NYC mayoral candidates clash over Jewish safety — again — on debate stage

This piece first ran as part of The Countdown, our daily newsletter rounding up all the developments in the New York City mayor’s race. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. There are 12 days to the election.

🎤 The final debate

• Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa teamed up against Zohran Mamdani several times during the final general election debate last night.

• They accused him of being unready to combat antisemitism and too inexperienced to govern, and both jeered at him for dodging questions about housing measures that will be on the ballot.

• Mamdani promised to be a mayor “who doesn’t just protect Jewish New Yorkers, but also celebrates and cherishes them.” He said that in addition to increasing funding for hate crime prevention programs and boosting synagogue security, he would implement a school curriculum that teaches students “about the beauty and breadth of the Jewish experience.” (Such a curriculum became available to schools this year.)

• Cuomo retorted, “You’re the savior of the Jewish people? You won’t denounce ‘globalize the intifada,’ which means ‘kill Jews.’” (Mamdani declined to condemn the protest slogan during the primary, but since repeatedly said he would discourage the term and acknowledged that it incited fear among some Jews.)

• Cuomo also referenced an open letter released Wednesday from rabbis across the country, who said that a Mamdani victory would threaten “the safety and dignity of Jews in every city.” Over 800 rabbis have now signed the letter.

• Sliwa also butted in to say that his sons were among the Jewish New Yorkers unconvinced by Mamdani’s promise to fight antisemitism. “Let me speak on behalf of my two sons,” said Sliwa. “When they’ve heard some of the statements you’ve made, like in support of global jihad — and I hear some people out there saying that ‘Jews, their time is due,’ which means the same thing — they’re frightened, they’re scared.”

• Mamdani clarified that he had “never, not once, spoken in support of global jihad.” He said the incorrect attribution of that stance to him was related to “the fact that I am the first Muslim candidate to be on the precipice of winning this election.”

🚓 Mamdani commits to keeping Tisch

• It’s official: Mamdani says he wants to keep NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch in her role if he is elected.

• Tisch, a billionaire heiress from a prominent Jewish family, has won praise from the rank and file as well as politicians of both parties, though some progressives have called to remove her.

• The move signals Mamdani’s continued push to broaden his support among moderates, business leaders and other New Yorkers who are skeptical about his past stances against the police. It could also reassure some Jewish voters of their safety under his mayoralty.

• Tisch’s allies previously indicated that she would like to remain commissioner regardless of the election’s outcome, according to The New York Times. Her spokesperson said, “It is not appropriate for the police commissioner to be directly involved or to seem to be involved in electoral politics.”

• As Mamdani’s police commissioner, Tisch may be confronted with his pledge to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli leader comes to New York City. Tisch has not commented on the plan, and Mamdani has not answered whether he thinks she would allow it.

• Tisch’s family members have donated $950,000 to an anti-Mamdani PAC in the general election, according to records shared by Politico’s Jeff Coltin.

📣 Prominent Jews rally against Mamdani

• A series of open letters and statements from prominent Jews have targeted Mamdani in recent days.

• The anti-Mamdani letter signed by hundreds of rabbis, which Cuomo cited during the debate, reinforced recent statements by New York City rabbis Elliot Cosgrove and Ammiel Hirsch. Rabbi Joshua Davidson, who leads New York’s Emanu-El congregation where former Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a member, also released a video raising concern about Mamdani’s Israel views.

• Outside of clergy, Andres Spokoiny, CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, appealed to liberal Jews to reject Mamdani in a public letter published in the Times of Israel. He argued that “Trump and Mamdani belong to the same populist revolt against liberal democracy, even if they approach it from opposite poles.”

• And in The New York Times, journalist Bret Stephens penned an op-ed titled “Why Mamdani frightens Jews like me,” calling the frontrunner “a longtime anti-Zionist of a peculiarly obsessed sort.”

📝 Mamdani’s Yiddish appeal

• Mamdani wrote his own letter to Hasidic voters in Yiddish, published in the city’s weekly Yiddish-language newspapers this week.

• He said that he hoped Jews had a “happy, beautiful and relaxing holiday season” before addressing his plan for public safety, affordability, childcare and combating antisemitism, according to translations by Rabbi Abby Stein, a progressive activist and Mamdani supporter.

• Mamdani also referenced his meetings with Hasidic leaders in Williamsburg on Sukkot. “I have had the honor myself to meet with members of the Orthodox Jewish community. I still have a lot to learn, but this was a wonderful introduction to an important and valued part of what makes New York so amazing,” he said.

📺 Cuomo’s AI ad backlash

• Cuomo’s campaign has released a spate of AI-generated ads, with the latest sparking fierce backlash for racist stereotypes before it was taken down.

• The ad depicted “criminals for Zohran,” including a Black man wearing a keffiyeh and face mask while shoplifting and another man standing in front of Palestinian flags and setting an American flag alight, saying, “For unlawful abiding citizens like us, globalize the intifada.”

• Shannon Watts, a gun violence prevention activist who founded Moms Demand Action, was among those quick to blast the ad. “This is so gross and full of racist stereotypes, including a Black man dressed like a pimp trafficking a car full of white women. Cuomo needs to be thrown in the ash heap of history,” Watts said on X.