יום שבת, ה׳ תמוז תשפ״וSaturday, June 20, 2026
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Marc Gronich is the owner and news director of Statewide News Service. He has been covering government and politics for 44 years, since the administration of Hugh Carey. He is an award-winning journalist. His Albany Beat column appears monthly in The Jewish Press and his coverage about how Jewish life intersects with the happenings at the state Capitol appear weekly in the newspaper. You can reach Mr. Gronich at swnsonline@gmail.com.
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By Marc Gronich
How is it possible that when we’re living in a world where you need police protection to observe your faith, for Yom Kippur, for Rosh Hashanah, for any of the holy days, that’s not a scandal?
By Marc Gronich
Six Democratic hopefuls have emerged as contenders for the seat, which Nadler described to The Jewish Press as the safest Democratic seat in the country. “If my district ever went Republican then there isn’t a congressional district in the country that would be safe,” Nadler said.
By Marc Gronich
Both Lancman and his opponent, Jake Blumencranz, will focus their campaign rhetoric on antisemitism, being pro-Zionist and the perennial issue of fighting crime.
By Marc Gronich
Grid Strategies recently issued a report stating that preventing the nation’s coal plants from retiring over the next three years could cost consumers at least $3 billion per year.
By Marc Gronich
“I remember seeing pictures of teenagers who looked a lot like I did and realizing that if I had simply been born at a different time, that would very likely have been me and my family,” she recounted.
By Marc Gronich
In the spirit of the proclamations highlighting 124 days of education in New York state in recognition of what would have been the Rebbe’s 124th birthday, Rabbi Silber connected the two points in his remarks.
By Marc Gronich
ADL organizers, which spent a significant amount of money to pull off this extraordinary effort also raised an equal amount of funds from sponsorships and loyal supporters.
By Marc Gronich
Larry was the epitome of chesed, Moshe Zakheim, president of COJO Flatbush, told The Jewish Press. …The community has lost a remarkable individual in Larry, whose contributions and positive influence will be deeply missed...
By Marc Gronich
In a recorded video message shown at the convention, President Donald Trump endorsed the candidacy of Blakeman and the Republican slate of candidates. Former Long Island Congressman Peter King and former Governor George Pataki also had prominent speaking roles.
By Marc Gronich
Rabbi Arthur Schneier, a Holocaust survivor said, I'm counting on every city and state official to establish the rule, not abolishing freedom of speech but protection of every house of worship. Every house of worship, be it a synagogue, be it a church, be it a mosque, whatever.
By Marc Gronich
Probably the most significant election result for the Jewish community was that Julie Menin, 58, was chosen unanimously by her colleagues to be the first Jewish speaker of the 51-member New York City Council.
By Marc Gronich
The message of the menorah, as the Rebbe said, is a multiple message but first and foremost, it’s a universal message. We live in a world of darkness. Never more than today do we see the darkness. The menorah comes along and tells every human being, regardless of race, color, or creed, the answer is do not fight it, illuminate it.
By Marc Gronich
The memorial will include works of art for the public to view. The artist selection process will be led by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs’ “Percent for Art” program in consultation with artists, historians, and Holocaust survivors. The Public Design Commission will also be involved in the initiative.w
By Marc Gronich
Delgado has made clear that he has many differences with Hochul on the issues including housing, energy, education, childcare, utility monopolies, tax credits for businesses, and style of governing.
By Marc Gronich
The emotional scars are still felt throughout the Jewish community, which remains on guard to prevent copycat shooters from mounting a similar attack. The synagogue is in shambles and is in the midst of a $22 million rebuilding effort.
By Marc Gronich
The impact of the shooting still creates a lingering uneasy feeling at other nearby houses of worship. Located a few blocks from the Tree of Life Synagogue is the Chabad of Squirrel Hill. The rabbi there is doing his best not to have his prayer services interrupted by gunfire.
By Marc Gronich
Earlier this year, Lawler decided not to run for governor against Hochul, but he didn’t hold back from attacking her.
By Marc Gronich
The new street sign is under a beautiful tree on the corner ready for someone to look up and get some shade and think about what Rabbi Halpern did for the shul, Rabbi Perelson added.
By Marc Gronich
The event was emceed by Assemblyman Kalman Yeger (D - Midwood), who spoke strongly about antisemitism in government, singling out New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, among others.
By Marc Gronich
I’m not bottling it up. I’ve cried many times. I cry every single day. Someone said I have a heart of metal. That’s not correct.
