Governor Cuomo Delivers Address on Fighting Antisemitism in New York City
This evening, Governor Cuomo, candidate for Mayor of New York City, delivered remarks at the West Side Institutional Synagogue. Governor Cuomo emphasized that the city government needs to take aggressive action to enforce existing human rights laws to protect Jewish residents and enhance curriculum to better educate young people on this issue.
His remarks as prepared can be found below:
I am here to say that I am sorry. I am sorry for the pain and anguish you felt on October 7 and every day since. I’m sorry for any antisemitism you have experienced and the repugnant behavior of demonstrators masked as Hamas that you have endured...I’m sorry if you have not felt safe on the streets right here in your own home town. I’m sorry for the unimaginable pain and hardship the hostages and their families endured and continue to endure.
I'm sorry for my mistaken assumption that widespread antisemitism could never happen again in modern, sophisticated, educated society, and certainly not in New York City. I thought it was a lesson from the past but could never happen in the present. A lesson grandparents shared to teach us about history. That it waslike polio, a terrible disease yes but that it was cured—never to threaten again. I was wrong.
My father, Governor Mario Cuomo and I were always hyper aggressive supporters of Israel. Not as a matter of politics, but because it was personal. We are family, literally. No governors were more steadfast supporters and I am proud of what we did: my father and The Holocaust Museum at Battery Park City, the many delegations to Israel, my solidarity missions at times when Israel was under attack, helping to expose the tunnels built from the border with the great Shimon Peres, working on economic development with Ehud Barak, joint trade agreements between New York and Israel, passing the strongest anti-discrimination laws in the country, providing funding for security at Jewish facilities, condemning the isolated acts of antisemitism, the first state to oppose BDS, and then the first state to counter BDS by an executive order saying that if a company boycotts Israel, New York will boycott the company. The only American elected official at Auschwitz for the 75th anniversary. Of course we did all these things, but obviously it wasn’t enough.
I now fully appreciate the shocking reality that antisemitism is not a lesson of the past, but very much a problem in the present. That antisemitism is a virus that lives in the body politic and as soon as the immune system is weakened, the virus is manifested. Obviously the recent issues in the Middle East have weakened the immune system and the virus is raging.
But let us remember the context. Yes, there are different positions on the problems in the Middle East. It is a horrible, heart wrenching situation and people have a constitutional right to express different political opinions—God bless America. And people have a right to demonstrate in support of their opinions—God bless America. But no one has a right to destroy public or private property during that demonstration and no one has a right to harass or disparage or discriminate against another based on race, color or religion and the law is the law, and the law must be enforced equally and fairly without political bias—and God bless America for that too.
I underestimated the threat that antisemitism could rear its ugly head once again, but now accepting that painful reality the question is, what do we do about it?
Ellie Weisel once said that the opposite of love is not hate, but that the opposite of love is indifference. Silence is acceptance. This country made that mistake once and must never make it again.
We know that passivity does not work. We cannot sit by and hope that this aggression and violence passes us by. Sha shtill is not a viable option if we are to succeed. The enemy is organizing, fundraising, and mobilizing. So we have work to do.
The Jewish community has had a strong united response to the October 7 attack and offered much help to Israel in its time of profound need and we should also have an action plan to operationalize our public relations and government relations response to activities underway here and across the country.
Think globally, act locally as they say. And New York City should set the precedent.
This will be a multi front effort. We must start with educating the public about the facts of the situation and the history behind it. Ignorance is our enemy. The most urgent need is with young people. We must re-educate them and counter the propaganda they have been fed. A young generation that doesn’t understand the history of Israel and has had a biased education brings us to a point where almost half of those under 30 do not believe the state of Israel has a right to exist. TikTok doesn’t teach history. So 1947, and 1967, the multiple attempts at peace, the Camp David Accords. None of these facts enter the consciousness of young minds. They do not appreciate as Rabbi Sacks said that peace is a duet not a solo. It cannot be made by one side alone if it could, it would’ve been made long ago. For many the Holocaust is just a tale from the past, impossible to comprehend. I think we should include in every public school education that children visit the Holocaust Museum at Battery Park City to understand the reality of the past.
