Jews, others protest NYC mayor at Gracie Mansion
Hundreds gather near Gracie Mansion as a Jewish-led coalition presses Gov. Hochul to use a rarely invoked power against Mayor Mamdani.
The Jewish World
4
mins read time
Originally published at
The Jewish World
Protesters demanding the removal of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, near Gracie Mansion, May 26, 2026. Photo courtesy of Debra Nussbaum Cohen.
Hundreds of New Yorkers filled the normally quiet and bucolic Upper East Side street adjacent to Gracie Mansion, the official home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, on Tuesday evening, May 26, chanting “Hey, hey, no, no, Mayor Mamdani’s got to go” and “stop Mamdani.”
Lilly Icikson was among the demonstrators - a group of mostly Jews with a few Muslims and Christians - and handed out stickers, which she prints at home and affixes to light poles and other surfaces outside Gracie Mansion and in other NYC neighborhoods daily. She came to the protest because “anti-Zionism is a sad excuse for Jew-hate,” she told JNS. “The city has been overrun with people openly calling for ‘intifada,’ which is Jew-hate,” she said. “The city should be safe for everyone.”
Will Hochul heed call?
The protest was organized by End Jew Hatred, a project of the Lawfare Project, and also involved a coalition of other groups. In an interview a few hours before the protest began, Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of Lawfare Project, told JNS that the goal was to have New York Gov. Kathy Hochul remove the mayor from office, which the governor, a Democrat, has the legal right to do.
That legal right has rarely been exercised. Hochul reportedly considered doing so in February 2025, after then-Mayor Eric Adams had been indicted on federal corruption charges. After requests to U.S. President Donald Trump, those charges were dropped, and the governor didn’t pursue removing him before the end of his term that December.
Protections eroded
Shortly after Mamdani began his mayoral term, he struck down many of the executive orders that Adams had issued, including those that aimed to protect Jews and Israelis.
Now, amid a spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes in New York City, and anti-Israel protesters intimidating and harassing Jews all over the city, Goldstein, a Miami resident, told JNS that the governor should remove the mayor.
“We are demanding the removal of Mamdani for his neglect of duty and his refusal to carry out his legal responsibilities,” Goldstein said. “Jews, Christians, Muslims, people of all faiths are coming together, because they are sick and tired of the extremism that has taken over our streets.”
New Yorkers are also “tired of the Islamists and woke radicals committing assault, his failure to enforce the rule of law and to launch investigations into these so-called protests, which are violent pro-terror mobs,” Goldstein added.
Solidarity
The acoustics at the open-air demonstration made it difficult for speakers to be heard, except by those at the very front, but that didn’t seem to matter to attendees, many of whom carried signs.
A protest sign reads ‘Stop Mamdani’ outside Gracie Mansion. Photo courtesy of Debra Nussbaum Cohen.
There appeared to be a sense of solidarity and common cause in the crowd, in which several Chabad rabbis milled about and asked men if they had already donned tefillin that day.
Hillary Barr, who owns a real estate company in New York and also promotes investment in Israeli properties, came to the recent protest wearing an armful of blue and white whistles and carrying a bag full of small Israeli and American flags. She handed those items out.
“The fact that Zohran Mamdani doesn’t protect the Jewish citizens is criminal,” she told JNS. “He makes his opinion very clear. He doesn’t believe that Israel has a right to exist, and he celebrates the day when he thinks Israel should have been destroyed, which it wasn’t, thank God.”
Useful advice?
The mayor has also said that he would have the Israeli prime minister arrested in New York, and he released a video for “Nakba” day, the day that some use to mark what they consider the “catastrophe” of the founding of the modern Israeli state.
“I am here as a tax-paying New Yorker to say we will not tolerate that,” Barr told JNS. “Nothing that this TikTok mayor can do is ever going to intimidate the Jews of New York.”
As she handed a whistle to a woman, Barr advised, “When confronted by the ‘free, free Palestine’ morons, blow it in their face and it makes them crazy, because you’re drowning out their ridiculous statements.”
Goldstein of End Jew Hatred plans to continue organizing demonstrations, as she did recently outside the New York Times building.
“This is the beginning of something big,” she told JNS. “This is going to be sustained protest.”
Originally published at
The Jewish World
ADVERTISEMENT
Jews, others protest NYC mayor at Gracie Mansion
Hundreds gather near Gracie Mansion as a Jewish-led coalition presses Gov. Hochul to use a rarely invoked power against Mayor Mamdani.
The Jewish World
4
mins read time
Originally published at
The Jewish World
Protesters demanding the removal of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, near Gracie Mansion, May 26, 2026. Photo courtesy of Debra Nussbaum Cohen.
