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🚨 Mamdani condemns swastika graffiti
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was “sickened” by dozens of swastikas sprayed on a children’s playground in Gravesend Park, part of a heavily Orthodox Brooklyn neighborhood, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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The local community board said the pavement and play equipment were “littered with swastikas” on Tuesday. More swastikas were sprayed on a wall on Wednesday, along with the words “Adolf Hitler.”
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“Antisemitism has no place in our city, and I stand shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish New Yorkers who were targeted,” Mamdani said on X. “My administration is working closely with the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force as well as our Parks Department, and those responsible will be investigated and held accountable.”
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In November, swastikas scrawled on Magen David Yeshivah, a nearby Jewish school, prompted Mamdani’s first condemnation of local antisemitism as mayor minutes after the race was called in his favor.
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A separate alleged antisemitic incident has resulted in federal hate crime charges. On Wednesday, prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging New Jersey man Alazim Baker with assaulting a rabbi and two other Jewish men wearing yarmulkes outside a Manhattan kosher restaurant in October, according to Yeshiva World News.
🕯 Tisch’s turning point
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New York’s most powerful odd couple joined forces after a 10-year-old’s advice during Shabbat.
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NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch decided to accept her role in Mamdani’s administration after getting the nod from her son Harry during their family’s Shabbat lunch, The New York Times reported. Harry said that people would be inspired by Tisch and Mamdani working together despite their differences.
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Tisch, a Jewish billionaire who supports Israel and staunchly defends the police, makes an unexpected pairing with Mamdani, a democratic socialist who forged his political identity around the Palestinian cause.
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Tisch’s mother Merryl Tisch approved Harry’s message, saying, “Out of the mouths of babes. You have your answer.”
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Tisch’s family members donated more than $1 million to Mamdani’s chief opponent in the mayoral race, Andrew Cuomo.
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The mayor and police commissioner have already hit some road bumps. Mamdani came under fire for responding more slowly than other officials to pro-Hamas chants during a protest outside a Queens synagogue this month. In December, Tisch’s brother publicly called Mamdani an “enemy” of the Jewish people, prompting Tisch to apologize to Mamdani. And she had dinner on Tuesday with Jewish conservative shock jock Sid Rosenberg, who previously called Mamdani a “terrorist” who would “be cheering” another 9/11-style attack.
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Still, Tisch and Mamdani appear to have developed a rapport. When a gunman killed four people at a Midtown office building in July, including police officer Didarul Islam, both reportedly welcomed each other’s sensitivity.
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Tisch appreciated Mamdani’s respect during the funeral, while Mamdani was moved by Tisch’s homage to Islam’s Muslim faith in her remarks, said The Times.
🗳 From the campaign trail
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Candidates to replace Rep. Jerry Nadler answered questions about Israel during a forum at the CUNY Graduate Center on Wednesday night.
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Kennedy family scion Jack Schlossberg, who identifies as half Jewish, said “Israel has the right to defend itself” but added that he was “skeptical of any deals” being made between Trump and Netanyahu. He said that he would need an intelligence briefing before supporting specific legislation on Israel.
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Assemblymember Alex Bores said he supported a two-state solution between “a strong, safe Israel and a strong, safe Palestine.”
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Laura Dunn, a civil rights attorney, said that she supports defensive military aid to Israel but “it’s a whole other thing to empower them to admit any human rights violations or genocidal acts.” She added, “I support Jewish people having a homeland. I wish our mayor would say it too.”
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Meanwhile, the race between Rep. Dan Goldman and primary challenger Brad Lander could be nixed if a redistricting push succeeds. A Manhattan judge ruled on Wednesday night that the delineation of Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ district disenfranchises Black and Latino voters.
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This decision opens the possibility that Goldman, who represents a neighboring district, will run against Malliotakis instead of fending off Lander. But for now, all eyes remain on the race between the two Jewish Democrats.
🇮🇱 Breaking on Israel bonds
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Mamdani and the new city comptroller Mark Levine are not backing down from their opposing stances on Israel bonds.
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After Levine reiterated his longstanding commitment to resuming the city’s purchase of Israel bonds, Mamdani responded on Wednesday.
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“I’ve made clear my position, which is that I don’t think that we should purchase Israel bonds,” Mamdani said to reporters. “We don’t purchase bonds for any other sovereign nation’s debt. The comptroller has also made his position clear and I continue to stand by mine.”
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He did not answer what leverage he had for negotiating on investments, which fall under the comptroller’s purview.
🍿 A Mamdani documentary
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A documentary about Mamdani will soon come to the big screen. It’s created by Julia Bacha, a filmmaker who focuses on storytelling about Israel and Palestine.
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Bacha began filming Mamdani in 2023, when he was a little-known assemblymember who introduced the “Not On Our Dime” bill to block nonprofits from funding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The bill sparked a backlash and failed, but Bacha wanted to see if Mamdani would hold onto his Assembly seat, she told The New Yorker.
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Bacha is the creative director of Just Vision, a nonprofit that says it highlights “the efforts of Palestinian and Israeli civilians who are working to end the occupation and secure a free, equal and safe future for all through unarmed means.”
