Mamdani unveils pared-down community safety office, part of promise to fight antisemitism

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 unveils Office of Community Safety

• Zohran Mamdani is launching his Mayor’s Office of Community Safety, a pared-down version of a major campaign pledge, helmed by former Bill de Blasio staffer Renita Francois.

• The office is much more modest than Mamdani’s original proposal, which described a department with $1.1 billion in funding to overhaul the city’s response to 911 calls and bolster efforts to combat antisemitism.

• “Our Department of Community Safety (DCS) will increase funding to combat and prevent hate crimes by 800% with an emphasis on preventing antisemitic hate crimes,” Mamdani told us in October.

• Instead of a city agency, this is an office created by executive order, and its funding will start with $260 million moved from existing programs. The scaling down comes as Mamdani contends with a multibillion-dollar deficit and takes a more cautious approach to police reform than many of his progressive supporters had hoped.

🗣 Dov Hikind accuses Orthodox leaders of being ‘bought’ by Mamdani

• Dov Hikind, a prominent Orthodox Jewish politician and pro-Israel activist, accused Orthodox leaders who met with Mamdani on Monday of being “easily bought” by the mayor. The meeting focused on public safety.

• “This is what Jewish betrayal looks like,” said Hikind in a video on X, noting that Mamdani did not answer an attendee’s suggestion that he host a former Israeli hostage of Hamas.

• “Less than 24 hours after this meeting with Jewish leaders, the mayor accuses Israel and the Jewish people of genocide,” added Hikind, referencing Mamdani’s comments during a St. Patrick’s Day event.

• Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, a liaison for Chabad Headquarters who attended the meeting, said on X that it was “a crucial opportunity to communicate the community’s needs directly” and that boycotting a sitting mayor was “both misguided and foolish.” He added, “The Lubavitcher Rebbe encouraged Chassidim to show respect for the Office of the Mayor, even when there are disagreements or concerns.”

🔎 Scrutiny of Rama Duwaji’s social media posts extends to her teen years

• Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji is being scrutinized for past social media posts that celebrated members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, designated a terrorist group by the United States, reported The Washington Free Beacon. The conservative outlet is strongly critical of Mamdani and Duwaji.

• One post celebrated Leila Khaled, a longtime leader of the PFLP famous for her role in two airplane hijackings. Most of the posts were made when Duwaji was a teenager and in her early 20s on an old Tumblr account. Duwaji is 28.

• Duwaji was already under fire for providing an illustration to Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian-American author who has called Israelis and Jews “vampires,” “parasites” and “cockroaches” online. Another report from Jewish Insider revealed that Duwaji liked posts praising the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel as “resistance” to Israeli oppression.

🕍 NYC synagogues boost security as federal funding stalls

• After last week’s attack on Temple Israel in suburban Detroit, congregations in New York City are adding security guards — while bemoaning the lack of federal funding amid a Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

• The “Short-Term Security Guard Reimbursement Program” is a new program funded by the Community Security Initiative, the UJA-Federation of New York and donors, reported our Joseph Strauss. It is subsidizing New York-area Jewish institutions that have one or no security guards and wish to add one or two for a four-week period.

🌎 J7 leaders call on UN reps to fight antisemitism

• Members of J7, a task force formed by large Jewish organizations from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Argentina and Australia, met with United Nations diplomats in New York on Wednesday to urge international action against antisemitism.

• The J7 leaders also called on the UN representatives to combat antisemitism and “the anti-Israel bias that too often fuels and legitimizes it” within the UN.

• “We called for action to ensure UN resources do not support, endorse, or legitimize extremism, terrorism, or antisemitism, including through UN-produced education resources and UN support for programs and campaigns that promote anti-Israel boycotts,” said a press release from the Anti-Defamation League, a member of the J7.

⚾ Keeping kosher at Citi Field

• A week ahead of opening day, Citi Field has announced 37 new food items and many returning favorites. Kosher-keeping Mets fans will be in good hands, as Prime Kosher Sports is back again this year.