{"id":93404,"date":"2026-01-08T06:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T06:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/93404\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T06:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T06:27:09","slug":"julie-menin-elected-nycs-first-jewish-speaker-in-unanimous-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/93404\/","title":{"rendered":"Julie Menin elected NYC\u2019s first Jewish speaker in unanimous vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">The New York City Council unanimously elected Councilwoman Julie Menin, a Democrat representing parts of the Upper East Side, as its new speaker on Wednesday, making her the first Jewish speaker in the council\u2019s history, reported JNS.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">Menin won the speakership with 51 votes and no opposition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">Menin, a moderate Democrat who has publicly supported Israel, is expected to serve as a potential check on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has become notorious for his anti-Israel stance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">Mamdani <a class=\"\" album=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.israelnationalnews.com\/news\/416367\" target=\"_blank\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">has repeatedly said<\/a> he would have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he entered the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">He caused an uproar on his first day in office when he <a class=\"\" album=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.israelnationalnews.com\/news\/420279\" target=\"_blank\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">cancelled executive orders<\/a> related to Israel, which were issued by his predecessor, Eric Adams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">In her acceptance remarks on Wednesday, Menin credited her upbringing as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor for shaping her political values.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">\u201cThe East Side of Manhattan was a community that welcomed my family with open arms, a community that gave them a better life after the horrors that they had been through, and with the beauty of life, brings things full circle,&#8221; she said. \u201cI now have the great honor and distinction of representing that neighborhood.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">Menin also compared the Islamophobia that followed the Sept. 11 attacks to the \u201chatred and violence&#8221; she said are \u201crunning rampant across our country and around the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">She noted the significance of the moment, saying, \u201cWe live in a day when the first Muslim mayor of New York City and now the first Jewish speaker of the council are serving at the same time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">She added that what will define this interfaith leadership is whether it can \u201ccalm tensions, bridge divides and\u2026 recognize we are one city, no matter the religion we practice or the language we speak.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">Menin has been outspoken in her support for Israel, including marching in the city\u2019s most recent Israel Day Parade, and has worked to combat antisemitism through Holocaust education initiatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">Ahead of the vote, Menin said she would seek common ground with Mamdani, telling the New York Post she raised her concerns directly with the mayor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">\u201cI was extremely concerned about the repeal of the executive orders and other matters, and I expressed my concerns to the mayor directly about that,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">She added that Mamdani told her he had issued a new executive order that maintains the Office to Combat Antisemitism and instructs the police commissioner to monitor protests near houses of worship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" album=\"true\" data-v-aef5fdcb=\"\" data-v-e580db1b-s=\"\">\u201cWhat I\u2019m focused on with the council is what the council can do to ensure that we are protecting New Yorkers,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York City Council unanimously elected Councilwoman Julie Menin, a Democrat representing parts of the Upper East&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,1057,44006,56,63,65,64,82],"class_list":["post-93404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city-council","tag-new-york-jewish-community","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93404","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=93404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}