New York gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin picked up a major and highly coveted endorsement on Sunday as the influential Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition (FJCC) threw its support behind the surging Republican’s campaign.

The endorsement was made official at a meeting in Flatbush between Rep. Zeldin, Rabbonim, FJCC leaders and community members and activists including Rabbi Avrohom Fruchtandler, President Yehivah Chaim Berlin and others, some who had until now avoided entry into the thorny field of political endorsements. The meeting took place at the home of Rabbi Yisroel Reisman shlita, Rosh Yeshiva Torah Vodath.

The FJCC’s endorsement of Zeldin was made under the clear guidance of Daas Torah who feel that his unwavering pro-yeshiva position and public support made him a worthy candidate. In addition, community members and activists point to the state’s bail reform laws, to which they attribute rising crimes perpetrated against the community, as well as a disturbing increase in antisemitic attacks and falling quality of life as the major communal issues of concern.

The FJCC represents more than 200 Shuls and Yeshivas, hundreds of local business owners, and tens of thousands of local residents.

YWN has learned that the endorsement is in large part due to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s refusal to clarify her position on yeshivos, which are under attack from the New York Board of Regents. In comparison, Zeldin has visited multiple yeshivas and Jewish enclaves across the state, during which he repeatedly expressed unwavering support for yeshiva education and derided the Board of Regents’ approval of its new “substantial equivalency” regulations that threaten to hamper yeshivas’ ability to provide a well-rounded Jewish education.

“We had an opportunity here for so many in state government to be able to speak up and defend everything that’s great about a yeshiva education. But unfortunately, too many people were silent. Governor Hochul was one of them. It’s important when you’re the governor of the state of New York to speak up for what is right,” Zeldin said at the time.

Sources confirm to YWN that over the past several months, the FJCC repeatedly invited Gov. Kathy Hochul to meet with community leaders in Flatbush but as of Sunday no meeting has yet materialized.

A recent poll has shown Zeldin with a 45.6% to 45.3% percent lead over Hochul, with the remainder still undecided. Even as an outlier, the survey indicates a far narrower race than would have been expected in deeply liberal New York.

FJCC leaders strongly urge every single voter to make their voices heard. The time is now. Early voting is underway.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)