This bob and weave by Mayor Mamdani failed
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is trying to walk a political tightrope as he governs a city that's home to nearly 1 million Jews. Credit: Morgan Campbell
Even before dozens of protesters descended on a quiet street in Kew Gardens Hills last Thursday, my neighbors were concerned and the NYPD was on alert.
The pro-Palestinian demonstration, just blocks from my home, came in response to an event about real estate in Israel taking place in a local synagogue. When familiar chants echoed, justifying resistance, proclaiming intifada as a solution and rejecting the existence of a Jewish state, no one should have been surprised.
Then it took a darker turn. “Say it loud, say it clear,” they chanted. “We support Hamas here.” And then, another: “Long live October 7th.”
In a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, calls for support of a terrorist organization that quite specifically seeks the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people, and applause for a day on which 1,200 innocent people were slaughtered by that organization, were alarming. So the outrage came quickly, as elected official after elected official called it what it was: vile antisemitism.
But as dusk settled over Kew Gardens Hills 24 hours later, and Shabbat began, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani had said nothing.
Finally, in response to a question from a reporter, Mamdani spoke late last Friday. “That language is wrong,” he said. “I think that language has no place in New York City.”
A second statement followed, repeating similar rhetoric.
After backlash came the third attempt, on social media. “As I said earlier today, chants in support of a terrorist organization have no place in our city,” Mamdani wrote. “We will continue to ensure New Yorkers’ safety entering and exiting houses of worship as well as the constitutional right to protest.”
No mention of antisemitism. No mention of Jews.
It was just the latest example of the political tightrope Mamdani is now trying to walk as he governs a city that’s home to nearly 1 million Jews. His personal views on Israel — which he doesn’t recognize as a Jewish state — and Gaza are already well-known. Now, he’s navigating a tricky path, as he attempts to maintain those ideological views and the support of those in his base who hold them, while leading a city that requires much more.
On day one of his mayoralty, Mamdani came under fire for undoing executive orders related to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions or BDS movement and the definition of antisemitism. But his insufficient response to the pro-Hamas protest in Queens was an even more striking instance of his attempt to bob and weave his way through his first days of leadership, as he learns that advocacy and governing are two very different things.
That’s been particularly apparent in his recent defense of some of his appointments, most especially Cea Weaver, whom he chose to lead the city’s Office to Protect Tenants. Weaver has called homeownership a “weapon of white supremacy” and has suggested seizing private property. Mamdani has stood by Weaver, while pledging to also support homeownership. How that will work in practice, in a city where about a third of residents are homeowners, remains to be seen.
Before Jan. 1, Mamdani might have been able to get away with saying the minimum in response to a chant that supports terrorists seeking to destroy Jews, or embracing an activist who condemns homeownership. But for Mayor Mamdani, and the city he leads, that won’t be good enough. In his rocky transition from advocate, protester and campaigner to leader, executive and mayor, Mamdani has yet to learn that he can’t always have it both ways, no matter how hard he tries.
Columnist Randi F. Marshall’s opinions are her own.
Randi Marshall is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
