Let’s stop dancing around the truth.
The Jewish community in New York—particularly the frum community—faces a political crisis of historic proportions. This isn’t about whether Andrew Cuomo apologized or whether he was a perfect governor. This is about whether our children and grandchildren will be able to live as Torah Jews in New York a decade from now.
We still feel the pain of the unfair red zones imposed by Cuomo in 2020, which targeted our
communities and restricted our way of life with heavy-handed measures. That wound lingers, a reminder of how quickly our freedoms can be curtailed. Yet, despite this pain, we must look forward and consider our future as Jews in New York City, where new threats loom larger than past grievances.
If Zoran Mamdani and the movement behind him succeed, we risk losing everything we’ve built. This isn’t a mere policy disagreement or politics as usual. Mamdani and his allies, backed by the DSA, have made their intentions clear: they aim to defund our yeshivas, strip our neighborhoods of police protection, and vilify support for Israel as a disqualifying offense. These aren’t empty threats. They’re drafting laws, redirecting budgets, and winning elections—all while projecting a facade of goodwill.
After October 7th, while we were still mourning our dead, Mamdani signed a public statement blaming Israel entirely for the massacre. Not a word of condolence. Not a mention of the murdered children or the raped women. That wasn’t a misstep—it was a declaration of values.
We must recognize this: if we allow people like Mamdani to gain power—if we stay home, shrug, and say “Cuomo’s not my favorite”—we’re not just surrendering influence, we’re forfeiting protection. Without a strong political defense, we cannot shield our mosdos from hostile regulations. We cannot keep our neighborhoods safe. We cannot speak out without fear of Retribution.
The DSA movement has no regard for Torah, no room for Zionism, and no tolerance for Jews
who don’t conform to their ideology. They view our schools as regressive, our values as threats, and our identity as an obstacle. Their goal isn’t inclusion—it’s erasure, from education, politics, and public life.
If they win this round because we stayed home, who will stop them in the next?
Cuomo is no tzaddik, and no one claims he is. But we’re not choosing a rebbe—we’re choosing a shield. If we don’t seize the shield before us, we’ll be left utterly defenseless.
The reality is stark: in the voting booth, only two candidates can win—Andrew Cuomo or Zoran Mamdani. No one else is close. ( and Eric Adams is not running in the primary – he is on the November ballot)
Choosing not to vote for Cuomo isn’t neutrality—it’s handing Mamdani a victory. That’s a risk our community cannot take.
This moment demands action. If we fail to resist this radical, anti-Torah movement, we won’t be debating policies in ten years—we’ll be debating whether we can still live here at all. We cannot stay silent. We cannot stay home. Not now.
Early voting in the Democratic Primary for Mayor begins on Sunday, June 15th
This isn’t about Cuomo. It’s about us. Our families. Our yeshivas. Our future.
Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance
Elkana Adelman
Richard Altabe
Shalom Becker
Zvi Bloom
Jack Brach
Mordechai Zvi Dicker
Ruchie Dunn
Joel Kaplan
Dr Moshe Lazar
Moishe Mishkowitz
Chaim Rapfoge
Baruch Rothman
Aaron Zupnik
[MAILBAG: Why Are Our “Leaders” Betraying Us And Embracing Antisemitism-Fanning Andrew Cuomo?]
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20 Responses
Aside from the fact that as Governor he supported an radical anit-Torah agenda (agressive pro abortion laws, LGBTQ+, etc) He singled out the Frum community for persecution during COVID. ENOUGH of the machers, shvitzers, “important people” telling us who to vote for. We will make up our own minds without your help (what are you expecting in return for supporting him?)
Great article.
Interesting point of view.
Makes a lot of sense.
what a dumb article. this makes much more sense. i encourage everyone to read it https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/general/2406693/opinion-far-rockaway-jewish-alliance-says-vote-cuomo-or-you-wont-be-able-to-live-as-torah-jews-in-nyc.html
Cuomo killed thousands of people. Yidden. He is also an antisemite who did nothing for the yeshiva education issue. NOTHING. He is full of trash. It’s just amazing that Abe Eisner can convince this many Jewish self proclaimed “leaders” to back this murdering jew hater.
***NEWSFLASH***
This is how it works. First we have a bunch of hocksters who tell us what we need to do. then the same hocksters tell our Gedolim what they need to do. Then the Gedolim will sign a kol koreh based on the info these hocksters tell them.
What a world we live in.
I despise Andrew Cuomo, Sfachim Jr. the son of the Sfachim himself, as Bob Grant used to call Mario Cuomo.
I agree with all the comments about how horrid he was and probably still is. However this Mamdani character and his ilk are many times worse. I don’t see anyone suggesting any other vuable option regardless of which machers, shvitzers or hocksters put out this statement.
I live in Nassau County so I don’t get to vote.
Get behind Curtis !
