Jewish community leaders from Agudath Israel of America met with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for 90 minutes Friday afternoon, May 21st, in a hastily called meeting to discuss the spate of hate crimes erupting against Jews in highly-populated Jewish areas of New York City. Safety and security of identifiable Jews in the Satmar and Lubavitch communities were the focus of the meeting.
“Make no mistake we have significant and serious issues here,” Chaskel Bennett, a member of the Agudah board of trustees told the mayor. “The mayor did not sugarcoat it. This was not a meeting to sugarcoat things, like saying ‘everything is going to be well.’ We understand the safety. We understand the ramifications.”
Besides Bennett, attending the meeting were Sol (Shlomo) Werdiger, founder and CEO of Outerstuff and chairman of Agudath Israel’s board of trustees; Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America; Rabbi Moshe Dovid Niederman, executive director of United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, Rabbi Moshe Indig of the Satmar community of Williamsburg and Rabbi Yeruchim Silber, Agudah’s director of New York government affairs.
Besides de Blasio, the mayor’s team included NYPD First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan; NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison; John Miller, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence & Counterterrorism and the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit Assistant Commissioner Pinchas (Pinny) Ringel.
“We walked out of there feeling they can’t solve everything but that they are definitely on top of the situation,” Werdiger said after the meeting. “They know what’s going on. They understand the fear in our community. They understand the concerns of all identifiable frum people who are out there who are identifiable, who walk with yarmulkas and payis. We are sure now that they are on top of the situation and they will do everything in their power to make sure our community stays safe.”
“We took the concerns and the feelings, the anxieties, anger, frustrations, fear of the public and expressed it to the elected officials on behalf of mothers, fathers and children in our community who are watching what’s going on to express without hesitation, without holding back to the mayor to the chief of departments,” Bennett said. “The voice of the people has been heard at City Hall. That doesn’t mean that the problem will be solved. We also reiterated the facts that we have rights. We have a right to live without fear. We have a right to walk and live as Orthodox Jews with our yarmulkas proudly without fear or hesitation.”
With all the brain trusts from the mayor’s team at the meeting, Harrison said he took the blame for not having adequate coverage in Borough Park during Shabbos. Meanwhile several Jewish men wearing streimels were harassed on their way to services.
“Anti-Semitism has to be stopped immediately. It’s just out of control,” said NYPD Community Liaison Rabbi Bernard Freilich. “These are people who don’t care about the law and don’t care about anybody. This is a law-abiding community. This is the largest Jewish community in the nation.”
Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein (D – Midwood / Borough Park), who served on de Blasio’s legislative affairs team in Albany and as part of the mayor’s senior intergovernmental staff at City Hall before running for the State Assembly, posted on Facebook Saturday, motzei Shabbos, “Earlier today Orthodox Jews were harassed in front of this shul on 16th Avenue (Agudath Israel of Sixteenth Avenue) by a group of males yelling ‘Free Palestine – kill all the Jews.’ We are hearing of multiple similar incidents that occurred over Shabbos. These perpetrators must be brought to justice.”
Eichenstein’s post included two pictures of him on the scene at the synagogue with NYPD officers getting the lowdown on the situation.
One commenter to Eichenstein’s post wrote, “Where is Chuck Schumer?! He loves to make press releases on Sunday as it garners attention, according to Avrohom Wrona. “Let’s see him denouncing antisemitism and unequivocally supporting the right for Israel to protect its citizens against terrorism!”
After feeling the heat for the faux pas of not having adequate protection for the safety of the residents on Shabbos, Harrison detailed the beefed up police presence in Borough Park at a news conference.
“You will see a larger presence of police officers in our communities of concern,” he said. “We’re deploying our critical response command officers to these communities. We’re going to have our strategic response group deployed to these communities. We’re also reaching out to our mobile field forces and making sure that they are in these communities as well. All police officers will be driving around with flashing lights to make sure there is a deterrent as well as to make sure that nobody chooses to make any type of crime during these days of worship for the Jewish community.”
Meanwhile, federal authorities arrested Ali Alaheri, 29, for setting fire to Yeshiva Heichal HaTalmud of Boro Park on 36th Street by piling garbage bags against a door and lighting the plastic bags on fire at around 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 19. According to the complaint, Alaheri was captured on surveillance cameras igniting the garbage bags. Firefighters responded to a fire alarm at the location and extinguished the blaze. No one was hurt in the yeshiva and synagogue. Several hours later, Alaheri was again captured on surveillance video, this time repeatedly punching a man wearing traditional chasidic garb.
Joseph Borgen, 29, of Lawrence, Nassau County, was released from Bellevue Hospital over last weekend after being savagely beaten by several men who used ethnic slurs during a melee on 47th Street, known as New York’s Diamond District. Borgen was wearing a yarmulka.
The attack on Borgen happened a few blocks from a pro-Israel rally in Times Square – with pro-Palestinian antagonizers on hand.
Police said two 23-year-old men were arrested in the area of 47th Street and Broadway in connection with the assault on Borgen. The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit said it was searching for the remaining assailants. There have been 63 assaults on Jewish men since the beginning of this year, three more than the same period last year.
“We told the mayor the community clearly recognizes the attack on 47th Street was an absolute targeting of the Jewish community; there’s no question about it. It could not be left to someone’s imagination,” Bennett said. “Knowing full well that Jewish business owners – men and women – work on 47th Street and the fact that they were there on 47th Street leaves everyone to conclude that was an absolute target. We know it, they know it, and so they’re going to behave accordingly.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo has been mostly silent on these attacks except for a five sentence news release.
“I unequivocally condemn these brutal attacks on visibly Jewish New Yorkers and we will not tolerate anti-Semitic violent gang harassment and intimidation,” Cuomo wrote. “New York is the vibrant and dynamic home for people from around the world. This tapestry makes New York the extraordinary place that it is. Those of all faiths, backgrounds and ethnicities must be able to walk the streets safely and free from harassment and violence. Justice needs to be done and I am directing the New York State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to offer their assistance in the investigation of these attacks.”