At no other time in New York City history has the Jewish community been so in need of support from other communities. As antisemitic hate crimes soar and Democratic politicians in this bluest of cities openly shun Jews under the veneer of anti-Israel animus, Jewish residents feel increasingly fearful and isolated.
Enter former New York Governor David Paterson.
A week ago, Governor Paterson joined former New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind in sending a letter to the Federal Justice Department expressing deep concern about the rise in antisemitic incidents in NYC under Mayor Mamdani. They urged Attorney General of the United States Todd Blanche to open an investigation into whether the mayor uses his position “to violate federal civil rights statutes…or other applicable provisions governing incitement and the deprivation of rights."
Governor Paterson claims that Mamdani’s anti-Israel policies and tirades are “giving fodder to antisemitic people." And he has compared the NYC mayor to the infamous segregationist Democratic Governor ‘s George Wallace.
The former governor’s political background and experience add heft to his words. Before serving as Lieutenant Governor under Eliot Spitzer in 2007, Governor Paterson, known for his likeability and quick sense of humor, graduated law school and served as a NY State Senator and as Senate Minority Leader in Albany.
After Spitzer resigned in 2008, Governor Paterson succeeded him and served nearly three years of the term, becoming the first African-American governor in NY State history and the country’s first legally blind governor. He followed that up by acting as the chairman of the NY State Democratic Committee.
In an exclusive interview, I spoke with the former governor about the critical challenges facing New York’s Jewish community. It was easy to recognize both the value of his advocacy for Jewish New Yorkers and the value of having such an advocate in the Democratic Party and the Black community.
Do you think that the letter you and Dov Hikind sent to Attorney General Blanche will succeed legally? If not, is the awareness it will raise worth the effort?
I think that before great strides in history were made, other activities occurred that preceded them. Those activities were not as well remembered but were certainly catalysts for the change. So, Dov and I spoke about the fact that, even if they [Federal officials] invite us to have a conversation and acknowledge what we’re up against and explain what can or cannot be done and why, that opening itself would be a victory. Because now there will be contact and understanding.
So, if something would happen, like in nine months from now, the Attorney General's office in the Civil Rights Bureau might even initiate an action as opposed to having to have the action be requested first.
“Something" as in an incident?
Right. In other words, what if a group of people blew up a synagogue in a regular middle class, Jewish neighborhood? That act would get to Washington faster than Dov and I can write a letter and send it. But because we did send a letter, and they did at least discuss this, it might invite a prompt investigation.
What would you want the federal government to concentrate on when they investigate Mamdani?
I think that the letter really requests a finding of whether or not the mayor's comments and actions create a danger to the public. For instance, Mamdani said that he was going to arrest Netanyahu. And then, when he admits he can't in a video, he has a press conference and says, “We're not going to be able to arrest Netanyahu, but what we can do is boycott. What we can do is protest wherever he stays." So now, he’s saying that people can protest. Then, a couple of days later, he said that if people choose to protest, as long as they do it the right way, he won't react to it.
What he's doing is engaging in what I call the politics of confusion. First, he said they were going to arrest him. He knew he was wrong when he said that, but he gets a whole lot of attention for it. Then, when he realizes he's gotten enough attention, he shifts the discussion away from arresting Netanyahu to boycotting where he's staying. And then, he suggests protests. He’s in three positions now in a week and a half. That's confusing. Really, it's just to stoke the flames of antisemitism itself without calling for any action. That would be clearly antisemitic.
You mentioned Mamdani’s video, in which he put forth actual lies about a so-called “genocide". He never mentioned October 7th, claimed that Israel killed more than 73,000 Gazans without mentioning that a huge percentage were terrorists, and accused Israel of targeting hospitals and children without stating that Hamas intentionally stored their ammunitions among civilians. Is there any way that he can be charged for defamation or libel?
In terms of defamation, it would be worthy of a lawsuit, although to beat him you have to prove that he said something to deliberately hurt people. He didn’t actually commit the act of violence, but he said enough to get other people to think about doing it.
Let’s say, starting today, some of his people tell him, “Zohran, you're digging a real deep hole for all of us here. Even if you're getting celebrated by some of the communities in the city, there are plenty of communities right now who have had enough of you. You’ve got to tone things down." Let's say that after that he tones things down. At this point he would probably be shielding himself from an action.
But I don't think that's what he's going do. He's just waiting for the next opportunity to insinuate thoughts and ideas to antagonize the specific communities [Jewish communities] and individuals in other communities who are as offended by his actions as Jewish people.
Do you think that individuals in the black community are offended by the mayor’s treatment of Jews?
