Happy Birthday, Israel
North Shore Towers hosts opulent celebration of country’s founding
STORY
BY STEPHEN VRATTOS
Photos by Julie Weissman &
Stephen Vrattos More than 170 attendees
filled Towers on the
Green, Sunday evening,
August 3, to celebrate the 70th
Birthday of Israel. Held on behalf
of UJA-Federation of New York,
the gala featured several powerful
speakers, delicious Kosher cuisine,
music and dancing and honored a
pair of selfless local heroes, whose
work has helped many throughout
New York and beyond.
Beloved North Shore Towers
resident, long-time UJA supporter
and Committee Chair Eneas
Arkawy hosted the three-hour
event. Arkawy has been a strong
supporter and arduous advocate
of the philanthropic organization
for decades and was rewarded for
her continued activism on behalf of
UJA six months ago when she was
bestowed the title “Lion of Judah,”
in recognition of her tireless efforts.
The gala opened with special
guest New York Congressman Tom
Suozzi, whose busy schedule forced
a rejiggering of the night’s line-up,
so Suozzi could present each honoree
their award certificate, before
having to skedaddle to his next
appointment. Far from proving
anti-climactic, the last-minute move
rather served to both start the evening
with a bang, while also deservedly
paying dual homage to the
night’s featured award recipients,
who would later be more formally
introduced and handed statuettes
to accompany their distinguished
citations. Others notable attendees
were Assemblyman Ed Braunstein,
former Queensborough President
Claire Schulman, and the entire
slate of the North Shore Towers
Board of Directors, as well as former
President Mario Carmiciano
who’d stepped down in June.
UJA Committee Member Gary
Zwetchkenbaum had the distinction
of introducing Ariel Magal.
Zwetchkenbaum spearheaded
former Yankees ballplayer and
Major League Baseball’s first
Designated Hitter Ron Blomberg
visiting the Towers last year and
was instrumental in the evening’s
successful turnout. Magal is the
Senior Shaliach, or emissary, at the
Center for Israel at the Sid Jacobson
JCC, one of many agencies UJA
supports. He leads all programming
at the Center and oversees
the shinshinim, talented Israeli high
school students who bring Israeli
culture to life. Magal’s appearance
was bittersweet, as it was to be his
last weekend in the U.S. before
returning to Israel, but not without
“the hospitality and kindness of the
Temples and Synagogues here.”
Others shared their personal
thoughts about Israel, including
fellow Lion of Judah and NST
residents, multi-UJA Committee
Member Reva Mandelbaum and
Lake Success Jewish Center
Board Member Charlotte Balsam.
Arkawy’s emotional remembrance
concerned hosting her grandson’s
first trip to Israel, following his
Bar Mitzvah and at a time when
her husband, his grandfather, was
dying. She also shared a video of
The Shalva Band, a UJA-supported
group comprised of 8 talented musicians
with disabilities.
NST resident of 16 years Carol
Klinger introduced the night’s first
award recipient for Community
Service, Judi Ross. Klinger met
Ross soon after her arrival at the
co-op, when she wandered into a
meeting of the Knitting Club, which
Ross founded and presided over.
“Judi was most welcoming and I
felt at home immediately,’ Klinger
said. Through her oversight of the
Knitting Club, Ross has overseen
the creation of scarves, blankets
and other knitwear for veterans,
their families and the indigent, and
works tirelessly collecting yarn and
other supplies to facilitate her continued
support.
Ross was quick to thank the UJAFederation
for recognizing her, as
well as the legion of Knitting Club
Members who contribute their time
and work, without which her success
would not be possible. She wrapped
up her speech fittingly, reading a
note from St. Mary’s Hospital for
Children in Bayside, thanking Ross
for the blankets the Knitting Club
had created and donated for children
with special needs.
COO Schneps Communications
Bob Brennan stepped to the dais to
introduce his boss and good friend,
Victoria Schneps, the UJA Lifetime
Award honoree. Schneps, who
began her career as Publisher of the
Queens Courier on the floor of her
living room after the tragic death of
her husband, built an empire which
today comprises more than a dozen
papers and specialty magazines and
websites in Queens, Brooklyn and
Long Island, including the North
Shore Towers Courier. She’s parlayed
her success throughout the
UJA Lifetime Achievement Award
recipient Vicki Schneps (left)
with the evening's host and Chair
Eneas Arkawy
years supporting social causes and
organizations, like UJA.
To exemplify Schneps’s fierce
determination and work ethic,
Brennan related a story of his
receiving a call from Schneps one
evening, while working late in
the office. She’d gotten into a car
accident, which entailed her driving
onto a residential lawn to evade a
reckless driver. “When I got there,”
Brennan recalled, “Vicki was selling
an ad to the woman whose lawn
she’d driven upon.”
“I celebrate YOU for your support
of UJA!” Schneps began,
before thanking the organization
and UJA Development Executive
Sherri Candel. She further spoke
of her profound appreciation of all
the great things the UJA-Federation
supports, including the local JCC,
which her grandchildren frequent.
“May your days be filled with roses,”
she concluded, referencing something
Congressman Tom Suozzi had
said to start the evening; a fitting
denouement to the night’s speeches.
UJA Community Service Award
recipient Judi Ross
Standing (l. to r.) Publisher Vicki Schneps, New York Congressman Tom
Suozzi, NST Board Member Debra Markell-Kleinert, NST General
Manager Glen Kotowski; Seated (l. to r.) Marty Miller, former Borough
President Claire Schulman, NST Board Member Fred Chernow and
Rita Pasternak
10 NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER ¢ September 2018