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.
🚪 A mezuzah comes to 1 Police Plaza
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Jewish police commissioner Jessica Tisch marked the day by hanging a mezuzah on the front doorframe of her office at NYPD headquarters. She made a blessing before affixing the scroll during a brief ceremony in front of Jewish members of the police force.
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Tisch called the mezuzah “a small but meaningful symbol of faith and resilience” in a post on X.
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Jewish City Council leader Julie Menin also paid tribute to victims of the Nazis and noted her new plan to combat antisemitism, which includes a $1.25 million investment in the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
👀 Who will Mamdani pick to ‘combat antisemitism’?
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Mamdani is considering Elad Nehorai, a former Chabad Hasidic Jew who became a vocal critic of the Orthodox community, to lead the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, reported Politico.
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Another candidate reportedly being considered is Phylisa Wisdom, who heads the New York Jewish Agenda, a progressive advocacy group.
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Mamdani revoked a spate of his predecessor’s executive orders on his first day in office, including two related to defending Israel and defining antisemitism, setting the stage for challenging relations between the anti-Zionist mayor and many Jewish New Yorkers.
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He opted to keep the Office to Combat Antisemitism, which Adams created via an executive order in May.
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An anonymous source told Politico, “It’s probably the worst job in politics: Zohran’s Jewish guy.”
🟨 Mamdani marks Holocaust Remembrance Day
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani visited Olga Spiegel, an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor and artist, at her Manhattan apartment on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
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Spiegel was born in France and arrived in New York in the 1960s. She has lived in the same rent-stabilized apartment on the Lower East Side for 48 years.
- Spiegel may not have been Mamdani’s first choice for a visit: Another survivor, Sami Steigmann, said his visit was canceled after he criticized the idea of meeting with the mayor on the memorial day as a “photo op.”
🚨 Rabbi assaulted in Queens
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A rabbi was harassed and assaulted in an “antisemitic attack” in Forest Hills on Tuesday, according to a group of Queens lawmakers, who said they were “outraged” by the attack occurring on International Holocaust Remembrance day.
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Mamdani also condemned the incident, saying it underscored that “antisemitism is not a thing of the past — it is a present danger that demands action from all of us.” He affirmed “solidarity with Jewish New Yorkers” and said his administration was “committed to rooting out this hatred.”
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Mark Levine, the Jewish city comptroller, said the attacker called the rabbi a “f–iing Jew” and punched him. (Levine has sparred with Mamdani over the city’s investment in Israel bonds, which he supports and the mayor opposes.)
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A suspect was taken into custody and the victim did not suffer serious injuries, lawmakers said.
⚖ Orthodox therapist convicted of molestation has sentence cut
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Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed therapist in the Satmar Hasidic sect who was convicted of child molestation, could leave prison in five years after a judge reduced his sentence on Tuesday.
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Weberman was sentenced to 103 years in 2013 for sexually abusing a child, who was referred to him for counseling by her religious school in Williamsburg. Judge Matthew J. D’Emic cut the sentence to 18 years in Brooklyn State Supreme Court.
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Weberman accepted his guilt for the first time during his virtual court appearance, telling the victim she was “an innocent child” and saying his actions were “a desecration of God’s name.”
⛪ NY archbishop honored at Shabbat service
Cardinal Timothy Dolan cuts a cake after Shabbat services honoring him at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan, Jan. 23, 2026. (Rob Buchwald)
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Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is retiring in February after 16 years as the archbishop of New York, was honored during an interfaith Shabbat service at Temple Emanu-El on Friday.
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Rabbi Joshua Davidson called Dolan a “devoted friend” to the Jewish community who “for both Catholics and non-Catholics alike has become a shepherd.”
