The battle for New York's new as if it's being fought on multiple fronts.
in the Democratic Primary in June, Assemblywoman Grace Meng, D-Flushing, has been fighting with City Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, over seemingly one issue: the defense of Israel.
Both campaigns to paint the other as the wrong candidate for Jewish voters with eyes fixed on the Middle-Eastern homeland.
Now, in a move apparently designed to pivot away from the Sea of Galilee and back to New York City, Halloran has released a new attack ad painting Meng as the candidate who's hard on cops.
The ad airs edited footage of an interview from earlier this year in which Meng said she would have stood with the New York and New Jersey Congressional delegations when they held a largely symbolic vote on the Holt Amendment, which would have prohibited the Department of Justice from using federal funds for surveillance of groups based on race or ethnicity.
At the time of the vote, Democrats said they were using the amendment as a method to force the police to improve outreach in said communities, while Republicans maintained it was intended to punish the NYPD.
The ad also credits the NYPD with thwarting 17 terror attacks in the 11 years since the World Trade Center was targeted.
Austin Finan, Meng's campaign spokesman, responded harshly to the ad.
"Shame on Dan Halloran for yet again distorting the facts to fit his warped view of reality. Mr. Halloran hasn’t a clue as to what he’s talking about," Finan said. "If he did, he would know that the Holt Amendment merely prohibits the Department of Justice from funding any illegal and unconstitutional programs."
