This piece first ran as part of the New York Jewish Week’s daily newsletter, rounding up the latest on politics, culture, food and what’s new with Jews in the city. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.
📱 Bowman backs Fuentes statements in viral video
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Former New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman praised statements by Nick Fuentes in a comment on an Instagram video with 2.6 million views.
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The video of Fuentes was posted in September and resurfaced today by Jewish Insider, which identified Bowman’s comment.
- Bowman is a progressive Democrat who lost a primary race last year that was fought largely over Israel. Fuentes is an avowed white nationalist and antisemite who is at the center of tensions around antisemitism within the Republican Party.
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Fuentes said in the clip that President Donald Trump was “better than the Democrats for Israel, for the oil and gas industry, for Silicon Valley, for Wall Street,” but said he wasn’t “better for us.”
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Bowman commented, “Finally getting it Nick. Now go a step further. This is the same playbook they use to divide and conquer us based on race to maintain their oligarchy. It’s us, against the oligarchy. Now no more racist bullshit from you.”
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Some of Zohran Mamdani’s critics have speculated that the mayor-elect could be considering Bowman, a former middle school principal, as a candidate for schools chancellor.
🗣 Mamdani appointee resigns over antisemitic posts
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An appointee for Mamdani’s new mayoral administration lasted one day on the job after antisemitic posts from her teenage years came to light.
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Catherine Almonte Da Costa, tapped as Mamdani’s director of appointments for City Hall on Wednesday, resigned on Thursday after the posts resurfaced. She posted about “money hungry Jews” and said “Far Rockaway train is the Jew train” in 2011 and 2012.
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In a statement, Da Costa said she had apologized to Mamdani and the statements were “not indicative” of who she is.
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“As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused,” she said. “As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation.”
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The controversy comes as Mamdani’s election continues to roil the city’s Jewish communities, with many staunchly opposing him over his longstanding criticism of Israel.
⚖️ Etan Patz case resurfaces
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New York City prosecutors asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to restore a murder conviction for the man accused of kidnapping and killing Etan Patz, the Jewish 6-year-old who disappeared in 1979.
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Pedro Hernandez was convicted of the crime in 2017, but his verdict was overturned earlier this year. A federal appeals court ruled that the 2017 trial judge gave a “clearly wrong” and “manifestly prejudicial” response to a jury note.
🕎 Harlem Jews get a menorah in Montefiore Park
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We went to the first communal menorah lighting alongside the annual Christmas tree lighting in Harlem’s Montefiore Park on Tuesday.
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The first “Harlem Festival of Lights,” a cross-denominational celebration of both Christmas and Hanukkah, was the fruit of a coalition of civic, Jewish, Black, Dominican and interfaith organizations.
🥔 Jewish food report
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We found three places serving unique latkes in New York. Check out our rundown of topped latkes, masala latkes and chickpea flour latkes to enjoy for the rest of Hanukkah and beyond!
🏀 Jewish teens play at halftime in Nets game
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Jewish teens played at halftime during the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat game at Barclays Center on Thursday night, as part of a Hanukkah celebration and a tribute to the victims of Sunday’s shooting in Sydney.
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A large basketball menorah was lit by 14-year-old Eli Drizin of Brooklyn, the nephew of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was killed in the attack.
