PRESS POINTS

Rabbi Shlomo Balter dies at 89

Posted

Funeral services were held Monday for Rabbi Shlomo Balter, a prominent leader at Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale, who died Oct. 3, just two days after his 89th birthday.

In recent years, he served in an emeritus role at CSAIR, but in the past he helped grow the congregation to what it is today. Earlier this year, The Riverdale Press mentioned the rabbi in a recounting of the 1984 “great debate” between lawyer and academic Alan Dershowitz and Jewish Defense League founder Meir Kahane over how to fight anti-Semitism.

At the time, Balter joined fellow rabbi Stephen Franklin at Riverdale Temple to boycott the debate, even going as far as calling Kahane a “pervert, demagogue and inciter to murder and terrorism.”

Balter is survived by his wife of 59 years, Bernice, as well as three children: Ariel, Yoel and Ranon, according to the rabbi’s obituary. He’s also survived by three grandchildren: Abigail, Benjamin and Anna.

Shiva in Balter’s memory will begin Oct. 12.

 

Riverdale Nursing Home sold for $18.4M

It took two years, but Leopold Friedman finally has yet another assisted living facility under his control.

A limited liability corporation reportedly under Friedman’s control, Riverdale Real Estate Acquisition, purchased Riverdale Nursing Home at 641 W. 230th St., for $18.4 million last month. That now means the Riverdale facility is at least unofficially part of Friedman’s larger local empire, which includes The Citadel Rehabilitation and Nursing Center at Kingsbridge on Cannon Place, and The Plaza Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on West Kingsbridge Road.

Riverdale Nursing Home, located in the heart of Spuyten Duyvil, was last sold in 1996, according to city property records.

Friedman’s company used a $14.7 million loan from New Jersey-based Valley National Bank to help finance the purchase, according to PincusCo.

Friedman originally put together an agreement to purchase the nursing home in April 2018, according to documents filed with the city, but only finalized the purchase last month. Eric Paneth and Marvin Beinhorn were two of the controlling partners that owned the West 230th Street facility, according to NursingHomeRating.org, who also have interest in several other nursing homes in New Jersey as well as Flushing.

Riverdale Nursing Home boasts 146 beds, describing itself on its website as a “place of nurturing where each resident receives the excellence of care needed to enjoy the quality of life one deserves.”

 

Grant helps Hebrew Home study dementia

U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel has helped direct nearly $400,000 to the Hebrew Home at Riverdale intended to further research on dementia and other neurological disorders affecting older people.

The funds come from a federal grant administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

 

Council funds help for immigrants

The city council says it will earmark $28.4 million toward immigration services — funds that will help provide free legal services navigating the citizenship application process, among other services.

The funding comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s attempts to raise citizenship application fees from $640 to $1,160 — an increase intended to go into effect Oct. 2, but blocked by a federal judge.

Some $3.25 million is directed toward legal services, while additional funding includes $16.6 million for the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, which provides free legal representation to select detained immigrants facing deportation. The group includes a number of other organization, including the Bronx Defenders, who have represented immigrants since 2014.

Another $4 million is intended to fund legal representation for unaccompanied children separated from their families who are facing immigration proceedings.

Shlomo Balter, Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale, CSAIR, Meir Kahane, Jewish Defense League, Alan Dershowitz, Stephen Franklin, Riverdale Temple, Bernice Balter, Michael Hinman, Leopold Friedman, Riverdale Real Estate Acquisition, Riverdale Nursing Home, Citadel Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, The Plaza Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Valley National Bank, Eric Paneth, Marvin Beinhorn, Eliot Engel, Hebrew Home at Riverdale, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bronx Defenders,

Comments