Gov. Kathy Hochul signed “Keeping New Yorkers Safe” legislation at Sunday morning’s Met Council Legislative Breakfast. The law establishes 50-foot security perimeters at houses of worship in which protests are not allowed.

“You have no right to harass someone walking into a synagogue with their family to carry on a tradition that has been there for centuries and centuries, and have to put up with people screaming vile epithets,” Hochul said. “That is wildly unAmerican and it’s definitely not how we do it in New York.”

Now, she said, “that will be not just condemned, but prohibited.”

Moving beyond politics, Met Council CEO and Executive Director David Greenfield spoke about his organization’s work.

“When New Yorkers have nowhere to turn, they turn to my council,” he said. “Across eight programs, we meet people at the hardest moments of their lives — food on an empty table, a hot meal, a familiar face … the rent covered before the eviction notice, the safe way out for victims of domestic violence, benefits secured, a career is launched, a crisis answered — whatever the need,  Met Counsel is there.”

Greenfield emphasized that although Met Council is a Jewish organization, “we proudly serve New Yorkers of every race, every faith, every background.”

“Demand for food is rising. Demand for housing is rising. When New Yorkers are hurting, Met council responds first — that’s the work they do each and every day,” said Mark Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council-NY.

Rep. Grace Meng of Queens said programs to feed the hungry are under attack and that she would oppose cuts “and do everything in my power to blunt their impact.”

“I’m also working with my colleagues to double down on the fight against antisemitism and hate in all its forms,” she said. “We have all read the statistics, but numbers don’t tell the whole story. It’s different to see swastikas on synagogues right in our own neighborhoods, to hear chants of support for Hamas, and to fear for one’s safety because of religious identity.”

Eric Goldstein, CEO of UJA-Federation of NY, praised Met Council for doing work that “is so holy and precious in this moment.”

He thanked the many government officials in attendance for their ongoing support of Met Council initiatives, pointing out that “we can supplement government, we can’t substitute for government.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, famous for assuring Jewish audiences that he is their shomer, their watchdog, ommited that pitch from his talk at the breakfast.

He said the resurgence of antisemitism keeps him up at night.

Referring to members of his family who were murdered in the Holocaust, he said, “I worry about the future my grandchildren are going to inherit.”