I assume many of you are waking up this morning to news that Zohran Mamdani has won the Democratic primary, and will be running in the November New York City mayoral election.
You have my sympathies.
And though that election is still several months off, and Mamdani will be running against, among others, the incumbent Mayor Adams (running as an independent after leaving the Democratic party in April), the polls suggest that Mamdani has a solid chance of becoming New York’s 111th mayor.
This is pretty terrifying for New York’s Jewish community. Mamdani has, indeed, made no attempt to hide his disdain for both Israel and the Jewish/Zionist community. As recently detained by Ellie Krasne in JNS:
Mamdani’s Facebook profile features a video of him standing in front of the Israeli Consulate in New York with members of a radical anti-Israel group that routinely calls for abolishing Zionism, surrounded by signs like, “There is only one solution, Intifada Revolution”;
Mamdani is a proud supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel;
His father, a professor at Columbia University who specializes in the study of “colonialism, anti-colonialism, and decolonization” does not believe that Jews are entitled to a sovereign state of their own;
His mother, a Bollywood film director, has called on the Academy of Motion Pictures to ban Gal Gadot from the Oscars;
Mamdani co-founded Bowdoin College’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter; and
He was an active member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) who blamed Israel for the 10/7 massacre without mentioning Hamas.
I could go on.
This is bad for any city in which there are Jews, but it is particularly bad for New York City, a city that has more Jews than any other city in the world outside of Israel. It’s New York for God’s sake!
So this morning as you New York Jews gird yourselves to potentially turn the page on municipal leadership, I seek to offer some empathy by telling you that Toronto has a similar mayor. One with socialist leanings, one who came into the job woefully unprepared, and one who has a serious and deep-seated problem with Israel and its inhabitants.
Let me tell you about Olivia Chow.
Since becoming Toronto’s mayor in July 2023, Chow has made it abundantly clear where her sympathies lie. Her progressive politics have left no room for consideration of Toronto’s Jewish and Zionist community - there are at least 200,000 Jews in Toronto - and her actions always speak louder than her words.
So New York Jews take note: it is time to toughen your political spine, manage expectations, and align strategically lest you face similar letdowns.
Where Chow has failed us
1. Response to October 7
On October 7, 2023, as we all awoke to horrendous news out of Israel, Chow took to Twitter/X like everyone else. In classic “we-can-only-acknowledge-antisemitism-if-we-also-acknowledge-Islamophobia” style, she wrote:
Followed by:
After the outrage over this moral equivalency literally during the moments in which Israelis were being burned alive and raped on their streets by Palestinians, Chow eventually deleted the tweet and others “because of the harm and confusion they caused.” It was tone deaf to the nth degree.
2. Missing the October 7 memorial
One year later, on October 7, 2024, Toronto’s UJA Federation held a massive vigil marking one year since the 10/7 massacre. Countless politicians from various parties attended together with 20,000 participants. Mayor Chow was absent. Upon demanding an explanation for her missing this important event in the Jewish community, Chow first said that she lost the invitation. Then she said that evening she got caught up on discussions about bike lanes in the city, making it impossible to attend the event. Then, she said that it “doesn’t matter” why she missed the commemoration, noting that she “wore black” the whole day in solidarity with the Jewish people. She eventually issued a milquetoast apology.
To many in the Jewish community, this wasn't just an oversight; it was a dismissal. CIJA Ontario vice-president Michelle Stock at the time said it revealed inconsistent action by the mayor.
3. Skipping high-profile Jewish community events
Chow continues to miss key gatherings: she wasn’t at the Toronto Walk with Israel in June 2024 or May 2025 (each drawing ~50,000 people, Jewish and non-Jewish alike), nor did she attend Israel Independence Day flag-raising ceremonies at City Hall (where she presumably works). These skips stood in sharp contrast to her attendance at a local Grilled Cheese Festival and the Pride Parade. She even attended the Toronto Caribbean Carnival Grand Parade:
If leadership is about presence in moments that matter most, especially when your constituents are under physical threat, these absences hurt. Actions matter more than symbolic dinners or occasional visits to a Holocaust museum.
4. Lukewarm responses to rising antisemitism
Numerous pro-Palestinian marches in Toronto have featured banners or slogans deemed antisemitic. While Toronto police have laid charges in a few extreme cases, enforcement has been woefully sporadic. “Hateful chants in [the] streets… terrorist flags at these protests, people dressing up like Hamas… those are unacceptable behaviours, and by her not going out and publicly denouncing these things and being very clear that she doesn’t want to see these things in her street[s]—and taking that leadership position—she’s countering what her brand is about: diversity and inclusion.” said CIJA’s Michelle Stock. “She’s emboldening… more division in her city rather than bringing people together to find the common ground… the shared values we all have as Torontonians.”
