When New York City’s leading Democratic mayoral candidates convened Thursday evening for a Jewish town hall, many of their minds were on another city.
The event took place about a month before the June 24 primary that is likely to decide the city’s next mayor. It also occurred a day after a shooting that killed two people outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
“I feel shaken, I feel angry, I feel depressed,” City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is Jewish, said during the town hall. “I’m just thinking, I’d rather be saying kaddish for Yaron and Sarah than doing a mayoral forum with you guys.”
He was referring to Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, the two young Israeli embassy staffers who were killed Wednesday night. It was one of a number of times throughout the evening that the candidates spoke about the attack, antisemitism and Israel. Zohran Mamdani, the progressive candidate currently polling second, was asked whether he thought Israel had a right to exist.
More than 200 New Yorkers arrived in the pouring rain for the mayoral forum, which was held jointly by UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council under a tense atmosphere. Security measures had been increased at “sensitive locations for the Jewish community,” including the forum’s venue, UJA’s Midtown headquarters, following the Washington shooting.
“Sorry, we’re being extra careful tonight,” said one woman who was outside the door, checking people’s IDs to ensure they were on the guest list.
“Good,” an elderly woman responded as she folded her umbrella. “I almost didn’t come.”
The forum included the six leading Democratic candidates: Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani, Lander, Adrienne Adams, Zellnor Myrie and Scott Stringer. (The incumbent, Eric Adams, is running for reelection as an independent.)
Lander and Stringer, who is also Jewish, both related to the shooting in personal terms. Stringer noted that his wife Elyse Buxbaum worked for years at the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Jewish Museum, and called the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. to offer her help. Lander, too, said the shooting made him think of his family.
“Zikhronam livrakha, may their memory be for a blessing,” Lander said. “I have Jewish kids in their 20s. This just hits way too close to home.”
The rest of the candidates — who appeared on stage one at a time, spending about 20 minutes apiece being interviewed by co-moderators Lisa Keys, managing editor of the New York Jewish Week, and Josh Kraushaar, Jewish Insider’s editor-in-chief — also acknowledged and condemned the attack.
Cuomo, the former governor who’s been leading in polls, said he shared in others’ “shock and grief,” and that the topics of the discussion, like dealing with antisemitism and campus protests, couldn’t have been “more timely.”
Trump’s campus crackdown — including student arrests and pulling funding from universities — has divided American Jews. Majorities say simultaneously that they are concerned about antisemitism and that they oppose Trump’s approach to the issue. Cuomo channeled that split.
“Standing up against antisemitism, I applaud,” he said. “As usual, I think [Trump] took it a step too far and went too far in terms of stepping on academic freedom.”
Elias Rodriguez, the suspect in the shooting, was seen yelling “Free, free Palestine” while being led away by authorities. He appears to have posted a manifesto calling to “escalate for Gaza.”
“I think hateful rhetoric builds hateful rhetoric,” Cuomo said when asked if he believed “hateful” slogans chanted at pro-Palestinian protests have led to incidents like the D.C. shooting. “And it has been spreading. There has been little action against it — and it grows. Hate grows. And the environment is now toxic. And yes, I think one thing then leads to another.”
Mamdani, the state assemblymember and Democratic Socialist candidate who’s been a vocal critic of Israel, had — unsurprisingly — a different take. Like a range of progressive critics of Israel, he has condemned the shooting as antisemitic but refrained from linking it to pro-Palestinian activism.
“No matter what the espoused beliefs are of someone who kills two people, there is no connection to any struggle for freedom and justice when you murder two innocent people,” he said. “I think the responsibility of those actions last night lies squarely with the individual who shot Yaron and Sarah.”
Mamdani said he was “horrified” by the attack. “There can be no silence or delay in the face of this violence,” he said. “And to be clear, there is no justification for this violence.”
When asked about his supporters who’d rejected his condemnation of the attack, the assemblymember said, “I’m proud of that statement, and I will stand by that statement.”
He added, “I also caution anyone against understanding Twitter to be real life, even in those that identify themselves as supporters.”
Kraushaar also asked Mamdani if he believes Israel has a right to exist — specifically as a Jewish state.
Mamdani responded, “I believe Israel has a right to exist, and it has a right to exist with equal rights for all.” His response was met with murmurs from the crowd.
Ultimately, Mamdani made his appeal to voters by reminding them that, while their views on Israel may differ, they may also have a lot of common values. “If you agree with me on nine out of 12 issues, vote for me,” he said, quoting the late Mayor Ed Koch, who was Jewish. “If you agree with me on 12 out of 12, see a psychiatrist.” (Stringer quoted the same joke an hour later.)
The forum’s questions also focused on each of the candidates’ plans as mayor, and how they would serve the city’s Jewish vast community.
Asked about addressing NYC’s rise in antisemitism since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which launched the war in Gaza, multiple candidates brought up the idea of bridging divides through improved education about Jewish culture and history.
State Sen. Myrie said he wants to expand public school education about Jews to kindergarten through 12th grade, saying it’s important that all students “are able to see themselves in the curriculum.”
NYC Council Speaker Adams said she wants to foster cross-cultural understanding by implementing curricula like Black Studies and Jewish Studies in NYC schools.
“I want our children to know the history of African people — that we didn’t start as slaves,” Adams said. “I want our children to know that we didn’t start with the Holocaust.”
One moment of loud applause came when Adams answered Keys’ question about the prospect of becoming New York’s first woman mayor. “As a woman mayor, there is going to be a brand new perspective, clean lenses,” Adams said. “They say if you want to get a job done, get a man. If you want a job done right, send a woman.”
While candidates spoke mostly about their own plans as mayor, a couple also used the opportunity to target the frontrunner: Cuomo.
Mamdani took a shot at the former governor, who has made very few appearances at mayoral forums. “I do want to say thank you, because today was only the second time I’ve seen him in my life,” Mamdani said.
Later, Stringer, the former comptroller, lambasted Cuomo for launching an ostensibly pro-Israel group, “Never Again, Now!” whose actions, the New York Times reported, “have amounted to little beyond a few private informational receptions and opinion essays.”
“We all believed him and gave him money,” Stringer said. “And it turned out that that organization was fully operated by his cronies who were laying the grounds for a mayor’s race.”
Referencing Mamdani’s political allegiances, Stringer added that the Democratic Socialists of America’s position on Israel is “despicable.” But, he added, “being a fake friend is not doing us any help.”
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
