{"id":111198,"date":"2026-01-24T17:02:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/111198\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T17:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:02:07","slug":"critics-slam-nyc-mayor-zohran-mamdani-for-using-holocaust-survivor-for-photo-op","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/111198\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics slam NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani for using Holocaust survivor for ‘photo op’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Holocaust survivor\u00a0banned from speaking to a Brooklyn middle school<\/a>\u00a0last month will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day with what Jewish leaders are calling a hollow visit from Mayor Mamdani \u2013 amounting to nothing more than a \u201cphoto op.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sami Steigmann, 86, who spent his childhood years in a labor camp in Ukraine and was subjected to Nazi medical experimentation, is expecting a visit Tuesday from the socialist mayor \u2013 who has been dogged by accusations of fueling antisemitism with his anti-Israel rhetoric.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course he\u2019s going to use me,\u201d Steigmann conceded to The Post. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Sami Steigmann, a Holocaust survivor who was denied from speaking at a Brooklyn middle school due to his pro-Israel views, said he\u2019s expecting no more than a \u201cphoto op\u201d when he meets with Mayor Mamdani. Sami Steigmann<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s visit is not expected to last more than 10 minutes \u2014 just long enough to snap a photo with the heroic survivor. <\/p>\n

The mayor also plans to bring his video team along.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor\u2019s office can\u00a0spin the meeting any way they want,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI asked if I can bring somebody,\u201d the octogenarian said, but he was told no by nonprofit Blue Card, which helps Holocaust survivors and arranged the meet and greet.<\/p>\n

While Steigmann\u2019s uplifting talks to schoolchildren and groups usually last an hour, he knows he won\u2019t have that kind of time to share his harrowing tale with Mamdani.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not going to listen to a survivor\u2019s story,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat can we do in 10 minutes?\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his friends urging him to rebuff\u00a0the socialist from using him as a pawn, Steigmann sees it as an opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMayor Zohran Mamdani is unwavering in his commitment to confronting and eradicating antisemitism wherever it appears in our city,\u201d the mayor\u2019s office said. Katie Godowski\/MediaPunch\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

After spending years of his childhood in a labor camp in Ukraine and being subjected to Nazi medical experimentation, Steigmann said he needs affordable housing options that lets him out of his Harlem walk-up. Instagram \/samisteigmannspeaks<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it\u2019s for a photo op \u2013 he\u2019s a politician. But I\u2019ll talk to anybody,\u201d said Steigmann who\u2019s pinning his hopes that the mayor can help him with affordable housing as he\u2019s desperate to get out of his Harlem walk-up apartment.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m aware of it \u2013 he\u2019s using me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s office insisted Mamdani is a friend of the Jews.<\/p>\n

\u201cMayor Zohran Mamdani is unwavering in his commitment to confronting and eradicating antisemitism wherever it appears in our city, and to ensuring that future generations understand the history and lessons of the Holocaust,\u201d said\u00a0City Hall spokesperson Monica Klein.<\/p>\n

But Jewish leaders questioned what they called Mamdani\u2019s empty gesture.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully Mayor Mamdani can utilize this meeting as an opportunity to learn a thing or two from Sami, understand the struggles of those who lived through an actual genocide, and this meeting will be more than just a useless photo op used by Mamdani to pretend he cares about Jews,\u201d\u00a0 blasted Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Holocaust survivor\u00a0banned from speaking to a Brooklyn middle school\u00a0last month will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[68,15400,60,57,9,56,63,65,64,58,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-111198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-exclusive","9":"tag-holocaust","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-nyc-headlines","16":"tag-nyc-news","17":"tag-us-news","18":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111198","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=111198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}