Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday unapologetically stood by his first-day move to revoke his predecessor Eric Adams’ executive order changing the definition of antisemitism.
Mamdani, in a long-winded response, effectively brushed off the brewing backlash from Jewish groups by insisting the city under his watch will aggressively fight hate and “protect Jewish New Yorkers.”
“I was proud yesterday to sign a number of executive orders that will give my administration a clean slate to get to work on delivering a new era for New Yorkers, one where they can envision living an affordable and dignified life,” he said when asked about the concerns at an unrelated news conference.
“My administration will also be marked by a city government that will be relentless in its efforts to combat hate and division, and we will showcase that by fighting hate across the city, and that includes fighting the scourge of antisemitism by actually funding hate crime prevention, by celebrating our neighbors, and by practicing a politics of universality,” he said.
The cumbersome, detail-free non-answer by Mamdani came after Israeli government officials, Jewish civil rights groups and New York Republicans blasted him for rolling back moves by Adams designed to protect Jewish New Yorkers.
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Adams had issued an executive order adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, as well as another that barred city officials from boycotting or divesting from Israel.
But those were nixed when Mamdani moved to reverse executive orders issued by Adams after stood under federal indictment in September 2024.
Mamdani did acknowledge the concerns over dropping the IHRA definition, though he stopped short of actually addressing the worries.
“I also know that a number, as you said, of leading Jewish organizations have immense concerns around this definition, so what we will do is actually deliver on our commitment to protect Jewish New Yorkers in a manner that is able to actually fulfill that,” he said.
The new mayor argued that revoking the slew of executive orders gave his administration a “clean slate” untainted by the politically suspect moves of Adams.
“What we did was to sign an executive order that continued every executive order that predated the moment when our former mayor was indicted, a moment when many New Yorkers lost even more faith in New York City politics and the ability of city government to actually prioritize the needs of the public, as opposed to the needs of the person,” he said.
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