Some seven months after it was founded—and fewer than 24 hours before Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor of New York City—the city office to combat Jew-hatred released its first annual report, the office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.
JNS viewed a copy of the 80-page report before its release on Dec. 31.
“Antisemitism is not only a Jewish problem,” Adams wrote in the report. “It tests our city’s character.”
The report includes chapters on New York City’s Jewish history, four executive orders related to Jew-hatred, the city’s communications and legislative approaches to antisemitism and a blueprint for 2026.
“For nearly four centuries, Jewish New Yorkers have been integral to the city’s economic, cultural and civic life,” per the report. “Throughout this period, antisemitism has persistently adapted to each era while maintaining its essential character: targeting Jews based on religion, ethnicity and connection to the land of Israel.”
“Jews have been blamed for capitalism and for socialism, for excessive wealth and for poverty, for insularity and for over-integration, for religious obscurantism and for secular cosmopolitanism,” the report states. “Whenever society faces a crisis—from economic downturn to social change or political upheaval—antisemitic rhetoric surfaces, directing blame toward the Jewish community.”
“This adaptability is why contemporary antisemitism often shows up in activism rather than presenting as overt bigotry,” it states.
The report states that Israel is both a religious and cultural foundation for Jews that extends “back millennia,” rather than a political preference.
“For New York’s Jewish community, Israel represents both spiritual center and practical refuge,” it states. “The existence of a Jewish state provides assurance that there is one place where Jews cannot be rendered stateless, a critical guarantee for a historically persecuted people.”
The report doesn’t mention Mamdani by name but appears to respond to him at times.
The mayor-elect told Jewish media in October that he would not attend the Israel Day Parade, but “my lack of attendance should not be mistaken for a refusal to provide security or the necessary permits for its safety.”
The report states that “every New York City mayor since Israel’s founding in 1948 has traveled to Israel to express solidarity and foster bilateral ties.”
“Mayor William O’Dwyer visited shortly after leaving office in 1951, and that same year Mayor Vincent Impellitteri started the tradition of traveling while in office,” it states. “Every subsequent mayor, from Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. to Mayor Eric Adams, has continued this tradition.”
“Furthermore, since the first Israel Parade in NYC in 1964, every sitting mayor has joined the celebration,” it states.
The city report goes on to say that “the practical consequence of anti-Zionist rhetoric is the dehumanization of Zionists—the vast majority of Jewish people—and the dehumanization of all Jewish people.”
“When Zionism itself is characterized as racist or illegitimate, Jewish people become targets for hostility and violence,” it says. “This dynamic helps explain why attacks on Israel’s legitimacy correlate with increased antisemitic incidents in the diaspora, targeting all Jewish people regardless of their politics.”
The report recommends that cities and other communities use messaging about antisemitism that names it “specifically when Jews are victims” and not “use only generic ‘hate’ language without naming antisemitism.” They also must not make “laundry lists of other hatreds when Jews were specifically victimized” nor “include ‘but’ statements that pivot to politics or other agendas.”
Call to action
“After the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, I wasn’t afraid to say what so many New Yorkers were feeling: We were not alright,” Adams stated. “That was the truth and a call to action.”
“Confronting antisemitism has been a priority for our administration. New York City is home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel—a point of pride and responsibility,” Adams wrote in the report. “But, when an age-old hatred rises, we must name it, confront it and protect our neighbors, because public safety and civil rights go hand-in-hand.”
That is why Adams created what he called the first mayoral office in a “major American city” to respond to Jew-hatred.
“In a few short months, we delivered four executive orders, built an interagency task force dedicated to coordinating responses and adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition
of antisemitism, among other initiatives,” he said. “But we know there is still more work to be done.”
Moshe Davis, executive director of the office, stated that “we cannot control world events or eradicate centuries-old hatred, but we can do what government does best: create policy, enforce the law, educate and speak with moral clarity.”
