Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres on Sunday slammed Mayor Eric Adams’ administration for giving solely a slap on the wrist to a taxpayer-funded staffer caught ripping down an Israeli hostage poster.
Nallah Sutherland, 25, an Adams’ staffer whose job is suppposedly to bridge “cultural divides,” tore up the poster on the Higher East Aspect on Nov. 2 and dumped it within the trash — then allegedly attacked an onlooker who questioned her, based on the social-media platform Jews of NY and nonprofit StopAntisemetism.
In response to the alleged hate-fueled antic, Metropolis Corridor merely made Sutherland bear “multicultural coaching” and put a notice in her file, administration sources completely informed The Submit over the weekend.
“I might fireplace anybody who engaged in acts of antisemitism like tearing down posters of the hostages,” Torres informed The Submit in a press release Sunday. “I name on the mayor to do the identical.
“Town and the state mustn’t solely preach but additionally follow zero tolerance for antisemitism,” stated the Democrat, who’s eying a run for governor.
Torres added on his private X account, “If I have been on the helm of NYS or NYC authorities, antisemites needn’t apply. Tearing down posters of the hostages is totally unacceptable and wouldn’t be tolerated.”
Sutherland works as a special-event coordinator for the Mayor’s Workplace of Particular Initiatives and Group Occasions, raking in $61,135 a yr serving to to plan celebrations Hizzoner hosts honoring the various metropolis’s many ethnic teams.
She is a part of a crew whose job is meant to “bridge cultural divides … and assist key metropolis initiatives that assist present a supply of power, unity, and resilience to New Yorkers throughout all communities throughout the 5 boroughs and past,” based on the workplace’s web site.
Footage of the Nov. 2 incident on the nook of East 84th Road and York Avenue reveals Sutherland tearing off the poster and tossing it within the trash.
“Is there a motive you’re taking these down?” asks an eyewitness concerning the poster, a part of a public artwork marketing campaign to lift consciousness for the Israeli and American hostages taken captive by Hamas terrorists throughout their Oct. 7, 2023, assault on the Jewish state.
“These have been hostages. They have been taken by terrorists,” the eyewitness says, based on the 20-second clip he recorded.
Sutherland then walks towards the person and swipes his telephone together with her proper hand, briefly knocking it out of focus, the video reveals.
“That’s assault really. You realize that, proper?” the person tells Sutherland, who will be seen within the clip smirking and strolling away.
The federal government worker started working for the Democratic mayor — a staunch Israel supporter – in 2023, information present.
Sutherland is a “junior staffer” who doesn’t instantly work together with Adams, based on sources.
“Mayor Adams has been clear that hate has no place in our metropolis, and the identical – if not increased – normal needs to be held for our metropolis’s greater than 300,000 staff,” the mayor’s workplace stated in a press release.
“That’s the reason disciplinary motion was taken instantly after studying about this incident just a few weeks in the past.”
Sutherland didn’t return messages from The Submit.
