Yeshiva World News

Anthony Weiner is most famously known for his fiery speeches on the House floor and his advocacy for liberal issues such as a single-payer health-care system. Notwithstanding his most recent scandals, Mr. Weiner still believes his embattled campaign is on course of victory, based on his ideas and record matched to the other candidates running for mayor in the Democratic primary.

One of the determining constituents in the upcoming primary are Jewish voters, especially Orthodox Jewish voters, who have an array of candidates to choose from based on their relationship with the community.

As a candidate who represented part of Brooklyn’s Jewish community in the City Council and as Congressman, Mr. Weiner firmly believes he can count on votes as an act of Hakores HaTov (gratitude and appreciation).

In an exclusive interview with YWN, Mr. Weiner reflected on his record as a champion for Jewish causes.

YWN: What’s your message meeting with Jewish voters, talking your ideas about the future or touting your record in helping the community as a council member and congressman?

AW: Well, I do both. This is a job interview. And with all job interviews, your employer wants to know what you’re going to do for their organization, basically, what your plans are for the city. But I also know that one of the things they are looking at is: Have you been there? What have you been doing over the years? I think my record, on issues that are important to the frum community, are second to none in this race.

“If people want to talk about what I have done and what I plan to do, in both cases, I think I’m head and shoulders above the other people who’re running.
I understand the frum community very well. I’m proud to have had the community’s support for many years and I think I’ve earned it.”

YWN: Senator Al D’Amato, on behalf of the Bill Thompson campaign, blasted Bill de Blasio for accepting the endorsement of George Soros. What’s your opinion?

AW: Isn’t Al D’Amato a Republican? You’re asking me about two people who’re getting endorsements. I don’t know who did better in that deal. But all I can say is that I’m not trying to line up famous people. I’m focusing on the citizens of our community and my record in helping the community rings well more than any endorsement.”

In a shouting match with a Jewish voter, during a campaign stop in Borough Park Erev Rosh Hashanah, Mr. Weiner told the guy: “I fought very hard for this community and delivered more that you will ever in your entire life.”

Strolling down the avenue, Mr. Weiner told YWN he’s certain voters will judge him by his record.

“People know what I have done. People understand how hard I worked for the community and how much I’ve delivered for the community,” he said. “At a certain point, I think it’s time that the community understands it.”

Asked to compare his level of support to the ones of Bill de Blasio and Bill Thompson, Mr. Weiner said he’s not willing to talk about others but himself. “I think I’m going to do very well in the Orthodox Jewish community. Tachlis, no one can hold a candle to my record. What have they done, compared to what I’ve done, for the community?” Mr. Weiner asked.

In the most recent Siena College poll, only 9 percent of Jewish voters expressed their intention of voting for Anthony Weiner for Mayor.

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)

The campaign for mayor of New York City is getting to its final stages. So far, issues like Stop-and-Frisk and education have taken the spotlight in the Democratic primary, which explains the insurgence of Bill de Blasio’s candidacy as the progressive choice over Bill Thompson, who’s has the base of support that would count him in the runoff under any circumstance. Yet, there’s one component missing in the campaign for mayor that had been part of the conversation in the presidential elections and previous citywide elections, and the man missing to voice that is former mayor Ed Koch.

Were Koch still alive, he would’ve played a major role at mobilizing whole communities to support the candidate of his choice. “I can’t think of a candidate who’s a favorite among the universal group of Jews,” George Arzt recently told Tablet Magazine. “I don’t think there’s anyone who can coalesce such a coalition around him.” And it’s not just about personality—it’s about taking real stances on issues that matter to voters. “You don’t hear anybody in the mayoral race with a foreign policy,” Arzt went on. “Ed Koch always had a foreign policy, Israel being his key priority. But it used to be Ireland, Italy, and Israel.” Now, he said, “no one really speaks of a foreign policy except to address immigration as a broad issue.”

While the candidates running for mayor have each expressed, on the trail, pro-Israel statements to hawkish stances on Israel, it was never an issue of debate between the candidates.

Following the announcement of George Soros backing Bill de Blasio for mayor, the issue of Israel has been brought back in the picture by a key surrogate for the campaign of Bill Thompson. Jewish voters who support the State of Israel should be troubled by that endorsement and reconsider their support of Bill de blasio as their choice for mayor, former Senator Al D’Amato told YWN.

“New York city has an unbreakable bond with the State of Israel and its people. That means whoever is going to be elected as our next mayor, will have a major platform and a major microphone, second only to the President and the secretary of state, to state of behalf of the things that are important to the people and the state of Israel,” Mr. D’Amato, who spoke by phone with YWN on Sunday evening, said. “And that’s why Bill de Blasio’s decision to accept the support from a known anti-Israel as George Soros is so deeply troubling and disturbing.”

“It’s troubling to me as a New Yorker and it should be troubling to every other New Yorker, especially the Jewish voters, who want to maintain our City’s strong relationship with the State of Israel. No American should be silent as it relates to this guy – Soros,” he said.

