New York state passes 50-foot ‘buffer zone’ around houses of worship

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🕍 New York state passes 50-foot ‘buffer zone’ around houses of worship

• New York lawmakers approved a 50-foot security “buffer zone” around houses of worship as part of the state budget on Tuesday. The measure responds to a string of pro-Palestinian demonstrations over the past year outside synagogues holding Israeli real estate events in NYC.

• The legislation makes it a misdemeanor for protesters to “knowingly” put people who are accessing a house of worship “in reasonable fear for their safety.” It also encompasses community centers and religious schools.

• The UJA-Federation of New York applauded the measure, saying it would “help ensure safe access to critical community institutions and safeguard the right to worship free of harassment and intimidation.”

• Micah Lasher, one of the Assembly members who introduced the bill and a Democratic candidate for Congress in Manhattan’s NY-12, said in a statement to JTA that the legislation “sends a strong message that the state is committed to protecting places of religious observance and the New Yorkers who visit them, at a time of greater threat than any in recent history.”

• The legislation follows a city-level law insulating houses of worship from protests. That measure, which initially included a 100-foot buffer zone, was watered down to require the NYPD to develop safety plans during demonstrations. After the City Council passed this measure with a veto-proof majority, it became law without Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s signature in April.

• A coalition of 23 New York lawmakers celebrated the buffer zone legislation and slammed Mamdani for his reticence toward buffer zones in a statement on Tuesday. Mamdani vetoed a separate City Council bill instituting buffer zones around schools, citing free speech concerns. “That municipal failure left many Jewish New Yorkers deeply disappointed and exposed,” said the Assembly members.

🪧 Pro-Israel groups protest outside Gracie Mansion

• Hundreds of pro-Israel organizations demanded Mamdani’s removal from office in a protest outside Gracie Mansion on Tuesday night, according to the Times of Israel. EndJewHatred organized the rally with groups including the Israeli American Council and the Zionist Organization of America.

• The protest marked the first Jewish community rally at Mamdani’s residence as tensions flare between the pro-Palestinian mayor and pro-Israel Jewish New Yorkers. The crowd waved U.S. and Israeli flags and chanted “Zohran Mamdani’s got to go” and “From the river to the sea, New York City will be free.”

🥕 Park Slope Food Coop votes in favor of Israel boycott

• The Park Slope Food Coop, a famed worker-owned grocery store in Brooklyn, voted on Tuesday night to boycott Israeli products.

• Of the nearly 7,000 members who signed on to participate in the vote, 67% voted in favor of the boycott, 31% voted against and 2% abstained, our Jackie Hajdenberg reports.

• The result was the culmination of a years-long battle that divided the Park Slope community and has become a flashpoint since Oct. 7, 2023. The issue was so contentious that coop coordinators increased security measures and decided to hold the vote remotely.

• The boycott will affect nine Israeli products, including persimmons, olive oil, sesame products, Dorot frozen herb cubes and Osem Bamba, the popular Israeli peanut-flavored snack, according to Park Slope Food Coop Members for Palestine.

🥯 Kosher bagel shop vandalized

• Bagels & Co., a kosher bagel shop in Queens, was vandalized on Friday by a suspect who damaged outdoor property, smashed flower pots and threw objects at the storefront windows, reports JFeed.

• The shop is Israeli-owned and displays U.S. and Israeli flags above the entrance. The NYPD is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

• The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the attack on Tuesday. “Houses of worship, businesses, and community institutions should never be targeted because of their faith, ethnicity, or perceived national origin,” the group said in a statement.

🗣️ Behind closed doors, Schlossberg shifts on Israel

• Jack Schlossberg, the Kennedy scion who has increasingly positioned himself as Israel’s strongest critic in the Democratic congressional primary for NY-12, recently took a different tone at a private club on the Upper East Side.

• Schlossberg told members of the Harmonie Club on May 11, “I probably would have continued funding Israel’s offensive weaponry within the years following October 7th,” Politico reports. The social club was founded in 1852 by German Jewish immigrants.

• Schlossberg also said, “I have been a stronger supporter of Israel than I ever thought I would be standing here today with you, because of educating myself on the issue.”

• Meanwhile, Schlossberg said on X that he is the only major candidate willing to condition military aid to Israel. In a candidate forum at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue earlier this month, Schlossberg said he would vote in favor of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ recent resolutions to block certain weapons shipments to Israel.

🏆 Hasidic leaders endorse Goldman

• Prominent Hasidic leaders and school administrators in Borough Park have endorsed Rep. Dan Goldman for reelection in NY-10, which includes parts of the neighborhood. Goldman is facing off with Democratic primary challenger Brad Lander, a strong critic of Israel who is leading in the latest poll.

• “We must express our deepest gratitude to Congressman Goldman, who has shown extraordinary dedication to the heimishe community since being elected to Congress,” said the group calling themselves “United Communities and Institutions of Boro Park” in their flyer posted on X by The Forward’s Jacob Kornbluh. They added that Goldman has “proven himself to be a respectable individual and a true friend of Israel whom we can rely on.”