{"id":145379,"date":"2026-02-25T22:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/145379\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T22:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:55:11","slug":"nyc-synagogue-protest-bill-tasks-police-with-protection-plan-the-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/145379\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC synagogue protest bill tasks police with protection plan \u2013 The Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"New<\/p>\n

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin on Feb. 25. Photo by John McCarten\/NYC Council Media Unit<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Jacob<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Jacob Kornbluh<\/a><\/p>\n

February 25, 2026<\/p>\n

The New York City Council has ditched a proposal for a strict up to 100-foot buffer zone for protests outside houses of worship and instead aims to direct the NYPD to develop a plan outlining how it would protect congregants from constitutionally protected protests.<\/p>\n

The changes come in the face of reservations from Mayor Zohran Mamdani as well as civil liberties groups that have raised concerns that the measure could limit First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n

Michael Gerber, the police department\u2019s deputy commissioner for legal affairs, told council members Wednesday that the NYPD will craft a framework that carefully weighs constitutional considerations, balancing public safety with free speech rights and establishing clear procedures for managing protests.<\/p>\n

The bill, introduced<\/a> by Council Speaker Julie Menin, follows disruptive demonstrations at synagogues that targeted events promoting land sales in Israel and settlements and featured antisemitic slogans and chants<\/a>. It initially proposed creating a perimeter of up to 100 feet to ensure access to services and events without harassment or being blocked at the door.<\/p>\n

It is part of the Council speaker\u2019s five-point plan<\/a> to combat antisemitism, in conjunction with a new task force<\/a> she appointed, as anti-Jewish incidents continue to account for a majority<\/a> of reported hate crimes in New York City. In recent months, at least two protests outside synagogues featured antisemitic slogans and chants, heightening tensions and drawing condemnation<\/a>. Last month, a person rammed a car into an entrance<\/a> of the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who, like Menin, is Jewish, reportedly cautioned<\/a> that a one-size-fits-all rule might not withstand legal challenge and could prove unworkable across neighborhoods with vastly different street layouts. Mamdani said he ordered<\/a> his law department and police leadership to review the proposal\u2019s legality. On his first day in office, Mamdani revoked<\/a> an executive order<\/a> issued by former Mayor Eric Adams in December that called on Tisch to evaluate proposals for establishing a buffer zone of at least 15 feet outside houses of worship.<\/p>\n

Mamdani cited Tisch\u2019s concerns in an interview with CNN<\/a> earlier this week when asked for his position on the bill.<\/p>\n

However, after internal discussions, the Council agreed to revise the language of the bill<\/a>, placing implementation authority squarely with the police department rather than codifying a specific distance requirement.<\/p>\n

Free speech protections
\n\"\"Michael Gerber, NYPD deputy commissioner, at a NYC Council hearing on Feb. 25. Photo by John McCarten\/NYC Council Media Unit<\/p>\n

At a hearing by the newly created Committee to Combat Hate, Gerber, one of Tisch\u2019s Jewish deputies, said the NYPD supports the legislation \u2014 describing the buffer as a \u201cfrozen zone.\u201d \u2014\u00a0and is committed to transparency. The department will ensure protesters retain \u201csight and sound to the entrance of that location consistent with the First Amendment,\u201d he said, referencing the right to peacefully protest. \u201cAt the same time, the protesters will not be permitted to obstruct, impede or interfere.\u201d He added that demonstrators who enter frozen zones could be subject to arrest.<\/p>\n

In response to questioning from Councilmember Shahana Hanif of Brooklyn, an Israel critic, Gerber said that anti-Zionist and antisemitic slogans, \u201cwith some extremely narrow exceptions,\u201d will be safeguarded. He pointed to the 1977 neo-Nazi march in Skokie, Illinois<\/a>, which the court said was protected speech.<\/p>\n

Mainstream Jewish groups that testified, including the Anti-Defamation League, the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council, said they back the bill. At a rally held inside City Hall Wednesday morning, two Muslim imams and a Catholic clergyman also voiced their support.<\/p>\n

The progressive group Jews For Racial & Economic Justice, which endorsed Mamdani through its affiliated political arm, and other groups supportive of the Palestinian cause, are lobbying Council members to oppose the bill. Mamdani, at an unrelated press conference, said the amended bill is a \u201cdistinct shift\u201d from the original proposal but declined to commit to signing it until he sees its \u201cfinal version.\u201d A City Hall spokesperson referred back to the mayor\u2019s comments when asked by the Forward whether the new language addressed his concerns.<\/p>\n

At the hearing, Menin addressed what she described as \u201cmisconceptions\u201d about the measure. \u201cThe First Amendment freedom of speech is truly sacrosanct, and it is a freedom that these bills will uphold,\u201d Menin said. \u201cWhat we will not allow people to do is abuse that freedom to harass and intimidate others outside religious and educational institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The council speaker said the November 19, 2025 demonstration outside Manhattan\u2019s Park East Synagogue, which hosted an event promoting migration to Israel, \u201cwas not a peaceful protest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legislation is \u201cabsolutely needed,\u201d Menin said, to ensure that such demonstrations never happen again. \u201cWe can\u2019t brush that under the rug,\u201d she said. \u201cI think any suggestion that the bills aren\u2019t needed is just minimizing what the impact has been to the Jewish community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul recently introduced similar legislation, which would create a 25-foot buffer zone around houses of worship across New York State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin on Feb. 25. Photo by John McCarten\/NYC Council Media Unit By…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-145379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-ny","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-nyc-headlines","12":"tag-nyc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145379","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=145379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}