New York – “We have a Trojan horse among us and if we don’t acknowledge it, it will dismantle everything we fought for,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Monday at The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York.

“That is social media,” Adams continued. “Social media has become the spreader of hate. Our children sit inside their rooms and learn how to hate. Hate is popular again. It is being promoted by those considered influencers.”

Adams called on the Jewish community to “challenge social media to not allow it to sit inside the forts of our communities.”

“We have to stop preaching to the choir,” the mayor said. “All of us in the room know the importance of fighting against antisemitism [and] bigotry. We know [that] those who came before us, marched with Dr. [Martin Luther] King and fought in the Civil Rights era talk all the time about the relationship between the black Jewish experience and how we have fought together.”

Adams expressed concern about future generations. “But what about our young people? Do they know that? Are we intentionally talking to our young people to understand hate?”

Woman with smartphone is seen in front of displayed social media logos in this illustration taken, May 25, 2021. (credit: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION)
Woman with smartphone is seen in front of displayed social media logos in this illustration taken, May 25, 2021. (credit: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION)

“Social media has become the spreader of hate. Our children sit inside their rooms and learn how to hate. Hate is popular again. It is being promoted by those considered influencers."Eric Adams

Eric Adams: New York is the Tel Aviv of America

Adams called New York the “Tel Aviv of America,” with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.

He spoke of his trip to Greece earlier this year where he joined mayors from across the globe to push back against antisemitism. Adams said the battle must come to our home front, citing ADL statistics that a quarter of United States antisemitic cases tracked occurred in the Big Apple.

“I want to promise you this,” the former New York Police Department captain concluded: “I did not spend 22 years of my life wearing a bulletproof vest protecting the children and families of the city in general and specifically the Jewish community, to abandon that desire and commitment as mayor of the city of New York. [This city] will be safe to live in.”