Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo secured the backing of a typically bloc-voting Orthodox Jewish group on Sunday – after a rabbi in the Brooklyn sect reportedly issued an “unauthorized” mayoral endorsement of frontrunner socialist Zohran Mamdani.
Cheskel Berkowitz, Avrum Brach, and Shulem Yitzchok Jacobowitz – leaders of the Satmar Ahronim community – threw their support behind Cuomo, who is running as an independent, in a public letter following the internal drama, according to the ex-governor’s campaign.
“I’m deeply honored to have the support of these respected community leaders,” Cuomo said in a statement.
“Their voices carry tremendous weight in standing up for family, faith, and common sense. I share their belief that New York needs unity and balance—not ideological extremes—and together, we’ll make this city safer, fairer, and stronger for all,” he added.
Before the Satmar Hasidic community delivered its public endorsement of Cuomo, Rabbi Moshe Indig – another leader in the Williamsburg-based faction – claimed in a post to a local website that the community was supporting Mamdani, Jewish media outlet Belaaz reported, citing insiders.
Sources told Belaaz that Indig’s endorsement was “totally unauthorized” and done behind the backs of other community leaders.
Even so, Mamdani quickly embraced Indig’s announcement, sharing it on X Sunday.
“I was honored to receive the endorsement of Rabbi Moshe Indig and Ahronim leaders in Williamsburg today,” he wrote.
“Together, we will fight the scourge of antisemitism and build a city that works for every New Yorker,” Mamdani said.
Berkowitz, Brach and Jacobowitz, meanwhile, warned that “everything we value and what we stand for is at stake” in their statement.
“Each of us must do everything in our power to protect and preserve our values, communities, yeshivas and way of life,” the statement continued.
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