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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.
What you need to know today
- The future of the NYPD’s Israel training: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was asked Wednesday by City & State reporter Fariha Rahman whether the NYPD would continue with its plans to visit Israel in the fall to meet with the Israeli national police for training. “I don’t know what the City Council’s plans are,” Mamdani replied. “They’re an independent body, and I’ll leave it to the speaker to answer that question.” Senior NYPD officials have previously travelled to Israel for counterterrorism and antisemitism training.
- Rabbis who attended a closed door meeting with Mamdani on Monday told JTA that they had conveyed their concerns about how his rhetoric was impacting Jewish safety. Rabbi Jon Leener said that he would judge Mamdani and his administration by the “results they deliver around making Jewish New Yorkers feel safe.” Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, who was not invited to the roundtable, told JTA that the mayor should have coordinated with the New York Board of Rabbis to set up the representatives. Steinmetz claimed the mayor was “trying to just pick a group of people that he thought might be more congenial to his particular politics.”
- The Long Island Ducks, a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, hosted a Jewish Heritage Night game Tuesday night to a near-sellot crowd at the Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip, New York. Fans received Israeli and American flags as they entered the game, which was against the York Revolution. Ducks players and coaches also wore commemorative jerseys, which were bid on by fans with the proceeds benefiting the Jewish Community Centers of Long Island.
- New York State Assemblyman Michael Novakhov filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division asking whether the city and state had met its obligations under federal civil rights law in its response to rising hate crimes against Jewish New Yorkers. “Jewish New Yorkers are being attacked for being Jewish, and government has a fundamental responsibility to protect them,” Novakhov told the BK Reader. “When a man can be attacked walking out of synagogue and another can have his hip broken while wearing his kippah, we have moved far beyond political rhetoric.”
- Mamdani struggles with Jewish voters: A new poll from Siena University has found that just 26% of Jewish New Yorkers have a favorable view of Mamdani, while 66% hold an unfavorable view of the mayor. The poll, which was conducted from Aug. 3 to 6 and surveyed 811 New York likely voters, had a margin of error of +/- 4.2%.
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