Jewish NY Assembly candidate alleges opponent used forged signatures

A version of 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.

🏫 Congressman calls for investigation after anti-Israel incident at suburban high school

• An incident in the heavily Jewish suburb of Scarsdale has drawn national attention, after a high schooler ripped down a poster for an Israeli Independence Day event and posted a photo of it in a urinal. On Monday afternoon, the district’s congressman commented and called for an investigation.

• “I am deeply disturbed by the reports of antisemitic incidents at Scarsdale High School,” Rep. George Latimer wrote. “These reports demand a thorough investigation, and every individual responsible must be held fully accountable.”

⚾️ Mazel tov, and I’m sorry

• An X user shared the speech he gave at his son’s bar mitzvah, in which he offered a heartfelt apology for making his son a New York Mets fan. “I am so sorry for ruining your life. That’s on me,” the speech reads.

• The Mets have lost 11 straight games, their longest losing streak since 2004. Some pro-Israel critics of the team note that the losses encompass all the games played since mascot power couple Mr. and Mrs. Met posed for a photo with Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

🗳️ Schlossberg to miss NY-12 Jewish community candidate forums

• Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s grandson who is running for Congress in New York’s heavily Jewish 12th District that covers Manhattan’s Upper West and East Sides, is skipping at least two Jewish community candidate forums next month, Jewish Insider reports.

• The report comes as Schlossberg, who’s called himself “at least 100% half-Jewish,” has positioned himself as the only major candidate in the race against military aid to Israel for offensive weapons, though he continues to support Iron Dome funding.

• A growing number of leading progressives, including J Street, the leading liberal pro-Israel lobby, have come out against continued American funding for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. (J Street supports Schlossberg and his top two opponents, Micah Lasher and Alex Bores, as “primary approved” candidates.)

✍️ Let the lawsuits fly

• David Orkin, a Jewish democratic socialist and immigrant workers’ rights attorney running for State Assembly in Queens, has filed a lawsuit against incumbent candidate Jenifer Rajkumar, alleging that her campaign forged petition signatures to get her on the ballot.

• Meanwhile, just north of the city in the heavily Jewish NY-17, Politico reports that Republican congressman Mike Lawler’s campaign manager is filing a lawsuit to oust Democratic candidate Effie Phillips-Staley from the ballot. Phillips-Staley, a progressive who’s polling third in the primary, has made headlines for appearing on Hasan Piker’s show and visiting the West Bank.

• It’s unclear why Lawler is seeking to get Phillips-Staley off the ballot. A Phillips-Staley spokesperson said the congressman is “terrified to face her in November,” while Lawler’s campaign manager responded that “Effie Phillips-Staley’s campaign can spin it all she wants, but they can’t spin away sworn affidavits from voters who say their signatures were forged.”

👋 Meet NYC’s “most in-demand” mohel

• Intelligencer profiles “the city’s most in-demand mohel,” Rabbi Eliezer Lawrence, who zips around in a Scion iQ to perform 10 circumcisions a week across the tri-state area. Lawrence’s training included shadowing Phil Sherman, a legendary mohel who died in 2023. His record was 11 brises in a single day.

🥪 The Queen is dead, long live the Queen

• The Upper West Side location of the kosher deli Pastrami Queen appears to be morphing into something called “Deli Chin,” West Side Rag reports. The location has been closed for a few weeks for renovations, but a Deli Chin sign on its window calls the updated restaurant “home of the pastrami egg roll” and says it is glatt kosher.

Yom Hazikaron ➡️ Yom Haatzmaut

• The Israeli Consulate in New York launched two simultaneous Times Square digital billboard campaigns on Monday: one marking Yom Haaikaron, Israel’s memorial day which began Monday night, and the other celebrating Yom Haatzmaut, which starts at sunset and will be Israel’s 78th independence day.

• Meanwhile, at a number of Israeli restaurants like 12 Chairs and Malka, the vibe is turning celebratory tonight for Yom Haatzmaut.