New York City Council member Virginia Maloney was moved by the “extraordinary privilege” of celebrating Holocaust survivors and described a “palpable joy in the room,” as attendees celebrated another year of life during a Blue Card event at Tiberias, a kosher restaurant in Midtown Manhattan.
At the event on Wednesday, 34 Holocaust survivors, ages 90 and older, celebrated milestone birthdays.
“These survivors have lived through some of humanity’s darkest chapters, and they deserve every moment of happiness, dignity and love we can give them,” Maloney told JNS. “To celebrate their 100th birthdays is to recognize all the life they created after so much was taken from them.”
“Every candle on those birthday cakes represents another year of a life that hatred failed to extinguish,” she said.
The council member told JNS that it is important to preserve survivor testimony, as fewer people who witnessed and experienced the Holocaust remain to testify about it.
Their lives teach younger generations about the “consequences of unchecked antisemitism” and the “cost of silence but also the extraordinary strength of a Jewish community that has endured, rebuilt and flourished against unimaginable odds,” she said.
“Three years after the horrors of Oct. 7, Jewish New Yorkers are still confronting antisemitism in their neighborhoods, schools and everyday lives,” Maloney told JNS. “No one should have to question whether they can safely practice their faith, wear a Star of David or proudly express their Jewish identity in New York City.”
Maloney, who serves on the council’s bipartisan task force on Jew-hatred, thinks that elected officials have a duty to confront hatred directly. The city secured $700,000 this year for Jewish organizations, including $545,000 for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, supporting Holocaust history preservation, education and the Jewish community, she said.
“As elected officials, we have a responsibility to match our words with action,” Maloney told JNS. “But we also have a responsibility to show up, to listen and to celebrate the people who have made our city what it is.”
“New York would not be New York without its Jewish community,” she said.
Maloney told JNS that she wants every Jewish New Yorker to know that “they belong here, that they are valued and that I will always stand with them.”
Mark Levine, New York City comptroller, attended the event, as did Julie Menin, the first Jewish speaker of the City Council.
“The Blue Card, with my friend Masha Pearl at the helm, works tirelessly to honor the indomitable spirit of Holocaust survivors,” Levine told JNS. “I can’t think of a better way to do so than to celebrate those who have reached 100-years-old or beyond.”
“At a time when elevated levels of antisemitism threaten the steady progress made since the Holocaust, taking time to share in the joy these survivors refuse to give up is incredibly important and a privilege to have experienced,” he said.
On Thursday, Levine said that the “economic relationship between New York City and Israel is deeply important,” hours after the New York Times reported that he said the Big Apple was sunsetting its Israel Bonds investment.
“Like many Jewish New Yorkers, my deep personal connection to Israel is a part of who I am,” he stated. “It will not change.” (JNS sought further comment from Levine about the city’s pension investments and Israel bonds.)
Annmarie Kolner, who turned 100, and Sally Muschel, who will turn 101 in early November, were among those celebrated at the event, which included birthday cake, gifts, beauty makeovers and remarks from city officials.
The council speaker, Menin, is the daughter and granddaughter of survivors, and her grandfather was killed during the Holocaust. At the event, she thanked Blue Card for its work supporting survivors and discussed efforts to combat Jew-hatred.
In earlier remarks to JNS, Menin highlighted the need for Holocaust education and cited the statistic that 34% of young New Yorkers believe that the Holocaust was a myth or is exaggerated.
“The only way we’re really going to counteract that is through education,” she has told JNS.
Menin received a plaque from Blue Card with an original blue card that inspired the organization’s name.
Eva Wyner, director of Jewish affairs for Gov. Kathy Hochul, also attended the event, during which the skincare company Clarins offered mini-makeovers to survivors, and fashion label Zero Point Two donated hats.
Attendees also received handmade bracelets created by a volunteer named Eliana for her bat mitzvah.
Masha Pearl, executive director of Blue Card, described the gathering as a celebration of the survivors’ lives and the support they deserve.
“These survivors were once children, whose futures were nearly stolen from them,” she said. “Today, we celebrated a century of life and reminded them how deeply they are loved.”
Blue Card provides financial assistance and other support to Holocaust survivors, including those living in poverty. Some 14,700 Holocaust survivors live in New York City, according to Blue Card.
“Every survivor deserves the care that makes days like this possible and the comfort of knowing someone will be there when the celebration ends,” Pearl said.