Andrew Cuomo was once an ally of the Orthodox Jewish community or so we thought. Yes community leaders had access and a perceived relationship with top Cuomo administration officials until everyone realized the relationship was all just one of political convenience and political control. “Tzedokah” the Governor once famously pontificated to a crowd in Flatbush, means Justice and “it is justice and not a hand out to help communities like the Orthodox who do so much for the State.” Yet, despite the emotional heart tugging, he failed to deliver EITC then & never brought the issue of tuition relief back up again. Leaving struggling Yeshiva parents and leaders to fight for the scraps of the NYS Budget like they always had. The big ugly as they call in Albany. Ugly indeed.
Much needed security funding was heralded in multiple Cuomo press releases but if you ask those in the know, it has become something of a running joke to see him dangle the same carrot every few months, all while keeping community leaders tasked with protecting vulnerable institutions on a very short leash, begging for an invite to his “special” phone conferences and announcements.
Mr. Cuomo was a pragmatic politician he convinced us. We need to keep the state out of the hands of the “far left crazies” he preached. Cynthia Nixon was a radical, like Zephyr Teachout who ran against him, before her. We bought it. Everyone did. Partially because it was true and frankly speaking, normal New Yorkers really had no better option. Cuomo was going to win and alienating him was just not smart politics. But something changed. Yes he won a third term. But inexplicably he then let the same crazies run roughshod over him to completely gut the NYC Real Estate industry without Mr. Pragmatic so much as lifting a finger. And before you could say the word foreclosure, NY lost its golden tax goose. The real estate industry collapsed. The Governor is mostly to blame for allowing billions of dollars of real estate values into the toilet. He of course blamed everyone else but you can’t take the credit for anything good and blame everyone else for the catastrophic failures NY has recently experienced ( see Covid and bail reform as exhibit a and b.) Cuomo is New York tough for sure. Tough on landlords, victims of crime and everyone who has invested so much into New York’s recent renaissance.
Covid came and in the carefully scripted process of becoming a national celebrity, Cuomo’s Health Department forced patients onto helpless nursing homes, once a reliable group of allies. Then when it all went to hell, he in typical character, completely abandoned the industry, throwing owners, operators and staff under the bus as the deaths piled up. And then they fudged the numbers. The media smelled blood. The cape was ripped off and Tish James finally outed them as the liars they are. We should have known right then and there that the Madam Attorney General was truly serious about holding him to account. But I’ll get to her in a minute.
We will never ever forget or forgive how Andrew Cuomo closed our camps, then our Shuls, and then our schools throwing parents and children’s lives into underground bunkers and padlocks doors like our predecessors in Europe & Russia throughout the dark ages of history. Let’s also never forget that he left our most vulnerable parents & grandparent’s, brothers & sisters to die all alone without an ounce of compassion in hospitals. Unforgivable.
Not done yet, he created discriminatory Orthodox Redzones, closing down the economic lifeblood of our community, all while publicly shaming these same communities in his daily self- congratulatory
press conferences for failing to keep itself safe. He knew everything better. He ignored our elected officials who pleaded with his arrogant staff to listen to the people. They always knew better and after all, the fawning media said he was a hero so who were we to question him?
To add the final insult to the massive injury he inflicted, when the Covid vaccines finally became available, he mysteriously forgot about the very same communities he had humiliated & relegated us to the back of the line, never really doing the responsible job of bringing the vaccines into the Red Zone neighborhoods until private operators took matters into their own hands.
Carelessness? Indifference? Intimidation? Retaliation? We’ll never know his true motives but let’s say it once and for all, Andrew Cuomo is no friend of the Orthodox Community and never was. Cuomo is all about Cuomo.
He ruthlessly governs by bullying and intimidation. He and his minions pit activists and organizations against each other and they exact vengeance from perceived enemies all while shutting out and punishing those who dare challenge them. ( See Agudath Israel vs Cuomo)
In maybe the the first time and the last, I fully agree with President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, Senator Schumer and Mayor Deblasio. After the AG’s damning and courageous report on Tuesday, it is beyond clear that Cuomo and his staff should go and go immediately.