We must also stop the disinformation being spoon fed in many of our educational institutions. We must hold the colleges accountable for their professors and the actions on their campuses. We must stop the flow of funding from countries dictating a biased curriculum. If they want to teach bias and misinformation, then it should be called for what it is. If they want to hatemonger, then they should pay the price. If they want to be an institution of higher education, they must hold themselves to a higher standard or we will.
Second to our efforts to educate and reeducate the public is to insist that our government’s response is fully supportive of the Jewish community and aggressively fighting antisemitism. Any ambivalence by government officials will only fuel the opposition. If there are no consequences to illegal activity it sends a subliminal signal that supports the disruption and violence. And the truth is the forces of antisemitism and pro-Palestinian policies are organized, well funded and mobilized, and have significant political strength, even right here in the city of New York. The far left wing of the Democratic Party, the extremist wing, has been supportive of many of the radical pro-Palestinian efforts and organizations that advanced those causes. The Democratic Socialists of America—so-called DSA—has significant influence in New York City and many top city officials are members of the DSA. New Yorkers must understand the very real threat they pose. To begin the DSA advocates socialism as an economic policy—everything is free education, transportation, housing, healthcare you name it and tax the rich to pay for it. Obviously it is unrealistic as there would be no rich people left in New York to pay for anything, but none of this is based in reality. They also support the defund the police policy which reduced the number of police officers by 3,000 and allowed crime to increase on the streets and subways.
But most frighteningly, the DSA advocates that Israel is a racist apartheid state that is engaged in ethnic cleansing. On October 7th, they proclaimed long live the resistance. The DSA charter explicitly supports BDS policies against Israel and incredibly many major New York City politicians are their disciples. The city Council speaker, Adrienne Adams is the first speaker in the history of New York to fail to visit Israel.The DSA charter provides for the disinvestment in Israel. Comptroller of New York City, Brad Lander divested from Israel Bonds for the first time in 50 years. The DSA charter calls for the end of American aid to Israel and does not recognize the existence of the State of Israel. Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a DSA devotee, proposed a bill that would revoke the not for profit designation of any organization that aided Israel—which would include organizations like the UJA.
Remember this is happening here. These are New York City officials who are aiding and supporting the most aggressive anti-Israel policies.
We cannot allow this political movement to continue unopposed. We must inform New Yorkers of the severity of this challenge and the danger it poses and mobilize political opposition to stop them. These are Democrats who run in Democratic primary elections. They can be stopped. The number of registered Jewish Democrats in New York is 600,000. The number of the total votes expected in the Democratic primary is 780,000. The math is simple. Inform, mobilize, motivate, and let’s beat them on election day and send a message that resonates across the country that the Jewish community is fighting back and when hate and discrimination is revealed, it is defeated.
The most immediate and essential order of business for New York is to ensure the safety of our Jewish brothers and sisters both in reality and perception. No one should feel they should take off their yarmulke to walk down the street. No one should think they should put the Star of David inside their shirt. No one should feel the need to look over their shoulder leaving a synagogue. This city must ensure that you feel safe on every street every day, every hour. That must be the mandate. If you discriminate or harass an individual on the basis of their religion, or destroy property, that is illegal, and people must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. No more slaps on the wrist, no more excuses.
New York must accept the International Holocaust definition of antisemitism and be creative and aggressive in making sure the law is enforced by exercising its jurisdiction over human rights violations which can be prosecuted by New York City without needing a district attorney or a judge to intervene. As mayor, I will aggressively enforce the human rights law to the fullest extent possible and I will make it clear antisemitism has no place in our city.
I'm sorry for what you have gone through but we have learned a painful lesson and we are now on notice. We will take action, collectively. The City of New York stands in solidarity with the Jewish community. New York would not be New York without the Jewish community. It has been part of New York City since its first days on the tip of lower Manhattan when the first immigrants stepped off the boats.
It's our legacy at this pivotal moment. Let New York City set the international standard of a people, of a government, of a society that has zero tolerance for any antisemitic act of any kind and let us speak the word loud and proud and let the power of our example set a new model to follow.
I give you my word you will have no greater friend, no stronger advocate, no one who will fight harder to protect you, your family, and your rights than Andrew Cuomo.
Watch Remarks Here
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