{"id":102800,"date":"2026-01-16T23:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T23:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/102800\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T23:45:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T23:45:27","slug":"nyc-council-speaker-rolls-out-initiatives-to-fight-antisemitism-and-they-could-put-her-at-odds-with-mamdani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/102800\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Council speaker rolls out initiatives to fight antisemitism \u2014 and they could put her at odds with Mamdani"},"content":{"rendered":"

City Council Speaker Julie Menin rolled out a wave of initiatives to combat antisemitism Friday \u2014 potentially putting her at odds with Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n

Menin, the council\u2019s first Jewish speaker, unveiled a five-point legislative plan, including establishing safety perimeters around houses of worship during protests and boosting security for private schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cI make no apology about insisting on a proportionate response to the disproportionate discrimination against our Jewish community,\u201d she said from the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

\"City<\/p>\n

City Council Speaker Julie Menin rolled out a five-point legislative plan to help combat antisemitism in NYC, including establishing safety perimeters around houses of worship during protests. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n

The proposed legislation comes amid rising concerns in the Jewish community after Mamdani on his first day in office\u00a0ended executive orders<\/a>\u00a0from Mayor Eric Adams\u2019 administration that focused on fighting antisemitism and supporting Israel.<\/p>\n

The orders adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance\u2019s definition of antisemitism and barred city officials from boycotting or divesting from Israel.<\/p>\n

The two revoked measures were part of a slew of orders issued by Adams after he was\u00a0indicted on federal charges in 2024<\/a>\u00a0that Mamdani reversed.<\/p>\n

The Democratic socialist Hizzoner has faced questions and outright criticism over his anti-Israel stance, including accusing the Jewish state of \u201cgenocide\u201d in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also faced heat for not forcefully decrying language used by protesters during roiling demonstrations in the city, including \u201cglobalize the intifada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Menin, who is a Zionist, said the safety perimeters at houses of worship, as well as schools, were meant to stop harassment and intimidation of worshippers or students entering or leaving those buildings during protests while also upholding demonstrators\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

\"Zohran<\/p>\n

Zohran Mamdani speaking at a Within Our Lifetime Palestine Protest in front of a sign that says \u201cThere is only one solution: Intifada revolution,\u201d in a video posted to Instagram on May 12, 2021. Instagram\/@zohrankmamdani<\/p>\n

While Gov. Kathy Hochul has pushed similar state legislation that would establish a 25-foot buffer zone, Menin\u00a0told the New York Times<\/a>\u00a0she is aiming at possibly a 100-foot perimeter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legislation establishing a safe perimeter around schools and houses of worship is being drafted, and we will have more to share in the future,\u201d Menin\u2019s spokesperson told The Post on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeaker Menin had a productive conversation with Mayor Mamdani on this initiative,\u201d the rep said in a statement. \u201cShe intends to continue working with the Administration as this plan moves forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u201cI<\/p>\n

\u201cI make no apology about insisting on a proportionate response to the disproportionate discrimination against our Jewish community,\u201d Menin said from the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan. Derek French\/SOPA Images\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

She said the proposed protest perimeter law was not an attempt to stifle peaceful protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are trying to do is protect congregants for any house of worship of freely being able to enter and exit without fear of intimidation and harassment,\u201d Menin, who is the daughter and granddaughter to Holocaust survivors, told the Times.<\/p>\n

Mamdani, who pointedly did not applaud when Hochul brought up the 25-foot protest buffer zone bill at her State of the State speech Tuesday, has yet to publicly weigh in.<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s office said in a statement Friday that Mamdani was waiting until the city Law Department finishes reviewing the \u201clegality\u201d of the proposal.<\/p>\n

\"On<\/p>\n

On his first day in office, Mamdani ended executive orders from Mayor Adams\u2018 administration that focused on fighting antisemitism and supporting Israel. John Angelillo\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mayor is committed to fighting antisemitism, and ensuring that New Yorkers continue to be able to worship freely as well as exercise their First Amendment rights,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the first day of his administration, the Mayor directed the NYPD and Law Department to review the legality of a range of proposals, including those like Speaker Menin\u2019s buffer zones proposal, and he will wait for the outcome of that review.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed measure comes after a protest outside an Upper East Side synagogue in November\u00a0targeted congregants attending an event with a slew of vile chants.<\/a>\u00a0At a synagogue and school in Queens last week,\u00a0an anti-Israel mob<\/a>\u00a0screamed \u201cwe support Hamas\u201d nearby while an event took place inside.<\/p>\n

\"Anti-Israel<\/p>\n

Anti-Israel protestors congregated outside of a synagogue on the Upper East Side back in November. Yoav Ginsburg\/ZUMA \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

Menin also wants to invest $1.25 million in new funding over two years for the Museum of Jewish Heritage that would help put together a new virtual Holocaust education experience and expand school outreach, her office said.<\/p>\n

The rest of the plan would establish a reimbursement program to help private schools install security cameras and fund security training for Jewish organizations and other religious entities.<\/p>\n

The Council would also create a dedicated hotline to report incidents of antisemitism that the city\u2019s Commission on Human Rights would handle under Menin\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers should never be fearful to practice their faith no matter what their faith is,\u201d Menin said at the press conference, surrounded by a handful of allies on the Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should always have confidence and pride in their identity and we are going to use every tool at our disposal to ensure that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"City Council Speaker Julie Menin rolled out a wave of initiatives to combat antisemitism Friday \u2014 potentially putting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3862,32394,32267,162,19077,426,47011,2400,46879,9,56,63,65,64,18508,82],"class_list":["post-102800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-antisemitism","tag-executive-orders","tag-houses-of-worship","tag-jewish-community","tag-julie-menin","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-legislative-plan","tag-mayor-eric-adams","tag-museum-of-jewish-heritage","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-private-schools","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}