Hundreds of New Yorkers filled the normally quiet and bucolic Upper East Side street adjacent to Gracie Mansion, the official home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, on Tuesday evening, May 26, chanting “Hey, hey, no, no, Mayor Mamdani’s got to go” and “stop Mamdani.”
Lilly Icikson was among the demonstrators - a group of mostly Jews with a few Muslims and Christians - and handed out stickers, which she prints at home and affixes to light poles and other surfaces outside Gracie Mansion and in other NYC neighborhoods daily. She came to the protest because “anti-Zionism is a sad excuse for Jew-hate,” she told JNS. “The city has been overrun with people openly calling for ‘intifada,’ which is Jew-hate,” she said. “The city should be safe for everyone.”
Will Hochul heed call?
The protest was organized by End Jew Hatred, a project of the Lawfare Project, and also involved a coalition of other groups. In an interview a few hours before the protest began, Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of Lawfare Project, told JNS that the goal was to have New York Gov. Kathy Hochul remove the mayor from office, which the governor, a Democrat, has the legal right to do.
That legal right has rarely been exercised. Hochul reportedly considered doing so in February 2025, after then-Mayor Eric Adams had been indicted on federal corruption charges. After requests to U.S. President Donald Trump, those charges were dropped, and the governor didn’t pursue removing him before the end of his term that December.
Protections eroded
Shortly after Mamdani began his mayoral term, he struck down many of the executive orders that Adams had issued, including those that aimed to protect Jews and Israelis.
Now, amid a spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes in New York City, and anti-Israel protesters intimidating and harassing Jews all over the city, Goldstein, a Miami resident, told JNS that the governor should remove the mayor.
“We are demanding the removal of Mamdani for his neglect of duty and his refusal to carry out his legal responsibilities,” Goldstein said. “Jews, Christians, Muslims, people of all faiths are coming together, because they are sick and tired of the extremism that has taken over our streets.”
New Yorkers are also “tired of the Islamists and woke radicals committing assault, his failure to enforce the rule of law and to launch investigations into these so-called protests, which are violent pro-terror mobs,” Goldstein added.
Solidarity
The acoustics at the open-air demonstration made it difficult for speakers to be heard, except by those at the very front, but that didn’t seem to matter to attendees, many of whom carried signs.
A protest sign reads ‘Stop Mamdani’ outside Gracie Mansion. Photo courtesy of Debra Nussbaum Cohen.
There appeared to be a sense of solidarity and common cause in the crowd, in which several Chabad rabbis milled about and asked men if they had already donned tefillin that day.
Hillary Barr, who owns a real estate company in New York and also promotes investment in Israeli properties, came to the recent protest wearing an armful of blue and white whistles and carrying a bag full of small Israeli and American flags. She handed those items out.
“The fact that Zohran Mamdani doesn’t protect the Jewish citizens is criminal,” she told JNS. “He makes his opinion very clear. He doesn’t believe that Israel has a right to exist, and he celebrates the day when he thinks Israel should have been destroyed, which it wasn’t, thank God.”
Useful advice?
The mayor has also said that he would have the Israeli prime minister arrested in New York, and he released a video for “Nakba” day, the day that some use to mark what they consider the “catastrophe” of the founding of the modern Israeli state.
“I am here as a tax-paying New Yorker to say we will not tolerate that,” Barr told JNS. “Nothing that this TikTok mayor can do is ever going to intimidate the Jews of New York.”
As she handed a whistle to a woman, Barr advised, “When confronted by the ‘free, free Palestine’ morons, blow it in their face and it makes them crazy, because you’re drowning out their ridiculous statements.”
Goldstein of End Jew Hatred plans to continue organizing demonstrations, as she did recently outside the New York Times building.
“This is the beginning of something big,” she told JNS. “This is going to be sustained protest.”
Originally published at
The Jewish World
ADVERTISEMENT
Jews, others protest NYC mayor at Gracie Mansion
Hundreds gather near Gracie Mansion as a Jewish-led coalition presses Gov. Hochul to use a rarely invoked power against Mayor Mamdani.
The Jewish World
4
mins read time
Originally published at
The Jewish World
Protesters demanding the removal of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, near Gracie Mansion, May 26, 2026. Photo courtesy of Debra Nussbaum Cohen.
Hundreds of New Yorkers filled the normally quiet and bucolic Upper East Side street adjacent to Gracie Mansion, the official home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, on Tuesday evening, May 26, chanting “Hey, hey, no, no, Mayor Mamdani’s got to go” and “stop Mamdani.”
