{"id":219762,"date":"2026-05-04T21:13:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219762\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T21:13:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:13:56","slug":"no-mets-no-problem-nyers-get-their-jewish-celebration-day-in-brooklyn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219762\/","title":{"rendered":"No Mets? No problem. NYers get their Jewish Celebration Day in Brooklyn."},"content":{"rendered":"

David Tribuch is a lifelong Mets fan who used to attend the team\u2019s annual Jewish Heritage Night with his family growing up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the Mets haven\u2019t held one in three years \u2014 a fact that has generated discourse and angered a number of their Jewish fans<\/a>. So on Sunday, Tribuch made the trip down to Coney Island for a different day of Jewish-themed baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big Mets fan, but they haven\u2019t done one recently, so I figured this was a good shot to support the team,\u201d he said, referring to the Brooklyn Cyclones, a minor league affiliate of the Mets that hosted its Jewish Celebration Day on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The game against the Frederick Keys, which ended as a 4-1 loss for the Cyclones, attracted about 1,000 more attendees than a typical game the same time last year \u2014 suggesting that others, like Tribuch, might have come out just for the Jewish celebration. (Cyclones games typically see about 2,000 spectators<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

A group of 15 Holocaust survivors threw out the first pitch, Israeli-American Jewish rapper Kosha Dillz performed some of his signature Jewish rap between innings, and children ran the bases to \u201cHava Nagila.\u201d Kiosks set up for the day included an egg cream station hosted by Brooklyn Seltzer Boys and one selling tickets for an upcoming Israel Elite Hockey League game being played on Long Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s very excited to be here, and I\u2019m very glad to host them,\u201d said Jeff Klein, the director of ticket sales for the Cyclones. \u201cAnd just having the Holocaust survivors was really moving, because that\u2019s historic. You know, we won\u2019t be able to do this in five, 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked whether he believed that the buzz about the Mets had contributed to the added excitement for Sunday\u2019s game, Klein replied, \u201cYes,\u201d adding that the team had no plans to stop hosting the annual Jewish heritage event moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, we have the largest Jewish community outside of Israel,\u201d Klein said. \u201cBrooklyn is the size of Chicago, the population and density, so we have a sizable Jewish community, and they come, and we want to support them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Holocaust survivors throw the first pitch at a Brooklyn Cyclones game on May 3, 2026. (Holocaust Survivor Support Services, JCC Greater Coney Island)<\/p>\n

One of the Holocaust survivors who stepped up to the pitcher\u2019s mound, Trudy Tajerstein, who fled Vienna as a teenager, said that it was \u201cvery nice\u201d to have been invited to the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an ordinary celebration,\u201d Tajerstein said. \u201cI was surprised that they did so many Jewish things, I never thought that baseball was so important, but yes, it is the American pastime, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans who purchased Jewish Celebration Day tickets were entitled to one of a number of hats resembling the Israeli flag, as well as a free kosher hot dog.<\/p>\n

Daniel Kaye said it \u201cmeans a lot\u201d to him that the game included a number of Israel-related details, such as the playing of the Israeli national anthem and the design of the special event hats, which were widely worn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important that we show support for Israel, so I couldn\u2019t be happier,\u201d Kaye said.<\/p>\n

Kaye is a Minnesota Twins fan originally from Minneapolis. He said he had been surprised to learn that the Mets were not having a Jewish Heritage Night this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s silly that they, for whatever reason, decided to opt out of doing it,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat reasons do you have to not do it? New York is like the most Jewish state in the country. So, like, why would you not have that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A photo of the Brooklyn Cyclones game on May 3, 2026. (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)<\/p>\n

Indeed, the absence of a special Jewish night on the Mets calendar has been a recent cause for concern and confusion among some Jewish fans. After a Substack post called attention to the lack of such a night on the calendar, some alleged without evidence that the Mets had done away with the special event in response to an increasingly anti-Zionist and antisemitic atmosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, the Mets have not held such an event since 2023, predating both the war in Gaza, which turned the inclusion of Jewish groups into an increasingly sensitive issue, and protests from an Italian-American group over the lack of an Italian heritage night. In 2024, the team announced that it would replace heritage nights with a \u201cCelebration of Queens Culture,\u201d though it has since added back some of the special events.<\/p>\n

The Mets have not commented publicly on the Jewish Heritage Night kerfuffle, which spurred petitions and angry social media posts from Jews calling for such an event to be added to the year\u2019s schedule.<\/p>\n

Many attendees at the Cyclones\u2019 Jewish game said they were aware of the discourse. Jeffrey Rosenberg said he had been \u201cvery disappointed\u201d to learn of the lack of a Jewish Heritage Night this year, adding that he believed the Mets had \u201cbuckled down to pressure from outside forces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waiting in the sprawling line for his kosher hotdog, Jacob Gottstein said that he had been drawn to the game because \u201cI love the Cyclones and I love the Jewish people.\u201d He dismissed the Mets\u2019 heritage night controversy as overblown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen all the buzz on the internet, people need to calm down\u2026it\u2019s just a lot of hubbub for nothing,\u201d Gottstein said. \u201cI\u2019m not buying into it that they got rid of it because of Mamdani, or because of a greater risk this year that wasn\u2019t there in previous years. They stopped doing it several years ago for completely unrelated reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kosha Dillz, whose real name is Rami Even-Esh, said the controversy surrounding the Mets\u2019 calendar amounted to little more than \u201chearsay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t have Jewish Heritage Night for a couple years now, so it wasn\u2019t like, oh my God, this is the year they didn\u2019t do it, and honestly, all Jews are Mets fans,\u201d Even-Esh said. \u201cBut the point being is, you know, go where we\u2019re celebrated and don\u2019t worry about negative news. This is, like, positive news day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not every Jew crowding into the Cyclones game knew it was a special occasion when they arrived. Despite his spirited, dyed-blue beard and blue ribboned fedora indicating otherwise, Robert Friedhoffer had no idea Sunday\u2019s Brooklyn Cyclones game was Jewish Celebration Day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Richard Friedhoffer, a physics professor and magician, attends a Brooklyn Cyclones game, May 3, 2026. (Jackie Hajdenberg)<\/p>\n

Friedhoffer, a Jewish physics professor and magician, came out to Coney Island to support a friend who was working the game as the clown. It was his first baseball game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNo idea. Just happened to be. And I was very surprised and glad to see it,\u201d he said. Then, referring to the stadium\u2019s namesake, a hospital system named for a 12th-century rabbi and physician, he added, \u201cI didn\u2019t even know this was called Maimonides Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

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