Andrew Cuomo painted several of his mayoral opponents as antisemitic DSA “disciples” — sparking outrage from the city’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official, who told the ex-gov to “get the f—k out of here” Wednesday.
City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is also running in the Democratic mayoral primary, was responding to Cuomo accusing him of divesting Big Apple pension funds from Israel bonds for the first time in 50 years during a speech at the West Side Institutional Synagogue Tuesday night.
“Here’s what I have to say about it: ‘A beyzer gzar zol er af dir kumen’,” Lander said in Yiddish to Cuomo, which the comptroller said “roughly translates” to “get the f–k out of here.”
“Andrew, if you want to question my commitment to my people, say it to my face.”
The tit-for-tat exchange started when Cuomo took a swipe at the anti-Israel Democratic Socialists of America, which supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, movement against the Jewish state.
“Incredibly many major New York City politicians are their disciples,” Cuomo said, accusing state Assembly member Zohran Mamdani — a proud democratic socialist who recently got the backing of radical anti-Israel “Squad” member Rashida Tlaib — of being a “DSA devotee.”
He also ripped another mayoral opponent, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, claiming that she was the “first speaker in the history of New York City to boycott Israel by failing to ever visit Israel.”
Cuomo then turned his sights on Lander, saying: “The DSA charter provides for the disinvestment in Israel. The comptroller of New York City who handles the pension funds, Brad Lander, divested from Israel Bonds for the first time in 50 years.”
“Israel bonds was a sign of solidarity and after October 7 many pension funds in the United States bought more Israel funds as a sign of solidarity. This was not the time to disinvest from Israel.”
But Lander claimed it was actually Cuomo who had an antisemitic record, and slammed the former governor for “trying to score points” with the Jewish community by lobbing accusations during the synagogue speech.
“Andrew Cuomo doesn’t get to tell me how to be Jewish,” Lander said during a press conference Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Lander’s campaign said Cuomo was intentionally taking the comptroller’s policy to not invest in any foreign country out of context.
“This is a mischaracterization,” the rep said in a statement.
“Lander has never divested. It’s a policy of his office to never invest in foreign sovereign debt, but we have more than $400 million in investments in Israeli companies.”
New York City first invested $30 million in State of Israel bonds in 1974 with the practice continuing over the last several decades.
But the pension funds of government employees of New York City under Lander is now only $1.17 million.
Lander’s office previously insisted that the New York City pension funds do not invest directly in foreign sovereign debt — the bonds of other countries, though investors called foul on that claim because past comptrollers did.
Lander accused Cuomo of “weaponizing antisemitism” while simultaneously having a “disturbing record” on the issue.
He said the state was sued over antisemitism under Cuomo during the COVID-19 pandemic over crackdowns on religious gatherings.
Lander also brought up a 2021 New York Times Magazine article which reported that Cuomo once complained about a campaign event celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, fuming, “These people and their f–king tree houses.”
Cuomo’s camp denied the accusation at the time and again on Wednesday.
The then-gov — who resigned in August 2021 while facing sexual harassment allegations, which he denies — in 2018 caught heat after he made fun of the “rhythm” of “our Jewish brothers and sisters” during a speech at a predominantly black church in Harlem.
A Cuomo campaign spokesperson hit back at Lander Wednesday afternoon.
“The governor passed the strongest hate crime laws in the nation, made this the first state in the nation to ban BDS, developed a model program that delivered millions of dollars in security upgrades for synagogues and yeshivas and when Hamas was firing rockets into Israel, he organized a solidarity mission from New York to show the world that we stand with them,” the rep said.
“New Yorkers are smart and they know Andrew Cuomo has the record and the experience to best fight this rise of antisemitic hate that has gripped this city.”
A spokesperson for Adrienne Adams’ campaign said, “This is rich coming from an ex-governor who launched a pro-Israel PAC that did nothing but serve him.”
“Division and name-calling might be Andrew Cuomo’s way, but they won’t solve a single New Yorker’s problem. No drama, no scandal – just competence and integrity. That’s how Adrienne leads, and that’s what New York City needs.”
Mamdani, in a statement on Cuomo’s remarks, said the former governor “does not care about antisemitism.”
“Andrew Cuomo does not care about public safety. Andrew Cuomo does not care about billionaires rigging the economy—those are his donors,” he said.
“Andrew Cuomo cares about one thing and one thing only: himself. And he’s willing to weaponize any issue, lie about any person, or take advantage of any vulnerable group if he deems it politically convenient.”
— Additional reporting by Dorian Geiger
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