Lilly Icikson was among the demonstrators - a group of mostly Jews with a few Muslims and Christians - and handed out stickers, which she prints at home and affixes to light poles and other surfaces outside Gracie Mansion and in other NYC neighborhoods daily. She came to the protest because “anti-Zionism is a sad excuse for Jew-hate,” she told JNS. “The city has been overrun with people openly calling for ‘intifada,’ which is Jew-hate,” she said. “The city should be safe for everyone.”
Will Hochul heed call?
The protest was organized by End Jew Hatred, a project of the Lawfare Project, and also involved a coalition of other groups. In an interview a few hours before the protest began, Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of Lawfare Project, told JNS that the goal was to have New York Gov. Kathy Hochul remove the mayor from office, which the governor, a Democrat, has the legal right to do.
That legal right has rarely been exercised. Hochul reportedly considered doing so in February 2025, after then-Mayor Eric Adams had been indicted on federal corruption charges. After requests to U.S. President Donald Trump, those charges were dropped, and the governor didn’t pursue removing him before the end of his term that December.
Protections eroded
Shortly after Mamdani began his mayoral term, he struck down many of the executive orders that Adams had issued, including those that aimed to protect Jews and Israelis.
Now, amid a spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes in New York City, and anti-Israel protesters intimidating and harassing Jews all over the city, Goldstein, a Miami resident, told JNS that the governor should remove the mayor.
“We are demanding the removal of Mamdani for his neglect of duty and his refusal to carry out his legal responsibilities,” Goldstein said. “Jews, Christians, Muslims, people of all faiths are coming together, because they are sick and tired of the extremism that has taken over our streets.”
New Yorkers are also “tired of the Islamists and woke radicals committing assault, his failure to enforce the rule of law and to launch investigations into these so-called protests, which are violent pro-terror mobs,” Goldstein added.
Solidarity
The acoustics at the open-air demonstration made it difficult for speakers to be heard, except by those at the very front, but that didn’t seem to matter to attendees, many of whom carried signs.
A protest sign reads ‘Stop Mamdani’ outside Gracie Mansion. Photo courtesy of Debra Nussbaum Cohen.
There appeared to be a sense of solidarity and common cause in the crowd, in which several Chabad rabbis milled about and asked men if they had already donned tefillin that day.
Hillary Barr, who owns a real estate company in New York and also promotes investment in Israeli properties, came to the recent protest wearing an armful of blue and white whistles and carrying a bag full of small Israeli and American flags. She handed those items out.
“The fact that Zohran Mamdani doesn’t protect the Jewish citizens is criminal,” she told JNS. “He makes his opinion very clear. He doesn’t believe that Israel has a right to exist, and he celebrates the day when he thinks Israel should have been destroyed, which it wasn’t, thank God.”
Useful advice?
The mayor has also said that he would have the Israeli prime minister arrested in New York, and he released a video for “Nakba” day, the day that some use to mark what they consider the “catastrophe” of the founding of the modern Israeli state.
“I am here as a tax-paying New Yorker to say we will not tolerate that,” Barr told JNS. “Nothing that this TikTok mayor can do is ever going to intimidate the Jews of New York.”
As she handed a whistle to a woman, Barr advised, “When confronted by the ‘free, free Palestine’ morons, blow it in their face and it makes them crazy, because you’re drowning out their ridiculous statements.”
Goldstein of End Jew Hatred plans to continue organizing demonstrations, as she did recently outside the New York Times building.
“This is the beginning of something big,” she told JNS. “This is going to be sustained protest.”
Originally published at
The Jewish World
ADVERTISEMENT
Jews, others protest NYC mayor at Gracie Mansion
Hundreds gather near Gracie Mansion as a Jewish-led coalition presses Gov. Hochul to use a rarely invoked power against Mayor Mamdani.
The Jewish World
4
mins read time
Originally published at
The Jewish World
Protesters demanding the removal of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, near Gracie Mansion, May 26, 2026. Photo courtesy of Debra Nussbaum Cohen.
Hundreds of New Yorkers filled the normally quiet and bucolic Upper East Side street adjacent to Gracie Mansion, the official home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, on Tuesday evening, May 26, chanting “Hey, hey, no, no, Mayor Mamdani’s got to go” and “stop Mamdani.”
Lilly Icikson was among the demonstrators - a group of mostly Jews with a few Muslims and Christians - and handed out stickers, which she prints at home and affixes to light poles and other surfaces outside Gracie Mansion and in other NYC neighborhoods daily. She came to the protest because “anti-Zionism is a sad excuse for Jew-hate,” she told JNS. “The city has been overrun with people openly calling for ‘intifada,’ which is Jew-hate,” she said. “The city should be safe for everyone.”
Will Hochul heed call?
