Creeps in Malls

Me writes:

I don't like the fact that we can't let our children use the bathrooms unsupervised at malls because of nonsense like this.

Note: Michael Katz, 48, of Wyckoff, development director for United Jewish
Communities (Charles Kusher used to be a board member).

1+2 deal with arrest
3 background on Katz
4 mandatory Charles Kushner connection


1)
Mall restroom sting nets 5 on lewdness
Thursday, December 2, 2004
By BRIAN SPADORA
HERALD NEWS

PARAMUS - Five men were arrested and charged with lewdness and criminal sexual contact for masturbating in a restroom at the Bergen Mall.

The five men arrested were Robert Callahan, 73, of Dumont, Larry
Eisenberg, 70, of Englewood, Michael Katz, 48, of Wyckoff, Bernard Kearny,
38, of Wallington and Nestor Santos, 53, of Englewood.

The lewdness charge, a disorderly person's offense, relates to exposing
oneself.

The criminal sexual contact charge, a misdemeanor, stems from touching
oneself sexually in front of someone who does not consent to watch, Cary
said.

2)
Five men arrested in mall restroom
Thursday, December 2, 2004
PARAMUS - Five men were caught masturbating in a public restroom Tuesday
afternoon during an undercover sweep at the Bergen Mall, authorities said.

Police arrested Bernard Kearny, 38, a salesman from Wallington; Dr. Larry
Eisenberg, 70, of Englewood, a freelance anesthesiologist; Robert Callahan,
73, a retired banker from Dumont; Michael Katz, 48, of Wyckoff, development
director for United Jewish Communities; and Nestor Santos, 53, a data-entry
clerk from Englewood.

3)
Mission seeks to expand local ties with beleaguered Argentineans
Wiener, Robert. Jewish News. Whippany, N.J.: Jul 1, 2004.Vol.LVIII, Iss. 27;
pg. 8

Saddened by much of what they witnessed, yet heartened by the ways a
troubled people is fighting back, 13 members of the UJA Campaign's Young
Leadership Division returned June 18 from six days in Argentina.

"Argentina had a very active Jewish community," said Michael Katz, associate
UJA Campaign director at United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey.
"Then, in 2001, the economy went into a freefall."

Katz said experts at the Ariel Job Placement Center in Buenos Aires told his
delegation that before the collapse Argentina had 4,000 Jews they considered
poor. After the collapse, the number rose to 38,000.

"The middle and upper-middle classes were literally driven into poverty,"
said Katz. "People who were poor to begin with were devastated completely.
It did not just affect Jews. It was across the board. But our job as a
Jewish federation is to reach out to Jews in need, wherever they may be, and
try to help them."

With that aim in mind, the 13 men from MetroWest flew to Buenos Aires on
June 13, then to the federation's embattled sister city of Tucuman.

"We've developed a relationship there with the rabbi and the day schools and
the Jewish community center and various organizations, so we have a hands-on
feel," Katz explained.

"Not only do we offer them money through the [American Jewish] Joint
Distribution Committee, but we can come in and assess a special need. For
instance, in a building that provides community assistance, we installed an
elevator so that people -- especially the elderly -- could get to the third
floor where food packages were being distributed."

Robert Wiener can be reached at rwiener@njjewishnews.com

Article copyright New Jersey Jewish News.

4)
Kushner Fallout Unclear; Scandal's effect on philanthropist's giving 'open
question.'
Dickter, Adam. The New York Jewish Week. (Manhattan edition). New York,
N.Y.: Jul 23, 2004.Vol.217, Iss. 08; pg. 1

When mega-philanthropist Charles Kushner was charged last week with conspiring against his brother-in-law in a sex video scandal, New Jersey Sen. Jon Corzine wasted no time returning more than $80,000 of the billionaire developer's campaign contributions. His New York colleague, Charles Schumer, gave some $4,000 of Kushner cash to charity, according to press reports.

The accusations against Kushner, one of the marquis names in American Jewish philanthropy, have also placed New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey in a bind, having received $1.5 million in donations from the embattled businessman over the years. McGreevey and a Democratic campaign committee this week gave a total of some $13,000 in donations from Kushner to a medical research foundation.

Kushner is most closely associated with the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in
Livingston, named for his father, a Holocaust survivor, and the Kushner
Hebrew High School. He is also a board member of Touro College in New York,
the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, N.J., Yeshiva University's
Stern College for Women and the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New
Jersey.