New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani should focus on public safety and the issues that matter to New Yorkers instead of matters outside his authority, Ruby Chen, the father of a U.S. citizen killed after being abducted by Hamas terrorists, said Sunday on Newsmax.
"I think Mr. Mamdani is a good politician," Chen told Newsmax's "Sunday Report." "As a good politician, he wishes to deflect the issues that we New Yorkers care about for issues that are out of his jurisdiction."
His comments came in response to Mamdani's refusal to directly answer whether he would arrest Hamas terrorists' leaders if they came to New York.
Chen's son, Etay, was 19 years old when he was abducted during the Oct. 7 attack. Israel later determined he was killed during the assault and that Hamas terrorists were holding his body in Gaza.
Chen, a native New Yorker, said voters elected Mamdani to improve conditions in the city rather than weigh in on international affairs.
"What New Yorkers elected him for was to make sure that our streets are safe," he said. "We want to have safe subways. We want to have a lower cost of living. That is what he was elected for, and he should stay in his lane instead of talking about other things that have nothing to do with what he was elected for."
Host Lidia Curanaj played remarks in which Mamdani, when asked whether he would have Hamas terrorists' leaders arrested if they visited New York, instead called the Oct. 7 attack "a horrific war crime" while also describing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "a war criminal."
Chen responded by highlighting the American victims of the Hamas terrorists' attack.
"We should remind Mr. Mamdani that Hamas killed 46 U.S. citizens, including my son," he said.
He also pointed to the Anti-Terrorism Act, noting that he has pursued legal action against individuals and organizations he says helped finance Hamas terrorists.
"Thank God in the United States there is legislation, and there's such a thing called the Anti-Terrorism Act, where myself and other families are suing those that aided Hamas and moved money that caused the deaths of U.S. citizens," Chen said.
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