Mr. D’Amato pointed out to the Washington Post Op-Ed by George Soros in which he claims that the main stumbling block to Democracy in the Middle East is Israel.

“It is so disquieting to see a major political force, a major candidate like Bill de Blasio accept his endorsement. That is unacceptable,” Mr. D’Amato said. “I would hope that Bill de Blasio would renounce those statements and renounce the support that George Soros is giving him. This is not a political game. This is about the future of the people in Israel and we cannot sit idly by and just say nothing.”

“I hope that the Jewish community, when they find out this Soros situation, how anti-Israel he is, that it will make the difference,” he added.

YWN: Does this disqualify Bill de Blasio from serving as an advocate for Israel as he has been so for so many years?

AD: Yes.

Mr. D’Amato also told YWN that he’s planning to join Bill Thompson on the campaign trail at various events in the Jewish community.

Reached for a comment, a spokesman for Bill de Blasio reiterated a statement previously given to YWN:

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)

The race for Brooklyn DA is heating up. Charles Hynes, the incumbent Brooklyn District Attorney for the past 23 years is ratcheting up support among the rank and file in the Orthodox Jewish community, while Ken Thompson is being embraced by community activists seeking change.

Last week, the campaign of Mr. Thompson undertook a Jewish outreach campaign with massive ad buys in all of the local papers, Jewish websites and daily newsletters. As part of that outreach, Mr. Thompson embarked on a 1-day visit, Sunday afternoon, to the Catskills accompanied by community leaders of the Satmar community in Williamsburg.

Mr. Thompson visited Kutchers, the Krula Rebbe and attended a Hachnosas Sefer Torah celebration at the Raleigh hotel in South Fallsburg.

Speaking to YWN, Mr. Thompson clarified his comment on NY1, saying he was referring to the NY Times report that certain defendants within the community who were treated differently in certain abuse cases. “Mr. Hynes said some horrible things about the Jewish community. He called them Mafia and vigilantes. What I said is what I mean, Mr. Thompson told YWN. “I will make sure that every community will be treated fairly and that everyone in Brooklyn is treated equally.”
Pointing to his upbringing, Mr. Thompson said he understands the importance of equality and the needs of the Orthodox Jewish community.

Mr. Thompson said that his visit to the Catskills indicates his intention to aggressively seek the support of the Orthodox Jewish community in the coming weeks, until the primaries on September 10th. ”I want to meet with voters in the community, sit down with them, look them in the eye and explain them my vision for equal justice,” he said. Adding, “After 23 of Mr. Hynes, Brooklyn needs a new DA.”

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)

New Yorkers might not be aware that aside of the Democratic primary, that’s dominating the news cycle, another race is going on to replace Mayor Bloomberg. In this year’s mayoral election the word “Independent’ has been used a lot by various candidates seeking the job of serving as Mayor of NYC. So far, Adolfo Carrion is the leading candidate as a third party candidate on the November ballot. Jack Hidary, a member of Brooklyn’s Sephardic Jewish community, hopes to change that over the next four months.

Mr. Hidary, 44, a civic-minded technology executive, is preparing to toss his entrepreneur’s hat into the ring for mayor as an independent. He has quietly set up an exploratory committee, assembled a campaign team and established a Web site, HidaryForNYC.com.

“If I did run, it would be a very viable candidacy,” Mr. Hidary told the NY Times, describing his plan for leading New York as, well, a kind of Bloomberg 2.0: socially progressive, fiscally reserved and digitally savvy.

In an interview with NY1, Tuesday night, Mr. Hidary explained the purpose of his potential candidacy. “I go around New York City to all kinds of communities,” Hidary said. “I’m hearing that they do not want a career politician. They want independent leadership.”

“They say, ‘Jack, we are really, really worried about New York after Bloomberg,’” Hidary said he had been told by New Yorkers in recent months, according to the Times.

On Mr. Hidary’s campaign website, his impressive resume speaks for itself. In 1995, Jack co-founded and served as President and CEO of EarthWeb/Dice. Under his leadership, EarthWeb/Dice earned the prestigious BusinessWeek Info Tech 100 award. Dice is the leading IT job board today and is listed on the NYSE as DHX. Since its founding, Dice.com has connected more than five million Americans with a job.

More recently, Mr. Hidary founded Samba Energy, a leading marketplace for commercial solar projects and financing. Hidary, his bio touts, advocated for the use of high-mileage vehicles as New York City taxicabs in 2005 with David Yassky. David was a NYC council member at the time and today is the Chairman of the TLC. Jack and David successfully engaged drivers who are owner-operators who now save thousands of dollars each year driving high-MPG cars as well as leading fleet owners.

Today, the majority of the 13,500 taxis are high-MPG vehicles in NYC helping these small businesses generate more income.

In his TV interview with NY1, Mr. Hidary described his politics as socially progressive, fiscally sound and digitally savvy.

