How Boro Park chassid Pinny Ringel won the respect of de Blasio and the trust of his people

Photos: Naftoli Goldgrab, Personal archives

As mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio flummoxed the Orthodox community.At times he seemed to be an earnest friend who helped wherever he could — changing garbage pickup to nighttime hours to avoid interfering with school bus schedules, abolishing a policy that falsely framed bris milah as dangerous, and working with yeshivos after they were sued by the state for supposed inadequacies in their secular studies curriculum.

At other times, though, Orthodox Jews perceived the de Blasio administration as antagonistic. His tone-deaf policies on crime and commerce, peaking with Midtown going up in flames during the 2020 race riots — encouraged by the mayor, who even suspended Covid lockdown rules for protesters — will discourage companies from moving to the Big Apple for a long time.

In particular, the mayor will forever be remembered by the Jewish community for a single tweet that came late one evening in April 2020, during the Covid lockdown. The mayor had heard reports of a levayah going on in Williamsburg. The local community said they had coordinated with the police department, but the mayor came down personally to break it up.

“My message to the Jewish community, and all communities,” went the now-famous tweet, “is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups.”

But the next day, there were no repercussions for tens of thousands of New Yorkers who gathered in Battery Park to watch an air show. Later, parks in Jewish neighborhoods were padlocked, while children in other areas had access to their playgrounds; and around the same time, De Blasio allowed for large-scale demonstrations, while shuls were still shuttered.

During all this, where was his inner circle of frum Jewish advisors, who’d been helping him establish policy since the days when he was a New York public advocate?

Bill de Blasio may have fallen short, but at least he had Pinny Ringel at his side.

In the world of Jewish liaisons, Pinny Ringel stands out. A Belzer chassid from Boro Park with an unusually warm relationship with the mayor, Ringel, whose official title was “assistant commissioner for the mayor’s Community Affairs Unit,” has been on the forefront of many of the friendships and feuds that have characterized the de Blasio years. In conversations with several askanim about Ringel, the term “loyal” and “results” figured prominently.