A woman holds a sign with a swastika on it to the right of Rob Astorino, a Republican candidate for governor,
outside state Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz’s Bronx offi ce on Nov. 14. Photo courtesy Jeffrey Dinowitz
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N BTR OV. 19-25, 2021 5
BY ALIYA SCHNEIDER
New York State Assemblyman
Jeffrey Dinowitz, a Democrat, said
he was disgusted and offended by
Nazi imagery used at an event outside
his district office Sunday in opposition
to a bill he is sponsoring.
Assembly Bill A8378, which is
sitting in committee, would amend
the state public health law to add
COVID-19 to the required immunizations
to attend school. The bill is
also sponsored by Assemblyman
Richard Gottfried, a Manhattan
Democrat, and Assemblyman Phil
Steck, a Colonie Democrat.
Republican gubernatorial candidate
Rob Astorino spoke at the
event, surrounded by protestors —
including parents and their kids —
in support of his anti-mandate message,
some shouting out that they
don’t co-parent with the government.
More than one protestor surrounding
Astorino, at 3107 Kingsbridge
Ave., were seen using Nazi
imagery, which Astorino claims he
did not notice.
One woman held a sign with a
swastika drawn on it, to the right
of Astorino, the former Westchester
County executive. Another protestor,
who is identified in a YouTube
video as Daniel Atha, wore a yellow
star, representing the badge Jews
were forced to wear under the Nazi
regime as a prelude to the systematic
killing of 6 million Jews. Atha
is the former director of conservation
outreach at the New York Botanical
Garden, who left the Bronx
institution after 27 years when it
implemented a vaccine mandate in
August.
“People are perfectly free to express
their opinion on vaccines or
any issue, but to openly display Nazi
symbols outside the office of a Jewish
legislator is despicable,” Dinowitz
tweeted on Sunday.
In another tweet, Dinowitz said
Astorino stood beside the symbols
without speaking up.
But Astorino tweeted that he
didn’t see them and that there is no
comparison to the atrocities of the
Holocaust.
“Regardless of who the woman
was or why she was there, if I saw
the sign I would have stopped and
had it removed. Absolutely inappropriate,”
Astorino said in another
tweet.
The YouTube video of the event,
posted by Manny Grossman, calls
the gathering a rally for medical
freedom. Grossman said he was
fired from the New York Botanical
Garden as an educator about a year
ago after 10 years after sharing his
thoughts with students about Bill
Gates.
New York Botanical Garden
did not repsond to requests for comment.
“We have a genuine concern
about what might become a law if
he gets his way,” Astorino said of Dinowitz
at the protest.
Dinowitz tweeted on Saturday in
advance of what he termed an “antivax
event,” directing people to avoid
the area if they are concerned about
the risk of transmitting COVID-19
“or other preventable diseases.” In
a statement, he said Astorino’s position
is “obviously anti-vaccine, as
evidenced by the anti-vaccine signs
and statements from the 40-50 people
who attended his rally.”
But Phil Oliva, spokesman
for Astorino’s campaign, said the
54-year-old and his wife both received
the COVID-19 inoculation,
and their children have other vaccines.
Astorino is against all COVID
19 vaccine mandates but encourages
adults to discuss the
vaccine with their doctors, and
thinks they should strongly consider
getting it if they are older or
have health issues, Oliva said.
Astorino told Dinowitz on Twitter
to have the “guts” to meet and
learn “why so many parents oppose
your mandate.”
Dinowitz said in a statement he
refused “to be cowed by anti-Semites
or anti-science extremists” and
that vaccine requirements have a
“demonstrably positive impact” on
reducing fatalities and hospitalizations.”
School bill protestors
use Nazi imagery
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