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By: Fern Sidman – Jewish Voice News
When New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani unveiled a sprawling transition team of more than 400 appointees this week, the announcement was framed as an ambitious effort to “recruit top talent and develop smart policy” across housing, community safety, economic development, public health, and other critical domains. But as The Jewish Insider reported on Wednesday, the celebratory tone that surrounded the rollout was quickly overshadowed by unease — a deepening apprehension among Jewish leaders, communal advocates, and longtime civic voices who have watched Mamdani’s political rise with increasing alarm.
The newly minted committees, diverse in professional background and ideological orientation, include a broad array of organizers, scholars, technocrats, nonprofit executives, and activists. Yet embedded within the 400-name slate are several choices that send a dangerous signal about the future direction of City Hall — particularly at a moment when New York’s Jewish community faces historic levels of antisemitic harassment, intimidation, and physical violence.
As The Jewish Insider report noted, the question dominating private group chats and communal text threads on Monday evening was not merely who had been chosen, but what the selections reveal about the worldview Mamdani intends to institutionalize once he takes office. And the answer, according to many leaders contacted by The Jewish Insider, is not encouraging.
Among the hundreds of appointees, none has provoked a stronger reaction than Tamika Mallory, the former Women’s March leader whose tenure in the national spotlight collapsed under allegations of antisemitism. Mamdani appointed her to the newly formed community safety committee — a move that instantly ignited a political and communal firestorm.
As The Jewish Insider emphasized in its report, Mallory’s past includes a series of inflammatory episodes that continue to reverberate years later. Her assertion, echoed from a notorious Nation of Islam publication, that Jews “played a major role” in the transatlantic slave trade, was among the most widely condemned remarks linked to the Women’s March leadership. Mallory’s glowing praise of Louis Farrakhan — whom she called “the GOAT,” or “greatest of all time” — further cemented her public association with a figure widely regarded as one of America’s most prominent antisemites.
It was Farrakhan, after all, who referred to Judaism as a “gutter religion,” described Jews as “termites,” and trafficked in conspiracy theories alleging Jewish control of media, finance, and government. Mallory’s refusal to disavow him remains a defining stain on her public record.
Thus, when Mamdani elevated Mallory to a committee designed to shape New York City’s community safety policies, the reaction from Jewish officials was swift and thunderous. In a statement to The Jewish Insider, the Anti-Defamation League declared unequivocally: “Tamika Mallory is simply the wrong choice for a committee on community safety. She has made highly insensitive remarks about Jews and money — remarks that play directly into antisemitic tropes — while aligning herself with Louis Farrakhan. At a time when New York’s Jewish community faces antisemitism and security threats at unprecedented levels, the mayor-elect needs to appoint someone who will unite, rather than divide, communities.”
Mallory declined to respond to The Jewish Insider’s request for comment.
Mallory’s appointment was not the only red flag. As The Jewish Insider reported, long before her name became public, Jewish community leaders were already combing the transition lists for individuals whose rhetoric or political activism has targeted Israel, Zionism, or Jewish communal interests.
They found plenty.
Among the names causing particular consternation are Alex Vitale, a Brooklyn College sociology professor and outspoken critic of policing who has advocated for the abolition of traditional law enforcement. Vitale will advise Mamdani on community safety — a domain where Jewish institutions have pleaded for increased police protection amid ongoing threats.
Tahanie Aboushi, a civil rights lawyer and former Manhattan DA candidate who has publicly supported the BDS movement. According to The Jewish Insider report, Aboushi will contribute to legal affairs policy — a placement some Jewish experts said underscores Mamdani’s willingness to normalize anti-Israel activism within the legal and civic mainstream.
Lumumba Bandele, a veteran organizer with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Bandele has repeatedly accused Israel of ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and genocide. The Jewish Insider cited several examples of his statements, including the declaration that Zionism is “a crime against humanity.”
In the words of one Jewish leader speaking anonymously to The Jewish Insider, “There are a lot of bad names.”
Screenshots circulated among prominent community groups showed dozens of transition members with histories of aggressive anti-Israel activism or affiliations with organizations that advocate divestment, boycott campaigns, or the dismantling of Zionism itself. Several are associated with the Democratic Socialists of America — the political organization that has championed Mamdani’s rise, and which has consistently vilified Israel in increasingly extreme terms.
