Without fanfare, nearly $60 million in Nazi gold that was hidden for 50 years at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York and the Bank of London in England is finally being put to good use. Since July, 600 needy Holocaust survivors in Britain have received $600 in cash, and thousands of needy East European survivors have received medicine and medical supplies.
“This is the first time that funds from Nazi gold bars have been paid out to victims of the Holocaust,” said Elan Steinberg, executive vice president of the World Jewish Congress.

It’s not every day that City Council members win a victory against Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. So Ronnie Eldridge can be forgiven for gloating a bit last week when the mayor reversed his policy of banning press conferences by Council members on the steps of City Hall.
“It was impossible for him not to let us do it,” said the Upper West Side Democrat, who led a group of Council members in a defiant City Hall photo op two weeks ago, declaring that the mayor has overreacted to the threat against City Hall following recent U.S. action against terrorism.