New York City Mayor Eric Adams has established an office dedicated to fighting antisemitism, he announced, making NYC the first major city in the US with such an office.
Its establishment comes in light of the NYC Police Department’s report that 54% of all 2024’s hate crimes in the city were committed against Jews. ADL’s recent audit revealed that a record 1,437 antisemitic incidents took place in New York State in 2024, 68% of which were in the city.
The Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism will set about immediately establishing an interagency task force dedicated to fighting Jew-hatred. Some of the main activities will be advising on executive orders and legislation around antisemitism and liaising with the New York City Law Department.
As his first action, Rabbi Moshe Davis, who was appointed as the executive director of the office, will create a commission of Jewish leaders from New York to oversee and advise on the office’s mission. Davis joined the Adams administration in November 2022 as the Jewish liaison in the Community Affairs office.
“As we continue to see the rising tide of antisemitism here at home and across the country, this moment calls for decisive action,” Adams said Tuesday evening.
“The Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism will be the first of its kind in a major city – across the nation – and will tackle antisemitism in all of its forms, working across city agencies to ensure Jewish New Yorkers are protected and can thrive here in the five boroughs.”
He added that antisemitism is “an attack not only on Jewish New Yorkers, but on the very idea of New York City.”
Adams also praised Davis, whom he called “a tireless advocate on behalf of Jewish New Yorkers,” and the right person to lead the office.
Davis said, “Combating antisemitism requires a sledgehammer approach: coordinated, unapologetic, and immediate.” He called Adams a “modern-day Maccabee,” given his support for the Jewish community.
Davis promised a “forceful response against anti-Jewish hate and discrimination.”
First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro condemned the rise in antisemitism in NYC and the United States as a whole, calling it “both alarming and intolerable.”
“Today, Mayor Adams is taking a stand: that in the city with the largest Jewish population in the world, antisemitism is unacceptable and we have to do more to address it.”
The Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Manhattan district attorneys all rallied behind the move and said they would work closely with law enforcement and city agencies to protect Jews and prosecute hate.
However, while multiple Jewish groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League, United Jewish Appeal, American Jewish Committee, StandWithUs, and Combat Antisemitism movement heaped praise on Adams, others, such as former Brooklyn assemblyman Dov Hikind, the founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, told the New York Post the move was “pathetic” and “insulting.”
“Where has he been? Jew-hatred was bad three years ago, and it’s 10 times worse after Oct. 7, 2023. He didn’t know?” Hikind said.
He added that the office’s creation comes conveniently during the “ninth inning” of Adams’s re-election bid in November.
Brad Lander, the city’s comptroller, who is running for mayor, accused Adams of using Jewish New Yorkers as “pawns.”
Political expert Hank Sheinkopf told The Jerusalem Post that Adams’s pandering was “smart” and would pay off in the election. Adams is running as an independent and is petitioning on an “EndAntiSemitism” ballot line.
Other actions to combat antisemitism in NYC
The creation of the office joins other moves by the city to combat antisemitism, including the law to combat masked crime, which passed last week.
The new anti-masking law is a somewhat diluted version of the original legislation sought by lawmakers. Nevertheless, it criminalizes “evading arrest by concealment of identity” and was signed into law by New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul with the state budget.
New York State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who pushed the legislation, said, “In addition to efforts being made by the city, the state has just included my masked harassment legislation into the 2025-26 budget.”
He also praised Adams for the new office.
“New York is taking steps in the right direction to work towards this goal.”