New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released an antisemitism security and education blueprint on Tuesday amid a rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes and friction between his administration and Jewish community leaders.
He described the initiative as the city’s first Strategy to Combat Antisemitism, calling it a road map for how his administration will “confront the scourge of antisemitism now and in the future.”
Mr. Mamdani said the plan builds on a previously announced $26 million increase in funding for the city’s Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, a nearly ninefold jump, and directs the first $7.4 million of it to two measures.
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The strategy details $6.4 million in funding, doubling last year’s output for the Partners Against the Hate grant program, for community-based organizations preventing such violence.
Also included is $1 million earmarked for physical security upgrades at synagogues and vulnerable nonprofits.
Jewish New Yorkers were the targets of 53.9% of confirmed hate crimes through August, and confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes rose 8% from the same period in 2025, according to New York Police Department figures.
“This is not only unacceptable; it’s something we all have an obligation to change,” Mr. Mamdani said in a video announcement. “And City Hall will lead the way.”
The Interagency Security Infrastructure Working Group will be relaunched under the strategy, letting city agencies provide technical and strategic support for Jewish houses of worship and cultural institutions.
A $2 million allocation will be for completing the Queens Holocaust Memorial and $2.5 million for the Center for New Jewish Culture in Brooklyn.
Pro-Israel and liberal groups, such as J Street NYC and Bend the Arc, praised the model and focus on tangible community safety.
However, the Anti-Defamation League had called for a “clear, formal definition of antisemitism the city actually uses” — and the strategy declined to do so.
Instead, it cites the Biden administration’s 2023 definition as a “useful framework” and names the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the Jerusalem Declaration and the Nexus Document as prominent definitions, without adopting any.
On his first day in office in January, Mr. Mamdani revoked an executive order signed by former Mayor Eric Adams that had officially adopted the IHRA definition for city agencies, sparking frustration among Jewish organizations.
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