Adams Forms Jewish Advisory Council

By Reuvain Borchardt

NEW YORK —New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Monday announced the formation of a Jewish Advisory Council, that will convene to discuss issues affecting the Jewish community.

The council will focus on all issues affecting Jewish New Yorkers including public safety, quality of life, and education, and will help Jewish communities connect with city resources and services available, according to the announcement Monday by the mayor’s office.

Adams, who likes to refer to New York as “the Tel Aviv of America” in meetings with Jewish officials, has built deep ties with the city’s Orthodox Jewish community during his years as a state senator from Crown Heights and Brooklyn borough president, and was elected in 2021 with significant support from the community. He has also hired three Orthodox Jews too senior staff positions: Joel Eisdorfer as senior advisor, Menashe Shapiro as deputy chief of staff, and Fred Kreizman as commissioner of the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit.

The new Jewish Advisory Council, chaired by Eisdorfer, features more than three dozen prominent community leaders, approximately two-thirds of whom are Orthodox, including Hatzalah CEO Rabbi Yechiel Kalish; Met Council CEO David Greenfield; Flatbush Shomrim Coordinator Tzvi Weill; Satmar community leader Rabbi Moshe Indig; Rabbi Baruch Rothman of Yeshiva Darchei Torah; and Mrs. Ruth Lichtenstein, publisher of Hamodia and founder of Project Witness.

“The work and contributions of our Jewish brothers and sisters are felt across all five boroughs,” Adams. “With antisemitic crimes up across the nation, our newly-formed Jewish Advisory Council will ensure that Jewish New Yorkers in every community have a seat at the table and have access to the support and resources the city offers.”

“New York’s Jewish community,” said Shapiro, “has a mayor who understands the unique cultural and ethnic sensibilities of the Jewish community and who is dedicated to ensuring their needs are met and everyone is safe and secure.”

The Jewish Advisory Council’s initial meeting will be held at City Hall Monday night, with Adams’ participation.