About 150 residents of a pricey Brooklyn apartment building were forced to evacuate yesterday when authorities found something not kosher – an unsafe, illegal matzo factory, fire officials said.
Two grain silos used for baking matzo were discovered in the basement of the posh building on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, said FDNY Deputy Chief Joe Woznica.
He said grain becomes “highly explosive” when processed.
“Residents were living with two large bombs in the basement,” he said.
The formerly commercial building had been converted illegally to rental loft residences, and was cited for several code violations, authorities said.
Residents were forced to stay somewhere else or go to a temporary shelter set up at a nearby school.
It wasn’t immediately clear when they’d be allowed back in.
Community activist Isaac Abraham said the owner was working to rectify the situation.
The owner “was caught totally off guard with certain violations,” Abraham said.
(Source: NY Post)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
15 Responses
Grain dust is extremely flammable. Grain silos typically exploded when being filled do to static electricity. Grinding is also a problem. Large graneries have huge exhaust fans to exhaust the fine dust which is the major culprit. Sitting in storage, unmolested, there is little danger of explosion.
And I thought only my Bubbys kneidlach were highly explosive
What kind of chinuch do these people receive that leads them to constantly try to cheat a system which is in place for our mutual benefit??
what a tremendous chillul hashem
Was this buiding zoned as a “high rise” for matzoh?
THE FACT IS that he was the first in willi who rented apartmants for the yuppies & artists, against daas thora of all the rabonim there.
REMEMBER! If u got your money not according to torah, you pay for it.
hvei zahir begachloson!
I wonder who would give hashgocho to this illegal operation? Mitzvo ha’bo b’aveira,laav mitzvo! Was this to make “cheap” matzo shmura? Maybe they should move in to a matzo bakery and live there? What is their ‘hetter’ for brazenly try to beat the system and break the law? Is THIS frumkeit? I hope not.
Remember the Monsey “school bus ” matzo factory??
#3: Your “these people” comment is inappropriate. Had it been uttered by someone who is not Jewish, it would be called anti-semitic. We do not need more sinas yisrael in the world. What this person did was wrong, but does not automatically reflect on the actions (or chinuch) of any group in klal yisrael.
Editor-please watch these comments to keep this forum kosher and productive.
#9 – Great comment!
i dont under stand how us the jewish nation can do such horibble things weve bin persecuted for thousands of years finnaly we have a country that treats us equaly and thats what we do spit in their face hoppfuly this is the the last time
#3: Your “these people” comment is inappropriate. Had it been uttered by someone who is not Jewish, it would be called anti-semitic. We do not need more sinas yisrael in the world. What this person did was wrong, but does not automatically reflect on the actions (or chinuch) of any group in klal yisrael.
It reflects the chinuch of EVERYBODY in Klal yisroel!!! Stop being so blind!! the goyim are looking for reasons to hate us, and we cant give them more. Whether its this or money laundering, or gneivas akum or whatever. WAKE UP!! If something is ilegeal in America, the Torah says that althoough it may nt be assur, YOU HAVE TO ABIDE BY THE LAW!!! This is everybodys problem!!! we are all one people! k’ish echod b’leiv echod. This is your problem too. DO NOT BREAK THE LAW. PERIOD.
I once heard that the Lubavitcher Rebbe ZTZ”L when crossing the street whould wait for the ‘walk’ to appear on the traffic sign, because “dina dmalchisa dina”
#8 mentions last years case in Monsey of the bus which was illegaly converted to a matzoh bakery, Well #8, I’ve got news for you, this is a much more serious situation for many reasons. Firstly, there were people living in the building above (illegaly.) Secondly, it is located in a densly populated area. Thirdly, the “monsey bus” was not as commercialized as this Willy-B joint.The “monsey bus” story was just an excuse to put a picture of a Chasidishe man in the paper to make him look bad.
the monsey matzah bakery bus turned out to be completely LEGAL. the only problem there was that he should have used fixed pipes instead of flexible pipe for the gas supply, a minor issue that is NOT zoning related.
in the alte heim, people supposedly baked their own matzahs (but they sent their chulent to the bakery every shabbas, (and used the eruv to bring it home every shabbas, except for litvaks who dont believe in the whole masechta eruvin) so i dont understand the discrepancy!)