Forest Lawn and Mount Sinai Memorial Parks are expressing growing concern over a City of Los Angeles proposal to reduce Forest Lawn Drive to a single lane in each direction in order to make room for protected bike lanes. Mount Sinai estimates the road carries about 20,000 vehicles per day and provides the only route to both memorial parks, including large funeral processions.

After repeated appeals since 2024 to Mayor Karen Bass, the Department of Transportation and Councilmember Nithya Raman, city officials have moved forward with the plan, which, according to the two cemeteries, could create significant traffic congestion during funerals, particularly when multiple services take place at the same time.

The proposal has drawn strong opposition from Jewish leaders, who warn it could severely disrupt access to Mount Sinai Memorial Park, the largest Jewish memorial park in California. In a letter to the city, Mount Sinai General Manager Randy Schwab wrote that the change would “make it impossible for our memorial parks to operate to meet the needs of the families we serve.”

Local Neighborhood Councils, business owners and religious leaders have also voiced objections, including senior rabbis of Sinai Temple, who emphasized in an earlier letter the importance of ensuring timely arrival for mourning families.

In an interview with The Journal, Schwab expressed frustration, saying he has been trying to reach officials involved in the project but has not received responses. “We have left phone messages, written letters and gotten nothing from the Department of Transportation. No one wants to talk to Forest Lawn or Mount Sinai,” he said.

Two years ago, in 2024, Schwab met with Councilmember Nithya Raman to explain the potential impact on the two cemeteries and the traffic congestion the plan could create. “At the time she promised not to do it, but then I think Safer Streets LA got in touch with her and convinced her that it should be brought back.”

After senior rabbis, Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky and the head of the Armenian Church appealed to Mayor Karen Bass, the plan was placed on hold. However, Schwab said it has since been revived for reasons unknown to him.

“When this was originally being proposed, we hired Lanham, a world-renowned engineering firm, to show what would happen if this actually took place,” Schwab said. “They did a computer model of all the traffic flow over a month and used real counts. We also did an animation presentation to show what it would look like and shared it with the City Council office, but they weren’t interested in looking at it.”

Lanham Engineering, which designs traffic solutions using data-driven methods, developed an alternative plan that preserved two lanes in each direction while also adding a dedicated bike lane. “We gave it to the Department of Transportation and the City Council office, and nothing,” Schwab said. “They have not communicated with us. They simply decided they are going to go with their plan, whether there is community uproar or not.”

The Journal contacted Councilmember Raman’s office and received the following response: “Forest Lawn Drive provides Angelenos access to key destinations, like Griffith Park and the LA Zoo, and is used by people driving, biking and running. About half of all drivers on Forest Lawn are speeding above the 45 mph legal limit, and at those speeds, a pedestrian or bicyclist struck by a car has a 50% chance of being killed. That is not acceptable, and we have been working to change it.”

Her office said the Forest Lawn Drive Safety & Mobility Project is intended to address these safety concerns by reducing vehicle speeds, adding physical protection for cyclists, and improving conditions for all users of the corridor. It also said the plan includes improved turns for both cemeteries and the Junior Achievement Center. A Raman spokesperson said issues raised by cemetery representatives were taken into account during the design process, and LADOT’s proposal includes expanded turn lanes.

However, Schwab said the response does not address his core problem with the reduction to a single lane in each direction, which he believes will severely impact operations and create “a traffic nightmare.”

“And this is only in front of the two cemeteries, not in front of Warner Brothers, or anywhere else in the area,” he said. “My fear is that she doesn’t understand the damage that this is going to do to the Jewish community. What will happen when there are 500 people coming to the park at the same time and we have one lane to get them in?”

Schwab said both cemeteries have tried to reach Mayor Bass and the Department of Transportation for the past 18 months, including through legal counsel, but have not received a response.

“I want to be clear, we do care about bikers and that’s why we spent money to give them exactly what they want to do, a protected bike lane. We have a plan that can do just that and it’s not more expensive than theirs, but they don’t care about it.”

He said that during the week only a small number of cyclists use the roadway, while on weekends the figure rises to an estimated 50 to 75 riders.

A spokesperson from Raman’s office said its traffic analysis for the corridor estimates the project would have a relatively minor impact on travel times, even during the busiest periods of the day. “According to LADOT guidelines,” they said, “anticipated delays are considered low and do not necessitate special consideration.”

However, Schwab disputed that assessment, saying the Department of Transportation’s analysis was based on only eight to 10 hours of data, which he argued does not reflect real-world funeral conditions.

“We have 25–27 funeral services a day,” he said. “On Sundays we have thousands of people coming to the park. What happens in case of an emergency? How is an ambulance going to get into the park?”

Raman’s office said that work is expected to begin in June.

