NYC Council Member Accuses Queens Campaign Group of ‘Grotesque Antisemitism’ After Protest Outside Synagogue
Supporters of the ‘Glendale Middle Village Coalition’ marching from the house of real estate developer Michael Wilner to his synagogue. Photo: Screenshot.
A New York City Council member on Tuesday charged a community group in the borough of Queens with having carried out “a grotesque act of antisemitism” when its supporters demonstrated next to the Long Island synagogue of a real estate developer with whom they were in conflict.
“Protesting outside a person’s synagogue on the Sabbath because they might not develop their private property the way you want is a grotesque act of antisemitism and fully deserves our unqualified condemnation,” Rory Lancman — a member for the 24th District of the New York City Council — declared in a statement.
Lancman was referring to an impromptu rally organized during Shabbat services last Saturday by a local activist group, the “Glendale Middle Village Coalition,” outside Temple Or Elohim in Long Island — where realtor Michael Wilner serves as president.
The group is opposed Wilner’s plan to establish a homeless shelter at a former factory in the Queens neighborhood, and have called on him to build a school instead.
Lancman said that the Glendale Middle Village Coalition members “should be ashamed of themselves, and should apologize for their repugnant conduct.”
According to a report in local news outlet QNS.com, protesters had initially gathered outside Wilner’s home in Jericho, Long Island, on Saturday morning. After they discovered the house was empty, they marched to Wilner’s synagogue chanting, “Michael Wilner shame on you, let us build our school.”
When the demonstrators arrived at the synagogue, cantor David Katz rushed outside to confront them.
“I’m livid and I can’t believe they would come to a place of worship to protest someone who is a member here. It has nothing to do with the temple,” Katz said.