[Photos below.] New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg paid a special visit to Yeshiva Darchei Torah in Far Rockaway, NY, last night.
The yeshiva recently completed construction on a 183,000-square foot educational complex at 257 Beach 17 Street in Far Rockaway. The yeshiva, with an enrollment of over 1,600 students from nursery through kollel, is situated on a 9-acre campus and is believed to be the largest yeshiva of its kind in the New York Metro area.
Mayor Bloomberg was given a tour of the new complex by the rosh hayeshiva of Yeshiva Darchei Torah, Rav Yaakov Bender, and the menahalim. He visited the yeshiva‘s one-of-a-kind vocational program and addressed the mesivta and bais medrash bochurim during supper. The mayor was accompanied by New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
See below for photos:
{Yossi Schneider-Matzav.com Newscenter}
I hate to say it, but considering the Mayor’s lack of popularity post-Blizzardgate, I’m not that impressed.
An unknown secret behind the success of Darchei Torah was a man by the name of Albert Kanefsky who was Rabbi Bender’s neighbor and also happened to be the Associate Director of the Hartman YMHA that owned the property prior to Darchei. Mr. Kanefsky engineered the sale of the campus to Darchei when the Hartman Y was phased out by the Jewish Federation of NY which operated the center.
Lets hope he gives a nice check to his favorite yeshiva.
Did he pass his faher and get accepted?
“is believed to be the largest yeshiva of its kind in the New York Metro area.”
Oholei Torah in Crown Heights also has about 1600 students, from preschool through beis medrash. Here:
http://www.oholeitorah.com/
#5, read “of its kind”
#5: The truth is it is the largest non-Chassidic boys’ yeshiva in NY. (Once you get to Lakewood and Midwest I’m sure there are some larger.) This at a time when Brooklyn enrollment is going down in most places.
TO FRESSER:
HE DID OK
BUT HE HAS “PULL”
“The mayor was accompanied by New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.”
After his snow performance, he needed a police escort.