Republican nominee for New York State Attorney General Saritha Komatireddy visited Kew Gardens Hills on Thursday afternoon, July 16, meeting with community leaders at Chazaq headquarters before walking along Main Street to speak with local merchants and residents.

Queens Shmira volunteers helped secure the route as Komatireddy visited businesses and spoke with shoppers and residents throughout the neighborhood.

Joining the roundtable at Chazaq were Queens Republican leader Tzippy Feldman; Sorolle Idels, chairperson of the Queens Jewish Alliance; Philip Orenstein, president of the Queens Village Republican Club; Israel Peskowitz, Director of Community Outreach and Government Affairs for Chazaq; Yaakov Serle, co-publisher of the Queens Jewish Link; and community adviser Alan Sherman.

The discussion focused on public safety, anti-Semitism, religious liberty, school funding, affordability and the growing cost of security for shuls and yeshivos.

Participants urged law enforcement to take threats and harassment seriously before they escalate. Komatireddy has made prosecution and enforcement central themes of her campaign.

Komatireddy brings more than a decade of federal prosecutorial experience to the race. As an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, she served in several leadership positions and prosecuted cases involving international terrorism, violent gangs, cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, fraud, and public corruption.

A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, she began her legal career clerking for then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. She later served as Chief of Staff of the Drug Enforcement Administration and became a partner at Holtzman Vogel, where her work includes complex federal investigations, commercial litigation, and appeals. Anti-Semitism and anti-terrorism are among her listed practice areas. She also teaches as a lecturer at Columbia Law School and is the mother of four children.

“If New York isn’t safe, nothing else matters,” Komatireddy has said during the campaign. She has pledged to prosecute crime, target fraud and corruption, and address severe mental illness and homelessness while protecting public safety.

Her outreach to Orthodox and other Jewish communities predates the Kew Gardens Hills visit. In May, Komatireddy addressed the Moroccan Jewish community at the Manhattan Sephardic Congregation during Shabbat services. She has also met with Jewish congregants and communal leaders to discuss anti-Semitism, religious liberty, and public safety.

Following an interview with Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch about her legal career, crime and public safety, Komatireddy visited the Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, where she wrote a pan and davened for guidance and success. Her campaign has also formed a “Jewish New Yorkers for Saritha” coalition.

Komatireddy has pledged to direct the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau to seek court protection for access to synagogues, pursue those who obstruct or intimidate worshippers and coordinate enforcement with district attorneys across the state. Her campaign has cited the hostile demonstration outside a Kew Gardens Hills synagogue as an example of the type of incident that requires greater attention.

She has also said that the Attorney General’s office should investigate whether schools and universities are adequately protecting Jewish students from harassment and discrimination. She argues that the state should be prepared to act when local prosecutors decline to pursue anti-Semitic threats, assaults, menacing, or property crimes.

Following the meeting, Komatireddy and the group walked along Main Street.

At Safra Judaica & Stam, she looked through displays of Shabbos candlesticks, mezuzos, Jewish cookbooks and other Judaica while speaking with staff.

From there, she continued along Main Street, where merchants and residents approached her to discuss crime, affordability, anti-Semitism, security, and the cost of raising a family in New York.

Komatireddy also stopped at Max & Mina’s Ice Cream, where she had a scoop and spoke with customers and staff.

At Kandi Kastle, Susan Hod and her sister discussed the challenges of operating a visibly Jewish business, including rising security expenses and concerns about anti-Semitic hostility.

They told Komatireddy that security has become an increasingly significant expense for Jewish business owners and institutions.

The walk concluded at Benjy’s Pizza as families gathered for dinner. Komatireddy spoke with parents at their tables about tuition, housing costs, security, and public safety. Queens Jewish Link writer Susie Garber was among those who raised the issue of school choice and the financial pressures facing families.

The visit gave Komatireddy an opportunity to hear directly from community leaders as well as the business owners and families who live with those issues on a daily basis.

Kew Gardens Hills’ Main Street includes Judaica stores, kosher restaurants, professional offices and other businesses that serve the local Orthodox community. Organizers said bringing candidates into those establishments allows them to hear directly from residents about the concerns affecting Jewish life in New York.

On Tuesday, November 3, Komatireddy will face incumbent Democratic Attorney General Letitia James in the general election for New York State Attorney General.

By Shabsie Saphirstein