Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
 | |
| Motto | Acts of Charity, Deeds of Kindness |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1972[1] |
| 13-2738818[1] | |
| Legal status | 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization |
| Headquarters | New York City[1] |
| Services | Crisis intervention and family violence services; housing development fund; food program; career services; and home services.[1] |
| Alan Schoor[2] | |
| David Frankel[2] | |
| Abraham Biderman[2] | |
|
Steven Price, Joseph C. Shenker, Merryl H. Tisch[2] | |
Revenue (2013) | $43,924,750[1] |
| Expenses (2013) | $37,860,929[1] |
Employees (2012) | 330[1] |
Volunteers (2012) | 2,113[1] |
| Mission | To alleviate social, economic, and housing problems.[1] |
| Website |
www |
The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council) is a New York City-based non-profit social services organization. It offers services to help needy New Yorkers.
History
The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, also known as Met Council, was founded in 1972 after two studies reported 300,000 Jewish New Yorkers live in poverty.[3] Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty received support from the American Jewish Congress and the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York to begin its programs. Although founded to help the Jewish poor, today Met Council’s services help all New Yorkers, regardless of age, sex, religion, race or ethnicity.
Mission and services
The Federal Poverty Guideline, based on a standard developed in the 1960s, does not consider regional differences in the cost of housing, transportation, and taxes.[4]
New York City has a poverty rate of 20%, well above the 12% national average.[5]
Met Council works to assist New Yorkers in need and raise awareness about the growing problem of Jewish poverty. The organization has eight main departments, each providing services that help New Yorkers who are struggling financially.
Examples include the crisis intervention department which aids clients going through job loss, eviction, utility turn-off, medical needs and other emergencies.[6] Career services leads workshops on job searches, resume skills, and interview preparation and has training programs for careers in healthcare.[7] In the United States, Met Council has the largest kosher food pantry and opened the three kosher soup kitchens in partnership with Masbia.
Partner organizations
The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty works with 25 local Jewish Community Councils and is affiliated with the UJA Federation of New York. Met Council also partners with Food Bank For New York City, City Harvest and Masbia.
Seward Park Urban Renewal Area
In 1967, New York City leveled the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, 20 acres (81,000 m2) on the southern side of Delancey Street, and removed more than 1,800 low-income largely Puerto Rican families, with a promise that they would return to new low-income apartments when they were built, but it went undeveloped for decades afterward.
Silver and Rapfogel were promoting specific plans for favored developers, which would maintain the area's Jewish identity, at the expense of other communities. They opposed affordable housing, which would have brought more Chinese and Hispanic residents to the neighborhood.
Silver instead proposed a shopping center with no housing for the site. Later, they proposed a big-box store such as Costco, to be built by the developer Bruce Ratner, who had helped raise $1 million for Met Council, in addition to having hired Rapfogel's eldest son Michael in 2007.[8]
However, Silver and Rapfogel promoted specific plans for the project, opposed affordable housing, and proposed a store in the area. As of 2015, the land is being developed for the Essex Crossing project.[8]
Criminal charges
In January 2014, David Cohen, former Executive Director, and Herbert Friedman, Chief Financial Officer, were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of grand larceny, money laundering, and conspiracy. William Rapfogel, former Met Council CEO, was arrested earlier.[9] They were accused of getting $7 million in kickbacks from the Met Council's insurance broker. According to court papers, Joseph Ross said that Rapfogel used some of his share of the kickback cash to make contributions to political campaigns and to political organizations, and Friedman helped transfer some of that cash.[10]
According to The New York Times, one of the strong supporters of the Met Council is New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), who has gotten the Met Council millions of dollars. Rapfogel's wife, Judy, is Silver's chief of staff.[8]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Taxes". Metropolitan NY Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty. Guidestar. June 30, 2013. Accessed December 14, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 "Our Leadership". Metropolitcan Council on Jewish Poverty". Accessed December 14, 2015.
- ↑ "1980-Jewish Poverty Issues" (PDF). Retrieved May 6, 2010.
- ↑ "Final Poverty Report" (PDF). Retrieved May 6, 2010.
- ↑ "Poverty Facts". Archived from the original on November 5, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
- ↑ Kelley, Tina (November 4, 2008). "New York Times: Bad Health and a Thief Put a Woman in Crisis". The New York Times. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
- ↑ Fried, Joseph (January 20, 2008). "New York Times: A Helping Hand in Technical Training". The New York Times. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
- 1 2 3 They Kept a Lower East Side Lot Vacant for 47 Years, By RUSS BUETTNER, New York Times, MARCH 21, 2014
- ↑ "Ex-CEO Admits Stealing From Prominent NYC Charity", ABC News, April 23, 2014
- ↑ Two from disgraced William Rapfogel charity arrested in $7 million kickback scam, Former Met Council on Jewish Poverty Executive Director David Cohen and Chief Financial Officer Herbert Friedman were arraigned Tuesday on charges of grand larceny, money laundering and conspiracy. By Shayna Jacobs, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, January 7, 2014.