Three Williamsburg institutions are among 18 Jewish institutions boroughwide recently named to get a federal Department of Homeland Security grant of up to $75,000.
The three are the United Talmudical Academy (UTA), the United Talmudical Seminary (UTS) and Yeshiva Kehilath.
The money comes as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative (USAI) Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which is open to all non−profit, charitable and religious organizations.
The competitive grants offers a three−to−one match, so if an institution puts in $25,000 they can get up to $75,000 for such security measures as cameras, bulletproof glass, access doors, barriers and other related equipment.
UTS spokesperson Martin Kahan hailed the grant as being very important as the UTS wants to install more cameras, but hasn’t been able to do so in their 15−building facility that educates andâ„or houses some 7,500 students.
“We’ve had estimates and dealt with a few security companies, but now hopefully we can do the work and it’s very important,” said Kahan.
Kahan said last year the school had an incident where anti−Semitic graffiti was painted on the school’s walls and doors, and the extra security will help deter these types of situations.
UTA Information Technology Administrator Yoel Goldstein said the grant will allow the institution to digitally monitor security from one centralized location in the 13−building campus for about 8,000 students.
“It will save us an enormous amount of aggravation,” he said.
