DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — An interfaith group of religious leaders and political representatives gathered Thursday at Brooklyn Borough Hall to denounce southern Brooklyn Councilmember Inna Vernikov for posting what they called a blatantly anti-Muslim remark on social media.
The speakers, who ranged from imams to ministers to councilmembers, called Vernikov’s comment “dangerous” and “incendiary,” noting she posted it on X just days after a terrorist attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego left three Muslim men dead. They urged City Council Speaker Julie Menin to hold Vernikov accountable.
The May 15 post shows a video of Muslim men from a mosque within Vernikov’s district in Sheepshead Bay praying on the sidewalk. Her comment implies that the men posed a danger to “little Jewish girls” in a school next to the sidewalk.
It read: “This is an ALL GIRLS Jewish school in my district. I’m all for prayer and free speech, but why do a bunch of GROWN MEN need to do this right outside of a school full of little Jewish girls??? Is not this what MOSQUES are for? Is this intentional? Mayor Mamdani @NYCMayor any words of wisdom on why all of a sudden they’d feel compelled to do this?”
The post drew 2.9 million views, and attracted dozens of insulting and divisive comments in response.
In a second post later that same day, Vernikov acknowledged that she had just learned about the existence of a mosque next door to the girls school. “Looks like there is a mosque right near the school, and these may be congregants. But the alarm from my constituents is understandable …” she wrote in part.
The Al Madina Mosque is on East 16th Street, next to the Bnos Leah Prospect Park yeshiva for girls on East 17th Street.
Vernikov, a Ukranian-Jewish Republican representing neighborhoods including Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Midwood, has a history of posting strongly pro-Israel and virulently anti-Muslim rhetoric — including a post in October 2025 calling then-mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim, a “terrorist lover,” and predicting “Jihad is coming to NYC” if he were to win.
In October 2023 she was arrested after openly carrying a firearm to a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Brooklyn College. (The charges were later dropped by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.)
Center: Afaf Nasher, executive director of the New York Council on American-Islamic Relations. Photo: Mary Frost/Brooklyn Eagle
‘Hold her accountable’
Vernikov’s post — following so closely after the attack in San Diego — left members of the Muslim community reeling, speakers at Borough Hall said. They called for Menin to remove Vernikov from the Council’s Bipartisan Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, which she co-chairs, as well as the Jewish Caucus.
Menin had previously committed to hold Vernikov accountable if she repeated her inflammatory conduct, they said.
“We know that none of this violence happens in a vacuum, and that is what brought us here today,” said Afaf Nasher, executive director of the New York Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The mosque and the school have co-existed peacefully for 10 years, Nasher said. The two institutions are neighbors “with mutual respect and understanding for well over a decade.”
The men shown in the video gather every Friday for their afternoon prayer, she said. When the mosque is full, as it was on the day that Vernikov filmed, the overflow crowd moves outside to the sidewalk. The prayer takes place after the students next door have been dismissed for the day, since the Jewish students leave early on Fridays. The praying men “had no interaction with the yeshiva, personnel or administration, their students, nor were they on the property,” Nasher said.
Vernikov’s post suggests that the men’s “mere presence outside of the school for Jewish girls is nefarious,” she said. “Every woman on earth understands that this is a threat of sexual violence, a well-known trope often used to debase people of color and Muslims, and attack their humanity.”
Dr. Debbie Almontaser, founder and CEO of Bridging Cultures Group and founder of Brooklyn’s Khalil Gibran International Academy. Photo: Mary Frost/Brooklyn Eagle
Almontaser: ‘Islam teaches us to care for our neighbors’
“As an educator, I was absolutely outraged to see the post by the councilwoman,” said Dr. Debbie Almontaser, founder and CEO of Bridging Cultures Group and founder of Brooklyn’s Khalil Gibran International Academy. “Islam teaches us to care for our neighbors — 40 in front of us, 40 behind us, 40 on the right and 40 on the left. And the unity that existed within that community was disrupted by this one post.”
“When we allow such rhetoric to happen, [we get] what happens in San Diego. Not just to Muslims — we see it in synagogue and churches as well,” Almontaser said.
Rev. Michael Blake, associate pastor at Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church in the Bronx, and former member of the state Assembly, said Vernikov should be removed from the Antisemitism Task Force.
“Let us be very clear that we have no tolerance for hate. That people must be able to pray in peace, worship in peace, live in peace. … You should not have to worry about going to sleep and waking up to hateful rhetoric from an elected official,” he said.
“None of us are safe until all of us are safe,” said Bobby Sackman, a member of Jews for Racial and Social Justice. “I am a constituent of Vernikov. Many Jews are distraught by her hateful activities. From Trump and the federal government to Vernikov in the City Council, so many people in power fuel this hateful violence.”
Imam Abdul Aziz, a member of the Council of African American Imams, compared Vernikov’s post to the rhetoric that led to Jan. 6. “When you look at the damage to people who just want some peace — the human family. Next thing you know you have negative action.”
“We are asking the City Council to do the right thing,” he said.
Councilmember Julie Won, who represents western Queens, said that as an Asian woman, she has also experienced discrimination. Won described Vernikov as “someone who cannot recognize our struggles are the same.
“Every single word you say and type has consequences. When you use your power as an elected official to [spread hate], you no longer deserve to be an elected official,” Won said.
Bobby Sackman, a member of Jews for Racial and Social Justice, reads a statement condemning anti-Muslim rhetoric. Photo: Mary Frost/Brooklyn Eagle
Menin’s staff connects with Vernikov
Menin’s spokesperson told the Brooklyn Eagle on Friday that the speaker had tried to connect with Vernikov but had not able to reach her.
However, a member of Menin’s senior staff did make personal contact with Vernikov to express the speaker’s concern with the rhetoric, and asked her to clarify her comments, according to the spokesperson. Menin also notified the Jewish Caucus co-chair, Democratic Councilmember Eric Dinowitz, to relate her concerns about the post’s content, including its inaccuracies.
Menin’s office pointed out that she has taken a stronger stance against such abhorrent rhetoric than speakers have previously, including removing Queens Councilmember Vickie Paladino from numerous committees over her own Islamophobic comments.
Menin (also an ex officio member) can’t unilaterally fire her — Vernikov’s membership would have to be voted on by the Jewish Caucus.
The Brooklyn Eagle reached out to Vernikov’s office twice for comment but did not hear back by press time.
Speakers at the Borough Hall press conference included:
Afaf Nasher, Executive Director of Council on American-Islamic Relations New York; Abdullah Alebdy, President of Majlis Ashura aka Islamic Leadership Council of New York; Imam Abdul Aziz, Council of African American Imams; Reverend Michael Blake, Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church; Dr. Debbie Almontaser, founder and CEO of Bridging Cultures Group; Bobbie Sackman, member of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice; Councilmember Julie Won; Japreet Singh, President of Khalsa Community Patrol; Reverend Doctor Kahli C. Mootoo, pastor of The Historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church; Waheed Akhter, President of NYPD Muslim Officers Society and Yasser Salem, OneNYC Chair.