As The Jewish Insider report emphasized, the outrage sparked by Mamdani’s selections is not merely about personalities. It represents a deeper and more existential concern: the erosion of the long-held political norm that New York City’s leadership maintains a strong, respectful relationship with the Jewish community — the largest municipal Jewish population in the world.
For decades, support for Israel has been a de facto requirement for anyone seeking citywide office. New York’s past mayors — from Koch to Bloomberg to Adams — treated Jewish security, Jewish identity, and Jewish communal life as integral to the city’s social fabric.
Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist who has publicly questioned Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, has shattered that tradition. His election represents a watershed moment, signaling to activists across the far-left that ideological antagonism toward Israel may no longer be a political liability in New York.
That shift, as The Jewish Insider report noted, has emboldened many of Mamdani’s allies — and deeply unsettled many Jewish leaders, who fear that his administration will normalize rhetoric that has already contributed to rising antisemitic hostility.
Monica Klein, the transition’s communications director, offered an official defense of the appointments in a statement provided to The Jewish Insider. She insisted that the committees are “preparing to implement Mayor-elect Mamdani’s agenda of safety and security for Jewish New Yorkers and everyone else who calls this city home,” noting his promise of an “800% increase in anti-hate crime prevention.”
But the gap between the rhetoric and the reality remains vast for many Jewish leaders.
Their skepticism is fueled by recent events — particularly Mamdani’s response to the November 19th protest outside Park East Synagogue. His first statement, which appeared to defend the protest’s aims and implicitly chastise the synagogue, triggered widespread condemnation. Only after intense backlash did he release a revised statement expressing greater concern for Jewish congregants.
As The Jewish Insider reported, Rabbi Marc Schneier — son of Rabbi Arthur Schneier of Park East — said he had spoken with Mamdani after the incident. The mayor-elect expressed interest in legislation to prevent disruptive demonstrations outside houses of worship. While Schneier appreciated the engagement, he tempered his optimism.
“I do not see things changing,” Schneier told The Jewish Insider. “If he continues to encircle himself with people who are going to support his limited understanding of Israel, then we’re going to have a problem here.”
Not everything in the transition list set off alarm bells. Several prominent Jewish figures — including some who have criticized Mamdani — were appointed to key committees.
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, the executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis and recently named the NYPD’s first chief chaplain, will serve on the emergency response committee. Potasnik also served on Mayor Eric Adams’ transition team and is widely respected across the city’s Jewish and interfaith communities.
Asked by The Jewish Insider for details, Potasnik demurred, saying: “There are going to be meetings discussing what we’re expected to do. I just think it’s important to have constructive engagement.”
Other Jewish appointees include: Rabbi Rachel Timoner, of Brooklyn’s Congregation Beth Elohim, who supported Mamdani during the campaign, Abby Stein, an anti-Zionist rabbi entrusted with advising on health, Former City Council Members Helen Rosenthal and Ruth Messinger, and Masha Pearl, head of the Blue Card Fund, which aids Holocaust survivors, These appointments demonstrate Mamdani’s selective outreach to segments of the Jewish community — although many of these individuals represent heavily progressive or anti-Zionist constituencies.
According to the information provided in The Jewish Insider report, the broader concern is not merely who sits on the committees, but what worldview will emerge through the policymaking process. New York is facing unprecedented levels of antisemitic harassment, graffiti, assaults, and social-media-fueled intimidation. The city’s independent watchdogs have documented that anti-Jewish hate crimes have climbed dramatically since October 2023, with incidents ranging from synagogue vandalism to mob harassment of Jewish students.
Against this backdrop, many Jewish leaders fear that Mamdani’s transition team — particularly its ideologically aligned activists — will view antisemitism primarily through the lens of geopolitical criticism, thereby minimizing threats to Jewish physical security.
As one longtime communal official told The Jewish Insider off the record: “The concern is that Israel will be framed as the problem, not the violent rhetoric targeting Jewish New Yorkers. If that happens, we will be less safe.”
Zohran Mamdani has not yet taken the oath of office, but the political terrain he is shaping has already caused tremors across New York’s Jewish community.
As The Jewish Insider report indicated, the mayor-elect’s unprecedented transition roster is equal parts ideological manifesto and blueprint for governance. With more than 400 committee members — many of them activists with hostile views toward Israel — the forthcoming administration will be a test of whether New York can maintain its longstanding commitment to Jewish security amid a political realignment.
For Jewish New Yorkers, the stakes are not theoretical. They are deeply personal — and they will define the future relationship between America’s largest Jewish population and the city they call home.
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