I think that there is in some respects confusion in the black community. There are some people who hear things that Mamdani says and it reminds them of some things that happened to them at some point. Part of what I’m trying to do is get some of my former colleagues to join me in making sure that the black community knows that this type of conduct from Mamdani was the same conduct that was heaped on black Americans.
George Wallace never said to go kill blacks, but he would make insinuations. He would say that he noticed that there are more Negroes working in the hospitals and the quality of care has gone down there. So, he's actually indicting a whole race of people for an incident that he can't even prove is true. And I think that's part of the debate in this situation.
I’ll share a story with you. When I was school-age, my mother went to the school district in Brooklyn and tried to register me for kindergarten. They told her they would not accept a disabled student. My mother hit the ceiling and went all around - to Rockland County, Westchester County, everywhere. We ended up moving to Hempstead, Long Island.
I arrived in 4th grade and met a guy named Al and another guy named Jon. Both were very nice to me. John was Jewish. I think Jonathan was his actual name. One day, Al punched Jonathan in the face and called him a dirty Jew. Well, our fourth-grade teacher was so outraged and gave us a lecture that went for about an hour. Even though I'd been in the in the school for a couple of months, I didn't know what being Jewish even meant. But I really grew this affection for the Jewish community.
During the Civil Rights movement, the person who was really beating the drum for the efforts that the Jewish community made for blacks was Martin Luther King. He would never miss the opportunity to mention this.
The reason I bring this up is because I think that there's going to have to be a sea change right now in how people are working with each other and recognizing that a lot of the antagonism is coming from people who don't like Jews. It's not that somebody did something to them and they have a gripe and want to settle a score. They just basically don't like Jewish people. And I'm starting to see that maybe you'll never be able to persuade them. But what you hopefully can do is to get the people who will listen to hear what you're trying to say and that will be the change.
That’s an honest assessment of Mamdani’s bigotry. Do you feel that it's not an exaggeration to compare this situation with 1930’s in Nazi Germany?
Well, what particularly got my attention is when Mamdani wouldn't go to the Israeli Day parade. Mamdani’s the mayor for all of the people. Now, Mayor Dinkins was black and went to the Israel Day Parade. He was not Jewish. And there are other incidents.
But I think that there are some people who are just dyed in the wool bigots. All they want to do is get rid of some people and take over. If Mamdani took over the whole city, and everybody was supporting him, he'd still find somebody else to go after. It's not like he would reach a point where he would say, “I ran those Jews out of here, I got rid of the Italians. Oh, man, this is great." No, he'd be looking for the next group of people to attack.
Which might be the blacks?
Absolutely.
Like other DSA members, Mamdani preaches a composite of radical Islam plus socialism. Would you agree that many Islamists use socialism as a vehicle to promote their agenda and then, when it suits them, their religion trumps their socialism? Do you think Mamdani’s more of a Muslim than a socialist?
Yes. In his case, yes. Because the socialism is a vehicle for him. Socialists act like they're helping you, and they're not. Now, the problem Mamdani's going to have is that both sides think they're going to win. The Muslims think they're going to take over New York. And the socialists think they're going to take over New York. Inevitably, there's going to be a clash. But one of them, theoretically, could get the upper hand and be in power before the other.
Do you think that would depend on demographics and essentially turn into a number game?
To a certain degree, it's a number game. And to a certain degree, it comes down to which group can enlist support better. That's where the socialists would win, because Muslims are not really walking down the street, passing out literature like Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are dyed in the wool and some of them really observe the faith and live healthy lives and have friends of different ethnicities, and that kind of thing. But some of them really believe that they should be running everything. I put Mamdani in that category.
If things don't change for the better for New York’s Jewish community, would you advise Jews to stay the course and hope things improve or move down to Florida?
I guess for some people quality of life is the first type of environment they'd like to be in. And if they felt that the quality of life was such that you felt you couldn’t wear a yarmulke in the streets of NYC, that's where it would really justify a move to a different state. But considering the history of the abuse and dangerous circumstances that have happened to Jewish communities, I still think there are a lot of people who aren’t going to take it and are going to keep fighting, hoping that they can wear it down. It's so aggravating to even talk about how some people act these days.
As someone whose mother fled the Nazis in Hungary and whose father-in-law was liberated from Bergen Belsen, I and others like me live with the hindsight of the Holocaust. Do you think people in other communities appreciate that heightened perception of the dangers of antisemitism?
Based on what has been read and studied, and then also what has been experienced by people, I totally understand that. And I think that, in some respects, that’s being lost in this kind of tacit tolerance of some of the things that the mayor says. Because he certainly implies that there's a problem with this group of people, when the problem is that which they had to endure 80 years ago.
Sara Lehmann is an award-winning New York based writer. For more of her writings please visit saralehmann.com. A version of this article first appeared in Hamodia.