The City Parks Foundation, a nonprofit that works with and receives funding from New York City, canceled a Central Park concert scheduled for June 26 that was to feature the singer Kehlani Parrish, amid scrutiny from City Hall over the performer’s anti-Israel statements.
City Hall is grateful to the foundation “for responding to our concerns and canceling the Kehlani concert in Central Park,” a spokesman for New York City Mayor Eric Adams told JNS. “We look forward to an exciting lineup of other performances this summer.”
The page for the performance on the foundation website returns an error, and the event no longer appears on the calendar of upcoming performances.
An archived version of the page referred to a “Pride with Kehlani” music event from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on June 26, as part of the SummerStage concert series in Central Park.
Last week, the president of Cornell University canceled a performance by the singer after backlash over Kehlani’s history of anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric on social media and in the performer’s music.
The mayor’s office shared a May 5 letter with JNS that it sent to the foundation’s executive director, telling the nonprofit that hosting the anti-Israel singer could jeopardize its license to hold concerts.
The mayor, the city and the city’s parks department have “security concerns” about the event, given the controversy surrounding Kehlani’s scheduled performance at Cornell University (causing university officials to cancel the appearance), the security precautions needed for an event like this in Central Park and the security demands throughout the city for other pride events during this same period of time,” Randy Mastro, the city’s first deputy mayor, wrote.
Mastro noted that the letter related to “the status of the foundation’s license from the city permitting it to put on a series of concerts in city parks in the coming months.”
The city was referring the matter to the New York City Police Department, Mastro wrote, and if police determined that it is too onerous to secure the event and it “posed an unacceptable risk to public safety, we would then have to determine what effect, if any, this would have on the status of the foundation’s license.”
“If the foundation does not promptly take steps to ensure public safety, the city reserves all rights and remedies with respect to the foundation’s license,” Mastro wrote. “I therefore expect to hear back from you by close of business tomorrow whether we need to proceed with having the NYPD conduct this security assessment.”
Julie Menin, a member of the New York City Council and part of the council’s Jewish caucus, told JNS that “cancelling this concert was 100% the correct course of action.”
“City parks should celebrate inclusivity and not seek to eradicate or denigrate any community with hate speech,” Menin said. “Taxpayer dollars should not be utilized to promote hate speech against any group.”
The City Parks Foundation told JNS on Monday that the concert was canceled due to security concerns.
“We strongly and emphatically believe in artistic expression of all kinds,” the nonprofit told JNS. “However, the safety and security of our guests and artists is of the utmost importance, and in light of these concerns, the concert has been cancelled.”
‘No business subsidizing antisemitism’
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) criticized the foundation and the mayor’s office on Friday.
“The City Parks Foundation, funded by NYC tax dollars, is platforming Kehlani, an artist who has publicly called for an ‘intifada revolution’ and the dismantling of Israel,” Torres stated.
“The Second Intifada, which she invokes, unleashed a wave of suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings that murdered more than 1,000 Israelis,” the pro-Israel congressman said.
The largest city in the United States “has no business subsidizing or sanitizing antisemitism at taxpayer expense,” Torres added.
Adams wrote to Torres that City Hall does not fund the foundation. “It’s a private organization and the only taxpayer funds it can receive are City Council discretionary awards,” he wrote on Friday. “Our administration will not fund organizations that promote antisemitism or any other form of hate.”