Eric Adams - black New York mayor candidate plans to retire to Israhell

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Eric Adams, who got some crucial Orthodox support, leads NYC mayoral primary. A progressive Jewish leader tops the comptroller race.
https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/eric-adams-who-got-some-crucial-orthodox-support-leads-nyc-mayoral-primary-a-progressive-jewish-leader-tops-the-comptroller-race

(The Jewish Week via JTA) — Eric Adams, a former New York City police captain who got some crucial Orthodox Jewish support, is leading the city's Democratic mayoral primary by a significant margin following voting on Tuesday.

Civil rights attorney Maya Wiley, a favorite of Jewish progressives, and former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, who picked up The New York Times endorsement, finished second and third in New York's first foray into ranked-choice voting. Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate who had an early lead in the race, conceded.

In a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 7 to 1, the primaries usually determine November's winners. Under ranked-choice voting, the winner must ultimately garner more than 50% of the vote.

Adams, the Brooklyn Borough president, established a strong rapport with his Hasidic constituents. An African-American, he pushed a law-and-order agenda that defied the "Defund the Police" left and appealed to many Jews in light of a spike in antisemitism and gun violence. He recently mused that he might one day retire to the Golan Heights.

In other races, Brooklyn City Council member Brad Lander had a strong lead in the race for city comptroller with 96% of precincts reporting.

Lander has a long affiliation with the progressive group Jews For Racial & Economic Justice and was endorsed by its political arm. He also had the backing of longtime U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, as well as a handful of young progressive lawmakers, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman.

In other races:

Law professor Alvin Bragg held a 7,000-vote lead in the race for Manhattan district attorney over Brooklyn prosecutor Tali Farhadian Weinstein, with 24,000 absentee ballots to be counted.

Bragg, a former top deputy in the New York Attorney General's Office, would become the borough's first Black D.A. Farhadian Weinstein, a Jewish immigrant from Iran, had a huge war chest thanks to Wall Street interests and her own fortune. Bragg ran "slightly to her political left" with an emphasis on decarceration and declining to prosecute some low-level offenses.

In the race for a City Council seat in Brooklyn, Heshy Tischler, a radio host prosecuted for whipping up Orthodox anti-mask protests last fall, appears to have little chance of proceeding, earning only 4.98% of the vote. Steven Saperstein, who had run for the seat once before as a Republican, is leading the race with 31.15%.

And in District 29 in Queens, attorney Lynn Schulman has the early lead for the City Council seat. David Aronov, with hopes of becoming the first Bukharian Jew to represent the district, had 13.39%.

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In Ghana for 'spiritual cleansing,' NYC Mayor-elect Eric Adams celebrates Hanukkah with Chabad
https://www.jta.org/2021/12/01/ny/in-ghana-for-spiritual-cleansing-nyc-mayor-elect-eric-adams-celebrates-hanukkah-with-chabad

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — Eric Adams told reporters he planned to engage in "some spiritual cleansing" during a trip to Ghana this week. Still, the appearance of New York City's mayor-elect at a Hanukkah party Wednesday in Accra came as a surprise.

Adams joined Rabbi Noach Majesky, a Brooklyn expat who is Chabad's emissary in Ghana, onstage for an event to celebrate the fourth night of Hanukkah, according to a video distributed by the Orthodox movement's headquarters.

It was at least the second Hanukkah celebration with Chabad this year for Adams, the favored mayoral candidate for much of New York's Orthodox communities. (He has vowed to go out every night as mayor, to demonstrate that the city is thriving despite the ongoing pandemic.)

On Sunday night, he joined Chabad in Midtown Manhattan to light the menorah the movement has erected there, which it bills as the largest in the world. There, he praised Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late rabbi who led the Chabad movement, known among his adherents as the Rebbe.

"As a member of the Brooklyn community, and the rich Crown Heights community, we know what the Rebbe did for all of us and how he spread the importance of Hanukkah, and the celebrations that we are seeing all over the world now," Adams said from a cherry picker at the top of the 36-foot menorah.

The menorah in Accra was more modest, but Adams was just as lavish in his praise for Schneerson and those, such as Majesky, who have moved all over the world to advance his message.

"My ancestors left these shores in slavery. I came back to Africa with the mayoral team. It is because no matter what pain we experience we must turn our pain into purpose. Nothing personified that more than the Grand Rebbe in Crown Heights," Adams said, to applause from the assembled crowd.

Adams added, "He told the men and women of his community to go out across the globe and open Chabad houses and spread the energy and spirit of Judaism. We are looking at the seeds that he planted."

Majesky and his wife, Altie, along with their children, moved to Accra in 2015. There, they serve a tiny community of local Jews, largely Israeli businesspeople and their families, according to an article published by Chabad.org.

Majesky's brother, Berel Majesky, is a major figure in Crown Heights as the founding director of the Friendship Circle Brooklyn, a nonprofit associated with the Jewish Children's Museum that supports children with special needs.

