House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) met last Friday with the Grand Rebbe of Satmar Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum in Kiryas Joel, N.Y. The Hasidic community is a key voting bloc in Ryan’s district, which helped drive him to victory in the midterms.

“I thank the Grand Rebbe for hosting Congressman Pat Ryan and myself in Kiryas Joel. We had a thoughtful and meaningful discussion on issues related to the education, infrastructure and housing needs of this vibrant community,” Jeffries told JI. “Congressman Ryan is working hard to make life better for the residents of Kiryas Joel and he continues to deliver real results for every single community he represents in the 18th Congressional District.”

Ryan said, “It was a great honor to meet with the Grand Rebbe alongside Leader Jeffries, where we discussed our crucial work on education, increasing access to clean water, and leveraging the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve roads, bridges and broadband in NY-18. I’ll keep fighting every day to deliver results for Kiryas Joel and every community in the Hudson Valley.”

During the meeting, both Ryan and Jeffries wore kippot that were given out at the 2003 bar mitzvah of Daniel Torres, Ryan’s deputy chief of staff and district director.