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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism over his responses to recent antisemitic incidents, including a protest outside Park East Synagogue and graffiti of swastikas in the borough of Queens.
New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, R-District 19, told Digital that the mayor has “created a very dangerous environment” and accused him of “standing with the protesters.” Paladino’s district is in Queens, but does not include the areas that were graffitied.
“What this mayor has done, is told everybody in his way that this is okay. This behavior is condoned and it’s okay, not condemned, condoned by the mayor of New York City because he agrees 100% with them,” Paladino said. The councilwoman pointed out that Mamdani, as an assemblyman, protested against ICE and even confronted “border czar” Tom Homan in 2025.
“I refuse to recognize him as my mayor… because he’s not a leader,” she said.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters gather at a ‘Stop the Sale of Stolen Palestinian Land’ protest against ‘Great Israel Real Estate’ event for Palestinian land sale at the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in New York City. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
On Tuesday evening, anti-Israel agitators clashed with police during a protest against the Great Israeli Real Estate Event, which took place at Park East Synagogue. Videos circulating online showed agitators attempting to push down and breach New York Police Department barricades as officers tried to get control of the crowd.
“Some of the rhetoric and conduct outside Park East Synagogue — including displays of support for terrorist organizations and antisemitic acts — was unacceptable. As the mayor has said, chants in support of terrorist organizations and promoting violence of any kind have no place in our city,” Mamdani’s Deputy Press Secretary Sam Raskin told Digital.
The protest drew national attention, with Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., condemning the protesters as a “mob of pro-Hezbollah/Hamas s—heads.” The senator also called out his own party for not offering a strong enough condemnation of the incident. Additionally, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a post on X that the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division would investigate.
“Park East Synagogue remains steadfast in our commitment to peaceful worship, and we are grateful for the NYPD’s tireless efforts in protecting the community of our historic landmark synagogue,” a Park East Synagogue spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Digital.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin have gotten off to a shaky start, already battling it out over a veto on NYPD protecting student protests. (Gardiner Anderson/New York Daily News)
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The tumultuous protest came just days after swastikas were found spray-painted across multiple locations in Queens. The symbols were found on synagogues, private homes, cars and a Jewish community center. One swastika was painted on a plaque honoring victims of the Holocaust. The NYPD later released surveillance footage of four people wanted in connection with the antisemitic graffiti spree.
After the graffiti was discovered, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who is Jewish and the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, visited the sites of the vandalism. In a statement on X, Menin condemned the graffiti as “terrifying signals of hatred and threats of violence.” Jack Lobel, spokesperson for Menin, also told Digital that she had addressed the issue with the NYPD to ensure that those responsible for the vandalism would be apprehended and held accountable.
The speaker also condemned the protest outside Park East Synagogue, saying, “Calls for the destruction of Israel and the glorification of Hezbollah are horrific, intimidating, and only fuel the flames of antisemitism.”
New York City officials say four suspects allegedly spray-painted swastikas and other antisemitic symbols on synagogues, homes and cars in Queens, New York, earlier this week. (New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin/X)
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Paladino, however, dismissed Menin’s visit to the Queens graffiti sites as a “photo op” and said the speaker hadn’t done enough.
In response to a request for comment, Lobel said, “Speaker Menin has a clear record of combatting antisemitism, not just with words but with action. Her first major announcement as speaker was a Five-Point Plan to Combat Antisemitism, including strengthened protections for houses of worship and investments in Holocaust education.”
Menin’s five-point plan to combat antisemitism included a proposal to create a “perimeter around entrances and exits of houses of worship, prohibiting harassment and intimidation of individuals while preserving First Amendment rights.” The City Council passed two “buffer zone” bills, one protecting schools and another for houses of worship. Mamdani vetoed the bill protecting schools from protest-related harassment, drawing critics’ ire.
Anti-Israel agitators clash with NYPD at a ‘Stop the Sale of Stolen Palestinian Land’ protest against ‘Great Israel Real Estate’ event for Palestinian land sale at the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 05, 2026, in New York City. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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The protest and the graffiti underscored Jewish New Yorkers’ concerns about rising antisemitism threatening their security. While Mamdani’s responses to both of the incidents were criticized, his remarks about the protest drew particular scrutiny as the mayor said that he “firmly” disagreed with the event.
“When we have a real estate expo that is promoting the sale of land which includes the sale of land in the occupied West Bank, in settlements that are a violation of international law, that is something that I firmly disagree with,” Mamdani said in response to a reporter’s question. The mayor added that he saw the land sales as something that “has been at the heart of an ongoing effort to displace Palestinians from their homes.”
The recent incidents have heightened criticism of Mamdani and raised questions about how the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel will confront antisemitism.
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Digital’s Julia Bonavita and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
