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.
✍️ Mamdani’s outreach to Jewish leaders
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani went back and forth with Jewish leaders about how to word his response to protesters who chanted “We support Hamas here” outside a Queens synagogue on Jan. 8, The New York Times reported this weekend.
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Mamdani drew some criticism for his delay in condemning the chants, with his final statement coming a full day later, after observant Jews had gone offline for Shabbat.
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Josh Binderman, Mamdani’s liaison to Jewish New Yorkers who previously worked at the liberal pro-Israel group J Street, sent multiple versions of the response to Jewish leaders for review.
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The first draft of a statement was criticized by a Jewish official who said it didn’t forcefully condemn Hamas. Another draft was flagged for mentioning the Jewish Defense League, a far-right pro-Israel group that the FBI designated as a terrorist organization in 2021.
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Some pro-Israel protesters outside the synagogue waved flags in support of the Kach movement, which is affiliated with the Jewish Defense League, but several Jewish reviewers felt that shouldn’t be mentioned because they believed the pro-Hamas chants were more widespread.
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Mamdani’s final statement on X said, “Chants in support of a terrorist organization have no place in our city. We will continue to ensure New Yorkers’ safety entering and exiting houses of worship as well as the constitutional right to protest.” It did not mention Hamas or the JDL specifically, though some Jewish New Yorkers applauded Mamdani for condemning Hamas.
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The statement was insufficient for both some pro-Israel figures and some pro-Palestinian activists. Mamdani’s left-wing supporter Hasan Piker, a YouTube personality, chided him during a livestream. “Do not concede on your enemies’ cynical framing,” said Piker, adding that Hamas is the “Palestinian resistance.”
🪧 Buffer zones buffering
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Mamdani said he is assessing NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin’s proposal for buffer zones around houses of worship, a response to protests outside synagogues.
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“I made clear on my first day a direction to my police commissioner and my law department to review the legality of proposals just like Speaker Menin’s proposal for buffer zones,” Mamdani said in an interview on WABC.
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After that review process, Mamdani said, “If something is in the bounds of the law, I will support that. If it’s not, then I can’t.”
🇮🇱 Comptroller committed to Israel bonds
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NYC’s new comptroller Mark Levine reiterated his longstanding commitment to resuming the city’s purchase of Israel bonds as part of its pension funds portfolio, a practice that his predecessor Brad Lander allowed to lapse.
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“Israeli bonds had been part of the portfolio for decades,” Levine said in an interview with The City.
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Levine and Lander are both Jewish. Lander is an ally of Mamdani’s, while Levine is positioned as a counterweight to any moves Mamdani makes toward divestment from Israel.
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Levine previously told us that Mamdani “certainly couldn’t act singlehandedly” to influence investment decisions.
📚 Culture corner
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Catch the Holocaust-era resistance piece “Underwater Cabaret: The Story of a Holocaust Survivor” on Jan. 22 at the Reform Congregation Rodeph Sholom.
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The program centers on a magazine secretly made by Curt Bloch, a German Jewish lawyer, while he hid in a Dutch home between 1943 and 1945.
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His daughter Simone Bloch, who lives on the Upper West Side, will present the program ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Register here.
