and discrimination, sponsors forums with major public figures, Jewish cultural events, open discussions with local Rabbis and represents community concerns. The Council publishes a (4-fold 8.5 by 14-inch) brochure, You Can Have It All, touting life in northeast Queens Communities, including a map locating its member synagogues and institutions. It also maintains a community website,  www.northeastqueensjewish.org, which features a calendar for its members to post events of interest."

          Mr. Gurdus said annual programs include its Installation of Officers and Awards Breakfast each fall, the lighting of the largest Chanukah Menorah in Queens (December 21) , a Chanukah Party (December 14) Purim Carnival at the Samuel Field YM&YWHA, and its annual Legislative Forum each Spring, co-sponsored by the Queens Jewish Community Council (QJCC), at the Y. "Our Neighborhood Development program includes a unique pilot program to bring the resources of UJA-Federation agencies to NEQJCC member synagogues." This year, the Council, together with Queens Region Hadassah, Met Council and the JCRC, hosts "Empowering Women, Breaking the Glass Ceiling, Wednesday, December 10, 2003 at Marathon Jewish Community Center. Dr. Sandra Alfonsi will chair the forum and moderate a panel that includes former Borough President Claire Shulman, Assemblywoman Carrozza and Yvette Clarke, co-chair of the City Council�s Women�s Caucus. Dr. Alfonsi also moderated the NEQJCC�s September Community Education Forum which featured Drum Major Institute President Fernando Ferrer and Councilman Robert Jackson, past-president of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity.

          A beneficiary of UJA-Federation, the NEQJCC works closely with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New York, Metropolitan N.Y. Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty and the Samuel Field Y, noted Executive Director Gail Eisenberg who can be reached at (718) 225-6750 x247 or via email at gail@northeastqueensjewish.org. For more information on NEQJCC's collaboration with QJCC and Met Council on Project Liberty, email 911outreach@metcouncil.org.

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