New York - They did it in diners. They did it in parking lots. What emerges on page after page of the federal government’s corruption investigation is that so many of the alleged deals happened in places that are almost visual clichés about New Jersey corruption. And some of the dialogue seems straight out of an introductory screenwriting class. Here are some of the moments, scenes and...

Israel - Israel’s Chief Rabbi and Israeli rabbis call upon American rabbis to lobby the U.S. government to stop pressuring Israel to stop building in Judea and Samaria. Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who serves as the Rishon LeTzion, Israel’s Chief Sephardic Rabbi, is signed on the call, together with some 25 rabbis from all over Israel, both hareidi and religious-Zionist. Rabbi Shalom Gold, one of...

Brooklyn, NY - City Council candidate Isaac Abraham said he will "review" two $175 contributions he received from Naftoly Weber, who was among a dozen Brooklynites netted in a massive New Jersey corruption sting. Abraham, who is running for the seat being vacated by comptroller hopeful/Councilman David Yassky, aims to become the Council's first Hasidic Jewish member. Reached on his cell...

Brooklyn, NY - New York's infamously archaic and exacting petition rules have claimed another victim - this time in the form of would-be public advocate, Councilman Bill de Blasio. De Blasio's campaign attorney Henry Berger confirmed that his client had run afoul of the requirement regarding the "curing" of petition cover sheets, which gives candidates one shot - and one shot only - at fixing...

New Jersey - When New Jersey Mayors, politicians and rabbis get arrested for money laundering, it's news that should be reported, as it is now on CNN and other major media outlets. I think it's especially important for Jews to hear this news and address the discomfort created by religious leaders behaving badly. Isn't that what we ask of other groups when their leaders do the same? But the...

London - Britain has seen an unprecedented number of anti-Semitic "hate crimes," with more incidents recorded so far in 2009 than in any previous entire year, a Jewish advisory body said. Up to end-June, there were 609 anti-Semitic incidents ranging from verbal abuse to extreme violence, compared with 276 in the same period last year. The Community Security Trust (CST), which advises...

Brooklyn, NY - The lawyer for a prominent rabbi arrested today in a federal money laundering and corruption probe said he "remains confident that the truth will come out and he will be cleared." Robert G. Stahl, representing Saul Kassin, 87, of Brooklyn, N.Y. said his client has been a rabbi for more than 60 years and is a well-respected member of the community. Kassin, who officials called...

Deal, NJ - Three years after the FBI charged him with bank fraud, Solomon Dwek has become the bureau's key witness in a massive corruption and international money-laundering probe. Dwek, named in criminal complaints as "the cooperating witness," was the hub who helped gather evidence against two assemblymen, three mayors and 39 others arrested in a sweeping FBI raid Thursday, according to...

New York, NY - Turn on the lights or broil a burger and it will cost you more here than in any other city in the nation. Metropolitan area consumers paid 59.1% more for electricity and 34.2% more for natural gas than the U.S. city average last month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. For example, New Yorkers paid 21 cents a kilowatt hour in June for electricity, while the...

Jerusalem - The attorney representing Noga Zoraish the cashier who was hit by a yeshiva student in a Jerusalem parking lot said she is considering filing a civil lawsuit against the man. The Yeshiva student was convicted today, (as was reported here on VIN News), of aggravated assault and sentenced to one year probation and his driver's license was revoked for three years...

Albany, NY - An estimated 123,000 New Yorkers will get a raise Friday when the federal minimum wage increases to $7.25 an hour. About 63,000 state residents will get a 10-cent raise when the state's $7.15-an-hour minimum wage is superseded by the new federal minimum, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning think tank in Washington. An additional 60,000 who...

New York City - In the city, drivers quickly load and unload passengers in no stopping zones all the time, but one Lower East Side resident told NY1 For You that stopping in a bike lane is a surefire way to get a ticket. Lower East Side resident Ernest Marshall never expected to get a ticket for blocking a bike lane. "If the city is looking to make money, this is a cash cow," says...

Tel Aviv, Israel - A young woman has filed an NIS 408,000 (about $105,000) lawsuit with the Tel Aviv Labor Court against the H&M company, claiming she was fired for being religious. The woman, L., says she is eligible for compensation due to the damage caused to her income and the distress and discrimination she suffered. H&M, an international fashion chain based in Sweden, is about...

New York - Stocks rallied Thursday as investors shrugged off a rise in jobless claims and focused on encouraging earnings from Ford and 3M. A third straight rise in existing-home sales also buoyed the market, helping propel the Dow Jones Industrial Average above the 9,000 mark for the first time since January. In the morning's economic news, jobless claims rose by 30,000 to 554,000...

Manhattan, NY - Mayor Michael Bloomberg has told his drivers to cut out the idling after The Associated Press reported it observed his SUVs idling throughout the city. Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said the mayor made it clear to the police detail that drives him around that he wants to set a better example. The city also said that months ago, the mayor had "No Engine Idling" signs...