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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Phylisa Wisdom. Photo by Michael Nagle\/Bloomberg via Getty Images\/Collage by Jacob Kornbluh<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Jacob Kornbluh<\/a> New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has picked Phylisa Wisdom, the executive director of the progressive New York Jewish Agenda, to lead the Mayor\u2019s Office to Combat Antisemitism. This announcement comes as the city grapples with a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks and as the Mamdani administration faces scrutiny from the Jewish community following a divisive election that turned, in part, on Mamdani\u2019s positions on Israel.<\/p>\n Wisdom, 39, has aligned herself with some of the positions Mamdani has taken on countering antisemitism, including opposition<\/a> to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which considers most forms of anti-Zionism as antisemitic. Mamdani has thus far declined to say<\/a> how his administration will define antisemitism when determining which cases to investigate or pursue. While leading a Zionist organization, Wisdom has also called for more sympathy<\/a> toward Palestinians, and in November 2023, Wisdom\u2019s group, under her leadership, spearheaded a statement<\/a> by liberal Jewish elected officials calling for a bilateral ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n In her new role, Wisdom will serve as Mamdani\u2019s point person to the Jewish community. Her appointment is another signal that Mamdani\u2019s anti-Zionist posture will continue to factor importantly into his leadership of the city, which is home to the largest concentration of Jews outside Israel. Her challenge will be facilitating dialogue with people who hold widely diverging viewpoints, without overriding a mayor whose positions on Israel are deeply held<\/a> and long-standing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wisdom told Jewish Insider<\/a> last month that Mamdani\u2019s pledge to tackle the scourge of antisemitism \u201cwill require a comprehensive strategy\u201d with input from the diversity of New York\u2019s Jewish community.<\/p>\n The office\u2019s prior executive director, Moshe Davis, was a holdover of the Adams administration.<\/p>\n Josh Binderman, a political strategist who handled Jewish outreach during the mayoral campaign and transition, will continue in a leadership role under the agency headed by Wisdom, a City Hall spokesperson said. Binderman was Mamdani\u2019s informal Jewish liaison in the opening days of the new administration. He worked with both allies of the mayor and leaders of mainstream Jewish organizations who are unsettled by<\/a> Mamdani.<\/p>\n In an email to its members on Wednesday, NYJA\u2019s board chair Nancy Kaufman said Wisdom \u201cwill be the right person at the right time for this job\u201d and that her appointment also reflects Mamdani\u2019s \u201ccontinued commitment to fighting antisemitism while building constructive, enduring relationships with New York City\u2019s diverse Jewish communities.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s first month<\/p>\n The appointment comes as antisemitic incidents continue to account for a majority of reported hate crimes in New York City. According to the New York City Police Department, antisemitic incidents made up 57% of all hate crimes reported in 2025. The trend continued into the new year: NYPD data<\/a> show that more than half of all hate crime incidents reported in January were targeted at Jews or Jewish spaces, including a rabbi who was verbally harassed and assaulted<\/a>, and swastika graffiti<\/a> that, two days in a row, appeared at a playground frequented by Orthodox families in the Borough Park neighborhood in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n More recently, Mamdani drew praise from Jewish leaders for his rapid and forceful response<\/a> to the attempted car attack at Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters.<\/p>\n Mamdani said the office, established<\/a> by former Mayor Eric Adams last year through an executive order, will pursue his commitment<\/a> to addressing rising acts of hate against Jews. The office is tasked with monitoring antisemitic incidents, coordinating city agencies, engaging with Jewish communities across the city and advising the mayor on policy responses to antisemitism and related hate crimes. Mamdani opted to keep the office open<\/a> while revoking, as one of his first acts in office, executive orders<\/a> tied to antisemitism.<\/p>\n Mamdani faced a rocky first month in navigating Jewish communal concerns. His Day 1 move to repeal the adoption of the controversial IHRA definition, which the office to combat antisemitism pursued<\/a> as a framework for investigating hate crimes, prompted swift backlash from mainstream Jewish organizations. A week later, he was criticized for his response<\/a> to protests outside Park East Synagogue. City Hall quietly engaged<\/a> Jewish leaders to defuse tensions, but Mamdani\u2019s eventual statement<\/a> that \u201cchants in support of a terrorist organization have no place in our city\u201d came later than many had hoped and was viewed by critics<\/a> as restrained and overly cautious.<\/p>\n Last week, City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who is Jewish, announced a new task force<\/a> dedicated to combating antisemitism; its co-chairs said the group would take a more assertive legislative role in addressing rising concerns among Jewish New Yorkers. One of its co-chairs is Inna Vernikov, a Republican and Mamdani critic, which could set up potential tension between the City Council and the mayor\u2019s office over how to respond to the rise in antisemitism.<\/p>\n Mamdani also expressed reservations<\/a> about legislation proposed by Menin to create a 100-foot buffer zone around synagogues and other houses of worship. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t sign any legislation that we find to be outside of the bounds of the law,\u201d he said. However, he broadly supports the Council\u2019s five-point plan<\/a> to combat antisemitism, including $1.25 million in funding for the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the creation of a city hotline to report antisemitic incidents, he said.<\/p>\n Who is Phylisa Wisdom?<\/p>\n Born and raised in San Diego, California, she grew up in the Reform movement, actively engaged in the North American Federation for Temple Youth, and learned advocacy through the Reform movement\u2019s Religious Action Center under Rabbi David Saperstein. Wisdom is a member of Park Slope\u2019s Congregation Beth Elohim, where Mamdani addressed the congregation while running for mayor.<\/p>\n Wisdom\u2019s positions and past work drew scrutiny<\/a> from some Orthodox leaders as rumors<\/a> of her possible appointment began to circulate recently. She previously served as director of government affairs for Yaffed, a pro\u2013secular education group that scrutinized<\/a> private yeshivas in Brooklyn over inadequate secular education.<\/p>\n In 2023, Wisdom was tapped<\/a> as head of the New York Jewish Agenda, a progressive advocacy group formed in 2020<\/a> to be a voice for liberal Jews in New York. On a recent webinar, Wisdom described<\/a> her group\u2019s mission as advocating, organizing and convening \u201cliberal Jewish New Yorkers to impact policy, politics and communal discourse.\u201d<\/p>\n The group criticized<\/a> Adams\u2019 Jewish advisory council in 2023 because it overrepresented the Orthodox community and men.<\/p>\n On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, NYJA \u2014 whose founders include former City Comptroller Brad Lander, a Mamdani ally who describes himself as a liberal Zionist \u2014 has backed a two-state solution and called for a rights-based and humane approach toward Palestinians living under occupation. It is listed as a member of the Progressive Israel Network<\/a>. In public statements and on social media, Wisdom has criticized Israeli settlement expansion while also stressing the security and safety of Israelis. Under her predecessor, Matt Nosanchuk, the group advocated for missions to Israel<\/a> to learn firsthand about the conflict from Israelis and Palestinians. (Mamdani has said he would not continue the tradition of mayoral visits to the Jewish state.)<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that legitimate criticism of policies of the government of Israel is not inherently antisemitic, and those who weaponize it only undermine our efforts and put us in harm\u2019s way,\u201d Wisdom wrote in an op-ed<\/a> during the mayoral election. \u201cWhile it is not necessarily antisemitic to criticize Israel, there are those who are antisemitic who use criticism of Israel as a mask for their antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 4, 2026\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n