NYC Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani with Orthodox leaders, activisits on May 04. Courtesy of Zohran Mamdani for mayor
By Jacob Kornbluh
May 5, 2025
Zohran Mamdani ventured deep into Orthodox New York this weekend to broaden his support in the New York City mayoral Democratic primary.
He got the requisite photo-ops. He also got flamed on social media.
On Sunday, the Muslim candidate and Democratic Socialist stopped by the annual legislative breakfast in Flatbush, a heavily Orthodox neighborhood in Brooklyn with a politically conservative electorate likely to be wary of his criticisms of Israel.
Mamdani, a member of the state legislature, greeted attendees and posed for photos with community leaders and activists at the Council of Jewish Organizations. He later posted on X, “Such a pleasure to join COJO of Flatbush this morning for breakfast and to celebrate the incredible work they do for families across our city.”
Not everyone welcomed the gesture. Assemblymember Kalman Yeger, who is Orthodox, called Mamdani “one of the most vile antisemites” in elected office who “had the chutzpah” to attend a Jewish event despite his long history of criticizing Israel and his alliance with the left.
He admonished the Jewish leaders who welcomed Mandani, saying they were normalizing his presence. “What are we doing?” he said. “We as a people, we let them in. We don’t stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough. We know who you are. Get out.’”
WATCH ⬇️ Assemblyman Kalman Yeger slams attendees for shaking Mamdani’s hand and posing for photos.
He calls the mayoral candidate “one of the most vile antisemites in public office” who “has the chutzpah to walk into a Jewish event.“ https://t.co/67wwicBO6s pic.twitter.com/Mx5yIp0wKE
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) May 4, 2025
David Greenfield, a former councilman and head of the Met Council charity, posted an AI-generated campaign button labeled “antisemitism” styled to resemble the issue-based pins distributed by Mamdani’s campaign.
Mamdani, 33, is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel. He called Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza “genocide,” attended some of the pro-Palestinian protests across the city just after the Oct. 7, 2023 massacres, and participated in a hunger strike in November 2023 outside the White House to call for a permanent ceasefire.
Fellow legislators accused Mamdani of antisemitism after he authored a bill to penalize charities supporting Israeli settlements. He defended his positions in an interview with the Forward.
Mamdani has surged to second place in recent public surveys and has a lead among voters aged 18-49.
In a statement on Monday, Mamdani said he was “surprised” to hear Yeger say people shouldn’t shake his hand, “since he’s done so on multiple occasions in Albany.”
“While we have disagreements, we haven’t been disagreeable,” Mamdani said. “The rise in antisemitism is a serious crisis in our city — one which shouldn’t be weaponized to score political points.”
In the Forward interview, Mamdani said that he’s open to meeting with community leaders who are skeptical of him and believes his forthright communications strategy will win over many Jewish Democrats seeking an alternative to the scandal-plagued front-runner, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Ella Emhoff endorses Mamdani
On Sunday evening, Mamdani held a large campaign rally in Williamsburg and received the endorsement of Ella Emhoff, the daughter of Doug Emhoff, the first Jewish second gentleman. In a short video clip posted to X, Emhoff said Mamdani “is going to make New York happier, healthier and more affordable.”
Emhoff, who was not raised Jewish and does not identify with the religion, faced backlash last year after sharing a fundraiser for “Urgent Relief for Gaza’s Children” on her Instagram account, without mentioning the Israeli children killed by Hamas on Oct. 7. She also urged her followers to donate to the U.N. agency that Israel accuses of aiding Hamas.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, one of Israel’s most vocal critics in Congress who was censured for her rhetoric on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, recently sent a text blast to help raise funds for a super PAC backing Mamdani, New Yorkers for Lower Costs.
The mayoral contenders are reaching out to Jewish voters
With 50 days to go until the June 24 mayoral primary, the candidates in the nine-person contest are intensifying their outreach to the city’s sizable Jewish electorate, the largest outside of Israel.
Jews make up 12% of the city’s population. About 800,000 people voted in the 2021 mayoral primary, and the margin of victory in the ranked-choice voting system was 7,000 votes. The Orthodox community often votes in blocs based on rabbinic endorsements. In 2021, Orthodox voters played a key role in Eric Adams’ victory, splitting their support between him and Andrew Yang in the first round of ranked-choice voting.
With rising antisemitism and a new phase in the war in Gaza fueling renewed campus protests and encampments, the contenders are now competing to show who can best represent and protect the Jewish community.
On Saturday, Cuomo addressed congregants at Congregation Shaare Zion, the largest synagogue of the Sephardic Syrian community in Brooklyn. He repeated his attack on Mamdani and candidates who have in the past aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America.
“We cannot allow this political movement to continue unopposed,” Cuomo said. “I stand in full opposition to them. We must inform New Yorkers of the severity of this challenge and the danger it poses, and we must mobilize opposition to stop them immediately.”
Cuomo also attempted to mend ties with Hasidic sects, expressing regret over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. His executive order in 2020 limiting religious gatherings during the pandemic disproportionately affected Orthodox neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens during the High Holidays and triggered a fierce backlash.
“In retrospect, I could have done some things differently and not every move is ever perfect in hindsight,” Cuomo said in an interview posted on the Orthodox news website Vos Iz Neias.
Scott Stringer, who is Jewish, attacked Cuomo for his campaign rhetoric in a recent speech at the West Side Institutional Synagogue, the same Orthodox congregation that Cuomo addressed last month. Stringer said the former governor’s outreach was “cynical” and that he “lied” in an attempt to divide the Jewish community. Stringer cited an investigative report about the pro-Israel group Cuomo launched last year, that showed that the group never aired ads against Hamas or promoted the initiatives it had promised.
Stringer, a former comptroller, also highlighted his son’s recent bar mitzvah, and last month, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover, he toured Jewish businesses in the heart of Borough Park.
Brad Lander, the current city comptroller who is also Jewish, is scheduled to speak Wednesday night at the Orthodox synagogue, whose leaders said they had invited all candidates to address the congregation. Lander also visited Borough Park before Passover, participating in an 18-minute shmura matzo baking session in a backyard.
Jewish songwriter Shaina Taub, known for the Tony winner show Suffs, is hosting a fundraiser for Lander next week, whom she described as “just a mensch, plain and simple.”
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