A Jewish politician was booed by a largely Jewish crowd on Wednesday morning after he defended Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a discussion about being Jewish in New York City.
The event, titled the “Future of being Jewish in New York,” was held at 92NY a few months into Mamdani’s term as mayor, which has been heavily scrutinized by segments of the city’s Jewish community because of his longstanding and vocal opposition to Israel. The discussion featured three of the city’s seniormost Jewish elected officials: Council Speaker Julie Menin, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Comptroller Mark Levine.
Each shared some thoughts on Mayor Mamdani — and attendees shared theirs.
“I’m really not in a position to advise the mayor of the City of New York,” Hoylman-Sigal said, when asked how Mamdani could reassure the Jewish New Yorkers who didn’t vote for him. “But I will say that he has some really good Jewish advisers, including Phylisa Wisdom from the New York Jewish Agenda, who I’ve worked with in Albany.”
Murmurs, and even a few audible groans broke out at the mention of Wisdom, whom Mamdani appointed as the director of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism. Wisdom has faced pushback from Orthodox Jewish communities for her past work with Yaffed, which works to expand secular education at yeshivas. One woman in the audience, in her 80s, clapped loudly.
“Thank you, there’s at least one person,” Hoylman-Sigal joked.
Hoylman-Sigal, a progressive who represented Manhattan’s west side in the state Senate for more than a decade, then proceeded to defend Mamdani in front of a less-than-receptive Upper East Side crowd, where Mamdani lost to Cuomo during last year’s mayoral election.
“I’ll say this: I do work with him fairly closely. I know his heart is in the right place—”
A louder chorus of groans rang out from the audience of more than 100; the conversation’s moderator, 92NY CEO Seth Pinsky, called for people to let Hoylman-Sigal continue.
“He represents a generational change which we have to acknowledge as Jews, which is: Millennials are much more skeptical about the current State of Israel,” he said. “We need as Jews to educate him about the history and the centrality and the importance…”
Hoylman-Sigal stopped again, this time being interrupted by boos and people whispering to their neighbors. Once people quieted down after a few moments, he concluded by saying that Jewish New Yorkers have “an enormous stake in his success,” and that it’s important to “find common ground on issues that will better all of New York.”
The borough president’s calls to give Mamdani some benefit of the doubt made for the most tense moments of the hour-long conversation, which was more broadly focused on the rise in antisemitism and the politicians’ work on Jewish-related issues.
The crowd’s response reflected the tense relationship between Mamdani, who recently passed the 100-day mark of his term, and segments of the city’s Jewish community.
Though many were audible in their opposition, Ari Goldman, a retired journalist who covered religion for the New York Times and was in attendance, said he agreed with Hoylman-Sigal’s comments on Mamdani.
“I think we have to give him a chance. Are we going to fight him for four years?” Goldman said. “He’s our mayor, we should support him, we should build coalitions with him and his community.”
The elderly woman, a 92NY member who’d clapped when Hoylman-Sigal mentioned Wisdom, did so during the other moments when he was booed, too. She declined to share her name because she wants “to get along with the people on the other side,” and said that she voted for Mamdani while her husband did not.
“When I saw the intensity of this booing, I felt I had to give my little clap, which he thanked me for,” she said. “But I guess it’s more intense on many people’s part than I realized.”
Unlike Hoylman-Sigal, Menin and Levine both serve in roles that essentially operate as checks on the mayor’s power. Both offered firmer responses when asked how Mamdani could reassure the Jews who don’t support him.
Levine said he wants Jewish New Yorkers’ connection to Israel to be acknowledged. He spoke about his and others’ “deep connection” to Israel that is often brushed aside because of disagreement with the Israeli government’s actions and policies. Yet, he said, he and others have supported Russian businesses despite opposing Vladimir Putin.
“That grace is not often granted to those of us who feel a connection to Israel,” Levine said. “We don’t have the grace to say — look, policy debates aside, actions aside, protests aside, this is part of who I am. And I want to see that acknowledged by leaders in this city.”
“Including…?” Pinsky prompted, after Levine did not name Mamdani, an anti-Zionist who supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
“Absolutely, from top to bottom,” Levine replied.
Meanwhile, Menin answered by calling on the mayor to allow the passage of a bill that was introduced in response to a pair of pro-Palestinian protests outside synagogues.
Menin said that “we have to listen to when a community is saying that they really feel afraid and that they feel that there are security concerns — we have to pay attention to that.”
While Menin’s bill insulating houses of worship passed with a veto-proof super-majority, Mamdani has the power to veto a similar one that addresses protests around “educational facilities.”
A number of Mamdani’s progressive allies are ratcheting up pressure on him to veto the bill by the Saturday deadline, on overpolicing and free speech grounds. Mamdani recently said he’s “heard from a number of New Yorkers about their concerns about aspects of this legislation,” but has not indicated what his decision will be.
“I really hope — and I said this to the mayor — that there is not a veto of the package of bills,” Menin said. “I don’t think that that’s necessary, I think it will create much more division at a time when we need unity.”
The conversation covered a number of other topics related to Jewish New York.
Levine repeated his intention as comptroller to invest city funds in Israel bonds, a stance that he expanded on in an interview with JTA and that Mamdani opposes. He also touted receiving 1.4 million votes in the general election while having an open connection to Israel, refuting the idea that there’s been a citywide referendum on the country.
Hoylman-Sigal decried the online spread of antisemitism and its potential effect on the next generation, calling out “the streamers who play in that field of hate.”
He also said Mamdani should “follow the tradition” of other mayors who visited Israel, adding, “Look, if Nixon can go to China, I think the mayor might consider that in the future.”
“That ain’t going to happen, but it’s a nice dream,” Goldman said afterwards, chuckling.
All three politicians emphatically answered a question by saying Jewish New Yorkers should stay, rather than move to Miami to try to avoid antisemitism, citing the Jewish police commissioner Jessica Tisch, the city’s breadth of Jewish culture and institutions, and the quality of its bagels.
Still, they pointed to the upcoming veto deadline as a telling moment for how Mamdani will address antisemitism as mayor.
Hoylman-Sigal said Mamdani’s decision will be “a big test” for the administration. But he was optimistic about the outcome.
“I think we have to take the mayor at his word that antisemitism is of serious concern,” he said, “until we’re shown otherwise.”
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