{"id":327787,"date":"2026-08-23T12:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T12:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/327787\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T12:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T12:12:09","slug":"jessica-tisch-says-she-stands-with-nyc-synagogue-after-antisemitic-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/327787\/","title":{"rendered":"Jessica Tisch says she stands with NYC synagogue after antisemitic attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Telling Central Synagogue members, \u201cI stand with you,\u201d New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Friday called last week\u2019s attack at the Midtown house of worship<\/a>, for which a man was charged with federal hate crimes, part of a \u201cbroader pattern\u201d of bias attacks against Jews in New York City and around the world.<\/p>\n

Tisch spoke during the Shabbat service at the Manhattan synagogue, where one week earlier Larry Montes, 46, was accused of striking a 63-year-old woman and yelling \u201cF*** you, n****r!\u201d at a 65-year-old Black security guard before spitting in his face and headbutting him.<\/p>\n

She emphasized the disparity in the number of crimes targeting Jews, who make up only 10% of the city\u2019s population, but who are targeted in roughly half of all hate crimes in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose numbers are staggering, but sometimes the data can be just that, numbers on a page, abstract, at a distance,\u201d she told the congregation. \u201cWhat happened here last Friday brought that hatred inside the doors of this synagogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commissioner said the NYPD has been tracking attacks targeting Jewish victims across the globe ever since Hamas and terrorist groups attacked Israel on October 7<\/a>, 2023.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Police Department officers stand guard at Central Synagogue in New York, US, December 11, 2019. (credit: REUTERS\/EDUARDO MUNOZ)<\/p>\n

\u201cSince October 7, hate has ricocheted across the globe, and the Jewish community has been targeted again and again,\u201d Tisch said. \u201cWe have watched rhetoric shift from slogans to direct calls for violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said violence against Jews abroad may inspire attacks closer to home.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery high-profile attack raises the risk of another. Individuals already on the edge do not always need instructions. Sometimes, all they need is a spark,\u201d the top cop said. \u201cThat is why we take threats seriously, and why we work aggressively to intervene before hatred becomes violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

NYPD doing everything it can to thwart antisemitic attacks<\/p>\n

The commissioner sought to reassure the congregation that the NYPD was doing everything in its power to safeguard Jewish New Yorkers and thwart antisemitic attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcross New York City, our precinct commanders and community affairs officers are in contact with synagogues and yeshivas, doing everything we can to ensure their safety,\u201d Tisch said. \u201cOur Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau acts aggressively against potential threats and directs resources where they are needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a proud Jew and a lifelong member of this congregation, you have my word that I stand with you in these uncertain, precarious times,\u201d Tisch pledged.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd as Police commissioner, you have my word that behind that commitment stand 35,000 members of the NYPD willing to risk their own lives for people they have never met, supported by the most robust municipal counterterrorism capacity in the world and a Hate Crimes Task Force that is second to none.\u201d<\/p>\n

After she finished her remarks, the Central Synagogue members all rose to their feet and gave Tisch a sustained standing ovation, before the service ended with music and the traditional sharing of challah bread.<\/p>\n

‘Yasher Koach Madame Commissioner’<\/p>\n

Worshipers watching the service on the house of worship\u2019s Facebook livestream were heartened by Tisch\u2019s steady presence and reassuring words.<\/p>\n

\u201cYasher Koach [good job] Madame Commissioner,\u201d one posted, meaning \u201cgood job\u201d in Yiddish.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Commissioner Tisch is this good every day as she is from the bima, I feel hopeful for New York,\u201d another wrote, referring to the rabbis\u2019 platform at the front of the temple.<\/p>\n

The bizarre attack, part of which was caught on a livestream of the previous week\u2019s Shabbat service, outraged Jewish leaders and public officials, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, who said he was \u201chorrified\u201d by the hateful incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur administration will always stand against bigotry in all its forms,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will use every tool at our disposal to confront antisemitism and keep Jewish New Yorkers, and all New Yorkers, safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montes called congregants at Central Synagogue \u201cswine\u201d and himself God, before attacking congregant Michele Anaberg-Poma, 63, and the security guard while screaming a racist slur at him, cops said. He also grabbed and threw two $10,000 candle holders to the ground, breaking them, and screamed at the congregation, according to prosecutors. Police said he also spewed, \u201cF***k the Jews.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Ananberg-Poma posted on Instagram the night of the attack, remaining defiant despite Montes\u2019 berserk outburst.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will not punch out our Jewish light. You will not stand and cause harm to our eternal light,\u201d Ananberg-Poma wrote. \u201cWe will continue to sing our prayers of peace, love, and joy while protecting the voices that lead us each week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montes was charged with two counts of committing hate crimes and one count of damage to religious property resulting in bodily injury for last Friday\u2019s attack, according to the Manhattan US Attorney\u2019s Office. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted on the top charge.<\/p>\n

His relatives called Montes a troubled man whose struggles have worsened since the recent death of his grandmother, who raised him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Telling Central Synagogue members, \u201cI stand with you,\u201d New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Friday called…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3862,75,9,24,56,63,65,64,103,26120,15357,82],"class_list":["post-327787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-antisemitism","tag-manhattan","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-nypd","tag-synagogue","tag-the-october-7-massacre","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}