Hochul Shows Support

Julie Menin, the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council, took part in the parade, as did New York Gov. Kathy Hochul; New York City Police Department commissioner Jessica Tisch; New York Attorney General Letitia James; Israeli Consul General in New York Ofir Akunis; Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon; Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.); Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.); Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.); and Eric Dinowitz, a member of the City Council who is chairman of its Jewish Caucus and co-chairman of its bipartisan task force on Jew-hatred. Inna Vernikov, a council member and the other co-chairperson of the task force, also attended. Former city mayors Michael Bloomberg and Eric Adams also marched at the parade. “Today, we march in defiance and also to stand up for the values that define New York State since its very beginning,” Hochul said at the parade. “We will always be that bastion, that beacon of hope for others to be able to live the way they want to live and practice their religious belief freely from harassment.” “That is why just one hour ago, I was proud to stand with our leaders from JCRC and UJA and other organizations to literally sign the ‘buffer [zone] bill,’ the first-ever in the state of New York that says when you go to worship with your families, you should not have to endure harassment, intimidation or hatred from anyone,” Hochul said. A veto-proof majority of the New York City Council passed a bill calling on the NYPD to come up with a plan for buffer zones free of obstruction around houses of worship, but Mamdani vetoed an almost identical bill, which the council passed without a veto-proof majority, about religious educational institutions. The new state law creates 50-foot buffer zones around religious institutions. “We’re going to stand up and make sure that you’re protected on our streets and in our subways and in our schools and our community centers, because this is who we are,” Hochul said at the parade.