By: Ariella Haviv

In one of the final and most consequential acts of his administration, New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued a sweeping executive order on Wednesday designed to insulate the city’s financial and procurement systems from the politics of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, declaring that New York must not lend legitimacy—financial or symbolic—to efforts that discriminate against Israel. The move, which The New York Post described in a report on Wednesday as an unmistakable rebuke to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who has openly supported BDS on ideological grounds, has set the stage for an early confrontation between the outgoing and incoming administrations over the moral, economic, and diplomatic stakes of Israel’s place in the civic life of the world’s most Jewish city outside the Jewish state.

Adams unveiled the policy during the North American Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism in New Orleans, framing it as part of a broader commitment to protecting Jewish New Yorkers at a moment of rising hostility. “This administration recognizes the benefit of maintaining a strong relationship between the city of New York and the state of Israel,” he said, according to the report in The New York Post, adding that public contracts, pension investments, and municipal financial practices “must not be weaponized to advance discriminatory policies based on national origin or political ideology.”

The primary measure, Executive Order 60, prohibits city agencies, departments, and pension trustees from making investment or procurement decisions that specifically target Israel or entities connected to Israel. The language echoes a 2016 New York State executive order issued by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo—which has continued under Governor Kathy Hochul—blocking state agencies from doing business with companies that support BDS. In aligning the city with statewide precedent, Adams framed the order as not only lawful but imperative: a civic defense against what he and many Jewish leaders regard as an intensifying, coordinated campaign to delegitimize Israel and normalize antisemitism under the guise of political activism.

A second directive, Executive Order 61, goes beyond financial policy and addresses an increasingly urgent source of tension in New York: demonstrations targeting synagogues and religious institutions. The order tasks the NYPD with tightening protest regulations near houses of worship, developing revised guidelines for establishing “safety perimeters” to prevent harassment, intimidation, or direct obstruction of entry. The move follows an incident covered by The New York Post, in which hundreds of anti-Israel activists descended on Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side on November 19th chanting “globalize the intifada,” “death to the IDF,” and other incendiary slogans as congregants attempted to enter the building for an event hosted by Nefesh B’Nefesh.

“New York City has always been this nation’s melting pot,” Adams said. “But too often, over the last few years, we’ve seen those of Jewish ancestry be singled out and targeted. Today, we are ensuring our city government doesn’t participate in such behavior and are putting in safeguards that protect New Yorkers’ tax dollars and their right to practice their religion without harassment.”