NEW CITY, NY – Reactions are pouring in regarding a controversial video posted on the official Rockland County Republican Party Facebook page.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day

“The video posted by the Rockland County Republican Party to their Facebook page has set a troubling tone for a necessary conversation about overdevelopment in our county. While the content of the video is factual, the tone and undercurrent is unacceptable.

Having listened closely to the concerns raised by residents and community leaders, I have contacted GOP Chairman Lawrence Garvey to request its removal and he assured me that he will.”

As I have demonstrated, I have a great deal of respect for our Jewish neighbors and want them to know that as their County Executive I will always stand up against hatred. That said, the concerns raised about overdevelopment are accurate, well-grounded and desperately need to be addressed, but this must be done in a way free of rhetoric and rancor.

Governor Andrew Cuomo

The anti-Semitic video created and shared on social media by the Rockland County GOP Committee is disgusting, and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.

Every single member of New York's GOP must openly denounce this hateful rhetoric immediately. pic.twitter.com/KPm1pP9NgT

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 29, 2019

NYS Attorney General Tish James

The anti-Semitic video from the Rockland County GOP is deeply disturbing. They must remove & condemn it. Saying that members of the Jewish community are a threat to families, our safety & that they must be stopped is despicable.

We must all stand together to denounce this hate.

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) August 29, 2019

Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski

Rockland has many issues: illegal housing, education, overdevelopment, taxes, corruption etc. and I will continue to fight for them in way that offers concrete solutions. The sad fact is the Republican Chair would rather us fight about his inappropriate video than work on these problems in a mature and effective way. We should all condemn the imagery in this video that is meant to stoke fear. Afterwards we should probably ignore his facebook page of immature memes and videos and focus on the serious work we need to do to move our County and State forward. Rocklanders deserve better than this.

Senator James Skoufis

There are major issues in Rockland County that require even-tempered solutions: overdevelopment, including its impacts on our natural resources; the vitality of our local schools; and political corruption, to name a few.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to discuss these challenges. The video created by the Rockland County GOP is unequivocally the wrong way. Words and imagery matter and this campaign piece falls far short of what people deserve in their political discourse.

The video ought to be immediately removed.

Senator David Carlucci

“Hateful rhetoric must be denounced wherever it is seen. Words have meaning. This video is an attempt to create fear and division, while offering no solutions. In Rockland, we must rise above party politics and work together to combat over development and lax code enforcement.”

Naftuli Nick Moster – President and Founder of YAFFED (Young Advocates for Fair Education)

I don’t approve of this video. While Aron Wieder is a vile human being and an ignoramus, this is more of an attack on the entire ultra-Orthodox community, many of whom don’t agree with Wieder and his antics.

I also want to take this opportunity to call out the broader Jewish community for not speaking up when one of our own, emboldened by corrupt leaders, is causing so much division and hatred in this county.

Community Activist Group Citizens United to Protect our Neighborhood (CUPON)

Joseph Coe, Spokesperson, Rockland County Democratic Committee

The Trump playbook of using fear and division has been mastered by the leadership of the Rockland Republican Party for years. Anyone who is surprised that the Rockland County Republican Party produced an anti-Semitic video aimed at mobilizing voters hasn’t been paying attention. County Executive Ed Day, DA candidate Tom Walsh and all republican party nominees need to step up and denounce this latest video and demand that Rockland Republican Chairperson Lawrence Garvey immediately resign. Democrats, Republicans and everyone in between can and should have robust and civil policy debates- Lawrence Garvey’s use of fear and hate deter us from that objective.

Mondaire Jones – Community leader and candidate for Congress (NY-17)

Clarkstown Town Councilman Patrick Carroll

Reactions in support of the video –

Republican Party Chairman Lawrence Garvey

James Foley, candidate for Rockland County Legislature.

* We have reached out to Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee for comments (the two last remaining Rockland elected officials to comment). This article will be updated as they are available.

At the time of writing this article, the video is still posted online. *Update – as of 10:30 am the video was removed.