Cuomo heckled in mosque visit
(JTA) — Andrew Cuomo was heckled throughout his visit to a mosque in Queens on Friday.
At the Masjid Mission Center, protesters shouted at him about supporting Israel during its war in Gaza and what they called a lack of outreach to Muslim New Yorkers. They also shouted about the sexual harassment allegations that led to his resignation and his handling of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
One person shouted, “You represent Netanyahu,” according to the New York Daily News. Cuomo volunteered to join the Israeli prime minister’s legal defense last year.
Many protesters identified themselves as Mamdani supporters, and Cuomo told reporters they were sent by his opponent’s campaign. Mamdani denied any involvement and urged his supporters to be respectful. He said that Muslims were frustrated about being “ignored,” according to Politico.
Cuomo’s first visit to a mosque during his campaign came last week, when he went to the Futa Islamic Center in the Bronx. During a Democratic primary debate earlier this year, he could not definitively answer whether he had visited a mosque while he was governor.
Adams counts on the Jews
(JTA) — Speculation abounds that Mayor Eric Adams, the lowest-polling candidate, will soon end his reelection bid. But in an interview published by the New York Post on Saturday, Adams said that he believes pollsters are missing many Jews who will swing in his favor.
“I hear from some of my yeshivas that are now telling their parents when you drop your child off to register for school, you have to fill out this voter registration form,” he said. “And so these are new voters; these are first-time voters, and I think there’s a population of voters that no one is polling.”
We covered an Orthodox Jewish school in Brooklyn that required parents to prove they were registered to vote before the start of the school year.
“I believe I’m going to get the overwhelming number of Jewish votes,” added Adams. “They supported me as senator, [Brooklyn] borough president, and mayor. I don’t think that’s going to change.”
Though a recent Times/Siena poll indicated that four in 10 Adams supporters are Jewish, a Marist poll found him rallying only 17% of all Jewish voters, with 35% going to Mamdani and another 35% to Cuomo.
Dearborn man, who had illegal guns, threatened Jewish preschoolers, sentenced to 34 months
(JNS) — Hassan Chokr of Dearborn, Mich., who pleaded guilty in May to illegally possessing guns in a store as a felon and who made antisemitic and anti-Israel threats outside a Jewish preschool, was sentenced to 34 months in prison on Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Chokr had faced up to 15 years.
“Chokr’s sickening antisemitic threats and his apparent attempt to make good on them with guns are part of an alarming pattern of violence against believers,” stated Jerome Gorgon Jr., interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.
“We will do everything in our power to fight against this hatred and to protect the American family and their right to worship God without fear,” Gordon added.
Florida man charged with arson for setting Chabad classroom ablaze before Rosh Hashanah
(JTA) — A Florida man has been arrested in connection with a fire last week in a classroom at a Chabad in Florida, days before Rosh Hashanah.
Blake Richard Hoover, 31, of Punta Gorda, was arrested by local police Monday and charged with arson and criminal mischief. Those charges were also enhanced with hate crime charges, according to the Punta Gorda Police Department.
According to the criminal complaint, Hoover was identified after his mother, Kelly, saw reports of the blaze at the Chabad of Charlotte County in Punta Gorda, Florida, and thought that her son may be responsible.
During the incident Friday night, traces of fuel were found both inside and outside of the charred window of the children’s classroom, and the letter “J” was spray painted in three areas outside of the building.
Kelly Hoover told police that the evening of the arson, her son had returned home with an empty spray paint can as well as an empty gas can that had gone missing earlier in the night. She also told police that Hoover “has a hatred toward homosexuals and Jewish people that’s become worse over the past years,” according to court documents.
“This type of crime will not be tolerated in Sarasota County,” wrote Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman in a post on social media. “Any criminal activity directed at religious schools or institutions will be met with the full force and capability of this agency.”
Bruce Pearl, Auburn’s record-breaking Jewish basketball coach, resigns amid rumored Senate run
(JTA) — Bruce Pearl, the winningest head coach in Auburn basketball history and an outspoken supporter of Israeli and Jewish causes, abruptly announced his retirement on Monday. His son, Steven, is set to take the helm of the Tigers.
The surprise resignation ahead of the opening of the NCAA season comes as Pearl is reportedly considering entering politics. The Republican and supporter of President Donald Trump has acknowledged a possible run for Senate in Alabama to fill the seat that Tommy Tuberville is vacating next year. Tuberville, too, was a prominent coach in the state before running for office.
“It’s certainly something that I had considered,” Pearl said in early September, according to ESPN. “It’s something I thought a great deal about, but obviously I’m here today and I’m in practice and I’ve got practice tomorrow.”
Now, his schedule will soon be wide open, a dramatic change for Pearl, 65, who has led Auburn since 2014 and previously was a head coach at three other schools. He also coached the Maccabi USA team to a gold medal at the 2009 Maccabiah Games in Israel.
During his 11-year tenure at Auburn, the team has made six NCAA tournament appearances and two Final Four runs. Pearl is coming off a 32-win season in which the Tigers nabbed a No. 1 seed in March Madness and made it to the Final Four — where he was one of three Jewish coaches — before losing to Florida, coached by Pearl’s former protégé (and Maccabi player), Todd Golden.
