The Simon Wiesenthal Center today hailed New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for directing state police and the Division of Human Rights to investigate allegations of pervasive anti-Semitism throughout the Pine Bush Central School District in upstate New York.

“We commend Governor Cuomo for his immediate and vigorous response. It is simply incredulous to believe that just 90 minutes from New York City—home of the largest Jewish community in the U.S.—that anti-Semitism is not only alive and well but it is actively walking the corridors of our schools in broad daylight,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center.

Speaking from Wiesenthal Center’s New York office, Mark Weitzman, the Center's Director of Government Affairs, said, “Governor Cuomo is sending the unequivocal message that anti-Semitism and bigotry have no place in New York’s schools or in any school in this country. We are offering our support to make our schools and neighborhoods free from bigotry and harassment.”

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).