Menin Presents $1.16 Million Check to Orthodox Jewish Brooklyn Group UJO

(Oct. 9, 2026 / JNS) Julie Menin, speaker of the New York City Council, and fellow council member Jennifer Gutiérrez presented a $1.16 million check to the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, an Orthodox group founded in 1966 by Holocaust survivors that represents 70,000 people and more than 200 nonprofits.
“This large check is emblematic of the respect that we have for UJO for the incredible work that you are doing for the community,” she told attendees, gesturing toward a large depiction of the check on an easel. “We really are presenting this check to say, ‘thank you.’”

“We are so excited about this expansion that you are doing,” she said of the new UJO headquarters, which is under construction. “I can’t think of a more fitting place than to do this announcement in this facility, which we can’t wait to see the incredible work that I know that you’re going to continue to do.”

Menin said that she takes very seriously that she is the first Jewish speaker of the council.

“When I was coming over here, I was thinking about the fact that my mother and grandmother were Holocaust survivors in Hungary,” she said. “Then I was thinking about the work that UJO did in starting in 1966 and really making sure that those who survived the Holocaust and who were new to New York City were able to get the services that they needed.”

Her grandfather was murdered in the Holocaust “just because he happened to be Jewish,” Menin said.

“When my mother and grandmother settled into the east side of Manhattan, and they moved into a rent-controlled apartment in what was then known as ‘Little Hungary,’ which was the Hungarian Jewish community, that Hungarian Jewish community opened their hearts to my mother and grandmother and really welcomed them with open arms,” the speaker said.

“Now I have the tremendous honor of representing that same community by representing the east side of Manhattan, encompassing Little Hungary, in the City Council,” she said. “It’s all really come full circle.”

Menin said that she was proud of her efforts at the council to protect Jewish New Yorkers, including her five-point plan to fight Jew-hatred.

“Antisemitism is right now the worst that we have seen it since the Holocaust,” she said. “That is what is happening, and it’s unfortunately taken root in our great city. It’s unacceptable, and it’s unconscionable, and we all need to be calling it out with a loud and clear voice.”
Rabbi David Niederman, executive director of the UJO, thanked Menin for the funding and for passing laws that help protect Jews. “Your coming to Williamsburg shows that Williamsburg has a special place in your heart,” he told her.

“Antisemitism is an issue. I know you all know. Williamsburg, unfortunately, one looks at numbers, is the epicenter of antisemitic attacks,” he told attendees.

According to the City Council, Menin and Gutiérrez, along with fellow council members Chi Ossé and Lincoln Restler, helped secure the funding in the 2027 fiscal year budget.

“I want to say to you, Rabbi Niederman, you and I have worked together for almost a decade. I started as commissioner of consumer affairs when I started in public service, and we were working on trying to reduce fines on businesses,” Menin told the rabbi.

“I know that there were a number of businesses in the community that were receiving unfair fines, and back then, and that was in 2014, really working with UJO, making sure that we were listening to that and lowering those fines on small businesses,” she said.

New York City Council members meet with UJO
When she was city commissioner of media and entertainment, Menin also worked with the rabbi, who called to ask her to ensure that streets weren’t shut down for filming on Jewish holidays,” she said. “We worked together on that.”

She added that she was “honored” to partner with UJO on the census to “make sure that we would get the proper resources for our schools, for our infrastructure, for over 300 programs that New York City relies on.”

Niederman told JNS that the UJO is “deeply grateful to Speaker Julie Menin for her generous support and longstanding friendship.”

“Over the years we have worked together, she has shown a deep care for our community and the families we serve,” he said. “It is always moving to hear her share her family’s history and how it inspires her commitment to standing up for the Jewish community and combating antisemitism. This vital City Council funding will enable UJO to continue providing quality services and essential assistance to the individuals and families in our community who need them most.”