Schwab said he still hopes city officials will reconsider the decision, which he believes would significantly impact many Angelenos. He said that that once the project is completed, it would be difficult to reverse due to cost.

“We have tried the assembly people who are in favor and asked Nithya to speak with us, but everything falls on deaf ears.”

The Journal reached out to the office of Karen Bass and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation but did not receive a response by press time.

At a time when antisemitism in schools is on the rise, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has taken a historic step: for the first time, it has unanimously recognized May as Jewish American Heritage Month and named Eighteen Education as an official resource for its more than 560,000 students.

Eighteen, the organization behind the curriculum, was founded in 2024 by Noa Tishby. Its mission is to combat antisemitism, support Israel and foster Jewish pride through media, education and cultural initiatives. The organization has developed content and programming designed to engage both Jewish students and their peers in a way that resonates – through short, engaging video content.

In an age of shrinking attention spans and endless scrolling, Tishby believes educators must adapt to how students consume information. The actress and producer turned activist and author has spent the past year developing the program. “There is a profound gap in how Jewish history and identity are taught, or not taught, in American schools,” she told The Journal. Jewish American Heritage Month, she said, should not be treated as a symbolic gesture, but as an opportunity to educate, engage and tell the Jewish story.

For Tishby, the district’s decision carries both cultural and practical weight. “When we realized that LAUSD had never acknowledged Jewish American Heritage Month, we were a little surprised. To see it pass unanimously, and to work closely with Nick Melvoin to make it happen, means the world,” she said.

LAUSD Board Member Nick Melvoin recommended the curriculum to LAUSD, and the board unanimously voted to recognize Jewish American Heritage Month. Melvoin said during the board meeting that Eighteen’s curriculum is intended to ensure the resolution is not just “checking a box,” but encourages meaningful education and engagement.

Tishby, who has been advocating for Israel through her Instagram account, where she has 1 million followers, sees education as the primary tool in addressing rising antisemitism. “I think it all begins and ends with education. We need to make sure we weed out bad curricula and replace them with ones that spread knowledge and love rather than hate.”

According to Tishby, the issues seen on college campuses often begin much earlier.  “When kids show up on college campuses, it doesn’t come out of nowhere that they get radicalized,” she said. “It happens before – ideas are already in the system, often without parents even realizing it.”

At the same time, she acknowledges that much of today’s learning happens outside the classroom. “We’ve essentially delegated a lot of our children’s education to social media,” she said, adding that while parents can try to limit screen time, schools must ensure students are exposed to accurate and responsible curricula.

That reality is part of what shaped the program’s format. Tishby said short-form video is one of the most effective ways to reach younger audiences. “You have to meet them where they are,” she said. “And where they are is on social media.”

The video series, “What Is,” which took about a year to develop, was designed with that in mind. The educational videos provide a clear, accessible foundation on key topics including Judaism, the land of Israel, antisemitism and the Holocaust.

Each episode is approximately five minutes long and breaks down complex subject matter into digestible, fact-based content for students, educators, journalists and the broader public. The videos aim to support informed conversations by grounding viewers in essential historical context at a time when these topics are increasingly part of the national dialogue.

The curriculum is simple to implement – four episodes, once a week throughout the month of May.

“When people see it, they’ll understand the level of effort that went into it,” she said. “It’s very high-level, well-researched and visually engaging.”

Tishby said the curriculum was designed to be broadly accessible, even beyond the classroom. While the video series itself can resonate with a wide range of audiences, the structured curriculum is currently geared toward older students. “We created the series in a way that could work for younger audiences as well as adults,” she said. “But the curriculum itself is aimed at middle school and high school.”

Tishby noted that Jewish American Heritage Month itself has yet to fully take hold in the public consciousness. “I didn’t even know about it until a few years ago,” she said. “We haven’t yet turned it into a real, loud celebration, and that’s something that needs to happen – with or without this curriculum.”

While she believes the program can play an important role in addressing antisemitism, Tishby emphasized that no single initiative can solve the problem on its own. “It will be a tool, but let’s not kid ourselves that one thing is going to be the answer,” she said. “I have found throughout the years that a lot of people want quick fixes and they’re like, where’s the answer? What is the one thing we need to do?”

She pointed instead to the need for a broad, coordinated response. At this moment, she said, addressing antisemitism requires an “all hands on deck” approach – spanning education, entertainment, academia, business and public safety. Antisemitism, she added, has become pervasive, and confronting it will require sustained effort across every sector of society.

After the videos – on Judaism and antisemitism – were screened for students at a Los Angeles public school, early reactions highlighted how impactful basic education can be.  One moment stood out.

“A girl raised her hand and said, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize antisemitism is so old,’” Tishby recalled. “She simply didn’t know. She thought it was something new that started with the war with Hamas. A lot of the time, what we see is a lack of understanding. People just need to be informed.”