New York City’s political landscape has been upended by the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor, a victory that has sparked both hope and deep anxiety among the city’s vast and diverse communities. The response from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)—one of the nation’s most prominent Jewish civil rights organizations—has been swift and unprecedented. On November 5, 2025, the ADL announced the launch of the “Mamdani Monitor,” an initiative designed to scrutinize the incoming administration for antisemitism, monitor appointments and policies, and provide a new tip line for reporting incidents of anti-Jewish hatred.
This move comes at a time when, according to Israel National News, antisemitic incidents in New York have reached record highs. In 2024, the ADL documented 976 such cases, with Jews targeted in 54% of all hate crimes. These troubling numbers have only grown in 2025, as reports of harassment, vandalism, and assaults continue across all five boroughs. Carol Nuriel, CEO of ADL Israel, emphasized the urgency: “We want to ensure antisemitism in New York is addressed effectively.” She highlighted that the city’s haredi Jewish population, more easily identifiable in public, has become particularly vulnerable to attacks. “New York Jews feel less safe, and we expect the mayor to address this,” Nuriel told Arutz Sheva.
Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL’s national director, has been vocal in his criticism of Mamdani’s positions and associations. In statements to several outlets, including The New York Post and NPR, Greenblatt argued, “The BDS campaign is antisemitic. Whether intentional or not, that’s what BDS is. It leads to violence against the Jewish people. It seeks to delegitimize the Jewish state. It leads to bad things.” He further asserted that Mamdani “has promoted antisemitic narratives, associated with individuals who have a history of antisemitism, and demonstrated intense animosity toward the Jewish state that is counter to the views of the overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers.”
The ADL’s new tip line is intended to be a “hyper-focused resource for New Yorkers to report antisemitic incidents in the city, including on the streets, in schools, in their workplace.” The organization says it will use these reports to feed a public-facing tracker monitoring the mayor’s policies, appointments, and actions that impact Jewish community safety and security. “We will hold the Mamdani administration accountable to this basic standard,” Greenblatt said, adding that the initiative is not inherently combative but “a data-driven approach that simply looks at the facts.”
Other Jewish groups, such as the New York Solidarity Network and the UJA Federation, have echoed the ADL’s alarm, promising to fight against any rise in antisemitism in city government. Yet, the ADL’s actions have not gone unchallenged. The move has drawn sharp rebukes from Muslim civil rights organizations and progressive Jewish groups alike. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned the ADL’s approach, stating, “The ADL has never established a special monitor to harass any other elected official, including politicians who have actually expressed real bigotry against Jewish Americans. Singling out Mayor-Elect Mamdani is an act of hypocrisy and anti-Muslim bigotry, pure and simple.”
Prominent human rights advocates have also weighed in. Kenneth Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch, characterized the initiative as “awful scaremongering from an organization that pretends to fight racism in all forms but really defends Israel.” He questioned, “Why does Mamdani need special monitoring? Because he is Muslim? Because he criticizes Israel for such things as its genocide?”
Zohran Mamdani, who will become New York’s first Muslim mayor and a self-declared Democratic Socialist, swept the November 5 election, winning four out of the city’s five boroughs. Throughout his campaign, Mamdani faced repeated attacks from pro-Israel voices over his outspoken criticism of Israeli policies and support for Palestinian rights. He has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza—a claim echoed by a United Nations commission and several human rights organizations—and once said he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited New York, citing the International Criminal Court warrant (a comment he later walked back).
Mamdani’s stance on Israel is indeed unusual for a New York mayor. He has advocated for Israel to be structured not as a Jewish state but as one with equal rights for all religions, a position that remains controversial among many Jewish organizations. He has also been criticized for his reluctance to condemn the activist slogan “globalize the intifada,” which many Jews find threatening. Mamdani has said he does not use the phrase himself and would discourage its use by others.
The mayor-elect’s campaign, however, was not solely defined by Middle East politics. According to Middle East Eye, he made significant inroads with young Jewish voters concerned about affordability and social justice issues, reflecting the city’s changing demographics and priorities. In his victory speech, Mamdani addressed the concerns of Jewish New Yorkers directly: “We will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism.”
At his first news conference following the ADL’s announcement, Mamdani reiterated his commitment to combating antisemitism. “I take the issue of antisemitism incredibly seriously,” he said. “I look forward to working with Jewish leaders across this city, whether they be elected officials, rabbis or community leaders, to deliver the promise of not just protecting Jewish New Yorkers but celebrating and cherishing them.” Still, he expressed skepticism about the ADL’s motives and methods: “I have some doubts about Jonathan’s ability to do so honestly, given that he previously said I had not visited any synagogues, only to have to correct himself.”
Critics of the ADL’s approach, such as J Street, a liberal pro-Israel advocacy group, have called the tracker “alarming” and urged organizations to “engage constructively with the mayor-elect, not sow panic or demonize him.” They pointed out that similar scrutiny was not applied to former President Trump, “despite his long record of using antisemitism and bigotry for political gain.” In response, Greenblatt maintained that Mamdani’s “unique record of hostility toward Israel” justified the focus.
The debate over the ADL’s initiative has also exposed broader tensions within the city’s Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as among progressives and centrists. The Center for the Study of Organized Hate reported a 450 percent spike in Islamophobic and xenophobic discourse about Mamdani on social media during the campaign. He was targeted by both political opponents and right-wing figures, including Republican Congressman Andy Ogles, who called for his deportation and denaturalization.
Despite the controversy, Mamdani has condemned antisemitic acts in the city, including a recent incident of graffiti at a Brooklyn Jewish school, calling it “a disgusting and heartbreaking act of antisemitism” that “has no place in our beautiful city.” The ADL, for its part, insists its tracker is a necessary safeguard at a time of rising hate. “My job is to keep the community safe,” Greenblatt told MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, who nonetheless suggested more constructive engagement might be possible.
As Mamdani prepares to take office on January 1, 2026, the city stands at a crossroads—grappling with its identity, its divisions, and its shared future. The coming months will test not only the mayor-elect’s ability to deliver on his promises but also the willingness of New Yorkers, and their institutions, to find common ground in the face of fear and suspicion.
