A day after the NYC Mayor’s Race was determined, a lot of the Jewish neighborhood and its supporters in NYC are reacting to Zohran Mamdani’s victory with disappointment and concern — but additionally hope that the Democratic socialist is not going to flip a blind eye to antisemitism that has proliferated all through the town lately.
From rabbis and educators to oldsters and advocacy teams, Jewish New Yorkers have been nervous a couple of Mamdani win all through 2025. A lot of their worry sprouted from his help of Palestine and criticisms of Israel all through the warfare with Hamas in Gaza — a lethal battle that started when terrorists stormed Israel, slaughtered greater than 1,200 males, girls and youngsters, taking others hostage, on Oct. 7, 2023.
Antisemitism surged in New York Metropolis within the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, assaults; the NYPD reported that 54% of all hate crimes in New York Metropolis in 2024 have been in opposition to Jewish New Yorkers. The Anti-Defamation League additional famous that the state, as an entire, noticed 1,437 antisemitic incidents final 12 months, an 18% improve.
Mamdani, who would be the first Muslim mayor of NYC, has been criticized for not taking a stronger stand in opposition to Hamas, a terrorist group, and for repeatedly refusing to acknowledge Israel’s proper to exist as a Jewish state. He has even been quoted as saying, “I don’t really have opinions” on whether or not Hamas ought to lay down their weapons, and has threatened to arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he have been to go to the Huge Apple.
Launched hostage, David Cunio, who was kidnapped in the course of the lethal October 7, 2023 assault by Hamas and brought to Gaza, gestures as he arrives at Sheba Medical Middle, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Ramat Gan, Israel October 13, 2025.REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Gerard Filitti, senior counsel on the NYC authorized thinktank, The Lawfare Undertaking, stated Mamdani’s victory marks a “stunning” flip in native politics, signaling a breakthrough for Democratic socialists who may get a stronghold on the nation’s Democratic occasion.
“Mamdani’s victory underscores a profound shift; radical activism is no longer confined to the margins—it’s now occupying City Hall,” Filitti stated. “Mamdani’s platform rejects the very foundations that many New Yorkers have taken for granted and have kept the city safe, vibrant, and economically viable — law enforcement, fiscal discipline, and social cohesion.”
What occurs subsequent in NYC will decide whether or not the town stays one in every of alternative and order, or a “testing ground for ideological governance untethered from reality,” Filitti mirrored.
“This election is not just about one city’s direction,” he stated. “It’s a reflection of America’s crossroads between stability and radical transformation.”
Gavriel Sanders, a spokesperson for the Be a Mensch Basis, a corporation that helps a unified Israeli society, took the election outcomes not solely as a warning to Jews in NYC, however these from throughout the nation. He mirrored on violent anti-war protests which have popped up on school campuses in America since 2023, with lots of them resulting in verbal or bodily assaults on Jewish college students.
“Antisemitic propaganda, which has infiltrated college and university campuses, has now embedded itself into candidates to which voters find acceptable,” Sanders stated.
Teams say Mamdani’s beliefs ‘at odds’ with Jewish neighborhood
Jewish group encompassing the UJA-Federation of New York, JCRC-NY, ADL New York/New Jersey, AJC New York and New York Board of Rabbis, issued its personal joint assertion that addresses the Mamdani mayoral win.
They acknowledged that New Yorkers voted and headed to the polls with a variety of points on their minds. Nonetheless, they collectively acknowledged that the mayor-elect holds beliefs which might be “fundamentally at odds” with their neighborhood’s convictions and values.
Even so, they pledged to work to guard Jewish New Yorkers and urged Mamdani to “govern with humility, inclusivity and deep respect.”
“As we have done for over a century, we will continue to work across every level of government to ensure that our city remains a place where our Jewish community, and all communities, feel safe and respected,” the assertion learn. “We call on Mayor-elect Mamdani and all elected officials to govern with humility, inclusivity, and a deep respect for the diversity of views and experiences that define our city.”
The assertion continued that the group will “hold all elected officials, including Mayor-elect Mamdani, fully accountable for ensuring that New York remains a place where Jewish life and support for Israel are protected and can thrive.”
Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, government vp and COO on the Orthodox Union, an umbrella group for Orthodox Jews in the US, echoed comparable sentiments.
“We invite the mayor-elect to embrace the responsibility of governing for all, protecting the vulnerable, rejecting divisive rhetoric, and ensuring that safety, dignity, and respect are guaranteed to every New Yorker, including Jewish New Yorkers,” he stated. “We should aspire to much more than basic civility, and with the Almighty’s help and New Yorkers holding each other accountable, we will.”
NYU college students erected an encampment exterior the school in April 2024 amid the protests over the Israel-Hamas Conflict in Gaza.Photograph by Dean Moses
Throughout an interview on Good Morning America on Wednesday morning, the mayor-elect was requested how he would guarantee Jewish New Yorkers that his imaginative and prescient for the town consists of them. Mamdani stated he’s wanting ahead to “being the mayor for every single New Yorker” who lives within the metropolis.
When requested what he would do to handle the distrust amongst voters about his capability to guard and defend Jewish New Yorkers, Mamdani — with out immediately addressing Jewish New Yorkers — stated he hoped his actions as mayor would finally win over skeptics.
“I think there are a lot of voters for whom trust comes from the actions that you actually take,” Mamdani stated. “Many have understandably been disappointed by politics and the promises that have been made by many before me. Now, my opportunity is to actually deliver as the next mayor of NYC.”
In the meantime, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, primarily based in Washington, D.C., issued its personal assertion congratulating Mamdani on his historic win.
“The election of New York City’s first Muslim mayor represents a historic turning point for American Muslim political engagement,” the assertion learn. “Mayor-elect Mamdani’s ability to win while openly advocating for Palestinian human rights and experiencing a barrage of anti-Muslim hate also marks a historic rebuke of both Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism in politics.”
