FOREST HILLS, N.Y. (VINnews) — Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman on Wednesday pressed Jewish New Yorkers to turn out against what he called unchecked antisemitism, telling a Bukharian Jewish gathering that only the governor can restrain New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican nominee for governor, speaks at a public event. (File photo)

Blakeman, who is Jewish, spoke in Forest Hills at an event of the Bukharian Jewish Congress marking three years since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. He wore a yarmulke and cast the Nov. 3 race against Gov. Kathy Hochul as the lever that could check the mayor.

“There is only one person that can stop Zohran Mamdani and that is the governor of the state of New York,” Blakeman said. “And this governor will not only not stop him, she is encouraging him. She’s campaigning with him. She endorsed him.”

“I’m here today as a father, a grandfather,” he said. “I am going to fight for my children and my grandchildren. I am going to fight for your children and your grandchildren. But I can’t do it alone. You need to get into this fight.”

About 70,000 Bukharian Jews, many of them immigrants from Uzbekistan and other former Soviet republics in Central Asia, live in Queens, concentrated in Rego Park, Forest Hills and Kew Gardens. Members of the community largely backed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo over Mamdani in last year’s mayoral race.

Blakeman, 71, the Nassau County executive, is the underdog against Hochul, a Democrat seeking a second full term. He recounted the Oct. 7 attacks, which killed more than 1,200 people, and criticized a statement Mamdani issued Wednesday accusing Israel of genocide as fighting in Gaza continues.

“The antisemitism is out of control,” Blakeman said. “We have a mayor of New York City who put a statement just today, on Oct. 7, where he makes a moral equivalence between the attack on Oct. 7 and the Palestinian cause, whatever that cause may be.”

Blakeman has said he would not let remarks he considers antisemitic pass, and that a governor has the power to act if the mayor does not stop. Mamdani has said he opposes Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, supports Jewish residents and has no tolerance for antisemitism.

Hochul has long described herself as a supporter of Israel and visited the country shortly after the massacre. On Wednesday she ordered flags on state buildings flown at half-staff.

“The pain of that dark day has not faded. But neither has the strength, resilience and enduring hope of the Jewish people,” Hochul said. “Today, we remember the innocent lives stolen, stand with the survivors and the families forever changed, and pray for a lasting peace.”

She spoke that night at a United Jewish Appeal commemoration. Campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said Hochul has advanced a statewide plan against antisemitism and directed $130 million to fight hate crimes.

“She was the first American official to visit disaster sites in Israel in the wake of the October 7th attack — she will never stop fighting back against antisemitism every time it rears its head and she will never stop standing up for Jewish New Yorkers,” Chitika said.

Hochul has mostly declined to criticize Mamdani and defended him after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the mayor of inciting violence against Jewish New Yorkers.

A Marist poll released this week showed Hochul leading Blakeman by 11 points. Democrats hold a wide registration edge: about 6 million registered Democrats, 2.8 million Republicans and 3.4 million voters with no party enrollment, according to the state Board of Elections. Hochul and the state Democratic Party entered the closing weeks with a combined $33 million on hand.