Our safety is bound up together: our strategy to combat antisemitism
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office.
Passages
Over the last year, I've met with Jewish New Yorkers across the five boroughs. I've met with them in their dining rooms, sat with them on the subway, and spoke to them in their shuls. Time and again, I've heard the same thing. Antisemitism is real, and it is growing. Here in New York City, while our Jewish neighbors make up only 12% of the population, NYPD statistics show that anti-Semitic hate crimes account for more than half of all confirmed hate crimes. This is not only unacceptable, it's something we all have an obligation to change. and City Hall will lead the way. That is why today, I am proud to announce the nation's first-ever municipal strategy to combat antisemitism, a roadmap for how our administration will confront the scourge of antisemitism now and in the future. We are increasing hate crime prevention funding by $26 million, or more than 800% from last year. This plan makes a $6.4 million investment in community-based organizations preventing hate violence, more than doubling last year's funding. We are restarting the Interagency Security Infrastructure Working Group that was disbanded in 2024 so that city agencies from the NYPD to the Department of Transportation can work together to identify threats and protect Jewish New Yorkers before a hate crime occurs. But our responsibility goes beyond protection. Jewish New Yorkers should feel cherished and celebrated in the most Jewish city in America. That's why we are investing millions in Jewish cultural centers and nonprofits, including $2 million for the Queens Holocaust Memorial Garden and $2.5 million towards Brooklyn's Center for New Jewish Culture. While these efforts are aimed at protecting our Jewish neighbors, they will benefit all New Yorkers. Our safety is bound up together. The Mishnah teaches us that anyone who sustains one soul, it is as though they have sustained an entire world. For generations, Jewish New Yorkers have sustained our city. Leonard Bernstein filled cavernous theaters with awe. Clara Lemlich won rights that protect workers to this day. Kleinfeld Breidel dressed us for our most special days. And Katz's has fed us for more than a century. Today, we hold a responsibility to sustain and protect our Jewish neighbors, a responsibility that belongs to each of us. That is the work we are undertaking at City Hall, and I am asking every New Yorker to join us. Thank you.
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Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office, Our safety is bound up together: our strategy to combat antisemitism.