I am moved to write this missive with tremendous trepidation and concern about our future in our beloved New York City.
I had a rough start as the son of two Shoah survivors in the South Bronx – a factory laborer compelled to work on Shabbos – and a yeshivah aide. I was among the last of the Jewish generations to benefit from a New York City public high school, and we somehow scraped together the resources to leave the Bronx’s Mt. Hope section for Queens in 1973.
In every way, like so many of you readers, my life has been intertwined with all of New York City. I love our city and have always viewed being here as a privilege. Our communities, resources, and Jewish infrastructure have made this the true home of those not residing in our ancestral home – Eretz Yisrael. Yet Israel defines us and is the guarantor of our eternal faith now and through the hour of our redemption.
Now, however, I – and you – feel suddenly fearful, bereft, and threatened.
Through all modern memory – through the terms of mayors good, not-so-good, and bad – we knew that they all understood us and our ties as Jews to our land, as well as our communal needs.
In every way imaginable, the threat to our existence in the five boroughs has come into question. Brevity here demands that I cannot possibly recount all that makes Zohran Mamdani a likely “knife to our throats.”
The threat from him to our Jewish communities far surpasses the dangers he presents even to the general public through his hatred of the police, federal authorities, gifted programs and specialized schools, wealthy taxpayers (who will further depart), corporate employers, and all manner of public policy.
As for us Jews, the man who denies the right of existence of a single Jewish state – above all else – proclaims his deep personal and familial-induced hatred of the Jewish people. This is indisputable: There are 57 Muslim-majority states on earth, of which 22 constitutionally prescribe Islam as the official faith. Anyone who denies the right of the Jewish people to a single Jewish state is an anti-Semite. There is ample evidence from Zohran and his parents and wife to make it obvious that they are terrorist sympathizers. I say this unequivocally and without apology. I expect him to utilize the power of New York City to break innumerable economic, educational, security, and other governmental and business relationships with Israel.
I am not writing to convince you that all the above is true – you know that. Rather, I write to you as a Republican since the late 1990s to urge every one of you to cast your vote – via every of-age member of your household – for Andrew Cuomo.
Look: I have followed Curtis Sliwa since the day he first appeared on the city’s scene in the 1970s. He’s a genuine gift to our city and merits our gratitude, that of his employer, John Catsimatidis, and those who may offer him greater opportunities in the future.
And yes – he was well-prepared and knowledgeable at the debate on Thursday.
That said, it is one thing for Mike Bloomberg, one of America’s wealthiest figures and founder of an information powerhouse, to be elected mayor – and an impossibility for Curtis. The bar is always extremely high for a New York City Republican.
Which brings me to Andrew Cuomo. My intersections with Andrew have been decidedly limited – I am a Pataki Republican loyalist who had more to do with his father, Mario.
Few are more cognizant than I am of the errors Andrew made as governor.
In this critical hour, we must all be honest.
But only Cuomo has a chance to beat Mamdani and help us to “avoid the evil decree,” as we recited just two weeks ago.
Andrew, like his dad, has always been close, supportive, and heimish with us Jews and our beloved Israel. This is indisputable and well-documented.
As to New York City governance, I have every confidence that Andrew’s administrative and management skills will preserve our way of life here – and that he will optimize the improvements and stabilization wrought in recent months by Eric Adams, a man who has also stood with us in our difficult hours as Jews. A man as smart and shrewd as Andrew Cuomo doesn’t make the same mistakes twice.
So now, we come back to Curtis. I am not one to engage in self-fulfilling prophecies, but the fact is: He cannot win this race at this moment in New York City’s history.
In a perfect world, he would exit today - as did Eric - and state, even with a very heavy heart, “Whatever I personally think of Andrew Cuomo, we cannot allow our city to go to a socialist, anarchist, Israel- and Jew-hating, inexperienced know-nothing.”
Our community must come out in a manner never before seen in our city. A pox on those Jews like Lander, Messinger, Restler, and their ilk who have betrayed us! But at this moment, it is crystal clear that a vote for Curtis takes us nowhere.
There is no guarantee that if the “Sliwa and Adams votes” now go to Cuomo that Cuomo will be mayor, but it is our only chance.
What we do know is that votes for Sliwa are effectively Mamdani votes.
Vote for Andrew Cuomo. It is our only chance.
Jeff Wiesenfeld is a private wealth manager who had a lengthy career in city, state, and federal government, most prominently with Mayor Ed Koch, Senator D’Amato, Governor Pataki, and Claire Shulman and Tom Manton in Queens. He was also a longtime trustee of CUNY during the Bloomberg-Pataki era and regional director of the Empire State Development Corporation.
