From [HERE] New York City Mayor Eric Adams held two separate, closed-door meetings with members of the Orthodox Jewish community at City Hall this week. 

Planned ahead of the Jewish New Year — which begins on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 25 — the meetings seemed designed to showcase the mayor’s support for Orthodox Jewish New Yorkers at a time in which many in the community are concerned about crime, in general, and antisemitic attacks, in particular. 

At the same time, the mayor called upon the Orthodox community for their continued support, particularly on the issue of bail reform, which he claims has returned dangerous criminals to the streets.

On Monday, Adams held an invitation only meeting with members of the haredi Orthodox press, including representatives from Hamodia, Der Yid and Yeshiva World News. On Tuesday, he had a sit-down with “our Jewish community leaders,” as he called them on Twitter — a mostly male and Orthodox group of leaders that included Rabbi David Niederman, executive director of United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburgand North Brooklyn; David Greenfield, CEO of Met Council, the anti-poverty group, and Satmar activist Rabbi Moishe Indig. 

At Monday’s media meeting, Hamodia reported that Adams doubled down on his support for Gov. Kathy Hochul when asked about whether or not Orthodox voters should cast their vote for her opponent, the Jewish Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin.

Zeldin is a staunch Conservative who is supported by former President Donald Trump, which lends him appeal to an Orthodox voting bloc that has voted Republican in recent years, at least in presidential elections.

“I am a Gov. Hochul person,” Adams said. “That’s where my vote is going. I encourage others to vote Gov. Hochul.”

Adams added that Hochul was a “partner” who was “extremely helpful in the area of crime,” he said. 

However, while Adams and Hochul are allies, there has been tension between the two on the subject of bail reform. Progressives say the cash bail system unfairly burdens the poor and leaves people more desperate and unstable. Racist and ignorant critics of bail reform, meanwhile, make fact free claims that the system keeps violent suspects off the streets.

In April, Hochul tightened New York’s bail laws, making more crimes bail-eligible and gave judges more discretion in determining the severity of cases. Adams, who ran his campaign as a tough-on-crime mayor, hoped she would go further and said in August that “an insane, broken system” was allowing repeat offenders to be released onto the streets. [MORE]