The Park Bench

In New York, hundreds of cultures are practically piled on top of each other, yet the city somehow thrives. On this week's Park Bench, go behind the scenes with our contributors and subjects.

Photo by Luke Rafferty

Every Friday, we discuss, debate and dissect the week’s theme and stories here, on The Park Bench. It’s a place where we take you behind the scenes with our journalists and subjects; where we curate the comments that you post on the site, as well as your longer reflections that you send to us via email. If a story hits home, or you have a fresh perspective you’d like to add, drop us a line here, or get in touch via Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #ParkBench.

A Letter from Borough Park

An anonymous reader writes in to share his feelings about “Heretic Hasidim,” Pearl Gabel’s investigation of rebellious Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn.

Thank you so much for your article ‘Heretic Hasidim.’ I really enjoyed it, and you pointed out many true points. It’s perhaps one of the first articles that I read about heretic Hasidim which does not exaggerate. I think that the truth is bad enough, that there is no reason to do that, as many writers do.

I was born, raised and currently…