Mayor Adams: NYC Jews Should Be Worried About Mamdani

New York Mayor Eric Adams warned that the city's Jewish community should be alarmed about the incoming administration of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.

"If I were a Jewish New Yorker, I'd be concerned about my children," Adams said Sunday in Tel Aviv, according to The New York Times. "There is something to be worried about."

Responding to another question about the safety of Jews in New York under Mamdani, the outgoing mayor said that "the community must prepare itself" because "everything is not fine."

Mamdani pulled off an upset in the city's Democrat primary in June, going on to repeat the phenomenon in a general election victory earlier this month.

The former Queens assemblyman beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who launched an independent bid after losing the primary to Mamdani, as well as Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa.

Mamdani has been criticized for his refusal to condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada" and for failing to affirm Israel as a Jewish state amid growing antisemitism in the United States.

Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of New York Jewish Agenda, a liberal Jewish group, told the Times that Adams' remarks while in Israel weren't helpful.

"I fail to see how the outgoing mayor's fearmongering makes anyone in New York City safer," she said.

Newsmax contacted Mamdani's transition team for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Adams, who ran as an independent after announcing he would not seek the Democratic Party nomination, made similar remarks during his reelection campaign and reportedly intended to run on the "EndAntiSemitism" ballot line before dropping out of the race in September.

Reaction to Mamdani's victory among the Jewish community has been mixed. The Anti-Defamation League, an advocacy group that works to combat antisemitism, launched the "Mamdani Monitor" in the wake of the Mamdani's win to track his administration's actions, appointments, and policies.

Days after Mamdani's election, Democratic strategist David Axelrod defended him from the ADL's response.

"As a Jew & son of a Jewish refugee, I'm alarmed by the rise of antisemitism. The ADL's mission is to call it out when they see it," Axelrod wrote on X.

"But I found their response to Mamdani's election shockingly gratuitous, inflammatory, and deeply irresponsible."

The city's first Muslim mayor is set to be sworn in on Jan. 1.

• Dershowitz to Newsmax: Mamdani 'Enemy of America'
• Poll: Nearly Half of Israelis Would Avoid NYC After Mamdani Victory