Exclusive | Blakeman urges Jewish New Yorkers to get into this fight ahead of November election
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman made an emotional appeal to Jewish New Yorkers to get behind him in the November elections — so he could “stop” Israel-bashing Mayor Zohran Mamdani.Blakeman, who is facing off against Democrat Gov.Kathy Hochul, told the Bukharian Jewish Congress he was the only choice for governor who’d stand up to Mamdani and fight against festering antisemitism.“There is only one person that can stop Zohran Mamdani and that is the governor of the state of New York,” Blakeman, who is Jewish, said during a speech in Forest Hills Wednesday to mark the three-year anniversary of the Oct.
7, 2023 terrorist massacre in Israel.“And this governor will not only not stop him, she is encouraging him,” Blakeman said of Hochul.“She’s campaigning with him.
She endorsed him.“I’m here today as a father, a grandfather,” added Blakeman, who is Jewish and wore a kippah during his remarks.“I am going to fight for my children and my grandchildren.
I am going to fight for your children and your grandchildren.But I can’t do it alone… You need to get into this fight.”About 70,000 Bukharian Jews who immigrated from Central Asian and former Soviet-bloc countries such as Uzbekistan now reside in Queens, populating the neighborhoods of Rego Park, Forest Hills and Kew Gardens.Members of the Bukharian Jewish community largely supported ex-Gov.
Andrew Cuomo over the victorious Mamdani in last year’s mayor’s race.For underdog Blakeman to have any chance of toppling two-term incumbent Hochul, he needs to make inroads in deep blue New York City and he’s trying to connect with Jewish voters fed up with the rise of antisemitism and Mamdani’s Israel-bashing.He described the atrocities unleashed on Israelis during the terrorist attacks, which killed more than 1,200 people.He then tore into Mamdani, who on Wednesday used the occasion of the grim anniversary to accuse Israel of “genocide” as it continues ongoing military ...