Up in the Air with COLlive

New York City’s Economic Development Corporation has recently announced there will also be no more helicopter tours over Central Park, the Empire State Building or Brooklyn.

But that didn’t stop COLlive.com from arranging a special flight for the winners of two Lag BaOmer art competitions over The Great Parade this Sunday at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.

At 11:00 am Sunday, COLlive’s editor Yehuda Ceitlin and videographer Levi Hillel arrived at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport with Chaya Lipszyc and Michael Kakzanov and were greeted by the pilot.

The two kids joined iParade, a Jewish children’s creative Lag BaOmer competition, presented by COLlive.com, Tzivos Hashem and NCFJE.

Lipszyc, 10, daughter of the Shluchim to Woodbury, New York, and a student in Grade 5 at Bnos Menachem, won the online votes from 119 contestants.

Kakzanov, 11, a student of Public School 173 in Queens, was chosen by the Released Time instructors for his Jewish themed drawing.

They boarded a black AS-350 A-Star helicopter and took to the skies of New York heading to the parade that united thousands of Jewish children and their parents.

“It was my first time and I thought it would be scary, but it turned out to be a lot of fun,” Lipszyc said. “We said Tefilas Haderech and saw the parade from on top.”

Asked how she got so many votes, Lipszyc said she sent an email to all of her parents’ Chabad House members asking them to vote for her.

Kakzanov, wearing the orange Released Time t-shirt, said the ride was “so cool and when it ended I was beginning to feel sad.”

A raffle for 100 Jewish books between all iParade contestants was held in the Jewish Children’s Museum. The winners will be announced Thursday.