Year In Review
2015 newyork.adl.org
ADL New York is committed to safeguarding civil rights of all religious, racial and ethnic
groups, confronting anti-Semitism and all forms of prejudice. From countless education and workplace trainings with students, educators, business professionals, and law enforcement, to campus advocacy and interfaith programming, ADL has spent the year 2015 striving to fulfill our mission: to stop the defamation of the Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all. Responding to Hate in Our Communities
From the time of ADL’s founding over 100 years ago to today, it is our priority to speak out against
incidents of anti-Semitism and hate on a moment’s notice. Communities across the United States know they can rely on us to raise awareness of local issues and provide a voice of support. This year, ADL New York Region… • Urged Great Neck South school administrators to address an anti-Semitic Facebook post that circulated in March. • Spoke out against the Commack High School students that wore swastika t-shirts in April. • Welcomed the resolution of a lawsuit over anti-Semitic bullying in the Pine Bush School District in June. • Condemned vicious attacks on Representative Jerry Nadler over the Iran Deal in August. • Explained the insensitivity of the Amazon ads on the NYC subway in November. • Voiced serious concern over escalation of hostility towards Muslims after the violent assault of a Muslim store owner in Queens in December.
Our diligent work will not stop in 2016 as we remain committed to the New York communities we serve.
Educating Our Students
During the 2014-2015 school year over
90 schools throughout the state of New York and Northern New Jersey were recognized as No Place for Hate®, impacting over 74,000 students. No Place for Hate builds awareness about the consequences of unchecked hatred and attempts to eradicate bullying, bigotry and stereotyping in schools by empowering young people. At the annual No Place For Hate recognition ceremony, the Making a Difference Award was presented to Lady Gaga and the Born This Way Foundation in recognition of its work championing positive social change.
The New York Region continues to play
an active role in empowering students to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias in the community and on campus. In 2015, over 1,200 middle school, high school and college students participated in Words to Action, ADL’s premier education program designed to provide information, resources, and response strategies to anti-Semitic or anti-Israel activity. This year’s program hosts and co-sponsors included synagogues, teen programs, campus Hillel and Chabad organizations, and Jewish community centers.
Advocating Our Mission with Elected Officials and Community Leaders
ADL New York Region held its 1st annual week-long Advocacy Summit to reinforce our initiative to
engage with elected officials on pressing issues related to ADL’s mission. Throughout the week, ADL constituents met with local elected officials across all five boroughs, Long Island, and Westchester to discuss the work being done by ADL in their communities. The Advocacy Summit included a kick-off breakfast with lobbying training, a celebratory cocktail reception at the law office of O’Melveny & Meyers and an inspiring address by Letitia James, Public Advocate for the City of New York. Beyond this event, staff and community members held over 20 meetings throughout the year with elected officials to communicate the New York Region’s policy positions.
Alongside Council Members Rory I. Lancman and Elizabeth Crowley, Letitia James, Assemblyman
David Weprin, and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, the Anti-Defamation League and the Queens Jewish Community Council commemorated the 100th anniversary of the murder of Leo Frank on August 17th.
In the latter half of 2015, ADL met with congressional members Yvette
Clarke, Sean Maloney, Gregory Meeks, Jerrold Nadler, and Lee Zeldin, to discuss the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement with Iran over its nuclear program. ADL expressed serious oncern about shortcomings in the JCPOA with each member. ADL continues to call upon Congress and the Administration to work to build a more robust U.S. policy toward Iran and develop measures to deter Iran from developing a nuclear weapon in the long-term, and to counter its malign non-nuclear activities, including anti-Semitism, terrorism, violations of human rights, overt threats to Israel’s security and fomenting regional instability.
Building Interfaith Relations
In July, ADL hosted 22 Catholic school educators to learn about Judaism, Catholicism, and the history
of anti-Semitism at ‘The Bettina (z”l) and Erwin Pearl New York Bearing Witness Institute: Anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, and Contemporary Issues.’ Bearing Witness is an annual professional development program featuring special lectures taught by a rabbi and priest together, sessions at the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, and tours of a local NYC synagogue with a model “Shabbat dinner” experience.
Catholic and Jewish middle-school students come together at the ADL Interfaith Seder.
In 2015, we met with the following interfaith/intergroup leaders and organizations: First
Corinthian Baptist Church (Harlem) with the Reverend Michael Walrond Jr., Senior Pastor; 100 Black Men of New York, Inc with their Executive Director Diallo Shabbaz; the New York Urban League; the Long Island Black Educators Association and the Long Island Latino Teachers Association; the Reverend AR Bernard, Senior Pastor, CEO and Founder of Christian Cultural Center; Sarah Sayeed, Senior Advisor in NYC Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit to the Muslim Community; and led an Interfaith Breakfast Meeting hosted by Mark Fang, Executive Director of Westchester Human Rights Commission, with local Westchester interfaith leaders and pastors held at the Faith Christian Center in New Rochelle.
