Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman made an emotional appeal to Jewish New Yorkers to get behind him in the November elections — so he could “stop” Israel-bashing Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Blakeman, who is facing off against Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul, told the Bukharian Jewish Congress he was the only choice for governor who’d stand up to Mamdani and fight against festering antisemitism.
“There is only one person that can stop Zohran Mamdani and that is the governor of the state of New York,” Blakeman, who is Jewish, said during a speech in Forest Hills Wednesday to mark the three-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist massacre in Israel.
“And this governor will not only not stop him, she is encouraging him,” Blakeman said of Hochul. “She’s campaigning with him. She endorsed him.
“I’m here today as a father, a grandfather,” added Blakeman, who is Jewish and wore a kippah during his remarks. “I am going to fight for my children and my grandchildren. I am going to fight for your children and your grandchildren. But I can’t do it alone… You need to get into this fight.”
About 70,000 Bukharian Jews who immigrated from Central Asian and former Soviet-bloc countries such as Uzbekistan now reside in Queens, populating the neighborhoods of Rego Park, Forest Hills and Kew Gardens.
Members of the Bukharian Jewish community largely supported ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo over the victorious Mamdani in last year’s mayor’s race.
For underdog Blakeman to have any chance of toppling two-term incumbent Hochul, he needs to make inroads in deep blue New York City and he’s trying to connect with Jewish voters fed up with the rise of antisemitism and Mamdani’s Israel-bashing.
He described the atrocities unleashed on Israelis during the terrorist attacks, which killed more than 1,200 people. He then tore into Mamdani, who on Wednesday used the occasion of the grim anniversary to accuse Israel of “genocide” as it continues ongoing military action in Gaza.
“The antisemitism is out of control,” Blakeman, 71, said. “We have a mayor of New York City who who put a statement just today, on Oct. 7, where he makes a moral equivalence between the attack on Oct. 7 and the Palestinian cause, whatever that cause may be.”
Blakeman has accused Mamdani, who is Muslim, of antisemitic remarks.
“I wouldn’t let Zohran Mamdani get away with the virulent antisemitic comments he’s made,” Blakeman recently told JNS.com. “I would tell him to stop or, if he didn’t, take action against him, which the governor has the power to do.”
Mamdani maintains he opposes Israel and its treatment of Palestinians — but supports Jewish residents and has zero tolerance for antisemitism.
Hochul has been a staunch supporter of Israel, even visiting the Jewish state shortly after the Hamas massacre.
Her sober words on Wednesday contrasted with Mamdani’s statement.
But Hochul has mostly refrained from criticizing Israel-bashing Mamdani — even publicly defending the mayor when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused him of inciting violence against Jewish New Yorkers.
“The pain of that dark day has not faded. But neither has the strength, resilience and enduring hope of the Jewish people,” Hochul said in a statement on Wednesday, as she directed flags on state buildings to be flown at half-staff in solidarity with the Israeli people.
“Today, we remember the innocent lives stolen, stand with the survivors and the families forever changed, and pray for a lasting peace,” she said.
Hochul spoke at the United Jewish Appeal’s Oct. 7 commemoration Wednesday night.
A spokesperson for the Hochul campaign said she launched a “nation-leading plan to combat antisemitism across” and delivered $130 million to fight hate crimes.
“She was the first American official to visit disaster sites in Israel in the wake of the October 7th attack — she will never stop fighting back against antisemitism every time it rears its head and she will never stop standing up for Jewish New Yorkers,” spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said.
Hochul became governor in 2021 when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned in the face of sexual harassment claims that he has disputed.
She is now seeking her second complete four-year term.
Hochul goes into the final stretch ahead of the Nov. 3 elections with a combined $33 million cash on hand between her personal account and the state Democratic Party’s coiffeurs.
She also has a massive advantage in voter registration across the Empire State, where there are 6 million registered Democrats but only 2.8 million registered Republicans, according to the state Board of Elections. There are now more registered voters with no party affiliation — 3.4 million — than there are Republicans, according to the figures.
