Bobov hasidim to endorse Bill de Blasio for Congress?

• Published date: 23 June 2022
• Publication title: Israel National News (Israel)

In a video of Sunday's meeting, called by an activist of the Bobov hasidic movement, de Blasio is seen being asked about the tweet. In the tweet, he blasted "the Jewish community" following the packed funeral for a rabbi who died of COVID-19, and said the NYPD had been instructed to "summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups."

"It was a mistake and I shouldn't have done it," de Blasio said in the video. "It was a moment of passion and pain over what was happening in the city."

De Blasio is running for a seat in the newly created District 10, which stretches from his home in Park Slope to Lower Manhattan and includes a chunk of Borough Park with its large Orthodox population.

Yitzchok Fleischer, a confidante of de Blasio and a representative of the Bobov community, an influential voting bloc in the district, told the New York Jewish Week he arranged the meeting.

"I'm the one who called him," Fleischer said. "I'm an old friend of his 20 years. When he was a Council member, he was the best we ever had. People need to remember that."

Fleischer did not officially endorse De Blasio, but said "we will probably endorse him in the next week."

"The last time we endorsed him, he won the election," Fleischer said.

He added that Borough Park residents have forgotten that De Blasio "was helpful" to the community.

"Most people are upset with him," Fleischer said. "As a mayor, he did a lot of things we didn't agree with. Most of the people in Borough Park don't know what he accomplished for us in the City Council."

Fleischer brought up De Blasio's record in funding child care vouchers for yeshivas in 2015 as an example of a policy helpful to the haredi community.

Fleischer also said de Blasio's progressive values were brought up in the meeting, but noted that "we want to give him a chance."

"We told him clearly that we're not...