For What it’s Worth: Warren Hecht

There have been many silly things done by this administration. Probably the silliest was the big announcement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the State Department is changing the font for its documents back to Times New Roman from Calibri. Rubio called the original change “woke,” claiming it had been done to mitigate accessibility issues for individuals with disabilities. With all of the international crises going on—Ukraine, Israel and Hamas, Syria, and Venezuela—the Secretary of State felt it was so important to change the font back to Times New Roman.

This is the first time I am writing a column in the middle of a vacation. However, I did not want to miss writing about my vacation. There are so many other things going on which may grab my attention, such as the bromance between Trump and Mamdani. I am sure that all those who criticized NY Democrats for being silent about Mandami will criticize Trump for what he said or didn't say at the meeting.

I am writing my column on December 7, 2025, the 84^th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, what President Roosevelt proclaimed “a day that will live in infamy.” Eighty-four years later, I doubt many Americans are commemorating the day or even know what happened on this date in 1941.

For those who expected me to talk about the consequential 1932 presidential election between then-President Herbert Hoover and the Democratic challenger Franklin Roosevelt, they will be disappointed. I want to address the 1932 election in Germany. It is a sobering lesson for the time we live in. There were two elections that year. The percentages changed from one election to the next, but the number-one party stayed the same.

Before I discuss the remainder of my trip, I want to comment on the photograph that accompanied my article in last week’s Queens Jewish Link. It was not provided by me. If you look carefully at the photo, there is a red street sign that says “No Standing Anytime.” Clearly, this picture was taken in New York and not in Hungary, and it is not an accurate depiction of what you would have seen on the streets of Budapest. There are Chasidim in Budapest who appear to be in charge of the Beit Midrash shul where I davened. The kosher supervision authority over all kosher establishments in Budapest, to my knowledge, is the Beth Din Tzedek of the Chareidi Communities of Budapest. However, the majority of Jews on the streets in the Jewish Quarter are not Chasidim.

By the time this column is published, we should know who the next mayor of New York will be. As I write, I sit and wait with trepidation about what the final results will be. The polls are all over the lot. Although all of them have Mamdani in the lead, some have him ahead by 5 percentage points and others by 25. The same applies to Sliwa’s strength: Some have him within a couple of percentage points of Cuomo, and others have him in low double digits. It just shows the uselessness of the polls.