...Rabbi Glanz, who resigned last week as a part-time city chaplain after it was revealed he had arranged a lavish six-hour bar mitzvah party in a New York City jail for the son of a prisoner.
To the uninitiated, Rabbi Glanz’s ability to pull off such an outlandish event may seem wondrous. Certainly, concern over how the celebration came to be authorized, as it was by top Correction Department officials, has resulted in multiple investigations.
But interviews and city records show that Rabbi Glanz has a long history of access and influence, of seeking favors and performing them, and of acting as a liaison between the insular world of the Satmars and elected officials.
For two decades, he has been something of a Satmar master of ceremonies, arranging official tours of the community, based in Williamsburg, translating Yiddish for political leaders, charming mayors and their aides with gifts, then soliciting money and support for his sect’s priorities.
A rumpled 51-year-old who often juggles cellphones and has favored a sport utility vehicle equipped with lights and sirens...
And even Yeshiva World News gets mentioned:
...allied with a less powerful Satmar faction, but one that retains power.
That power was evident in the spring of 2008 at the meeting with the new state police superintendent, recorded by the Yeshiva World News Web site, when Senator Adams asked the Satmar to back Governor Paterson.
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