David Sokol – Brooklyn
NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.
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20 Responses
LET THIS BE A WAKE UP CALL TO ALL THE
“FRUM YIDDEN”
THE “BIG TZADIKIM”
WHO WILL TRY TO USE DELTA VARIANT TO CLSOE DOWN SHULS AND YESHIVOS AGAIN
#KEEPTORAHOPENFOREVER
dont let the door hit you on the way our Empreror Cuomo, but we in the community should question 10 times before SELF APPOINTED so called askanim tell us who to vote for, after all THEY claimed THEY have access to him and his money but tuition is only going up.
Seriously??!! Comparing Cuomos decision to close camps to the pogroms our ancestors faced in Russia? While the decision to close camps and schools were hard on parents and kids, comparing that to the hardships our grandparents faced in Europe is absurd.
orthodox jews put him in office , they will vote for whomever will give them funding , including deblassio, cuomo and anyone else, and cuomo will not resign
Unfortunately , much of the Anti-Semitism was fueled by the anti Jewish rethoric of our New York governor Andrew Coumo and our New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio, too. When they pointed out on the media in front of millions of people , that our Jewish communities are ignoring their Covid rules. While at the same time they were encouraging “Black Live Matters” protests, that were far more breaking the law . It is time for the Jewish community leaders to demand justice for the damage done, by the hate spewing words and actions, of these elected officials.
Nothing new – all clearly in Pirkei Avos!
Very well written,I have felt the same for a long time. Political expediency and bowing to the left. Left us in the lucrch. He is not his fathers son.
Those who fight to keep shuls open during the Delta wave are רוצחים.
Docid Sokol said it well. I agree with every single point he put forth. Enough moly-coddeling. If he is a friend of the Jewish community, as he says he is! Then I have to look up the definition of the word. Cuomo is a mean egocentric individual and should be removed as soon we can.
AOC and Heshy Tishler might take advantage of this opportunity. Who will I’ll leaders endorse?
The disclaimer should be the heading not a footnote at the end
Most of the as article is bubbe meises , we dont need more security money most mosdos couldn’t even spend what they got. Cuomo overall was good to yidden he should not resign, I didn’t go for his covid style but behind the scenes he let the drummer live
If on January 1, 2023, a new governor from the “Progressive” (i.e. socialist, woke) faction is sworn in, things could go downhill not only for all of New York but especially for the frum community. You are now guaranteed a rather vicious Democratic primary fight next year, and depending on who allies with whom, one could end up with a nominee who will make Cuomo seem like our best friend.
Is there ANY group that won’t be sorry to see the misogynistic abuser and bully removed from office? Also, I don’t see how CNN can continue having his brother appear nightly (albeit without commenting directly on the matter) given that he was a facilitator to the abuse and subsequent retaliation against the women with the women who had the courage to come forward with their stories.
Do our opinions really need a public forum?
I can not figure out why a Jew would vote for a Democrat. Democrats are horrible human beings. How many Jews have bribed democratic politicians , so disgusting. It’s an embarrassment.
I’m not sure when all halachik guidelines regarding an epidemic and valuing lives went out the window? Every source that I have seen from Mishna to Rambam, to Rabbi Zilberstein and Rav Asher Weiss talk about running from an epidemic.
You’d think this slug would slink away with some tiny bit of dignity left, wouldn’t you? Mario must be rolling over.
at last some one speaks up what we all have on our tongue for the past who knows when. i also agree with the comment posted by shlmazl. black lives matter, but orthodox people are just not even worth mentioning only when it is negative. i hate you cuomo, i hate you de blasio. hashem has sent his revenge for all the blood you shed from us, your time has come, and we love to see you go. shame on you governor, our horrible governor, your time has finally come, we are not even blinking an eye, we are just waiting for filthy you to resign or get impeached like you so badly tried doing to our good friend donald trump may he be blessed for all his good actions and deeds and for defending us yidden
hashem has a sense of humor, ועשית לו כאשר זמם now he is the one getting impeached not our best friend president trump
Zvei why shouldn’t we have shuls open…just get the vaccine