Main Street was already in pre-Yom Tov mode this past Monday afternoon, September 7, when Governor Kathy Hochul arrived in Kew Gardens Hills.

For approximately 40 minutes, the governor walked the neighborhood’s busy commercial corridor, stopping at Wasserman Supermarket, Main Street Bagels, Kandi Kastle, and Max & Mina’s Ice Cream as shoppers prepared for Rosh HaShanah.

Joining Hochul were Assemblymembers Sam Berger and David Weprin, Council Member Lynn Schulman, Democratic District Leader Shimi Pelman, and Orthodox Union President Mitchel R. Aeder, a Kew Gardens Hills resident. Agudath Israel of America was represented by board trustee Nechemia Hoch and Ephraim Gurell of its New York office, both local residents. Queens Shmira accompanied the governor throughout the walk.

 

Earlier this year, a protest outside the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills drew widespread attention after demonstrators were recorded chanting in support of Hamas. Hochul publicly condemned the rhetoric and later cited the Kew Gardens Hills incident while calling for greater protections around houses of worship.

Shortly after entering Wasserman’s, Hochul was presented with an assortment basket for Yom Tov as she stood beneath a banner formally welcoming her to Kew Gardens Hills.

Hochul then announced that New York State will distribute $70 million through its Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes program to 290 nonprofit organizations considered vulnerable to hate crimes because of their ideology, beliefs, or mission.

“The Jewish community has been subjected to horrible, horrible acts of antisemitism,” Hochul said. “We have to do something about it.”

The grants, administered by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, can fund physical and cybersecurity improvements at eligible nonprofits, including houses of worship and community institutions. Hochul also said State Police patrols around synagogues would be increased for the Yamim Nora’im.

Kew Gardens Hills resident Dovid Chait approached Hochul to thank her for New York’s living-organ donor reimbursement program. Chait had donated a kidney to a stranger and met his recipient for the first time only the night before.

 

“You’re the only governor in the country that has a law that reimburses for kidney donation,” Chait told her.

Chait said that although the law came after his donation, the program was backdated in a way that allowed him to receive reimbursement. “I didn’t know I was going to get it, but they called me after the fact,” he said. “Even though the law passed after, they backdated it for me, and I really appreciate it.”

His recipient, Chait explained, is a 55-year-old upstate father of seven who also has an adopted foster child. “He said that he would not be alive right now,” Chait said.

“Thank you for giving life to someone you didn’t even know,” Hochul responded.

Other conversations inside Wasserman’s turned to yeshivah education, with community representatives raising concerns about the State Education Department and arguing that it should serve as an arbiter rather than an advocate.

Israel and antisemitism also came up. One Jewish mother, whose daughter lives in Israel, confronted Hochul over Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

“You have to control Mr. Mamdani,” she told the governor.

 

Hochul said she endorsed Mamdani only after it became “very clearly” apparent that he would be mayor and noted that she has spoken with him about concerns affecting the Jewish community.

“I have to work with the mayor, too,” Hochul said.

Schulman, standing nearby, also spoke about the need for the governor to maintain a working relationship with City Hall. When the woman remarked that Mamdani could be charming, Hochul replied, “No one charms me,” with a wink.

Hochul reiterated her rejection of antisemitism and her position that Israel has a right to exist. Others thanked her for traveling to Israel following the October 7 attacks.

One resident also introduced his father, who had come “all the way from Florida just to meet you.” Before Hochul left Wasserman’s, Pelman introduced her to another Michael Simanowitz — the six-month-old son of Josh Simanowitz, cradled in his father’s arms and named for his late grandfather, Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz.

Along the route, Hochul repeatedly stopped for photographs and conversations with residents.

In front of Holy Schnitzel, Hochul paused at the former home of G&I Bakery, which had been owned by beloved longtime Kew Gardens Hills resident and Hatzalah volunteer Albert “Avrumie” Itzkowitz, who was fatally shot in Kissena Park on May 18. His murder remains unsolved.

 

Before crossing Main Street, Hochul also took questions from a local student in a brief interview.

At Main Street Bagels, Hochul greeted customers and employees as those gathered recommended the shop’s bagels and freshly squeezed orange juice. The stop brought back a memory of the late Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz, whose six-month-old namesake grandson she had met moments earlier at Wasserman’s. Hochul recalled having lunch with the assemblyman on the block when a nearby fire suddenly filled the area with smoke and forced people outside. She purchased muffins before continuing down Main Street.

At Kandi Kastle, proprietor Susan Hod shared the legacy of her late father, Gavriel Davidov, a longtime leader of Queens’ Bukharian Jewish community. Davidov, a lawyer in Tajikistan before immigrating to New York with his wife, Zoya, and their four daughters in 1976, spent decades helping build Bukharian Jewish communal life in Queens. His contributions were memorialized locally in 2023 with the co-naming of 64th Road and 108th Street in Forest Hills as “Gavriel Davidov Corner.”

The final stop was Max & Mina’s Ice Cream, where owner Bruce Becker welcomed Hochul into the renowned kosher ice cream parlor he and his brother Mark opened in 1997. Hochul chose one of Max & Mina’s chocolate flavors, while Berger and his daughter made selections of their own.

By Shabsie Saphirstein