Need a Doctor?

If you or a loved one needs to a doctor, the SBH Medical Division is available to help you find the best medical advice.

By texting or calling SBH at 718 787 0077 or emailing medical@sbhonline.org., the SBH medical team gets to work to identify the best care for you. Once they understand your medical needs, they work through their network and pinpoint the best specialists. SBH will help you secure an appointment in a timely manner and even arrange transportation if needed.

If your care is a bit more complex, they will assign you a Medical Captain who will be with you every step of the way. The SBH Medical Division wants you to think of them as a member of your family – and your health is their priority.

Another Manhattan Community Board Discards Mayor Adams’ Casino Fast Track Attempt

Rendering of the Freedom Plaza.

Opposition is mounting against a city-backed measure that would allow planned casinos to bypass the local land-use review process, a move Mayor Eric Adams’ administration argues is crucial for the gaming facilities to have a chance of obtaining state approval.

Last month, Manhattan Community Board 6 passed a resolution 39-to-1 opposing a proposal by the Department of City Planning to bypass the standard city zoning approval rules, known as ULURP, for casinos.

The Board, which represents Midtown East, has one casino proposal proposed for their area, among a host of contenders for three licenses the state intends to grant in New York City or its suburbs.

The Soloviev Group has proposed placing a casino and 1,325 apartments, with nearly 40 percent slated to be below-market rentals, on First Avenue between 38th and 41st Streets, just south of the United Nations.

The Board resolution passed with no discussion at the meeting. Borough presidents will also  weigh in on the zoning amendment, after which the City Planning Commission and the City Council will vote on it.

CB6’s advisory vote in opposition follows a similar outcome from Manhattan Community Board 4, which covers another possible site in Hudson Yards, and Manhattan Community Board 5, which will take a full board vote Thursday, following a land use committee vote against the Adams proposal. CB5 includes Times Square, where a proposal is in the mix.

In Brooklyn Community Board 13, which includes Coney Island, the majority of members also opposed the text amendments.

City Planning’s proposed zoning text amendments would allow for new state licenses to go to gaming facilities in certain commercial and manufacturing districts. The measures would deem any gambling facility approved by the state for these areas as being in compliance with local zoning, permission that also extends to hotels, restaurants, and amenities at the sites.

At least two-thirds of each committee must approve an application for it to be considered by the Gaming Facility Location Board.

Brooklyn Public School Omits Israel from Qatar-Funded Classroom Map

A map of the “Arab World” inside a classroom at PS 261 labels Israel “Palestine.”

A public New York City elementary school is being accused of “Jewish erasure” because a map in one of its classrooms showed all of the countries in the Middle East except for Israel – which it labeled as Palestine.

The map, labeled the “Arab World,” appears in a classroom at PS 261 in Brooklyn, where Rita Lahoud gives students lessons in the Arab Culture Arts program – which is funded by Qatar. Foundation International, the American wing of the Qatar Foundation, is a nonprofit owned by the country’s wealthy ruling family.

At the school, the map is posted under the heading “Arab World” with hand-drawn labels marking each country, except for Israel, which Lahoud labeled “Palestine.”

“It’s not just that we’re experiencing Jewish hate in NYC public schools, we’re actually experiencing Jewish erasure,” said Tova Plaut, a New York City public school instructional coordinator for preschool through fifth grade.

“The fact that there is a map out there that does not represent what the world actually looks like is troubling. We’re giving children misinformation,” added Plaut, who is also the founder of the New York City Public Schools Alliance, a group of educators and parents fighting anti-Semitism and other forms of hate in city schools in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7th attack on Israel.

“When you embed something when children are young, it becomes a belief. And belief is much harder to change than knowledge,” she said.

City Hall said the map was removed “as soon as we were made aware of concerns” about its contents.