Officials Demand Apology for “Black Hats” Remark

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NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg crowed quite contentedly in an interview with The Atlantic about pushing back against those who opposed his measure to regulate metzitzah b’peh. “I think it’s fair to say that nobody else would take that on. I mean, come on! Forget about the fact that—“They do what!?”—Who wants to have 10,000 guys in black hats outside your office screaming?” the Mayor was quoted as saying.

Now elected and city officials are strongly denouncing the Mayor’s remarks and demanding an apology.

Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind says his community deserves more than to be on the receiving end of “demeaning and derogatory” rhetoric. “When Mayor Bloomberg decided to run for a third term, he came to our community seeking favor with the Haredi community. He asked Orthodox, Torah-observant Jews to support his candidacy,” noted Hikind. “But we weren’t Black Hats when he needed us.”

New York City Councilman David G. Greenfield, also of Brooklyn, said the Mayor’s “hurtful” comments are offensive to not only the City’s “half-million Jewish New Yorkers,” but should also be upsetting to all of the City’s 8.5 million residents.

“For the Mayor to identify an entire religious group by the clothes they proudly wear is the basest of insults. It is even more offensive coming from a secular Jewish mayor. I don’t judge the Mayor or his religious practice; surely, he has no right to judge me or other members of the Orthodox Jewish community. It’s ironic that the Mayor appears to have respect for every other religion except his own,” Greenfield remarked.

Deputy Comptroller of Budget and Accounting Simcha Felder, a candidate in the State Senate race for the newly-created 17th Senate District, echoed Greenfield’s sentiments.

“First the Mayor moves to restrict our right to freely practice our religion. Then he uses offensive and derisive language aimed towards our community.

I am asking Mayor Bloomberg to apologize for these insensitive words, which simply do not have any place in our society, especially from our political leaders. I am also requesting that he end his attack on metzitzah b’peh and on religious freedom,” Felder said.

Brooklyn State Senator David Storobin also issued a statement on the matter, saying, “The people of my district and the entire Jewish community are deeply offended and appalled by the comment Mayor Bloomberg made the other day to ‘The Atlantic’. . . .The Mayor’s utter ignorance doesn’t stop by raising taxes and hurting small businesses in our community, but now by insulting and demeaning an entire community for standing up for their rights of religious freedom. This is the same ‘Black Hat’ Jewish community that supported Mike Bloomberg for three terms.” Storobin said he is calling on the Mayor to retract his comment and issue an apology, and if he is unwilling to do so, he should resign from his post.

7 Comments

  • he knows better then his grandparents!

    His own grandparents probably wore black hats!
    But he knows better, because they didnt know about wmd giant sodas, and they supported metzitza bpeh..

  • #3

    People really are sensitive? Every Mayor should apologize when they say something bad about a race.

  • Black hat rally in Washington for SMR

    If officials are so afraid about the power of us black hatters, let’s march on Washington if G-d forbid we don’t see a change soon. We need to bring more attention and justice to SMR’s case!

  • illigitimate mayor

    What Bloomberg WOULDN’T have said was “Who wants 10,000 BLACKS outside your office screaming?”!

    I remember voting for term limits, and I remember that referendum passing. Now can someone explain to me again how this control freak managed to get a 3rd term when he was limited to 2?!

  • MJ

    During his campaign for his third term, there was a campaign ad that showed him smiling at a Litvishe-looking frum guy. A couple weeks later, a campaign worker rang my bell, and guess who it was– the guy who appeared in the ad! It’s interesting how he had to use one of his workers for the ad. I gave him a bit of a hard time, but finally asked him who Bloomberg was running against and he said Bill Thompson. I told him that if it were between Bloomberg and Thompson, I would vote for Bloomberg.