A version of this piece first ran as part of the New York Jewish Week’s daily newsletter, rounding up the latest on politics, culture, food and what’s new with Jews in the city. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.
🕍 Julie Menin moves on antisemitism
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Julie Menin, the new leader of the NYC Council, is announcing her initiative to combat antisemitism at the Museum of Jewish Heritage today.
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Menin’s plan includes establishing a perimeter around schools and houses of worship to protect students and congregants from protests.
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Gov. Kathy Hochul announced similar legislation at the state level this week, proposing a 25-foot buffer zone around houses of worship. Menin wants to go further with a 100-foot barrier, she told The New York Times.
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Hochul’s push is likely to run into free speech concerns, sources told us, and Menin may face similar obstacles.
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Menin will also propose a program to provide places of worship with security training, a hotline for reporting antisemitic incidents and $1.2 million allocated to Holocaust education over the next two years.
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Menin was not backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani to become speaker. As a moderate and a Zionist, she differs on many issues from the democratic socialist, anti-Zionist mayor.
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But she told The Times, “This has absolutely nothing to do with the mayor. This has everything to do with protecting Jewish New Yorkers.”
⚖️ Mamdani defends Mahmoud Khalil after court loss
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Mamdani said that Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil “must remain free” after a federal appeals court opened the door to his rearrest.
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Khalil, a legal permanent resident, was the first student protester to be detained by the Trump administration amid a campaign to deport international students who participated in college campus demonstrations against Israel over the war in Gaza. Trump called Khalil a “radical foreign pro-Hamas student.”
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The court ruled that the judge who ordered Khalil’s release in June did not have the authority to do so, making a victory for Trump’s immigration policy and mass deportation campaign.
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“Last year’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil was more than just a chilling act of political repression, it was an attack on all of our constitutional rights,” Mamdani said on X. “Now, as the crackdown on pro-Palestinian free speech continues, Mahmoud is being threatened with rearrest.”
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Khalil, who rejected the idea that antisemitism was present in Columbia’s student protests, appeared with Mamdani during his mayoral campaign and attended his inauguration. One of his lawyers, Ramzi Kassem, is the chief counsel in Mamdani’s administration.
🔎 ‘Sloppy’ vetting behind Da Costa scandal
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Catherine Almonte Da Costa, who lasted one day as Mamdani’s director of appointments before her past antisemitic posts came to light, was fast-tracked as Mamdani’s team rushed to staff his administration, reported Gothamist.
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Sources told the outlet that Da Costa underwent a “rushed and sloppy” process instead of being fully vetted. “We had a rigorous process,” said one source, adding that Da Costa “just wasn’t subjected to it.”
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Da Costa had only completed an initial vetting that involved a search of public records, missing her social media posts — which included a reference to “money hungry Jews” — because her handle was not easily identifiable.
☕ Jewish food report
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Cafe Landwer debuted its first New York City location in Williamsburg last week.
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The all-day cafe serving Mediterranean fare was founded in Berlin in 1919 by Moshe Landwer, who moved it to Tel Aviv in 1933 amid the rise of the Nazi regime. The restaurant now has 80 locations across Israel.
