Funeral of Leiby Kletzky, Borough Park, Brook
Funeral of Leiby Kletzky, Borough Park, BrookIsrael news photo: Fern Sidman

Nearly a year after the grisly murder of an eight-year-old boy that stunned the mostly Jewish residents of Brooklyn's mostly Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park, funding has been approved for a project to install security cameras to protect the area.

The new $1 million project, named for little Leiby Kletzky, was announced Sunday. It will install 150 security cameras in two of Brooklyn's largest Jewish neighborhoods -- Borough Park and Flatbush -- with the equipment being owned and operated by local private community groups. 

The cameras will also help protect the neighborhood against possible terror threats that might target the Jewish population, officials noted. The security cameras will be installed outside synagogues, schools and banks throughout the community.

The little boy got lost on his way home from day camp last summer. However, he met a local adult man, Levi Aron on the street, who kidnapped, drugged and killed the boy before dismembering his body in a grisly murder that rocked the Chassidic neighborhood. Parts of little Leiby's body were later discovered in Aron's freezer, and hidden about a mile away in a suitcase in a dumpster.

The $1 million dollar project that was subsequently created to prevent another tragedy is funded by a grant sponsored by State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. 

The lawmaker said in a radio interview Sunday on New York 1010 WINS, “If we can save one life out of this, then the investment by the state will be worthwhile.”