White Plains mayor-elect Justin Brasch won the city’s mayoral election with almost 70% support on Tuesday, a victory he credits to a principle he believes can also fight antisemitism: working as a proud Jew to help make life better for every community in his city.
Brasch explained to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that he was elected to the White Plains Common Council eight years ago and believed that the city’s confidence in him for the mayoralty came from his work across communities.
He prided himself on being accessible to residents and the one who people called to get things done – even when it was not glamorous and as minor as getting approvals for renovating one’s kitchen.
“People know me for my work,” which he related was a 24/7 job, hand-in-hand with community members belonging to black churches, Muslim mosques, and Jewish synagogues of all denominations.
White Plains was a city that found strength in diversity, Brasch explained, and strong ties between the different faith and ethnic communities meant it didn’t “have the problems facing other cities.”
“It is my responsibility to bring people closer together,” said Brasch. “I did so as a councilman, and I will continue to do so as mayor.”
The only Orthodox Jewish elected official in Westchester County, Brasch said that his lifelong commitment to public service was informed by his Jewish identity.
'We're supposed to work to help the world become a better place': Brasch
“Everything in my life is motivated by Judaism; we’re supposed to work to help the world become a better place,” he said, later adding that this mission was a vital means for combating antisemitism.
“The way to fight antisemitism is for Jews to be involved in the non-Jewish community,” said Brasch. “When people see how much we care, they love us.”
He expressed that isolation was not good for Jewish communities and that it was important to help refute stereotypes that Jews were wealthy and only cared about themselves.
Brasch grew up “confusidox,” with one side of his family Reform and the other Orthodox, before becoming Modern Orthodox. He said the city had several denominations, represented at its five synagogues, and that community unity was important to them.
The Jewish community in White Plains was small but growing, and just as Brasch had moved to the city 20 years ago, he expected others would join the second fastest growing city in the state.
“As a result of the election of Mr. [Zohran] Mamdani, I’m sure that Jewish people and others not interested in his Democratic socialist policies will move to White Plains,” Brasch said, adding that the “safe, wonderful city full of love” was a “practical liberal city.”
Brasch began his career in public service as a 17-year-old intern for former congressman Ted Weiss, whose office he said “really cared about helping people with immigration, housing, and food insecurity problems,” among other issues.
Since then, the Democrat has served on the White Plains Planning Board and School Board Budget Advisory Committee; the Westchester County Legislature’s Citizens Budget Advisory Committee; the White Plains Multimodal Transportation Center Stakeholder Task Force; the NYC Sierra Club Political Committee; and the Mid-Manhattan NAACP.
As a member of the White Plains Common Council, he served as its president and chair of the city’s Youth Bureau.
Brasch said there was a major focus on helping youth in the city, with a large Youth Bureau that maintained 68 youth programs that were free for those who couldn’t afford them.
He said that this created a communal environment “where everyone feels supported.”
Youth issues were still important to Brasch, who campaigned on an intergenerational community center for seniors and youth, more affordable housing, and sustainability.
The mayor-elect believed his policies would manage the growth for the rapidly growing city, which also swelled in population size today due to civil servants commuting to the county seat.
“I ran a positive and issues-oriented campaign in the primary and in the general, and people responded well to that,” said Brasch.