The front line on the war on terror is being waged not in some faraway country—but apparently right here in Brooklyn, where local yeshivas and synagogues recently received over $1 million to fortify their operations.
The money comes by way of the Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which handed out more than $4.08 million to 59 organizations citywide.
Rep. Anthony Weiner, who announced the funding, said in a statement that it is “high time the Department of Homeland Security realized that our non-profit institutions were at risk.”
“Worshipers, museum goers, and hospital visitors expect and deserve a safe environment, and these grants will go a long way towards ensuring their safety,” he added.
Weiner, a mayoral candidate, said precisely the same comments back in October, when he announced another round of Homeland Security grants.
The grants will provide “significant funding for security measures at the very institutions being singled out as potential targets—yeshivas and synagogues throughout the five boroughs,” Weiner’s office said in a statement on the matter last week.
In total, 16 Brooklyn institutions received grants. Most of the names of the groups were not disclosed because of “security reasons,” according to Weiner. The names of the groups were, however, released in the fall, when the federal lawmaker announced that particular round of Homeland Security grants.
“We do not disclose the full list, and that’s for security reasons,” said Amy Kudwa, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security.
Dennis Eisenberg, the executive vice president of grant recipient Yeshiva of Flatbush, said the $75,000 his school will receive will benefit not just the students and staff but also the surrounding neighborhood.
“I think for any community, the most prized possession is the children,” he said. “People should be concerned that their children are in a safe and secure environment.”
The institution maintains an elementary school on East 10th Street and a high school on Avenue J. Both will benefit from the money, Eisenberg said.
The money will be used to fortify the perimeter of the elementary school with new fencing, and install a “visitor management system” at both schools. The system will tie into a national database alerting personnel if a visitor is unwelcome, Eisenberg said.
“These are things we would not be able to do if we didn’t have the money,” he said.
Eisenberg said the school has never received “a formal threat.”
But that doesn’t mean it should be complacent, he noted.
“We live in a very diversified community. We are very high profile,” Eisenberg said. “We are very well known nationally and very Zionistic.”
“We need Homeland Security to pay attention,” he added.
Two years ago, the yeshiva received $75,000 from the same grant program. It used that money to install a total of 26 high-end security cameras outside both schools.
“Certainly, this has helped us maintain a specific awareness and deterrent for people who might want to do mischief,” he said.
Eisenberg pointed to a recent case where a homeless man was found dead near an unused stretch of tracks for the Long Island Rail Road, near the yeshiva.
He said cops reviewed the school’s security cameras. “It shows how it not only protects the building, but the community,” Eisenberg said.
The other two grant recipients were Masores Bais Yaakov, 1395 Ocean Avenue, and the Prospect Park Yeshiva, 1784 East 17th Street.
Rabbi Gavriel Celnik, the associate dean of Masores Bais Yaakov, said the neighborhood where the school resides, Midwood, has seen its share of swastikas painted on synagogues. The school, however, has never directly been threatened, he noted.
“We can’t just sit still and let things happen. We have to take a proactive approach to our primary concern, and that is the safety and security of our families, students and children,” he said.
He said his school will receive in the range of other recipients, between $70,000-$75,000, and will use the money for safety enhancements, including security cameras. He offered praise to Weiner, who he said is ensuring that not-for-profits are getting their fair share from Homeland Security.
The organizations submit their applications to Homeland Security’s state office, which forwards its recommendations to federal agencies, who notify local lawmakers once the grant determinations are made.
Overall, the agency announced $1.8 billion in grants to bolster state, urban area and tribal government, said to be “efforts to improve the nation’s readiness, response and recovery capabilities for both natural and man-made emergencies.”
The department will award approximately $3 billion in Fiscal Year 2008, and has provided approximately $25 billion in grants since Fiscal Year 2002 to state, local, and tribal governments, as well as non-profit organizations.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement that “investments are made where risk is greatest, and where recipients have a clear need and plan to produce results.”
The program has in the past funded security enhancements at landmarks, including the Intrepid Museum, as well as area hospitals.
The average grant winner will receive $70,000. Qualifying institutions this year received up to $75,000, said Weiner.
This year’s total exceeds last year’s allocation of $3.2 million to 40 groups. In 2005, Weiner secured $6.3 million in non-profit funding, including $2 million for 30 yeshivas and synagogues, the lawmaker’s office said.