By Marc Gronich
There is a clear nexus between cell phone use and a decline in students’ mental health and academic success due to a decreased ability to focus, diminished social interaction and emotional stress, said Senator Shelley Mayer (D – Yonkers, Westchester County), chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee.
By Marc Gronich
Delgado said he felt unsatisfied in his role as Hochul’s teammate. Following public disagreements with her, he said in February 2025 that he would not seek reelection as lieutenant governor in 2026.
By Marc Gronich
The message is about tolerance, anti-hate, anti-bias, anti-discrimination. It’s not just that we need to be more tolerant, because students understand that but we really get to focus on how I can be more tolerant. What actions can I take?
By Marc Gronich
The DSA isn’t going to get into a fight over the design of a Holocaust memorial. The DSA would probably want to put up a memorial to the Nakba...
By Marc Gronich
There is a reason why the American Medical Association reiterates their opposition to this bill, because doctors are in the business of saving lives. When a doctor takes an oath it says ‘First, do no harm,’ said Senator George Borrello (R - Sunset Bay, Chautauqua County).
By Marc Gronich
First Sephardic Jew elected to NYS legislature.
By Marc Gronich
Perhaps the most concerning part [as to his] stance on Israel is his comparison of Israel’s actions to apartheid and genocide. His opposition to U.S. financial support for Israel demonstrates a level of ignorance that distorts the realities of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict..., Assemblyman Ari Brown (R – Cedarhurst, Nassau County), told The Jewish Press.
By Marc Gronich
One of the bills Cohen wants to see voted for would require that when drivers pass bicyclists, they have to give the bicyclists a minimum of three feet so they can have a fair share of the road.
By Marc Gronich
The annual COJO Breakfast began 46 years ago. Last year, the organization served 30,000 clients and did performed more than 60,000 services, according to its president, Moshe Zakheim. COJO Flatbush offers more than a dozen services to the community at-large.
By Marc Gronich
Too often crime victims watch in horror as their assailants walk free, not because they’re innocent but because of procedural technicalities. It’s my job to fight for those victims – many of whom are domestic violence victims – and that’s exactly what I did.
By Marc Gronich
Rabbi Raitport had a unique connection to the Lubavitcher Rebbe. When we were students in yeshiva, in the mid-1980s, he felt blessed that the Rebbe instructed him to write a weekly or biweekly update and report to the Rebbe, Rabbi Butman recalled.
By Marc Gronich
Felder is beginning his second stint on the New York City Council, where he served for eight years from January 2002 to February 2010. Last month, on March 25, he won the seat with more than 81 percent of the vote.
By Marc Gronich
With Homan in the Capitol building, Democrats hastily rallied together, leaving debates behind in the Senate and Assembly chambers to show their disdain toward the Trump administration and Homan in particular.
By Marc Gronich
For many years this event was highlighted with remarks from Rabbi Shmuel Butman, z”l from the Assembly rostrum in Albany. However, Rabbi Butman passed away last July at the age of 81, due to a heart attack. This year, his son, Rabbi Velvl Butman, 57, took the reins and delivered remarks directed towards the life and legacy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
By Marc Gronich
The strong showing of advocates in Albany as well as the clear message Agudah presented was met with praise from dozens of state legislators.
By Marc Gronich
Cuomo announced his mayoral bid on Saturday, March 1. The following day, he received the endorsements of the New York City and Vicinity District Council of Carpenters, which represents more than 20,000 of skilled tradespeople in New York.
By Marc Gronich
Hochul’s proposed $252 billion budget for 2025 is $15 billion over the amount the legislature passed and $19 billion more than what she proposed last year.
By Marc Gronich
While the governor offers highlights of her budget plan, the devil is always in the details, which are contained in a 142-page budget book.
By Marc Gronich
What Lester Chang did [to win his assembly seat in 2022] was good old-fashioned retail politics. He got young men, young women of high school age and college age out there. He went door-to-door.
By Marc Gronich
Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay (R - Pulaski, Oswego County) began by skewering Hochul for taking from one hand and putting it another.
By Marc Gronich
Hochul also expressed, as only she can, her disgust with the Electoral College, calling for it to be abolished as she presided over the 60th general proceedings of the state’s delegation to the Electoral College in Albany.
By Marc Gronich
A popular topic at the legislative reception was how a $20 million deficit in the town of East Ramapo School District turned into a $30 million surplus.
By Marc Gronich
Last week Hochul vetoed one of Weprin’s bills that he had high hopes of being signed into law. It was a bill capping co-payments on physical therapy, which is usually prescribed post-surgery and generally not covered by insurance, Weprin said.
