OMER KABIR

NEW YORK — Two Israelis living in New York have created a storm through an iPhone application they have developed.

Their idea has become a hit, thanks to a little Israeli chutzpah and a relatively simply application that allows users to locate the closest broken parking meter along with detailed directions on how to get to it. This is no trivial issue.

According to city ordinances, it is legal to park at a broken meter for one hour without paying, making this application a vital one in city where parking prices can reach $500 or more a month.

Behind the application, called NYC Broken Meters, are Raviv Turner, a native Israeli and former officer in the Armored Corps who has been living in New York City for the past eight years, and his partner Ilya Levin.
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US President Barack Obama organised a summit meeting between himself, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in New York on September 22, 2009.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) shakes hands with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in front of US President Barack Obama in New York on September 22. Photo: JTA

WASHINGTON — Israel and the Palestinians must act “with a sense of urgency,” US President Barack Obama said after meeting with their leaders.

Obama met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in New York on Tuesday September 22 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Obama met separately with the leaders, then joined them in a trilateral meeting.

“We have to summon the will to break the deadlock that has trapped generations of Israelis and Palestinians in an endless cycle of conflict and suffering,” Obama said at a joint photo opportunity with Netanyahu and Abbas before their three-way meeting.

“We cannot continue the same pattern of taking tentative steps forward and then stepping back. Success depends on all sides acting with a sense of urgency.”
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BENJAMIN HOLZMAN 

Obama

FROM Brooklyn to Harlem to Times Square, New York was alive with election fever. 

Reminders of the historic day were inescapable — election hype covered the front pages of every newspaper, New Yorkers proudly displayed badges and stickers of their preferred candidate, and a giant neon sign in Times Square simply declared ‘VOTE!’ in huge letters. 

Campaign activity continued right until the polls closed -—both campaigns actively recruited volunteers to make phone calls to voters in swing states, as part of a last ditch ‘get out the vote’ drive. Read the full story