Jewish leaders call out Mamdani at gathering outside mayor’s residence

By JOSEPH STRAUSS

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — Hundreds of Jewish day school students, parents and alumni gathered outside Gracie Mansion on Friday for a morning of singing and prayers in which they called out New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for his anti-Israel rhetoric.

Attendees listen as Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, right, of Kehilath Jeshurun speaks outside Gracie Mansion, New York, New York, Sept. 18, 2026. (Joseph Strauss)

Ahead of what the organizers billed as a vigil, some Jewish critics said it inappropriately deployed children as political props. Organizers described it as an expression of Jewish pride, and not as a protest of the anti-Zionist mayor; advance materials did not mention Mandani. 

Still, a number of speakers voiced their concerns about Mamdani over his rhetoric about Israel.

“We have those like the leader of this city, Mayor Mamdani, who say we have no right to have a Jewish land,” said Rabbi Avi Weiss, founder of the Modern Orthodox rabbinical school Yeshivat Choverei Torah. “And while I respect the office of the mayor, that, Mr. Mayor, is antisemitism.” 

Weiss’ charge drew applause from the crowd, which was made up mostly of Ramaz School and SAR High School and its adjoined middle school students, all of which are Modern Orthodox, who were bussed over to the Upper East Side. 

Prior to the event, nearly 400 students, alumni and parents of SAR and Ramaz had signed a petition urging organizers to move the event’s location from Gracie Mansion, cautioning that it would “likely be interpreted as a political statement against the mayor, rather than as a response to rising antisemitism.”

Protesters from the anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta group picketed next to the gathering, which was held in Carl Schurz Park near the mayor’s residence. A group of teenage boys among those participating in the vigil jeered at the anti-Israel protesters. “Talk louder, I can’t hear you!” one called out at the Neturei Karta. 

Some attendees held Israeli and American flags. People danced and sang to “Am Israel Chai” (“The People of Israel Live”) and “Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu” (“Peace Will Come Upon Us”), popular songs at pro-Israel protests. The event was rounded out with the singing of the Israeli and American national anthems.

Rabbi David Ingber, who leads the cultural institution 92NY, and Kehilath Jeshurun’s Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz also named Mamdani in their remarks, while others — including students and school administrators — spoke broadly about the rise in antisemitism and the importance of expressing Jewish pride. The strongest rebukes of Mamdani came from Weiss.

“When you use words like genocide, global intifada, genocide — Mr. Mayor, do you know who you’re talking about?” Weiss, who was draped in an Israeli flag, continued. “You’re talking about my grandchildren! You’re talking about hundreds and thousands of Ramaz graduates, of SAR graduates, who are serving in the IDF. Genocide? Not only does that put a target on the Jewish backs, but you are maligning my own children.”

He added, “I turn to you and say — respectfully, but I say — how dare you?”

A group of teenage boys stands across a police barrier from anti-Israel Neturei Karta protesters. (Joseph Strauss)

The gathering came as antisemitic hate crimes have risen in New York City compared to this time last year, and comprise more than half of reported hate crimes in the city. 

Mamdani told reporters earlier this week that he welcomed the group’s presence but that he would likely not be at his residence while they gathered outside it. His public schedule for Friday did not list any appearances earlier than 2 p.m.

Aaron Herman, CEO and co-founder of the group IMPACT, which co-organized Friday’s event, disagreed with the students, graduates and parents who opposed the vigil, calling the gathering “not a political thing. It’s really showing Jewish resilience and Jewish joy, and fighting hate.”

“Yes, this is where he lives, so there is proximity. But there is this incredible need to hear,” Herman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency after the gathering. “And sometimes being in proximity to Gracie Mansion helps with education, right? And saying to the mayor, you have to be more effective, because the group is right here.”

Rabbi Binyamin Krauss, principal of SAR Academy, conceded in an interview that “we’re in front of Gracie Mansion and the mayor is an elected official, so I guess there’s politics,” but said that the event was a “human statement” rather than a political one.

“We’ve got some serious concern about what’s been coming out of Gracie Mansion, and we hope that that will change,” Krauss said. He said that planning for the event began over the summer. About 80 of the 90 students in his school’s eight-grade class attended on Friday, and were given an excused absence for their morning classes.

Some in attendance felt that they were, in fact, making a political statement.

“Yes, that we disagree with you, that we disagree with what you’re supporting,” said Steven Epstein, whose daughter attends SAR, about the criticisms of the mayor that were aired. Epstein was one of about a dozen people wearing yellow “FireMamdani.com” t-shirts, which were being handed out along with matching stickers. (Krauss said in an interview that the event’s organizers were not behind the shirts or stickers.)

Tenth-grader Ari Fogelson was one of four students at Emet Classical Academy who attended, having found out about the gathering yesterday and having received an excused absence. Asked what it meant to show up, Fogelson said “to be a Jew, to support Israel, to take down Mamdani and all his evilness.”

Another Emet student, Lila Sisskind, said the gathering was a chance to “focus on the good,” and that “by doing that, we’re trying to go back against the evil that we think is penetrating our city.”

The event drew a number of politicians and local candidates for office, including Inna Vernikov, the Jewish Republican City Council member from Brooklyn; Caroline Shinkle, who is running as the Republican candidate against Micah Lasher in New York’s 12th congressional district; and Alina Bonsell, the Republican candidate for the Upper East Side’s state Senate seat. A handful of people in the crowd held Bonsell’s campaign signs. 

Michael Rapaport, the Jewish actor and comedian who has been vocally pro-Israel and anti-Mamdani, was also in attendance, and told reporters that he’s considering running for mayor.

Steinmetz said during his remarks that the event was held outside Mamdani’s residence partly in response to what he said was a failure to assure Jewish leaders that he took their concerns seriously.

“This summer, the mayor of New York demonized supporters of Israel, and focused on singling out the Jewish state for criticism,” Steinmetz said, alluding to a video in which Mamdani accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes. “And when he brought in a handpicked group of rabbis to discuss their concerns about his remarks, they left largely disappointed.”

“And in this climate of criticism, we need you to remember who you are, and we need you to stand tall,” Steinmetz said to the students.