Letitia James, attorney general of New York, is aware that Jews in the state are worried, she told JNS on Tuesday, as Manhattan elected officials endorsed her bid for reelection.
“I’ve heard from individuals who are afraid to wear their yarmulkes outside,” she said at an event on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. “They’re concerned that maybe they’ll be identified as Jewish and that they might be attacked on the subway.”
“No one should hide their identity,” James told JNS.
Her support for Jews is rooted in her faith, and it extends well beyond election season, she said.
“My faith teaches me about love and loving your neighbor,” she told JNS. “It also teaches me about caring for others, particularly when they’re under attack.”
James said that she will remain committed to Jews throughout her career and that Jewish New Yorkers should have allies rather than having to stand alone.
Julie Menin, the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council, endorsed James, as did Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Manhattan Borough president Brad Hoylman-Sigal and state senator Liz Krueger.
Menin, who introduced James, noted recent antisemitic incidents, including Nazi swastikas painted on playground equipment in Brooklyn and on schools and homes in Queens. She recalled calling James after two men were stabbed with a screwdriver in an antisemitic attack, and James changed her schedule to attend a rally and press conference, Menin said.
“That’s what allyship is,” the City Council speaker said. “It’s about standing with the Jewish community when things are difficult, when things are painful.”
Menin also praised James for offering to testify in support of the City Council’s legislation to establish buffer zones around houses of worship. (Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, nixed the bill, which passed the council without a veto-proof majority, but the council later passed a second version of the law.)
James told attendees that “antisemitism will not be tolerated in the state of New York as long as I am the attorney general of the state of New York.”
Hoylman-Sigal told JNS that supporting James was personal for him as a Jewish elected official and father of two children, ages 15 and 9, who are growing up amid rising antisemitism.
“It’s crucial that we have a fighter for our community,” the Manhattan Borough president told JNS.
Hoylman-Sigal cited the attorney general’s work fighting hate crimes via legislation and litigation, and her efforts on housing discrimination and consumer protection.
He said that he hopes she will keep prioritizing protections for minority communities statewide.
Nadler, who said he has known James for many years, recalled her support for Jews after antisemitic incidents, including an attack on a store on the Upper West Side and an attack at the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.
“She has always been there in supporting the Jewish community against antisemitism,” Nadler said.
David Siffert, Democratic nominee for New York state Assembly district 66, said that his great-grandmother was murdered in Auschwitz, and his grandmother survived German concentration camps.
A civil-rights lawyer and law professor, Siffert said that James is among the officials working to preserve American democracy.
“If Jews are going to have a future here, we need Letitia James to stay attorney general,” he said.