By Marc Gronich
Governor Kathy Hochul has been touring the state, crowing about $300 rebates New York residents will receive in the fall of 2025. As much as she can, Hochul is also avoiding questions about her low poll numbers.
By Marc Gronich
When it comes to Israel, Matisyahu is not shy about stating his opinion. He performed for the IDF and for AIPAC and supported Israeli settlers in Judea and Samaria. He voiced support for Israel in the current war.
By Marc Gronich
While attempting to defend the border and protect the local residents and workers under siege, we expected our leaders to demonstrate the same courage displayed so bravely by Omer and rise to the occasion on behalf of those who were killed and kidnapped, just as our beloved Omer showed until the very end.
By Marc Gronich
While Congress and the White House will reflect the trifecta of Republican victories, New York’s government is controlled by Democrats from the governor’s office to both houses of the legislature – the Senate and the Assembly chambers.
By Marc Gronich
One of the reasons we lost the Senate [in 2018] was because we really didn’t have a strong farm team in the Assembly, Straniere said.
By Marc Gronich
The U.S. House of Representatives is still up for grabs, but New York was not any help this year in keeping control of Congress in Republican hands.
By Marc Gronich
Giffords, 54, was raised in a mixed religious environment, as her mother was a Christian Scientist and her father was Jewish. Her paternal grandfather, Akiba Hornstein, was a Jewish emigrant from Lithuania who changed his name to Giffords to avoid antisemitism in the United States.
By Marc Gronich
All of the above contested races are likely to be decided by one or two percentage points. A victory will depend upon which candidate does the better job of getting out the vote.
By Marc Gronich
It is not easy to explain why the court system is set up the way it is, and most people don’t care unless they get into the system as an employee or a defendant, which is why people hire lawyers who understand the system better than the average person.
By Marc Gronich
New York probably has one of the biggest Jewish populations in the country and [an Israel tent] would make a lot of sense, State Senator Rachel May (D - Syracuse) told The Jewish Press.
By Marc Gronich
We found that the number of hate crimes reported in New York State are at the highest level since hate crimes were mandated to be reported in 2000 with the hate crimes legislation, DiNapoli told The Jewish Press.
By Marc Gronich
I’ve always been interested in the afflictions of mental illness. My grandmother committed suicide. We’ve had a streak of mental illness in my family tragically. I myself am mentally ill. My career was destroyed by my bizarre criminal acts, Wachtler said.
By Marc Gronich
You get near [the campers] and you see their joy. Some of them articulate it in different ways and some of them can’t necessarily, but if you are in their presence, you can feel it, Yeger continued.
By Marc Gronich
On July 25, 2024, Rabbi Levi Slonim was the guest Chaplain offering the opening prayer in Congress, the House of Representatives. His invitation was spurred on by freshman Congressman Marcus Molinaro (R – Catskill, Greene County).
By Marc Gronich
He was a fierce defender of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s legacy. Even if someone didn’t think they offended the Rebbe’s reputation, if he thought the person did, you received a phone call explaining the situation from his point of view.
By Marc Gronich
The Torah is the portable homeland of the Jew, Weil said, drawing on the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory.
By Marc Gronich
While pointing out that [t]he responsibility for this act is that deranged, demonic shooter who did not have the benefit of a good upbringing, New York State Senate Deputy Minority Leader Andrew Lanza said it is important to understand what may have contributed to this moment.
By Marc Gronich
If congestion pricing is successful, it would push motorists off the road and into the subways where, even at rush-hour, riders are already packed like sardines into silver-colored transports.
By Marc Gronich
The land of the cemetery is so valuable and sacred now we have to focus our energies on restoring the tranquility and the sanctity to that land, Schultz told The Jewish Press.
By Marc Gronich
By the end of the session (June 7 for the Senate and June 8 for the Assembly), when the air was sucked out of the room by Hochul’s last-minute surprise, lawmakers had no desire to continue their debates and all the talking that still needs to happen now.
By Marc Gronich
The leader of the House Democrats, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D – Crown Heights, Brooklyn), also addressed the crowd. This is a challenging and searing time for the Jewish community where we will be able to defeat antisemitism, bury it in the ground and ensure it can never rise up again, he said.
By Marc Gronich
New York should be a refuge. We should be a sanctuary for Jews who live here, who are New Yorkers, who pay taxes, who call this home. We are quickly not becoming that. That is a shameful thing and that is what this conference stands against, said Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt.