This opinion is extremely important to post. Even if you extremely dislike Cuomo because of Covid and disagree with other values of his, one should have the brain to choose the lesser of two evils. As the Gemara in Yuma (82) says, if you need to eat treif (because of pikuach nefesh) there is priority to eat the lesser of the two issurim. Even if you support Adams, you can vote for him in the main election, but in all likelihood, the next mayor will be the winner of the democratic primary and Cuomo is the only chance of beating this guy who hates Jews, Israel, yeshiva, in addition to being the most progressive of anyone else on the ballot. This is also a ranked choice election, so even Cuomo gets most of the first rank, he could still lose if he doesn’t get 50%. (I didn’t even include the wild progressive taxes hikes that Mamdani wants to do.). This is very serious. If your a registered democrat, vote Cuomo
The svitzers and machers only support the winners. They don’t care if it’s Schumer,Nadler or Mamdani. They go to Rabbonim and make them sign whatever fits their wallet. It don’t matter if this guy Mamdani wins because Adam’s is running as well and he would get the Jewish and black vote.
I thankfully don’t live in NYC.
But if anything, Askanim should work on finding and helping a republican or independent candidate try to win. Many many many people hate both Democrat options.
It seems based on the options presented, religious Jews are no longer welcomed and considered important to the city. It’s time the orthodox community realized this and establish more communities where the leadership actually welcomes us. A few examples would include Oklahoma, Florida, Texas, and Ohio. The true challenge is creating infrastructure for orthodox families, schools and kosher food must be available as well as job opportunities. It is for this reasons it’s so difficult to get startup communities off the ground.
I dont live in in New York thankfully but if I did I would ONLY vote for Curtis Sliwa! Why does everyone think they have to vote Democrat? It makes no sense. Anyone with half a brain should be voting for Sliwa and certainly the Jews. Because of Cuomo NY has criminals out of jail on YOUR streets and schools! Tax and Spend (congestive tax etc) How can any frum Jew with saychel consider voting for ANY Democrat??? Perhaps the undersigned mean “mean live as Jews” = get government money”?!!!
Sliwa is a republican who knows and cares about crime and all the other myriad problems New York are crawling with.
“If we don’t seize the shield before us, we’ll be left utterly defenseless.”
This sentence should not appear in a frum publication or on a frum site. We are and have always been defended solely by Hashem. No politician is our shield.
Sliwa has no chance in winning. You need money and an army of volunteers.
There is a Trojan horse who supports Hamass, Fatah, All Queda, you have a failed governor then you have Curtis Silwa who, if I was a resident of the area, would get my vote. He IS for THE PEOPLE, and had been there for over 40 years protecting the citizens and supports our civil rights. He is a friend of Jews. He speaks against the Islami-Nazism wholeheartedly! Finally, The region can regroup and recover from the disasters that was DeBlasio era.
No career politician like Cuomo or a pro-terrorist should get into office!
“The DSA movement has no regard for Torah, no room for Zionism, and no tolerance for Jews who don’t conform to their ideology.”
Ironic that they mentioned two opposites on one breath. Zionism is, of course, diametrically opposed to Torah. So, this statement is obviously not serious.
But I don’t understand why anyone would vote for Antiochus haRasha, regardless. Antiochus has already demonstrated what he could do to Jews, when he was previously in power (at a larger distance, too). Now, these people claim that you need to vote for Antiochus because the other guy isn’t a Zionist and some other perceived issues.
This is so sick. Obviously, if any candidate is a perceived danger to Klal Yisrael, then you don’t vote for him. But if the other is a known danger to Klal Yisrael, then you obviously don’t even think of voting for him.
Why do so many of the commenters here not understand that this is a democratic primary- you can’t vote for Curtis Sliwa in this primary. It is just to decide who will be his democratic opponent. I absolutely DESPISE Cuomo. truly and deeply. I read the Mishpacha interview that he did and did not make me despise him any less. He just denied what he did, half-hearted apologies, and doesn’t appear to understand the true damage that he did to us and the trauma that the red zones caused to the community and our children who were followed on the streets by government officials asking them if they were going to a friend to play or to study. what he did to our small businesses! our schools! shuls! bashed us as “Ultra”orthodox jews spreading the disease and caused ppl to cross the street when they saw me walking out of fear that I would give them COVID.
All this being said, I have no choice but to vote for him in the primary- bec we can absolutely not have Mamdani as our mayor. Think about what our streets will look like if pro-palestine protestors are given free realm. will it be safe to go to our shuls with ppl screaming intifada and less police available to protect us? will it be safe for our kids to walk the streets? what about our taxes, which he will raise to pay for all of his free socialist stuff?
I am forced to vote for Cuomo bec I feel it is literally pikuach nefesh for us if the other guy wins.
Let’s band together to come out in force to help Cuomo win the primary so that the anti-semite loses.
And then, in the general election, let’s vote for any other candidate but Cuomo.
All you Sliwa commentators. Of course.
However we are talking about the Democratic PRIMARY. Sliwa is not an option in this case.
As a frum jew you literally have to be stupid not to vote for the Rasha Coumo. Unfortunately you have to do this in this case. If you vote for anyone else there is a real danger here.
What everyone seems to be missing here with Zoran Mamdani, Talib, Bernie, Ilahn Omar etc is they have slowly planted the seeds of Anti-Semitism in the USA. It is now mainstream with the Universties etc. At this point it can only get worse if someone (Trump?) does not stop this. These Reshaim expect to lose but next time they will get more votes and then more votes until they win. There in it for the long run.
Why abandon adams who whole heartedly supported the jews during this entire war and called out anti semitism at every turn, that is being ungrateful kafoy tov. Cuomo politically will not be able to do anything better in this area given the city council and state laws that aren’t going to change, New York laws are corrupt. But why not support the man who at least had our back