Preserving The Jewish Presence In Queens

One of the most important aspects of the Queens Jewish Community Council’s mission is to preserve the Jewish presence in Queens. We work tirelessly with synagogues and Jewish organizations of every denomination to help them continue serving their congregants and the community as many of them desperately struggle to stay afloat. For each synagogue the issues are different and we do our best to help them cope with their specific problems and the needs of their constituents. For several of the older populated congregations, QJCC coordinates and advertises senior events in their shuls to publicize their existence and to utilize the facilities. QJCC provides these seniors with social service assistance, Medicare D facilitation and meals-on-wheels. Sadly many of these places have beautiful edifices but have dwindling populations.

We have worked to revitalize certain areas of Queens by working with the elected officials and especially with the Queens Borough President’s office to erect “eruvim” in Glendale and Sunnyside to encourage new young shomer shabbos populations to choose Queens as their home.

QJCC is constantly sponsoring and co-sponsoring programs events of religious and communal interests in many of the Orthodox shuls throughout the borough to promulgate the importance and effectiveness of the frum community.

QJCC’s Jewish Music under the Stars summer concerts at Cunningham Park highlights the unique diversity of the Jewish heritage of the residents living in Queens. We have a Yiddish program, a modern contemporary Jewish musical event and a Bukharian festival. Our purpose is to showcase the vitality and exuberance of Jewish Queens.

We want to scream it from the rafters so that the rest of the five boroughs know that Yiddishkeit thrives in Queens. Baruch Hashem, Queens is alive and well. My tag line is that “One does not have to go to Brooklyn (or any place else for that matter) for anything, Queens has it all and does it better”.

We “kvell” with our member organizations when they prosper and stand by them in dire times. We have done this for 50 years since our inception in 1968. Every so often I meet someone who says to me that “I know the Queens Jewish Community Council does good work, but I don’t know what you do”. I’m never upset by that remark because I realize how fortunate that person must be that does not need our help. It seems that those who need us know us. It is the blessed ones that do not require our social services are not necessarily aware of what QJCC does each and every day for the members of the Jewish community.

Since QJCC was established, advocacy has been a major thrust of our work. It has taken on many forms throughout the years. Our organization began when several concerned individuals joined forces to ensure the vitality of Forest Hills when a low income housing project was planned. What was proposed was the concept of “scatter-site housing”- the policy of deliberately placing low-income housing in middle –income neighborhoods. The rationale of scatter-site housing was the belief that sprinkling low-income families in relatively expensive neighborhoods will make a significant contribution to the advancement of the poor and particularly the ethnic poor. Forest Hills residents were outraged and worried that a vibrant Jewish neighborhood would be compromised by this effort.

We also aligned ourselves with the Jewish public school teachers who were faced with discrimination and bias. On May 9, 1968, the newly formed community board of Ocean Hill-Brownsville sent termination letters to 19 educators setting in motion a chain of events that would lead to a bitter teacher strike and eventually a total reorganization of the nation’s largest school system. The community control board dismissed teachers almost all white and Jewish. Albert Shenker , head of the United Federation of Teachers, and some Jewish groups attributed the original firings to anti –Semitism. The strike dragged on from May 1968 to November 1968 increasing tensions between Blacks and Jews. At the core of that conflict was racial tension, battles over who should control the schools and fights over teacher’s rights. Eventually the teachers were reinstated.

That’s how the Queens Jewish Community Council got started.

Unlike other neighborhoods in New York City where the Jewish population has dwindled and the demographics have made them almost undistinguishable, we work to make sure that the Jewish population stays in Queens. It is heartwarming to see people coming from other areas to shop in our borough.

QJCC prides itself in its mandate to keep Jewish Queens alive and prosperous through events such as concerts lectures, legislative breakfast and rallies. Supporting the state of Israel has been a significant focus as we commemorate Yom Haatzmaut and one of the only ones that celebrate Yom Yerushalayim each year.

The Queens Jewish Community Council evolved as a social service agency in the 1970s with the arrival of Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union. We have welcomed Jewish immigrant populations who have been settled in our borough and have done everything possible to help them acculturate.. First it was the Russians, then the Israelis and now the Bukharians. Every group has added to the Jewish complexion and flavor of Jewish Queens.

Our efforts have shown fruit. Baruch Hashem we are blessed with having a significant population of young people residing in Jewish Queens. Children are our future. If you have ever shopped in Wasserman’s and witnessed how many mothers with their baby carriages are managing the aisles, one would appreciate this phenomenon. While some complain that it is difficult maneuvering with them, I kvell. Jewish families mean prosperous stores, full attendance in yeshivas, pre-schools and synagogues. This is how preserving the Jewish presence is achieved.

By Cynthia Zalisky

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 Cynthia Zalisky is the Executive Director of the Queens Jewish Community Council. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.