By Marc Gronich
It has been 26 years since the New York State Senate honored its first group of women with the Women of Distinction award. This is a senate-only event and does not include any honorees from the New York State Assembly.
By Marc Gronich
Civics is about life in our democracy, said Dr. Lester Young, chancellor of the state education department. We are at an incredible moral moment. It is critically important that our young people have access to knowledge skills.
By Marc Gronich
The budget fails to do anything to protect the safety of New Yorkers. Governor Hochul’s strategy to tackle retail theft is to establish a task force and throw money at the problem, Ortt said.
By Marc Gronich
We can tell Chuck Schumer that he can take his pledge and move his offices over to the minority leader's office because there is a Republican majority coming to the Senate to make sure that our ideas are being implemented.
By Marc Gronich
I’ve been watching politics for many years. We always see you [Weber] here. As far as I’m concerned, you, Michael Lawler and you, Mr. McGowan, are the most active politicians here. We always see you and you’re always close to the community and we appreciate that very much, Lichter told the lawmakers.
By Marc Gronich
This effort is a token of appreciation to give back to worthy individuals. Every family gets a list of more than 100 items to order from. Everything is pre-ordered. This location assists 3,000 families.
By Marc Gronich
To my colleagues in government, including our United States Senator [Charles Schumer], we have an obligation to support the state of Israel and its government. We cannot and should not ever tell the Israeli people what to do with their government. We don’t want others interfering in our elections and we should never interfere in theirs.
By Marc Gronich
The way state aid works, students are entitled to aid, not schools. Schools in New York state do not get state aid from the state. Students are entitled to certain aid based on choices parents make.
By Marc Gronich
We have elected leaders who have stood with a terror network. We have elected leaders who have called the elected government of Israel to step down while allowing a terror network to remain in place. … It’s a growing threat.
By Marc Gronich
Most people who are coming are open to growing. That’s why they’re here. We haven’t had a situation yet where someone refused to wear a yarmulke, said Rebbetzin Rochie Kremer.
By Marc Gronich
To make progress, we must engage to eliminate the evil, outmaneuver the opportunists, and educate the ignorant. To start, the Jewish people must be understood, not just by others but by ourselves.
By Marc Gronich
Among all this turmoil on college campuses, King predicts the possibility of a one-billion-dollar deficit over ten years if the state does not come to the rescue. As a result, to make up for the deficit, tuition may have to rise, King said.
By Marc Gronich
For Pilip, the issues in this congressional race seem to be focused on migrants, the border crisis, supporting safety, law enforcement, improving our economy and making us a strong country on the international stage, support Israel.
By Marc Gronich
With all the additional spending Levenberg listed, McGowan believes the $233 billion will increase by a few billion dollars from what the governor proposed in order to achieve the spending goals of the majority members.
By Marc Gronich
This package of bills is designed to give law enforcement and our district attorneys the tools they need to go after the dealers, the ones pushing this poison and killing people, Murray said.
By Marc Gronich
She created a task force on the state level regarding retail theft. I have not seen any details about that. Small businesses are suffering because of that retail theft, Chang said.
By Marc Gronich
We wear blue in solidarity with Israel and for our Jewish and Israeli neighbors here in New York and in America, said Republican State Senator Andrew Lanza.
By Marc Gronich
As for fundraising, each candidate said they are not putting in their own money but instead looking for campaign funds from national political organizations and friends in the district and across the country.
By Marc Gronich
Good will prevail in Rockland County. We have fought the good fight and we will continue to do so, Rockland County District Attorney Tom Walsh told the packed room. By fighting that fight in Rockland, we will be that shining torch, a candle, that will spread goodness throughout the country and the world.
By Marc Gronich
By voting to allow the speaker to appear, the library assumed liability in case the speaker’s appearance led to violence.
By Marc Gronich
What’s important now for the Jewish people is that we have to be united and one of the biggest problems we have in northern New Jersey is that we have tremendous diversity, which in a lot of cases is our strength, but right now is becoming our kryptonite, Shlufman contends.
By Marc Gronich
In 1962, the legislature created the Family Court and the Family Court Act. For the past several months, the idea of repairing the system has meandered through the New York State Bar Association, State Court of Appeals, legislative hearings, and the family court judicial community.
By Marc Gronich
The keynote speaker for the more than two-hour installation event was Henry "Hank" Greenberg, who has been traveling to various locations to talk about the devastation he saw on the ground when he visited Israel just days after the war broke out.