Adams heard about the local event through his New York City relationships, according to Yaacov Behrman, who does public relations for the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn and who distributed the video.

"He heard about Chabad's event, led by a Crown Heights rabbi, and was happy to participate," Behrman told the New York Jewish Week. "The mayor-elect has been a friend to Chabad, and the Lubavitch community in Crown Heights for over 10 years."

In Accra, Adams told the partygoers that he had come to the country to "close the open wound of slavery and reconnect with ancestors," adding that he knows that Jews, too, have open wounds inflicted by history. But he said it is possible to overcome division and trauma.

"We're going to show that we're members of the greatest race alive, and that's the human race. Let's make sure it's a safe Hanukkah for our families and the children and for humanity," Adams said. "I'm happy to be here in Ghana with you showing how great we are as a people."

The mayor-elect is set to return to New York on Dec. 8.

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Eric Adams moved his inauguration to after Shabbat so Jewish supporters could attend
https://www.jta.org/2021/12/15/ny/eric-adams-moved-his-inauguration-to-after-shabbat-so-jewish-supporters-could-attend

(JTA) — Eric Adams will delay his public inauguration ceremony by several hours on Saturday, Jan.1, to accommodate his Jewish supporters, the Forward reported Tuesday.

Traditionally, the inauguration of New York City's elected officials takes place on Jan. 1 at noon. This year, Jan. 1 is a Saturday, meaning the midday ceremony would be happening on Shabbat, when observant Jews typically do not travel.

Adams decided to shift the ceremony until later in the evening after Shabbat ends so his observant Jewish supporters could attend.

Adams has long had a strong base of support within New York City's Orthodox Jewish communities. In the crowded primary, Adams was a favorite of Orthodox groups in Brooklyn, along with Andrew Yang. Though he did not win a majority of the vote in heavily Hasidic Borough Park in the November general election, Adams mentioned the Hasidic community there in his victory speech.

"It doesn't matter if you are in Borough Park in the Hasidic community, if you're in Flatbush in the Korean community, if you're in Sunset Park in the Chinese community, if you're in Rockaway, if you're out in Queens, in the Dominican community, Washington Heights — all of you have the power to fuel us," Adams said in his speech the night of the election.

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NYC Mayor Eric Adams heading next week to Israel, where he once said he hoped to retire 
https://www.jta.org/2023/08/18/ny/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-heading-next-week-to-israel-where-he-once-said-he-hoped-to-retire

t food on the Upper West Side that's named for an iconic street in Tel Aviv. His senior Jewish liaison, Moshe Davis, was on hand instead for the ribbon-cutting that was held the same day that Adams' office announced his three-day trip to Israel.

Sponsored by UJA-Federation of New York in partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the trip will include visits to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. (UJA is a funder of 70 Faces Media, New York Jewish Week's parent company.) Adams "will meet with local and national leaders, learn about Israeli technology, and discuss combined efforts to combat antisemitism," a statement from the mayor's office said. The visit will also "showcase innovative programs and initiatives supported by the New York Jewish community."

The statement from Adams' office did not include further details about who Adams will meet or what other cities he will visit, if any. But some Israeli media reports suggested that could meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been kept at arm's length by other officials from the United States because of his government's push to sap the power of Israel's judiciary. Neither Adams' office nor Netanyahu's responded to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency's questions.

Responding to the announcement of the trip, a Jewish progressive group in New York City urged Adams to use the opportunity to lobby against Netanyahu's judiciary changes.

The New York Jewish Agenda "encourages the mayor to take time on this trip to meet with pro-democracy leaders, and hopes that he'll represent the majority of New Yorkers who are deeply concerned about the anti-democratic actions of this government." its executive director, Phylisa Wisdom, said in a statement.

"As the mayor spends time learning about Israeli technological advancements and work to end antisemitism around the globe, so too should he engage with the pro-democracy movement that so many New Yorkers support," Wisdom added.

Another progressive group condemned the trip altogether. Jews for Racial and Economic Justice tweeted Thursday afternoon, "We can think of only 2 reasons @NYCMayor might find it appropriate to visit Israel right now: either he is unaware the current government represents the most extremist & racist coalition in the nation's history ... or he finds it acceptable to signal support for such leadership."

While this will be Adams' first trip to Israel as mayor, he has visited before, most recently as Brooklyn borough president in 2016, when he led a delegation of law enforcement officials focused on public safety partnerships between the United States and Israel.

Adams met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog when Herzog visited New York late last month and called him a "steadfast friend of our city."

"I want to be clear that New York City and Israel share an unbreakable bond," Adams said in a statement after the visit.

Adams frequently uses Israel as a reference point in praising New York City, telling Mishpacha Magazine in 2021 that "Brooklyn is the Tel Aviv of America." He made the same analogy for the entire city during Herzog's visit.

"I love the people of Israel, the food, the culture, the dance, everything about Israel," he told Mishpacha. He even said he wanted to one day retire in Israel – possibly in the Golan Heights.