It’s been a not so happy New Year for many NYC Jews so far.

On January 1, 2026, Zohran Mamdani took the oath as New York City’s mayor. To the surprise of no one who’s been following his campaign, he made clear his top priority was to immediately attack the Jewish community.

Mamdani went right to work reversing a stack of executive orders, from the Adams era, intended to protect the Jewish community of New York (the largest population of Jews living outside of Israel). He revoked orders adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism, orders banning adoption of BDS, and orders that banned disruptive protests outside houses of worship, including synagogues.

New York is on its way to becoming a hellscape for Jews. No less culpable in the current political disaster are the “progressives” like Bernie Sanders who’ve become experts at weaponizing their identities against other Jews, despite having no connections to Judaism.

Let’s be clear, this isn’t just policy tweaking. By scrapping IHRA, Mamdani is deliberately blurring the line between legitimate criticism and outright hatred of Jews. He claims he’s protecting “free speech,” but in practice, this green-lights the vilification of Israel, and ultimately Jews, without consequence.

Antisemitic attacks in NYC have skyrocketed since October 7. Jews make up only about 10% of the population NYC, but are the victims of more than half of all hate crimes reported by NYPD data. Worse still, lifting the holy site protest ban opens the door for mobs to scream blood libels at our community outside temples, for simply practicing their faith.

Why when I look at holy sites around the country do we not see the type of the security that temples deem necessary? This should not be necessary in America, a nation built of freedom of worship and rugged individualism.

Mamdani talks a big game about “affordability and abundance,” but these moves signal something darker, prioritizing radical activism over the basic safety of Jewish New Yorkers. We’ve seen this playbook before, appeasement of radical voices that ultimately leads to physical violence.

So what’s the solution? Should Jews leave or stay and fight?

I wish I could believe we could make a difference reversing the evil that plagues such an important and once great city, where I lived for many years. If Jews defend themselves the reality if they’ll be legally persecuted, even if it’s clear they are acting in self defense.

Here’s the reality we must stop ignoring…

Mamdani’s evil agenda will prioritize radical mobs that seek to do Jews harm over law-abiding citizens, it won’t change. Knowing that, it’s time for us Jews to pack up and leave. Let NYC devolve into a failed communist hellhole. We’ve rebuilt before, from Egypt to Europe. We must turn away from the trap of embracing victimhood (this is a road to nowhere) as a solution and embrace our nomadic traditions.

Not just Mamdani, but NYC more broadly have delivered Jews a clear threat. Believe them that it’s real.

Vote with you feet my friends. Not just clear eyed Jews, but anyone with a conscience. Do not pretend to be deaf and blind, take your skills and moral clarity somewhere you can live in peace. Then let’s see how much New Yorkers enjoy the intifada revolution without Jews to blame all their problems on.

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