New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani pledged on Friday to reform his administration’s vetting process after a senior appointee resigned following the exposure of antisemitic social media posts.
Mamdani’s nominee director of appointments was forced to step down Thursday after old posts from her X account resurfaced in which she referred to “Money hungry Jews,” “Rich Jewish peeps,” and called a subway line passing through a Jewish neighborhood “the Jew train.”
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Mamdani said, “Our administration will operate under a standard of excellence and setting that standard is not only about fulfilling it, it’s also about holding yourself accountable when you are not doing so and we are currently underway at making changes in our vetting process.”
“There are clear changes that need to be made and that’s exactly what we’re doing right now,” he added.
Mamdani stated that he had been unaware of the posts and “would not have hired had I been aware.”
The Mayor-elect is already under fire for his anti-Israel actions, including his criticism of Israel on October 8, 2023 - just one day after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel, as well as his refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada”.
He has repeatedly accused Israel of war crimes in its battle against Hamas in Gaza, and has vowed to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York City.
Mamdani also caused an uproar after his initial response to an anti-Israel protest outside Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, in which demonstrators chanted “death to the IDF” and “globalize the intifada”. The synagogue had rented space to Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that assists Jews moving to Israel.
Mamdani’s first reaction, delivered through a spokeswoman, “discouraged the language” used at the protest but also rebuked the synagogue, saying “these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law”, though it did not explain what about the work of Nefesh B’Nefesh can be construed as violation of international law.
He later shifted tone and published a clarification which omitted any criticism of the synagogue and emphasized protection of Jewish institutions amid rising antisemitism.
Asked Friday about his stance on combating antisemitism, the Mayor-elect said he is committed to “keeping Jewish New Yorkers safe and a commitment also to asking more of ourselves than simply protecting Jewish New Yorkers, but also celebrating and cherishing Jewish New Yorkers.”
Linking the issue to Hanukkah, Mamdani reflected, “There is a feeling of a diminished sense of light.”
“My hope is that in leading this city, that it will be a city where Jewish New Yorkers are not only safe to leave their homes and go to work and spend their lives as they would like, but also in celebrating their own faith and lighting their menorah and in knowing this is a city that cherishes them,” he said.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)