Michael Hidary, Jack’s younger brother and managing director at Samba Energy, told YWN Jack is committed in making a difference for New Yorkers of all communities. “Bloomberg, we feel really elevated the city to the next level in terms of public safety and business environment,” said Hidary. Adding, many people have reached out to Jack to complain about the current candidates in the race, expressing concerns of the Democratic candidates overtaking control of the City and revealing the lack of excitement of the current slot of candidates vying to succeed Mayor Bloomberg.

“Now that Weiner came in the race, it’s really embarrassing that this is what we have to offer for leadership of the greatest city in the World,” he said. Thus, the Hidarys are convinced Jack’s the guy that the city is looking out for. “He’s prepared. He’s willing to sacrifice the time it takes to put in all he has into this,” said Michael Hidary.

YWN: Why didn’t Mr. Hidary join the Democratic primary for mayor, rather than running as an unknown Independent?

MH: “First of all, Jack is a non-affiliated voter which gives him the opportunity to remain objective in expressing his positions on the issues that matter to all, regardless of party line. But also strategically, you have to really look at the race and say why you would want to be bogged down in the war between the 7 candidates. Now they are all going to spend the money in fighting each other and only one of them is going to merge victorious, but exhausted, September 10th or later into October. In the mean time, we are going to have the same amount of money (around $4 Million) to remain consistent and end strong.”

Mr. Hidary’s campaign believes they can build on Mike Bloomberg’s base. “With no heavy weight in the race, we are focused on matching Mr. Bloomberg’s 530,000 votes. Of the 1.2 Million voters in November, a third is Jewish,” Mr. Hidary emphasized. “While we acknowledge we won’t be getting every Jewish vote, we can bank on a substantial amount of votes in the Jewish community, especially in the Orthodox community.”

“In additional, in terms of courting the Hispanic vote, Jack speaks pretty fluent Spanish. He can probably get through an entire speech in Spanish, not Bloomberg’s Spanish. Whereas in the African-American community, if it all comes down to jobs and racial profiling, Jack has a pretty compelling case,” Mr. Hidary explained, is their base of support.

Nevertheless, his odds seem to be long. What remains to be seen, is whether Hidary’s private-sector success and ethnic background translates to politics and ultimately into votes.

(Photo: Getty)

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)

Interview with former State Senator David Storobin, who is running for New York City Council in the 48th Council district.

YWN: What prompted you to run, and how do you assess your chances?

David Storobin:  This was the strongest part of my Senate district where we got nearly 70% of the vote. The lines of this district go from Avenue L down to Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay. This district has voted for a Republican Mayoral, Gubernatorial and Presidential candidate in every election going back decades. I also get a very good vibe from the people as I campaign with so many people in all the different ethnic and religious communities being very supportive.

YWN: Will you overcome the November race and get the same support, in the Jewish community, you got in March 2012?

DS: Yes, I fully expect that the people who supported my candidacy in the March 20, 2012 elections will be with us this time. Most have already told me so.

YWN: What are the issues you are running on, and what will be your focus in the city council, as a member of minority, to pursue what you have started in the few weeks you were in the Senate?

DS: I will continue to fight for more education funding for both private and public schools. We need to expand after school vouchers and fight to push through regular school vouchers as well. As you know, I sponsored the repeal of the Blaine Amendment (this amendment forbids school vouchers) in the Senate, but because I was in Albany only 11 days, it was impossible for me to pass school vouchers. I will continue to fight for vouchers as a Councilman. We need to lower taxes and reduce bureaucracy to create jobs, particularly in this economy. We need to help small business. And obviously, being a sponsor of the repeal of gay marriage, I believe we should continue to fight back against liberals who are imposing their agenda on us.

YWN: Are you guaranteed the full support of the Republican Party this time around?

DS: When I saw the Republican Senate Majority Dean Skelos in March, he brought up the conversation about my run and encouraged me to jump in. Senator Marty Golden, Congressman Michael Grimm and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, the only three Republican elected officials in Brooklyn, have all been very supportive and very helpful. Marty Golden in particular.

YWN: Do you have any regrets about the Senate run in Borough Park last November?

DS: We ran a good clean race focusing on the bills that I sponsored to improve education, reduce crime, create jobs, fund health care. We did much better than people thought we would, winning about 40% in Borough Park despite having a very difficult opponent. I’m very proud of the fact that so many young people in Borough Park were excited about my candidacy, and our data based on the breakdown of the electoral districts shows that we won the under-40 vote.

YWN: Since you have the backing of the Conservative and GOP County, will you endorse a Republican for mayor in the primaries?

DS: I like Joe Lhota. I disagree with him on some social issues because I’m more conservative, but I really like the fact that he was Rudy Giuliani’s Deputy Mayor and in fact was the Acting Mayor was Rudy was out of New York. Joe was part of the team that cleaned up New York, both literally in terms of making the streets cleaner and figuratively in terms of making the streets safer. Politics is a team sport and Joe was part of “Team Giuliani” so he should get some of the credit for the City’s amazing recovery. I believe he’ll make an excellent Mayor.

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)