NEW YORK — New York’s Democratic party leadership, but not New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, turned out on Sunday for the city’s annual Israel Day parade, alongside tens of thousands of Jews and allies from the city and the surrounding region.
The event maintained its festive atmosphere and went off without a hitch, despite the boycott from the mayor and security fears that had prompted heavy precautions from police.
Mamdani’s refusal to participate marked the first time a mayor had boycotted the parade since it was first held in 1965.
The annual parade, officially called Israel Day on Fifth, sees Jewish and pro-Israel groups march up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.
New York leaders kicked off the event in Midtown Manhattan. Governor Kathy Hochul, Sen. Chuck Schumer, other members of Congress, Attorney General Letitia James, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, City Council Speaker Julie Menin and City Comptroller Mark Levine all addressed the crowd, alongside Jewish communal leaders.
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“Today we march in defiance and also to stand up for the values that defined New York State since its very beginning,” Hochul said.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, a communal group that organizes the parade, estimated that more than 50,000 participants marched, alongside thousands of spectators, in one of the event’s highest turnouts ever.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, center, and New York City Speaker Julie Menin, right, at Israel Day on Fifth, in New York City, May 31, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
The massive crowd and support from the city and state leadership marked a show of force for a Jewish community that feels increasingly embattled due to antisemitism, hate crimes, terror threats and increasing hostility to Israel.
Various communities around the city hold annual parades, and the Israel march serves as the Jewish community’s de facto annual public event.
The parade’s theme this year was “Proud Americans, Proud Zionists.”
Eric Goldstein, the head of the UJA-Federation of New York, a leading Jewish group in the city and one of the event’s sponsors, acknowledged political complications surrounding the parade in recent years.
“This parade used to be a simpler time where we would march apolitically to acknowledge and celebrate the extraordinary achievements of this tiny, young nation,” Goldstein said. “We are increasingly isolated and targeted for being Jews. That said, today and every day, we must be proud, we must be public, we must come together.”
Israel Day on Fifth, in New York City, May 31, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
“At a time of rising antisemitism, it’s more important than ever that we come together in celebration of our Judaism and connection to Israel,” Menin said in a statement. “As home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, New York City sends a powerful message today: we are choosing joy over hate, unity over division, and pride over fear.”
The groups range from leading legacy organizations like the UJA-Federation of New York and the Anti-Defamation League, to communal groups like a coalition of Russian-speaking Jews, and the more eccentric, such as a motorcycle club, a rollerskating group and a marching band in bejeweled, colorful costumes.
Israel Day on Fifth, in New York City, May 31, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
TorahMates, a Jewish learning program, brought in two camels from a farm in Rhode Island. Spectators and police officers put their hats on the camels and posed for selfies.
Marching bands played Israeli hits, such as “Tamid Ohev Oti,” and loudspeakers blasted Hebrew pop music from artists like Omer Adam.
There were also non-Jewish allied groups, including a Muslim delegation led by pro-Israel Sheikh Musa Drammeh and a group from Chinatown that performed a Dragon Dance.
A delegation from Chinatown at Israel Day on Fifth, in New York City, May 31, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
The largest contingent comes from Jewish day schools in the city and the surrounding area.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana led a bipartisan delegation of 13 lawmakers from the Israeli government.
Mamdani’s absence did not impact the event. Marchers with the EndJewHatred activist group mocked the mayor by carrying life-size cardboard cutouts of Mamdani and his wife, both harsh critics of Israel, showing the pair posing with Israeli flags.
Israel Day on Fifth, in New York City, May 31, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
Former mayors Eric Adams and Michael Bloomberg both attended.
In the previous two years, the parade had focused on the plight of the hostages held in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.
This year, with all the hostages returned home, marchers carried flags showing Israeli soldiers who fell in combat since the start of the war.
Israel Day on Fifth, in New York City, May 31, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
The event was also staunchly pro-American, with many participants waving the US flag or bearing the flag on their shoulders. One Jewish school carried a massive American flag that spanned across the avenue.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish and marched in the parade, said the event was among the most heavily secured in the city’s history. Mamdani also vowed tight security for the event at a Thursday briefing.
A police officer wins a game of “rock, paper, scissors,” at Israel Day on Fifth, in New York City, May 31, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
Police lined the parade route and closed the surrounding streets. Jewish children lined up to give officers their thanks and fist bumps.
There were no anti-Zionist protesters or disruptions anywhere along the parade route.
A small group of left-wing Israelis protested against the participation of coalition members in the event, holding signs that said, “The only hope: a shared Israeli-Palestinian future.”
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