As any community leader who has met with her can attest, she pays the least bit of attention to Jewish matters in the city, and lets her police, deputies, or other city officials do the talking when it comes to these issues, as she apparently has a hard time mustering up even the bare minimum to address our concerns.
There are many more examples of her failings, but these are just a few.
Why this matters for New York
Sadly, Toronto’s experience isn’t unique, but New Yorkers can learn from it:
Expect nothing passive: Toronto’s example shows that absenteeism in critical moments communicates indifference. In New York, you must demand leaders attend or explicitly support community events as consistency matters.
Advocacy isn’t a one-night stand: Toronto’s example shows that token presence (i.e. dinners, Holocaust commemorations) isn’t enough. In New York, you must force elected officials to build lasting policy, not photo ops.
Measure words by action: In Toronto, Chow said “there’s no place for hate” but mixed messaging creates distrust. In New York, you must push for zero-tolerance policies with clear enforcement and funding.
Use political leverage smartly: In Toronto, Jewish voters have expressed frustration, but it is hard to stay on top of everything, and some are now disengaging politically. In New York, you must be strategic and unified: support other candidates with proven records or mobilize swing voters to make an impact. Every vote counts.
Strengthen your backbone
Here are some other ideas of concrete steps to take in the unfortunate event of such a mayoralty in your city:
Track and record elected officials' attendance at key Jewish events: Yom Hashoah, Israel Day Parade, synagogues under threat, Holocaust memorials. Make this data public.
Demand more than speeches: insist on budgets for hate-crime prevention, legal protections, and culturally competent policing, not platitudes. Remember, “people love dead Jews” and it is far easier to get a statement from someone lamenting the Holocaust than any effort to build up living Jews. Push for better.
Forge coalitions: build alliances with other faith and minority groups facing hate. Strength in numbers prompts stronger responses.
Vote strategically: research candidates' past actions. Base endorsements on consistent patterns, not promises.
Stay engaged year-round: pressure shouldn’t ease once the flags come down. Continuity is the clearest signal of seriousness. The election is still coming up in November, and apparently there are still A LOT of people unsure how to vote (see the grey bar below). The undecideds can make a big difference.
Demand more
Olivia Chow’s tenure highlights a painful reality: Jewish communities, no matter how large, prosperous, inclusive, or generous, can easily be overlooked, deprioritized, and/or sidelined, even by (especially by?) mayors who claim inclusivity. Chow has consistently let down her Jewish constituents, time and time again. (I should note that I actually live just north of Toronto in Vaughan, where we have an awesome mayor, Steven Del Duca, who is a remarkable friend of the Jewish community. Go Steve!)
To New York Jews: Watch how this play has unfolded here so you don’t fall victim to the same pattern: learn to expect less unless you demand more. By being vigilant, organized, and demanding real enforcement over symbolism, you can shape the narrative, the policy, and ultimately the outcomes.
After all, New York is the city of bagels with opinions, therapists with their own therapists, and Seinfeld reruns that feel more like documentaries than sitcom episodes. It’s where Larry David is a spiritual leader, Fiddler on the Roof might as well be required reading and watching, and every third person swears they once saw Barbra Streisand buying whitefish at Zabar’s. It’s a place where you grow up thinking Woody Allen movies are documentaries, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is family history, and arguing politics at the Shabbat table is basically a contact sport. In New York, being Jewish isn’t just a religion, it’s a flavour, a rhythm, a neurotic obsession that takes place somewhere between Broadway and Katz’s Deli.
The Jewish community made New York, and cannot allow itself to be harmed by Zohran Mamdani.
To that end, let’s be clear: standing firm is about self-respect. When it matters most, political respect is earned not given.
Give him hell.
Great post as usual, Adam. It's worth noting that this is not only a disaster for NYC Jews, it's a disaster for (a) NYC and (b) Jewry in the Diaspora, as NYC represents the largest community of Diaspora Jews. And Mamdani appears far worse than Chow. The latter shows indifference towards our community while the former is actively hostile to all of it except the antizionist fringe.
What bad faith filth, he has disdain for the ethnostate of isreal, not jewish people. Brad Lander was campaigning with him every step of the way. I understand your fear, especially since it has been stoked up by the media. However its also hard to ignore your racism and islamophobia. A majority of Jewish New Yorkers voted for Zohran, they are Jewish Americans. They are not Israeli Americans, conflating the state of isreal with all jewish people also ties them to the current genocide going on. We have reached a tipping point, turns out you cant kill babies and have a majority of the public sympathetic to the cause of a Jewish ethnostate.