New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay came under fire once again for a controversial take on a story about Hasidic schools on Twitter Sunday morning.
The left-leaning journalist promoted a Times article originally published on Sept. 11 that claimed the Hasidic Jewish community in New York is “flush with public money” but failing to educate their children due to a lack of regulation.
“Happy Sunday! Today is a great day to read about how politicians in New York have allowed your taxpayer money to keep flowing to schools that purposefully deny Hasidic children basic education,” Gay tweeted.
Social media users largely attacked this tweet, along with the article, for singling out and condemning Jewish schools.
NY TIMES REPORT, ACLU REACTION TO REPORT ON HASIDIC SCHOOLS SPARK FIERCE DEBATE
“In 2022, with violent Antisemitic crime in NY at an all time high, a member of the NY Times editorial board thinks it’s appropriate to accuse politicians of taking YOUR TAXPAYER MONEY to fund Jewish schools. Hasidic Jews pay taxes AND tuition. Your Tweet is offensive @MaraGay,” Newsweek Opinion columnist Joel M. Petlin wrote.
Townhall columnist Brad Slager tweeted, “The brazen anti-semitism in layers here is amazing, and yet not a sound from the outrage set in the press over this.”
Author Bob Burg wrote, “Absolutely heartbreaking! And masses of readers will believe this ‘mishegas’ because it’s simply easier (and perhaps more desirable) to believe it then to question all of the false premises!”
“Did you learn to do math like this at NYC public schools?” Ron DeSantis rapid response director Christina Pushaw wrote, referencing Gay’s infamous appearance on MSNBC in 2020 where she suggested that former Mayor Michael Bloomberg could have given every American $1 million from his $500 million ad campaign.
Similarly, columnist Karol Markowicz tweeted, “Woman who thought Mike Bloomberg could give every American a million dollars has some thoughts on education.”
School choice advocate Corey A. DeAngelis noted, “New York City government schools spend over $35,000 per student per year.”
TorahMusings.com editor Gil Student tweeted, “If you don’t want your tax dollars to pay for my kids’ education then give me a full tax deduction for yeshiva tuition so I don’t have to pay twice for education.”
“Your ‘investigation’ left out key basic facts and spun others to fit a predetermined narrative that ‘others’ Haredi Jews. You should be ashamed,” Heritage Foundation Research Fellow Jason Bedrick wrote.
Bedrick also penned a lengthy Twitter thread criticizing the original article for relying “on anecdote and innuendo to make their case” while providing “no data.”
Despite the original article also receiving backlash, the New York Times defended the piece in a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday.
“Our reporters spent months seeking to help readers understand what is happening inside some of New York’s lowest performing schools,” a spokesperson said. “They spoke to more than 275 people, including current and former students, teachers, administrators and regulators to explain the inner workings of these Hasidic Jewish religious schools, which receive substantial amounts of public money. The resulting article speaks for itself, and we stand behind it.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In August, the New York Times was forced to cut ties with several freelance reporters after it was discovered that they had a history of anti-Semitic posts. In addition, New York has seen a significant rise in anti-Semitic attacks.
Fox News’ Cortney O’Brien and Yael Halon contributed to this report.
