68 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • MARCH 1, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Queens leaders honored at Black History celebration
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Dozens gathered at Queens Borough
Hall in Kew Gardens to celebrate Black
History Month and African-American
Heritage.
Organized by Borough President
Melinda Katz and the African-American
Heritage Committee, the annual event
recognizes outstanding community
members who have made a lasting impact
on the borough of Queens and the next
generation of leaders.
Katz kicked off the Feb. 26 celebration,
which took place within the building’s
Helen Marshall Cultural Center.
“I’m excited to be part of this celebration,”
Katz said. “We know that
right here in this room with our honorees
we have our future leaders like
Martin Luther King, like Rosa Parks, like
Frederick Douglas. But we also have our
future educators, our future teachers, our
future civic leaders, doctors, lawyers and
nurses.”
Reverend Doctor Leslie Mullings,
founder and CEO of the Far Rockawaybased
Challenge Preparatory Charter
School, took to the podium as the event’s
guest speaker. He was also awarded the
Borough President’s Spirit Award.
“What we know is that this country
— imperfect as it is — is a better place
because of the resistance and resilience of
its black Americans,” he said.
A group of 12 exceptional Queens students
— chosen from a pool of 103 —
who attend schools throughout the city
were awarded $1,000 college scholarships
by Katz and the committee.
Recipients were Anu L. Akil of Brooklyn
Technical High School, Alexander Atkins
of Th omas Edison High School, Alanya
Banner of Benjamin N. Cardozo High
School, Tyler Borderon of Bard High
School Early College, Wilson Delmas of
Queens Preparatory Academy, Keziah
Diego Scholars Academy, Meicha Hall
of Francis Lewis High School, Tearah
Harrigan of Hillcrest High School,
Jasmine Hitlall of St. Francis Preparatory
Academy, Alexis Martin of Townsend
Harris High School, Shaquille Profi tt of
William Cullen Bryant High School and
Leah Solomon of Hillcrest High School.
Mullings also spoke about the importance
of encouraging the next generation
of leaders.
“Our kids are the future. Th ey are
our most precious commodity and we
have to pave the way for them,” he said.
“Education is not a privilege, but a right.
And so wherever our children are, they
have the right to a quality education.”
The following community members
were each presented with a unique
award by Katz and the committee: Dr. Ola
Akinboboye, Science Award; Harold Dow,
Business Award; Harriet Diaz, Education
Award; Dwight Leland Johnson, Borough
President’s Award; Michelle Stoddart,
Civic Award; Patricia Dorothy Chin,
Lifetime Achievement Award; and
Th omas Crater, Journalism Award.
Th e United African Dance Troupe,
directed by Patricia Ghizamboule
Robinson, also put on a performance at
the event.
Bayside rabbi refl ects on over 60 years of service
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Hyman Levine, founding rabbi at the
Bay Terrace Garden Jewish Center, saw
the close-knit community in Bayside grow
from the ground up.
“We started with 70 families and we
ended up with between fi ve and six hundred,”
he said. “Over the years we grew
and grew and grew. Everything grew here.”
Levine was born in Poland on Jan. 22,
1928. At 5 years old, he immigrated to
the United States with his parents, who
began to see a rise in anti-Semitism in
their country.
“My father didn’t want to raise me in
that atmosphere. It was a scary situation,”
he said.
Th e family settled in Springfi eld, MA,
where Levine lived until he was 15. Th en,
he moved to New York to receive his educational
training at Yeshiva University in
Manhattan and graduated with a bachelor
of arts and a bachelor of religious education.
In the early 1950s, Levine earned his
master of science degree in education
from New York University. Aft er spending
some time teaching at the Flushing
Jewish Center, Levine decided to pursue
becoming a rabbi and was ordained
at Yeshiva University with the degree
“Semicha,” which is the highest degree in
Jewish learning.
“I just took a chance and it was for me,”
Levine said. “It’s amazing the role God
played in my life.”
Levine arrived in Bay Terrace a few years
later. A friend called the young rabbi and
told him there was a Jewish community
and fl edgling Hebrew school looking
for a leader.
“I came here when there was nothing
here — only 70 families,” Levine said. “I
was intimidated … But I was good at one
thing: teaching.”
Levine became administrator of the
center, which started in basement board
rooms at a handful of co-ops in the area.
Th e teacher-at-heart also took on teaching
a class of his own. He held services at the
YMCA and Army chapel at Fort Totten,
but did not have a space to hold holiday
services.
As the group grew in the late 1950s, so
did the desire to fi nd a place for the community
to build a center of its own. Aft er
some time, an opportunity to purchase a
plot of land presented itself in an unlikely
place: a local synagogue. In 1961, aft er purchasing
the land for $74,000, Levine and
the congregation broke ground at 209th
Street near the Cross Island Parkway. A
year later, the building was completed.
Th e teacher and leader’s special connection
to the neighborhood children earned
him a special nickname: the Pied Piper.
One of his fondest memories is heading
down to the local waterways with some of
the kids and feeding the ducks.
“In the end, the overall statement is that
the kids put the building here. It was for
the kids,” he said.
Levine spent 44 years as rabbi at the
center. Always focused on education, he
was responsible for overseeing its classes
and programs, which served all ages.
Levine was also responsible for forming a
mandatory PEP, or the Parallel Education
Program, which eventually attracted
national attention.
Under the program, parents with children
in Hebrew school were obligated
to meet with their child’s teacher once a
week for a class of their own. Th e compulsory
element was unheard of and its
implementation took some convincing.
He approached the board of trustees and,
aft er an impassioned plea, gained their
approval.
Levine retired in 2000. Today, he still
remains active, serving as Rabbi Emeritus
and teaching classes on the weekends. He
also serves as chaplain at Gracie Square
Hospital and studies Torah with a group
during the week.
Th e Bay Terrace Garden Jewish Center
will celebrate Levine’s life and accomplishments
at an upcoming event. With
the date of the spring celebration still
pending, those who wish to fi nd out more
should contact the center directly at 718-
428-6363.
“I love this place,” Levine said. “During
the pioneer years, especially, the people
were very much together. I would call it a
very loving congregation.”
Photo via Bay Terrace Garden Jewish Center website
Rabbi Emeritus Hyman Levine (left), Cantor
Victor Wortman, Rabbi Shlomo Blickstein
Photos by Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS
Borough President Katz congratulates the scholarship winners on Feb. 26