A 19-member advisory commission will help shape the memorial’s design, educational goals and public programming at Empire State Plaza.
New York has appointed a 19-member advisory commission to guide creation of the New York Holocaust Memorial, a permanent Holocaust memorial at Empire State Plaza in Albany. The commission brings together educators, historians, museum leaders and community advocates who will advise the state on the memorial’s vision, educational work and commemorative elements.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the commission Wednesday, Oct. 28. The memorial is intended to honor the six million Jewish people murdered in the Holocaust, remember millions of other victims of Nazi persecution and recognize the resilience of survivors and their families. It also is meant to serve as a public warning about antisemitism, racism and other forms of intolerance.
For Mohawk Valley residents, the project matters because Empire State Plaza is a statewide civic destination visited by school groups, families and people doing business at the Capitol. The advisory process will determine whether the memorial becomes more than a monument and functions as an accurate, useful teaching site for future generations.
What the New York Holocaust Memorial commission will do
The commission will work through a stakeholder-engagement and collaborative design process. According to the governor’s office, members will help define the New York Holocaust Memorial’s vision, educational goals, interpretive programming and commemorative elements. The New York State Office of General Services will handle logistical and administrative support.
The state has not announced a final design, exact site within the plaza, construction schedule or project cost. Those unanswered questions are important. The commission’s role is advisory, and the images accompanying this article are conceptual editorial illustrations, not approved plans.
Hochul said the memorial should preserve the truth of history and keep the stories of victims, survivors and their families visible. Office of General Services Commissioner Jeanette Moy said the project would add to the plaza’s tradition of commemoration while providing a place to reflect on lives changed by the Holocaust.
Who is serving on the commission
Educators, historians and community leaders
The 19 members named by the governor’s office represent statewide, regional and national organizations:
- Ariel Behrman, vice president of education at the Anti-Defamation League.
- Lauren Bloomberg, director of the Holocaust Education Resource Organization of the Buffalo Jewish Federation.
- Jack Britvan, president of Voices for Truth and Humanity.
- Judy Coe Rapaport, past president of the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum in Oswego.
- Michael Cohen, executive vice president of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation.
- Tali Farhadian, CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.
- Dr. Sara Fredman Aeder, executive vice president of programming at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
- Monica Gebell, senior director of the Center for Advocacy and Education at the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester.
- Millie Jasper, executive director of the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center.
- Ellie Kastel, executive director of Boro Park Y.
- Rob Kovach, CEO and president of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York.
- Andrea Myer-Winograd, executive director of the Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance and Education.
- Masha Pearl, executive director of The Blue Card.
- Dave Reckess, executive director of 3GNY, Descendants of Holocaust Survivors.
- Dr. Gavriel Rosenfeld, president of the Center for Jewish History.
- Daniel Rosenthal, vice president of government and external relations at UJA-Federation of New York.
- Dr. Rochelle Saidel, founding executive director of the Remember the Women Institute.
- Dr. Laura Shaw Frank, vice president for education at American Jewish Committee.
- Dr. Lori Weintrob, executive director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center.
The list includes voices from Buffalo, Rochester, the Capital Region, New York City, Oswego and other communities. That geographic and professional range can help the state address historical accuracy, survivor memory, public access and age-appropriate education. The commission will still need to show how it gathers input from people and communities not represented among the named members.
The memorial is required by a 2025 state law
What Chapter 574 requires
The project follows legislation signed in December 2025. Senate Bill S.5784, sponsored by Sen. Patricia Fahy, was approved by the Senate without a dissenting vote and passed the Assembly through the companion bill sponsored by Assemblymember Gabriella Romero. It became Chapter 574 of the Laws of 2025.
The law directs the Office of General Services commissioner to erect a suitably marked monument at the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza. It also requires the state to solicit ideas from organizations that provide Holocaust remembrance services about the design, programming and location. The law leaves the fiscal impact to be determined.
Fahy said the commission is a step toward making “Never Again” meaningful through action and remembrance. Romero described the memorial as a way to preserve Holocaust history while reinforcing a responsibility to oppose hatred. Assemblymembers Charles Lavine, David Weprin and John McDonald also emphasized education, memory and the duty to confront intolerance.
Why education is central to the project
A memorial at the seat of state government can connect remembrance to civic responsibility, but its value will depend on historical clarity and continuing educational work. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum describes the Holocaust as the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million European Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies and collaborators. Millions of other people were persecuted and murdered as well.
The commission will need to make that history understandable without reducing it to symbols or slogans. It also must avoid treating every form of prejudice as identical. A strong memorial can explain the specific history of the Holocaust while helping visitors recognize how propaganda, exclusion, state power and public indifference can make mass violence possible.
New York law already requires schools to teach about the Holocaust. The Phoenix previously reported on efforts to strengthen Holocaust education in New York and on the state’s observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The new memorial could support that work if educators have access to accurate lesson materials, survivor testimony, translated information and age-appropriate programs before and after a visit.
State programs connected to remembrance and safety
The governor’s office placed the memorial within a broader state agenda addressing antisemitism and hate. New York has a statewide plan to combat antisemitism and a Hate and Bias Prevention Unit within the Division of Human Rights. The state also requires colleges to designate Title VI coordinators and has provided more than $200 million through the Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes program for organizations at risk of attacks.
The release also cited continuing support for Holocaust survivors. The state first provided $2.6 million for a Holocaust Survivors Initiative in the fiscal year 2023 budget and included more than $1 million in the fiscal year 2027 budget. The Department of Financial Services’ Holocaust Claims Processing Office has helped secure more than $183 million for victims and their families, according to the state.
What New Yorkers can watch for next
The commission’s next steps should answer several practical questions:
- Where the memorial will be located and how people with disabilities will reach and use it.
- How survivors, descendants, teachers and students can offer public input.
- What the design and construction will cost and how the work will be funded.
- How the site will present primary sources, testimony and the histories of different victim groups.
- Who will maintain the memorial and update its educational programming over time.
People who experience or witness a bias incident can find reporting and support information through the New York State Division of Human Rights Hate and Bias Prevention Unit. An emergency or immediate threat should be reported to 911.
The Phoenix welcomes comments from educators, survivors’ families and Capital Region visitors about what would make this memorial accurate, accessible and useful. Please share this story with a teacher, library, synagogue, museum or community organization that may want to follow the public process.
