STANDING Brooklyn’s Biggest Booster
Schneps media honors BK’s Best!
Schneps Media honored Brooklyn’s
best at its annual Kings of Kings County
awards and networking event at Grand
Prospect Hall on Jan. 23.
The night’s honorees represented
professions including doctors, attorneys,
business leaders, and more, who
were recognized for their record of public
service and unwavering enthusiasm
for Kings County!
This year’s top honor went to Edward
Schloeman, chairman and founder of
Operation Warrior Shield, a non-profi t
organization that supports veterans
and members of the US Armed Services.
Schloeman nabbed his fi rst King of Kings
award back in 2013. Ed is the President of
Fidelis Services Group, a certifi ed Veteran
Owned business that offers a variety
of telecommunications services.
The event’s Healthcare Hero award
was presented to Juan Checo, the Director
of Hospital Police at King’s County
Hospital. Mr. Checo successfully oversees
various types of investigations involving
crimes, complaints, or incidents
at assigned NYC Health + Hospital facilities,
where he’s responsible for overseeing
the safety all hospital visitors, clients,
and staff.
King of Kings also played host to a
raffl e, where all proceeds went to the
Make the Grade Foundation, a nonprofi
t that facilitates academic achievement
by implementing programs to tutor,
mentor and motivate students, while
providing incentives and funding. By
the end of the night, participants raised
$1,500 to help support the foundation.
Dr. Bob Lee, host on WBLS 107.5
served as the master of ceremonies for
the evening. Lee is also the founder and
board member of the Make the Grade
Foundation.
The event was made possible thanks
to the generous support of sponsors including
JPMorgan Chase, King’s County
Hospital, Tri-State Commercial Realty,
The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Flushing
Bank, Surgicore, TD Bank, and NYU
Tandon School of Engineering.
COURIER L 44 IFE, JAN. 31-FEB. 6, 2020
BY JESSICA PARKS
Electd offi cials and community
leaders joined together at Congregation
Beit Hillel Synagogue in Flatlands
on Jan. 20 to raise their voices
against anti-Semitism, bigotry, and
hatred.
“With everything that has been
going on in and around the city,
state, and country with the uptick
in anti-Semitic attacks and bigotry,
I just felt it was important to
do something in my community
to ensure it stays the same,” said
Mitchell Partnow, who organized
the event as head of the Thomas Jefferson
Democratic Club’s charitable
arm TJ Cares.
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez
served as the event’s keynote
speaker, and the prosecutor discussed
the initiatives he’s launched
to address hate crimes with the
roughly 40 men and women in attendance.
“A lot of the attendees were very
happy the district attorney came
and spoke about some of the hate
crimes from all around Brooklyn,”
Partnow said. “They felt safer to
know our elected offi cials are keeping
an eye on this.”
The Shomrim Society of the
NYPD, a Jewish fraternity within
the city Police Department, joined
the event to speak about programs
they offer to temples and churches,
including providing additional security
details at religious services
upon request.
The event coincided with Martin
Luther King Jr. day, and Partnow
shared some of the late civil rights
leader’s words, saying, “Perhaps
people fail to get along because they
fear each other; they fear each other
because they don’t know each other;
they don’t know each other because
they haven’t communicated with
each other.”
BY JESSICA PARKS
A whopping 85 juniors from
Abraham Lincoln High School
got some on-the-job training during
semester-long internships
with local businesses across the
borough.
“High school should never
be separate from ‘real life,’ said
Ari A. Hoogenboom, the high
school’s principal. “Our internship
program helps our students
develop the skills necessary to be
productive members of the local
economy. Working together we
are making Brooklyn the best it
can be.”
The Brighton Beach high
school launched the Lincoln Internship
Program three years
ago, and it’s since seen 250 students
go on to achieve higher
enrollment rates and increased
scholarship funding.
The 85 students — the largest
class in the program at one time
— worked at 27 local businesses
and organizations including
Brooklyn College Microbiology
Lab, Brooklyn Public Library,
Carroll Gardens Vet Group, Gallop
NYC and Gargiulo’s restaurant
in Coney Island.
“The restaurant business has
many moving parts. Each area relies
on the other in order to work
properly,” said Rachel Russo, coowner
of the restaurant. “It is
nice to see that young people are
interested in doing kitchen work
which can be very challenging.”
Students marked the end of
the semester-long program with
exit-interviews conducted by
their internship mentors, who
used the opportunity to provide
them with parting career and college
advice.
District Leader Frank Seddio speaks with the audience at an event about “Voices
against anti-Semitism, Bigotry and Hate.” Photo by Derrick Watterson
Pols gather for anti-hate summit
Students intern
at Brooklyn’s best
businesses
Additional photos on Page 54
Erwin Papillon poses with Dr. Bob Lee and Vicki Schneps, pictured
left, while Edward L. Lai shows off his trophy, pictured right.
Photos by Corazon Aguirre