New York City reported a shocking rise in antisemitic hate crimes in January. A new press release from the NYPD notes that anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 182%, which accounted for more than half of all the hate crime incidents in January.
The release reports 31 hate crimes against Jews last month, as compared to 11 in January 2025.
The Anti-Defamation League’s Scott Richman said the dramatic rise is “staggering,” telling Jewish News Syndicate, “From swastikas at a playground in Borough Park to a car ramming at Chabad headquarters in Crown Heights, the Jewish community in New York City is very much on edge.”
It all comes after the city’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim, took office on January 1, 2026. After a month, Mamdani has now taken a step by appointing the next director of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism – Phylisa Wisdom, the leader of a progressive Jewish group.
Mamdani comes across as all smiles as he promises so-called free programs and other services for all New Yorkers. While his leftist socialist views will surely be under scrutiny by conservatives and moderates, this city appears to have embraced him.
One supporter, Jamal, who sells Mamdani merchandise in Lower Manhattan, summed up his enthusiasm when asked why he supports Mamdani: “Oh man, it’s like why wouldn’t I? That’s the question you should be asking. That’s easier to answer.”
Despite that affection, plenty of Jewish New Yorkers have a much different view.
When asked whether Jewish New Yorkers are on edge because of Mamdani, Liz Berney, a researcher with the Zionist Organization of America, responded simply: “Yes.” Berney tracks Mayor Mamdani’s past views, statements, and policy positions—records that have given her and others much to consider.
For starters, Mamdani has consistently accused Israel of being an apartheid state that engages in genocide against Palestinians. He’s been active in anti-Zionist rallies and has refused to condemn antisemitic language such as “from the river to the sea” and “globalize the intifada.”
Jeffrey Lax, a law professor at the City University of New York, explains why that language is so alarming: “Globalizing the intifada means kill the Jews everywhere across the world, so you don’t condemn that? It’s a little bit of a problem.”
After being sworn in as mayor, one of Mamdani’s first acts revoked the antisemitism definition set by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Mamdani said the definition is too broad and restricts strong statements against Israel, but critics warn that this can be a dangerous game. “Anti-Semites, what they try to do is restrict the definition of antisemitism,” Berney said. “And all of this emboldens the anti-Israel groups.”
On day one, Mamdani also moved to allow New York City employees to participate in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Under the previous mayor, BDS involvement wasn’t allowed. Mamdani has also threatened to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes if he comes to New York and he also says he will not march in the city’s annual Israel Day Parade.
CBN’s repeated requests for an on-camera interview with Zohran Mamadi have gone unanswered. The mayor says he wants to root out antisemitism across all five boroughs, but so far his actions have not matched his rhetoric.
Publicly, Mamdani’s words sound reassuring with statements like, “protecting Jewish New Yorkers is going to be a focus of my administration,” or, “I’m looking forward to being the mayor for every New Yorker, every Jewish New Yorker,” he said in another.
But conservative Jewish New Yorkers say they don’t trust him. “He is using very fuzzy language,” Professor Lax said. “He’s getting advised from his advisors about how to speak about this, but in his heart, what he wants to do is pure evil.”
Even some influential rabbis—who signal support for some of Mamdani’s progressive policy positions—say they are concerned after meeting with him. “He believes that Israel has no right to exist at all as a Jewish state in any territory,” said Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue.
“It is the ideology of Hamas, Hezbollah,” Hirsch added. Since Mamdani has taken office, that ideology, critics say, has reared its ugly head.
In Manhattan, an anti-Zionist crowd recently surrounded the Park East Synagogue. Karen Lichtbraun, a pro-Zionist Community Leader of Herut NYC, couldn’t believe what she witnessed.
“The police permitted the anti-Zionists to cross the street and protest in front of the synagogue. That was outrageous,” she said. Asked whether she was seeking greater protection, Lichtbraun responded, “It’s not permissible to intimidate anyone from going into a house of worship. Why is this being permitted? To protest right in front of a synagogue.”
When asked whether these groups now feel empowered, she answered without hesitation, “Oh, without question. Because they know that there are no repercussions to their actions. They know that the mayor supports them.”
Mamdani’s initial response to the incident included criticizing the synagogue for holding an event he deemed controversial. “We’re under attack, and we can’t sit on the sidelines and wait for other people to keep us safe,” Lichtbraun said.
There have been other troubling incidents. At the famous Hasidic world headquarters in Brooklyn, a man intentionally and repeatedly crashed his car into the building. In that case, Mamdani showed up to condemn the attack. “Any threat to a Jewish institution or place of worship must be taken seriously,” Mamdani said.
But the attacks appear to keep coming. In Queens, antisemitic chants of “We support Hamas” were heard outside a local synagogue. Swastikas have also appeared on children’s playgrounds in an Orthodox area of Brooklyn. Berney says her grandson, who attends an overtly Jewish school, has been targeted by strangers. “He said that somebody threw a heavy brick of ice at him,” she said. “And I’m hearing that a lot of the kids are getting screamed at all the time.”
The City University of New York is also at the center of growing concern. Once a popular choice for Jewish students, the college is now considered by some to be the most antisemitic in the country.
Professor Lax says he has been harassed, assaulted, and threatened through anonymous letters. “I’ve had a lot of threats—yeah, threats to come after me in different ways. Many threats, yes,” he said. Lax also described feeling unsafe on campus. “Do I sometimes feel it’s dangerous for me on campus? Yes. There have been incidents where I’ve been surrounded. There’s one in particular where six Marxist, lunatic faculty members encircled me just out of the blue, out of nowhere. But it was clearly coordinated.”
This growing angst has many New York Jews wondering what’s next. Asked about the worst-case scenario under Mamdani, Lax warned, “I think you’re going to see mass boycotts of Jewish-owned businesses in New York City, any connection to Israel whatsoever. If your grandfather or the owner of the store lived in Israel, they’re going to be boycotted, and Mamdani is going to support it. Why do I think that? He said that!”
That concern adds to a long list of worries already coming from Jewish New Yorkers inside the Big Apple.
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