New York Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

CITYWIDE
CITY JEWISH LEADERS DISCUSS HIGH HOLIDAYS SAFETY At police headquarters yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, precinct commanders, and an estimated 300 representatives from New York’s Jewish community gathered for their semi-annual bagel breakfast to discuss security concerns for the upcoming high holidays, which start September 15 on the eve of Rosh Hashana.
The breakfast, held prior to Rosh Hashana and Passover, has also served as an effective social gathering for Jewish leaders looking to meet with police brass.
“This is one regular bridge between worlds,” said Alvin Kass, the police department’s chief chaplain for the last 38 years and rabbi to between 1,500 to 2,000 Jewish police officers.
“The perfect meet and greet,” added David Pollock, associate director of Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
The breakfasts first began in the late 1970s, Mr. Pollock said, after police arrested a man on the Sabbath in the observant neighborhood of Borough Park and then drove him to the local precinct in a squad car, violating Orthodox laws and outraging onlookers.
Since, Jewish leaders have been meeting with police brass to discuss making departmental policies more sensitive to religious matters.
“It’s really a model relationship,” Mr. Pollock said.
– Staff Reporter of the Sun
MAYOR ANNOUNCES TEACHER MENTORING PROGRAM Mayor Bloomberg yesterday unveiled a $36 million teacher-mentoring program in a bid to keep more of the new teacher recruits the city woos into public-school classrooms. One out of two new teachers quits within five years of starting the profession, according to the University of Washington Center for the Study of Teaching and Learning. The mentoring program, developed by the University of California at Santa Cruz, is meant to make it easier for new teachers to make the transition into the classroom. The $36 million will be used to pay veteran teachers to help more than 5,000 first year teachers with any problems that occur. Each mentor will be in charge of 17 teachers and will work full-time in aiding the new teachers in developing lesson plans and strategies for teaching New York children. The Santa Cruz program has boosted teacher retention in its 16-year history, with nearly 90% of those who have participated in such programs having remained in the teaching profession for at least six years.
– Staff Reporter of the Sun
POLICE, FIRE UNIONS APPEAL TO BUSH IN A LETTER The city’s police and fire unions attempted an end-around with the mayor yesterday by sending a letter directly to President Bush in the hope that he will intervene in their labor dispute with the city.
“As incredibly busy as you must be, it may have escaped your attention that New York City’s police officers and firefighters – the heroes of 9/11 – are engaged in a bitter contract dispute with the city’s Republican mayor,” the letter said.
The letter represents the spearhead of the tactics the police and fire unions will implement over the next 10 days to capture the nation’s attention and get a pay raise of 4% over three years. Two weeks ago they sent letters to every delegate planning to attend the Republican National Convention next week, informing them of their contract dispute.
The unions, which already follow the mayor to all of his public appearances in order to publicly state their views, have requested six protest permits during the convention, each four days in duration, for six sites: Madison Square Garden, Rockefeller Center, CNN’s New York headquarters, and three delegate hotels.
Union leaders will end their demonstrations if the mayor initiates the state arbitration process or returns to the bargaining table.
The unions have been without a contract for two years.