(Courtesy of Simon Wiesenthal Center) The Simon Wiesenthal Center hosted its fourth annual 9/11 commemoration event this past Sunday, honoring Heroes for Tolerance at Yankee Stadium. This year represented the event’s most successful year to date with an event capacity sellout crowd honoring individuals who have truly stood their ground, doing whatever possible in their personal and professional sector to combat the rise of anti-Semitism, discrimination and bias seen across the nation but very specifically in the New York/New Jersey area. As the proceeds for this program go directly into the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s on-the-ground efforts to fight anti-Semitism, discrimination and hate in our local communities, the growth of this event demonstrates an increased awareness of just how critical such efforts have become.

This year’s honorees included Jersey City mayor and child of Holocaust survivors Steven Fulop; Bergen County Clerk John Hogan; Englewood-raised and founder of Tantum Real Estate Debra Tantleff; Mark Cannizzaro, president of the New York Council of Supervisors and Administrators for the New York public school system who has prioritized Holocaust and anti-hate education; and the renowned Bishop Mitchell Taylor, who reaches over 30,000 metropolitan-area residents in his critical not-for-profit programming each year helping connect diverse populations on critical local issues. The event was chaired by Edward Steinberg of Leav & Steinberg, a member of the NY Trial Lawyers Association who has played a significant role in funding and supporting work against injustice.