On Tuesday, May 26, more than 300 New Yorkers stood across the street from Gracie Mansion to protest the anti-Semitic policies and rhetoric of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Those who attended felt empowered to stand alongside neighbors from all walks of life in a nonviolent display of dissent. As they dispersed to their homes, the question was whether it was a one-off event or the beginning of momentum against socialists in elected office. The answer will emerge on Tuesday, June 23, when Democratic voters will choose the direction of their party.
For most of our readers, the Congressional seat covering most of central Queens has been represented by Grace Meng since 2013. Serving among 434 colleagues, Meng has stood out as a voice on women’s equality in pay and family leave, access to menstrual products and contraceptives, and funding for domestic violence prevention and education programs.
A lifelong resident of Flushing, Meng’s first political office was in the State Assembly, and in her present role, she has never lost touch with local concerns. In the past year, she spoke up regarding mailboxes manipulated by thieves, reopening the LIRR station in Elmhurst, funding a childcare center at Queensborough Community College, supporting the tech incubator at Queens College, and providing the New York Hall of Science with programs relating to the recent Artemis III mission around the moon.
For the Jewish community, Meng assisted constituents seeking flights back to New York when Israel was bombed by Iranian rockets. As her party’s leadership and voter base quickly soured on supporting the Jewish state, Meng never wavered. The results of her support included protests and acts of vandalism outside her Flushing district office, posters and stickers accusing her of funding “apartheid” and “genocide,” and a social media campaign with cooked-up amounts associated with AIPAC donors as the reason for her support of Israel – because Jews have money, a time-honored anti-Semitiic trope. From our experience with Meng, her support comes from understanding Israel as an imperfect but stable democracy in a troubled region whose citizens have family, cultural, and economic ties to many families in our district. Most of our readership is not very wealthy; but we vote, and our views are reflected in our representatives.
Meng’s primary opponent is Chuck Park, the son of Korean immigrants who was raised in Woodside. His experience in government includes foreign service in the State Department during the Obama and first Trump administrations. He resigned in 2019 in protest of Trump’s immigration policies and went on to serve as a staffer for Councilman Shekar Krishnan of Jackson Heights.
His endorsements, views, and policy proposals are extremely troubling for the Jewish community, as he routinely uses the genocide slur to discredit Israel. The Sixth District historically has been among the most visible in regard to the Jewish vote, representing the spectrum of denominations and backgrounds. But with many younger families moving to the suburbs or other states, and making aliyah, the Jewish percentage of the population has declined. Perhaps this is why Park feels comfortable disparaging Israel in a district where it was historically unthinkable. Nevertheless, we have a proud history of high voter turnout that impacts election results. We can show that this district has not wavered in supporting Israel.
In this year’s primary, we understand that some of Meng’s urban colleagues, such as Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat, face very difficult reelections against well-funded and highly organized DSA opponents in districts with sizable numbers of progressive voters. Some of us have donated, knocked on doors, and made phone calls for these incumbents, but in the end, it is the vote that determines the outcome. In Queens, we should not focus as much on just reelecting Meng, but on making sure that she wins with a comfortable margin so that the DSA will not try to run again in this district on any level – city, state, or federal. We have the ability to generate turnout through our shuls, schools, and social networks.
On the state level, Gov. Kathy Hochul has the luxury of running unopposed in the primary and leading in the polls ahead of Republican Bruce Blakeman for the general election. Although most of us will not forget her endorsement of Mamdani last year, we should recognize her ongoing relationship with our community. This includes passing the security buffer for synagogues as part of the state budget and enrolling this state in the Federal Scholarship Tax Credits, which allow individual taxpayers to claim federal tax credits for donations to nonprofits that provide scholarships for private school tuition – making her the second Democratic governor to do so.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is also running for reelection. Like the governor, he is an outspoken supporter of Israel, which includes the continued investment of the state’s pension fund in Israel bonds and the software company Palantir, which works with Israeli defense. His leading opponent, Raj Goyle, is the typical example of a DSA candidate: an out-of-state transplant with no political history in New York who is trending on social media on account of his hostility towards Israel. Reelecting Tom DiNapoli would ensure that our state continues to keep the Democratic Party from entirely abandoning Israel.
Early voting will take place between June 13 and 21, with the final voting day on Tuesday, June 23. All are encouraged to do their part!