FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 28, 2026

Media Contact: jewishmajority@berlinrosen.com 

AS JEWISH NEW YORKERS PREPARE TO DESCEND ON MANHATTAN TO PARTICIPATE IN ISRAEL DAY PARADE, 1,500+ NY RABBIS AND JEWISH LEADERS DEMAND MAYOR MAMDANI ACT ON ANTISEMITISM

Unified Demand Spans Every Denomination, Borough, and Political Affiliation as New Poll Shows 82% of Jewish New Yorkers Alarmed by Rising Antisemitism  

New York, NY — More than 1,500 Jewish New Yorkers – including rabbis and cantors from every denomination and all five boroughs – today released coordinated open letters demanding Mayor Zohran Mamdani take immediate and concrete action to protect the city's Jewish community. Together, they are calling on the mayor to support protective legislation for Jewish institutions, denounce rhetoric that demonizes Zionists, and unequivocally condemn calls to “globalize the Intifada.”

The letters arrive following a new poll, commissioned by The Jewish Majority, that underscores the breadth of this concern. 82% of Jewish New Yorkers – including nearly two-thirds of those who voted for Mamdani – are worried about rising antisemitism. A majority directly link the rise in antisemitism to the normalization of anti-Zionism. The breadth of the letter's signatories confirms what the data shows: the anxiety about safety in this city is the consensus of a community, not the concern of a fringe.
 

That near universal feeling is part of an escalating reality. Though Jews comprise approximately 10 percent of the city's population, they are the targets of more than half of all reported hate crimes in New York City – a staggering disproportion that means a Jewish New Yorker is targeted for their identity nearly every single day. For a community that has called this city home for generations, that reality is felt in the decision of whether to wear a yarmulke on the subway, to hang a mezuzah on the door, whether to let children walk to school alone, or whether to dine at a Kosher restaurant.

The letters directly respond to what signatories describe as a pattern of failures: Mayor Mamdani's veto of legislation that would have required clear safety plans at educational facilities while protecting lawful protest; his refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the Intifada”; and his use of taxpayer resources to disseminate a video that intentionally spreads a dishonest account of Israel's founding. Together, the signatories warn, these actions have sent a dangerous message that Jewish safety in New York City is negotiable.

“The Jewish community of New York City is speaking with one voice, and what they are saying is unmistakable,” said Jonathan Schulman, Executive Director of The Jewish Majority. “More than 1,300 Jewish leaders from Brooklyn to the Bronx, Staten Island to Queens, signed these letters because they are tired of watching their mayor equivocate while their community bears the consequences. Jewish New Yorkers are asking for what every community deserves: to be seen, to be heard, and to be protected in order to live with dignity in the greatest city in the world.”

The Jewish Majority previously commissioned a poll finding that most Jewish New York voters believe that Mayor Zohran Mamdani's refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the Intifada” has emboldened pro-Hamas protestors. Multiple demonstrations featuring flags of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations occurred in New York in May. 

The full text of the open letter from over 1,400 Jewish New York communal leaders is available HERE.
 

The full text of the open letter from Rabbis and cantors spanning every denomination, borough, and political affiliation of New York City is available HERE.