Most Jews in New York City are in a state of alarm these days, and rightfully so. An anti-Israel socialist has won the mayoral election, normalizing antisemitism and endangering their safety.
The appropriate reaction is to ask, “What’s good for the Jews?” and take all precautions regarding security and the general welfare of the Jewish community.
But while we worry about our own, we can’t forget the other crucial question: What’s good for New York?
If there is a group that should feel a deep concern for New York, it is the Jews. For several years now, New York has been a city in decline. Incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani’s victory threatens to accelerate that decline.
Mamdani’s election, then, should be seen as the tipping point that makes the Jews go all-in to save their city.
Is there any group better suited for this task? Has any group done more for this great city?
For more than a century, Jews have defined New York, engaging with every aspect of its vibrant metropolis. From Broadway to publishing to real estate to civic leadership to media to higher education to the arts to nourishing intellectual and spiritual life and much more, the Jews have consistently and proudly led the way.
This vibrancy is now under threat. The danger is not just antisemitism but socialism. Mamdani may be anti-Israel, but his socialist extremism makes him, above all, anti-New York.
Everything about Mamdani’s policies — from billions in freebies the city can’t afford to chasing away the wealth the city depends on to undermining police protection to his obsession with Israel – threatens a further decline.
Jews must now step up for the city it loves.
“New York’s Jewish community has been tested before,” Sam Abrams writes in The Algemeiner. “In the 1970s, when the city teetered on bankruptcy and neighborhoods burned, many families fled. Yet those who stayed built anew: schools, community centers, newspapers and cultural networks that became models for the nation. Jewish New York did not survive by retreating. It survived by rebuilding.”
Fifty years later, it’s time for New York Jews to rebuild anew.
Fear is not the way. A New York attitude is.
“Don’t mess with our great city” should be the rallying cry.
Everything that has been written about Jews holding Mamdani accountable should be done. And every Mamdani action that threatens the welfare and spirit of the city must be countered and called out.
Safety always comes first, but it is never enough. The Jews of New York have always aimed high. That’s what Jews do. Regardless of what Mamdani does, the Jewish community must use this time to strengthen its institutions and deepen Jewish identity and Zionist pride. That will also help save New York.
“The temptation in moments like this is to withdraw — to build higher walls, add more guards, host more closed-door meetings,” Abrams writes. “Security matters. But civic withdrawal is suicide. Jewish life flourished in New York not because we hid, but because we built.”
The Jews built and created so much in New York City you can’t separate the story of the Jews from the city itself. Just like bagels and cream cheese, you can’t have one without the other.
Now, more than ever, New York and the Jews need each other.
This is not personal. It’s about a people’s love for their city. Mamdani should know that the Jews of New York aren’t going anywhere and will do everything to protect not just their community but the soul of their city.
If they can make it there, they’ll make it anywhere.