Engaging our Leaders and
On June 7th, our New York Regional Board held its Annual meeting and welcomed Andrew Frackman as
our incoming New York Regional Board Chair. During the ceremony, longtime members and supporters were presented with awards including the Generations of Justice Award given to Daniel Beller, the Future is Now award to Stephanie Weiss and Stephanie Shemin Feingold, and the Staff Achievement Award to Gabrielle Sherb, our Director of Development. We also heard personal testimony from Vassar College student Leah Weingast and Rabbi Daniel Sanoff about their experiences with anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias at Vassar College. Leah, who participated in ADL’s Words to Action program in May 2015, explained the program’s impact on herself and her fellow Jewish students:
“This workshop was the first time that many students were able to open up about their experiences…We discussed how Jews are often seen as being privileged and white-washed on campus and how that manifests itself in anti-Semitism. We also discussed the differences between anti-Israel, anti-Zionism, and anti-Semitism. This was really useful because those terms are often thrown around without having concrete definitions attached to them.”
The Lawyers Division
On Wednesday, December 9th ADL’s Lawyers Division held its 21st Annual Human Relations Award
Luncheon at Cipriani 42nd Street, raising over $768,000. The legal community gathered together to honor James E. Brandt of Latham & Watkins, Rikki Klieman and Barry F. Schwartz of MacAndrews & Forbes with the Human Relations Award. Howard W. Goldstein, Of Counsel at Fried Frank, received the first Edward Brodsky Founder’s Award. Attendees heard Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO, share his vision and enjoyed an afternoon celebrating ADL’s work to create a world without hate.
d Celebrating our Partners The Real Estate Division
On Thursday, October 21st, top real estate executives gathered together to raise over $870,00 for the
17th Annual Real Estate Luncheon at the Four Seasons Restaurant. We welcomed new ADL Real Estate Division Co-Chairs, Jeffrey Gural and Eric Rudin, and paid tribute to the Co-Chairs Emeriti, Burt Resnick and Leonard Litwin for their unwavering and tremendous support.
The Next Generation Philanthropy Community
This year’s 9th annual IMAGINE Gala on November 4th was a truly
monumental night for ADL New York's Next Generation Philanthropy Community (NGPC). Just nine years ago ADL set out to create a community of philanthropic leaders dedicated to advancing the mission of ADL - to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment to all - around a signature event, IMAGINE. NGPC has blossomed into one of New York's premier leadership programs and IMAGINE has matured into one of the most successful events in New York City. Through your generosity and dedication, we were able to raise over $98,000 and bring together over 400 young leaders to celebrate ADL.
We were proud to congratulate 21 emerging leaders on
graduating from the 2015 Glass Leadership Institute (GLI), ADL’s nationally recognized leadership development program for young professionals. Over the course of nine months, GLI members participate in 10 interactive sessions led by ADL professionals on a broad range of ADL topics, including civil rights, education, and international affairs. The highlight of the program is our National Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. featuring presentations by world leaders, foreign policy experts and civil rights luminaries on the latest development and trends in the fight against hate at home and abroad.
In May, we raised over $176,000 in celebration of the universality of ADL’s mission at ArtWorks ADL: Justice, Advocacy and Art.
Working On the Ground, in Long Island
On April 30th, over 250 guests gathered at Old
Westbury Hebrew Congregation for the first annual ADL on Long Island event. ADL National Director Emeritus Abe Foxman spoke about global anti-Semitism and ADL’s role fighting hate. The evening was organized by Long Island Advisory Committee chair Lou Karol and provided community members an opportunity to learn more and get involved with ADL on Long Island.
On October 27th, we recognized our most
generous donors at Cocktails and Conversations with ADL at the David Filderman Gallery, Hofstra University Museum. Our panelists, Rabbi Dave Siegel, Hofstra Hillel Executive Director and Jason Holtzman, ADL Campus Research Analyst discussed anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias on campus. The conversation was moderated by Etzion Neuer, ADL NY Deputy Director and was held in partnership with Hofstra Hillel.
Working On the Ground, in Albany
ADL in Albany provides a variety of programs in
resources in the capital region to fight bias, bigotry and hate. The A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute, generously funded by Neil and Jane Golub, is a leading provider of anti-bias, anti-bullying and diversity training programs and resources. In 2015, 76,512 students were impacted by our A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® trainings and 12, 036 students were reached through the No Place for Hate initiative in the Albany region.
Working On the Ground, in Westchester
On Thursday, November 19th, 200 guests raised over $136,000 at our ADL in Westchester:
Combatting Bigotry and Bias from Kindergarten to Campus event at the Metropolis Country Club in White Plains. The event paid tribute to Marcy and John Harris and Rabbi Emily Korzenik for their outstanding service to ADL.
During the 2014-2015 school year in the Westchester/Orange Country area, 15 schools
participated in our No Place For Hate速 program with a total of 11,517 students impacted. Additionally, the expansion of our Words to Action program into the Westchester region led to 5 Jewish communities hosting programs for their student and adult family members.
ADL educators, students, and volunteers at our annual A Day of Difference event.
Join us in 2016 as we work towards making a World without Hate速 a reality
For more information, please contact ADL at newyork@adl.org or visit http://newyork.adl.org.