Staten Island, NY – Rabbi William Kloner, chaplain of the Staten Island Jewish War Veterans and Jewish chaplain for U.S. Coast Guard Sector New York, is fighting for his life after a fall during yesterday’s Coast Guard Change of Command ceremony in the Music Hall at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden in Livingston.

Rabbi Kloner, 82, a retired rear admiral and Brooklyn resident, fell about eight to 10 feet from the stage to the orchestra pit, witnesses said, apparently after becoming lightheaded.

He was tended to by Coast Guard personnel until an ambulance arrived to take him to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton, where he remained in critical condition tonight.

“He got immediate attention by Coast Guard medics,” said Charles Greinsky, commander of the Island Jewish War Veterans, who attended the ceremony. “No one moved him,” to avoid causing further injury.

Rabbi Kloner, who was dressed in his formal white military uniform, was to have given the invocation at the start of the ceremony, Greinsky said.

The rabbi had climbed the stairs to the stage as the ceremony pageantry was beginning, he said.

Another witness in the theater said Rabbi Kloner had shuffled over to the side of the stage, and appeared woozy before he fell backward.

The incident occurred in front of the packed theater, as the audience awaited the ceremony, during which Coast Guard Capt. Linda Fagan relieved Capt. Robert O’Brien as commander of Coast Guard Sector New York and Captain of the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Rabbi Kloner is well-loved, Greinsky said, and widely sought-after for his sage advice by Coast Guard members of all ages.

He had served as the rabbi of the synagogue on Governors Island before the Coast Guard closed the base in 1996.

He and his wife, Liz, were due to depart Tuesday on a cruise to France, Greinsky said.

Rabbi Kloner’s daughter-in-law said the family is with him at the hospital, hoping for his recovery.

(Source: SI Live)