Cuomo Visits Williamsburg On a Personal Meaningful Day

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo visited an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Williamsburg with Rabbi David Niederman Wednesday to show support for the Jewish community in the wake of the stabbing in Monsey and a recent rash of other anti-Semitic attacks.

The Governor also directed State Police to further increase patrols and security in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods across the State.

“The Jewish community is very important to me personally. It’s been very important to my family for many years. Today, Rabbi knows, my father was Governor before me, today is the anniversary of his death – it’s the fifth-year anniversary of his death.

“And the relationship with the Orthodox community goes back to my father, when I was a young, young man,” Governor Cuomo said.

“So it’s gone on for many decades, our relationship, and it’s very important to me, it was important to my father, it’s important to my whole family and it’s important to the whole family of New York.

“Everybody feels very upset and disturbed about what happened and everybody stands in solidarity with you. So I’m here today, not just for me, I’m here representing all the people of the State of New York who want to say they’re sorry about the tragedy and they stand with you in total solidarity and love, because that’s what we are,” the Governor said.

“It’s not just standing in solidarity, which we do, it’s taking actions to make you secure in your community. You see more police now, which we said we would do and we’re going to continue to do. I’m proposing a new law that I want them to pass in January – we’re in January, when they come back in one week, the Legislature comes back in one week – a domestic terrorism law. You know what happened in Monsey? It was terrorism. It was terrorism. It was a hate crime and it was terrorism. When you attack people, and you’re trying to hurt or murder a large number of people because of their race or their religion, that is terrorism, it’s domestic terrorism,” the Governor said.

“A terrorist doesn’t have to come on a plane, you can have a person in this country who’s a terrorist, a domestic terrorist. That’s what happened in Monsey. And we have to say, yes we’re not going to tolerate it, it was ignorant, it’s anti-American. This country was founded on freedom of religion. George Washington went to a Synagogue, worshipped with Jewish people. So it’s ignorant, it’s intolerant, it’s also illegal and we’re going to enforce the law and we’re going to make sure the law is enforced. And you have my word on that,” he concluded.

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