{"id":221525,"date":"2026-05-06T03:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T03:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/221525\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T03:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T03:09:12","slug":"protesters-picket-manhattan-synagogue-over-israel-real-estate-sale-the-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/221525\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesters picket Manhattan synagogue over Israel real estate sale \u2013 The Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Pro-Palestinian<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian protesters near Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, May 5, 2026. Photo by Hannah Feuer<\/p>\n

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

By Hannah Feuer<\/a> and Jacob Kornbluh<\/a>May 5, 2026<\/p>\n

Protesters thronged a Manhattan synagogue Tuesday night outside an event promoting real estate in Israel and the West Bank \u2014 returning to the scene of a clash last year that prompted a new law shielding houses of worship and put the heat on newly elected mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n

The demonstration at Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side drew more than 100 protesters, kept nearly a block away from the house of worship by barricades and a heavy NYPD presence.<\/p>\n

Chants of\u00a0 \u201cThere is only one solution, intifada revolution,\u201d \u201cFrom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,\u201d and \u201cWe don\u2019t want a two-state, we want \u201948\u201d rose from the crowd \u2014 slogans Zionist organizations view as antisemitic and a call for violence and removal of Jews in the region.<\/p>\n

\"\"Protesters tear down a \u201cMessiah is Here\u201d poster. Photo by Hannah Feuer<\/p>\n

At one point, two protesters near the event ripped down<\/a> a plastered poster of the Lubavitcher Rebbe that read \u201cMessiah is here\u201d from a traffic light and threw it in the trash.<\/p>\n

A smaller group of pro-Israel counterprotesters rallied across the street from the pro-Palestinian demonstrators.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the synagogue said it rented out the space for the Great Israeli Real Estate Event, which advertised properties for sale in Israel and the West Bank.<\/p>\n

The standoff comes just days after a new law governing protests outside houses of worship took effect \u2014\u00a0a measure that City Council Speaker Julie Menin introduced after a November 2025 demonstration at Park East Synagogue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The protests, combined with what some Jewish leaders saw as slow or equivocal responses <\/a>from Mamdani, led to calls for legislation that would limit demonstrations near houses of worship.<\/p>\n

Menin initially aimed to establish protest-free buffer zones<\/a> of up to 100 feet outside synagogues but revised the bill after pushback from Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch<\/a>, some progressive Jewish groups<\/a> and free speech advocates<\/a>, under threat of legal challenges.<\/p>\n

A watered-down version<\/a> of that legislation that allows the NYPD to determine how large buffer zones need to be on a case-by-case basis passed with a veto-proof majority last month. Mamdani allowed the bill to become law without his signature<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mamdani meanwhile vetoed a similar bill that would apply to schools. The Council could still vote to override that veto.<\/p>\n

Police closed off the entire street where the synagogue sits to the public, while allowing the event\u2019s attendees to enter. The demonstrators were well over 100 feet away from the building \u2014 a greater distance than even the largest buffer zone proposed by Menin.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the law argued that its flexible standard \u2014 allowing the NYPD to determine buffer zone distances rather than specifying them precisely \u2014 would protect protesters\u2019 rights. But the security at Park East showed how that discretion can, in practice, expand protest-free zones by granting the NYPD wide latitude to set the distance themselves.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Mamdani, a vocal critic of Israel, said<\/a> on Tuesday before the protest that the mayor is \u201cdeeply opposed\u201d to the event, characterizing the sale of property in the West Bank as a violation of international law. The spokesperson, Sam Raskin,\u00a0 nevertheless emphasized that the city was ready to ensure the safety of participants entering the venue and those demonstrating.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur administration has been clear that we are committed to ensuring safe entry and exit from any house of worship, and that such access never be in question while all protesters are able to exercise their First Amendment rights,\u201d said Raskin ahead of the event.<\/p>\n

\u2018People are outraged\u2019<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s event was the first time under the new law, but the NYPD protest plan it calls for is still a work in progress:\u00a0 the police department still has another month to present a plan and 90 days<\/a> to publicize it.<\/p>\n

Local politicians noted the sensitive nature of the protest, saying that alone is reason to condemn it.<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Alex Bores and Councilmember Virginia Maloney, who represent the district where the synagogue is located, said in a joint statement that the situation naturally evoked \u201cpainful memories of times when people have been harassed while entering houses of worship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Micah Lasher, a state legislator who is vying for the open congressional seat on Manhattan\u2019s west side, described<\/a> the protest as \u201cintended to create fear in the hearts of Jewish New Yorkers and stigmatize the community.\u201d Lasher said leaders should condemn the protest, no matter any disagreement on policy.<\/p>\n

Rob Jereski, a local attorney who is Jewish and came to support the Palestinian side, had reservations about the security perimeters, arguing it kept protesters too far from the real estate event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the new law is supposed to maintain free speech and honor the Constitution, but this doesn\u2019t seem to do it,\u201d Jereski said. \u201cThe fact that Jews pray in a place doesn\u2019t mean that crimes that are committed in that place should be without a response if people are outraged.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Karen Lichtbraun, a counterprotester outside Park East synagogue Photo by Hannah Feuer<\/p>\n

Some counterprotesters also criticized the new Council measure \u2014\u00a0for not going far enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s outrageous that it\u2019s not clear that you cannot demonstrate and harass kids or people around religious institutions,\u201d said Tomer Morad, a demonstrator on the Israeli side.<\/p>\n

Karen Lichtbraun, an activist affiliated with the Zionist Herut movement in New York, said the new bill was a \u201cjoke\u201d that doesn\u2019t address the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, thank God, they\u2019re away from the synagogue,\u201d she said. \u201cBut what happens if next time the police commissioner decides that they can be 50 feet or 10 feet away?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hannah Feuer joined the Forward as a general assignment reporter in May 2025 after two years as a culture reporter at Seven Days, an independent weekly in Burlington, Vermont. Originally from the Washington, D.C., area, she is a 2023 graduate of Northwestern University\u2019s Medill School of Journalism.<\/p>\n

Jacob Kornbluh is the Forward\u2019s senior political reporter. Follow him on Twitter @jacobkornbluh<\/a> or email [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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