A number of Zohran Mamdani’s critics and longtime skeptics have tied the New York City mayor’s Israel rhetoric to Thursday’s stabbing attack that left two men wounded on the Upper West Side, including a Jewish man wearing a kippah on his way from synagogue.
On Friday, the Upper West Side’s presumptive next congressman — who endorsed Mamdani last year — joined them.
“I beseech all those in a position of power, including our mayor, to hear our cry from the heart to please help take the temperature down, and provide leadership that makes every New Yorker feel safe in this glorious city,” Micah Lasher said during a press conference held outside the Jewish Center, the Modern Orthodox synagogue where Moshe Grunhaus had attended services before being stabbed with a screwdriver. The assailant allegedly wounded another man, Chok Sung, in a separate attack.
Lasher, a State Assembly member representing the Upper West Side, spoke about people in positions of power broadly, saying they have a duty to “create unity and not division.” He said that that message applies to him and “to anyone whose efforts to demonize the world’s sole Jewish state go well beyond criticism of the Israeli government and its actions.”
The attack took place one day after Mamdani posted a scathing video about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which drew sharp criticism from a number of Jewish leaders. Some of those leaders, including Jewish Community Relations Council CEO Mark Treyger, spoke during Friday’s press conference.
“What might seem to be an effective comms strategy that could generate tons of clicks and views might not be a good governing strategy,” Treyger said, adding that leaders need to “bring people together.”
Mamdani’s video about Netanyahu has achieved hyper-viral reach, garnering nearly 100 million views on X since Tuesday.
“Shame on him,” said UJA-Federation of New York CEO Eric Goldstein, about the mayor’s video criticizing Netanyahu. (UJA is a supporter of 70 Faces Media, the parent company of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.) “Shame on him for doing this for perceived political benefit when it has real world consequences for the Jews of New York.”
Police have said that mental health was likely a factor in the attack. Raul Morales, 51, allegedly yelled “Allahu akbar” when he stabbed Sung as well as Grunhaus, who was leaving service during Tisha B’Av. Goldstein said that “demonizing rhetoric” played a role, regardless of Morales’ possible mental illness.
“The fact that this assailant may have had mental illness doesn’t change the fact that it’s precisely that kind of person who’s susceptible to this kind of environment,” Goldstein said, adding that similar attacks have been perpetrated by people without mental illness.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who has spearheaded legislation aimed at combating antisemitism, spoke during the press conference about the charged political climate, but did not name the mayor.
“We have to change the rhetoric,” said Menin, who is Jewish. “Words matter and we all have a responsibility to bring that temperature down.”
Mamdani, who was not at the press conference, called the stabbings “horrifying” on Thursday and said that these “hateful and despicable attacks have no place in our city.” Mamdani addressed his Netanyahu video during an interview with NY1 on Friday, saying that his comments “are critiques not based on my personal analysis but rather on objective facts.”
“They are critiques of a political leader not of people of a specific faith or a religion or a background, and my responsibility as the mayor of this city is to keep every New Yorker safe, no matter where they come from, what they believe in, or frankly, even if they agree with my politics,” Mamdani said.
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