New York saw antisemitic protesters block a synagogue event and harass attendees, with mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani blamed for comments that sided with protesters while demonstrations spread to other Jewish events around the city.
Before Thanksgiving a mob descended on Park East Synagogue to disrupt a Nefesh B’nefesh event that helps Jews immigrate to Israel. Protesters blocked the entrance and harassed attendees, including 93-year-old Rabbi Arthur Schneier, a Holocaust survivor. Witnesses described chants and intimidation geared directly at Jewish worshippers and community members.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani publicly blamed the Jews and Nefesh B’nefesh for the protest, calling the organization and event “violated international law.” That response fed the perception that city leadership was not firmly standing with Jewish New Yorkers as the harassment unfolded. Now the same crowd appears to be targeting other Jewish gatherings in and around the city.
The organizers posted plans to show up at another Nefesh B’nefesh event in Manhattan on Wednesday and at Kew Gardens Hills on Thursday. The Manhattan action reportedly never happened because the group could not find the event location. New Yorkers watching this trend saw a pattern of intimidation aimed at Jewish civic life rather than focused policy debate.
“Because of our announced protest, settler agency Nefesh B’nefesh has been forced into the shadows. Their extreme vetting of attendees has hampered outreach and vastly limited their ability to recruit settlers,” the post read. “Our planned action tonight to protest the settler recruitment event is being canceled.”
On January 6, New York State Assembly member Sam Berger released a statement addressing the Kew Gardens Hills protest and the broader context of rising antisemitism in the city. Elected officials who are serious about public safety and civil order need to acknowledge not just the protests themselves but the patterns of behavior that turn political speech into targeted harassment. The response from local authorities and leaders matters in whether communities feel protected or exposed.
That statement read:
A year and a half ago, this same group protested a similar event, which quickly descended into vile displays of antisemitism and open support for terrorist organizations whose stated goal is the complete destruction of Israel and the Jewish people. That context matters and it cannot be ignored.
During that previous incident, protestors stood across the street, more than one hundred feet away, yet the distance did nothing to prevent a stream of antisemitic chants, tropes and harassment. Criticism of Israel is not the issue. The concern is when those arguments are used as a cover for blatant antisemitism, which is exactly what happened last time.
This makes the Mayor’s decision, just hours after taking office, to rescind IHRA all the more concerning, especially in light of the Governor’s recent assertion that this change does not weaken protections in the state. That reassurance does not align with the NYPD’s own incident report released today, which shows that Jewish New Yorkers account for 57 percent of all hate crimes in the city, with 330 reported incidents, while the next group experienced 52. Without IHRA as a guiding standard, the city lacks a reliable framework to recognize when extremist language is being laundered as political discourse, leaving communities vulnerable in moments exactly like this.
I have been in contact with the commanding officer of the 107th Precinct and with Queens Shmira, and am assured they are taking this very seriously and that the community will be protected and public safety will remain the priority throughout this scheduled protest.
Everyone has the right to protest, but it is not a license to target and harass the Jewish people.
Reports indicate the Kew Gardens Hills demonstration did proceed and attendees captured the protesters chanting and cheering support for Hamas. Audio and video from the scene show protesters embracing slogans and language that celebrate a terrorist group known for murdering civilians. That kind of open embrace of violence is not mere political expression; it crosses into support for terror and terroristic aims.
Those actions raise a basic question for city leaders: will New York defend its Jewish citizens or normalize harassment under the guise of protest? People in affected neighborhoods are asking why public safety and common decency seem secondary to political posturing. The situation demands clear policing, clear political statements condemning antisemitism, and an insistence that lawful protest never becomes intimidation.
New York has always been a city of robust debate, but there is a line between dissent and targeting a vulnerable community. When chants celebrate terror and elderly congregants are shoved and shouted at, officials should call it out plainly and act to protect the city’s Jews. Leadership that fails to do so risks making this kind of harassment feel routine rather than unacceptable.
