Far Rockaway, New York – Last Thursday, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Far Rockaway), and State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. hosted a Town Hall for Action aimed at decreasing hate and antisemitism. The town hall featured a full panel of speakers including Ann Arnold and her father Mark Schonwetter, a survivor of the Holocaust, The Simon Wiesenthal Center, and Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz’s Office. The event hosted, at the Bayswater Jewish Center had over 30 attendees, featured a presentation from Schonwetter of his remarkable story of survival during the Holocaust, and consisted of an engaging discussion between the panelists and audience. This was the final in a two-part series of Rockaway Town Hall’s for Action aimed at decreasing hatred and anti-Semitism.

“I want to thank Mark Schonwetter for sharing his incredible journey of survival during the Holocaust, his daughter Ann Arnold, fellow panelists Carly Korman from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Michael Bravner from the Queens County District Attorney’s Office, Senator Joe Addabbo and moderator Zev Brenner for joining us for this powerful Town Hall For Action in Bayswater,” Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato said. “Hatred is a problem that we must confront together, and I know that we can. These first steps are laying the groundwork for a larger community action plan that will address hatred and anti-semitism.”