The protest was organized by End Jew Hatred, a project of the Lawfare Project, and also involved a coalition of other groups. In an interview a few hours before the protest began, Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of Lawfare Project, told JNS that the goal was to have New York Gov. Kathy Hochul remove the mayor from office, which the governor, a Democrat, has the legal right to do.
That legal right has rarely been exercised. Hochul reportedly considered doing so in February 2025, after then-Mayor Eric Adams had been indicted on federal corruption charges. After requests to U.S. President Donald Trump, those charges were dropped, and the governor didn’t pursue removing him before the end of his term that December.
Protections eroded
Shortly after Mamdani began his mayoral term, he struck down many of the executive orders that Adams had issued, including those that aimed to protect Jews and Israelis.
Now, amid a spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes in New York City, and anti-Israel protesters intimidating and harassing Jews all over the city, Goldstein, a Miami resident, told JNS that the governor should remove the mayor.
“We are demanding the removal of Mamdani for his neglect of duty and his refusal to carry out his legal responsibilities,” Goldstein said. “Jews, Christians, Muslims, people of all faiths are coming together, because they are sick and tired of the extremism that has taken over our streets.”
New Yorkers are also “tired of the Islamists and woke radicals committing assault, his failure to enforce the rule of law and to launch investigations into these so-called protests, which are violent pro-terror mobs,” Goldstein added.
Solidarity
The acoustics at the open-air demonstration made it difficult for speakers to be heard, except by those at the very front, but that didn’t seem to matter to attendees, many of whom carried signs.
A protest sign reads ‘Stop Mamdani’ outside Gracie Mansion. Photo courtesy of Debra Nussbaum Cohen.
There appeared to be a sense of solidarity and common cause in the crowd, in which several Chabad rabbis milled about and asked men if they had already donned tefillin that day.
Hillary Barr, who owns a real estate company in New York and also promotes investment in Israeli properties, came to the recent protest wearing an armful of blue and white whistles and carrying a bag full of small Israeli and American flags. She handed those items out.
“The fact that Zohran Mamdani doesn’t protect the Jewish citizens is criminal,” she told JNS. “He makes his opinion very clear. He doesn’t believe that Israel has a right to exist, and he celebrates the day when he thinks Israel should have been destroyed, which it wasn’t, thank God.”
Useful advice?
The mayor has also said that he would have the Israeli prime minister arrested in New York, and he released a video for “Nakba” day, the day that some use to mark what they consider the “catastrophe” of the founding of the modern Israeli state.
“I am here as a tax-paying New Yorker to say we will not tolerate that,” Barr told JNS. “Nothing that this TikTok mayor can do is ever going to intimidate the Jews of New York.”
As she handed a whistle to a woman, Barr advised, “When confronted by the ‘free, free Palestine’ morons, blow it in their face and it makes them crazy, because you’re drowning out their ridiculous statements.”
Goldstein of End Jew Hatred plans to continue organizing demonstrations, as she did recently outside the New York Times building.
“This is the beginning of something big,” she told JNS. “This is going to be sustained protest.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Originally published at
The Jewish World
ADVERTISEMENT
Related News
World
Israel & Middle East
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy honors Sharansky in Kyiv
Zelenskyy awarded Sharansky Ukraine’s Order of Merit for his Holocaust memory and outreach work.
Canaan Lidor
September 2, 2026
World
Israel & Middle East
Survivor pens open letter to students
A 98-year-old Holocaust survivor’s open letter urges Jewish students returning to campus to stand proudly and never let hatred define them.
JNS
September 1, 2026
World
U.S. / National
‘Felt like a lynch mob,’ a mom says of NYC-funded fest, in which performer accuses Israel of ‘war crimes’
A Brooklyn mom says a City-funded NYC puppet festival turned into anti-Israel protest theater mid-show, leaving her family shaken.
Debra Nussbaum Cohen
August 27, 2026
World
Israel & Middle East
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy honors Sharansky in Kyiv
Zelenskyy awarded Sharansky Ukraine’s Order of Merit for his Holocaust memory and outreach work.
Canaan Lidor
September 2, 2026
World
Israel & Middle East
Survivor pens open letter to students
A 98-year-old Holocaust survivor’s open letter urges Jewish students returning to campus to stand proudly and never let hatred define them.
JNS
September 1, 2026
World
U.S. / National
‘Felt like a lynch mob,’ a mom says of NYC-funded fest, in which performer accuses Israel of ‘war crimes’
A Brooklyn mom says a City-funded NYC puppet festival turned into anti-Israel protest theater mid-show, leaving her family shaken.
Debra Nussbaum Cohen
August 27, 2026
World
Israel & Middle East
New Gaza nutrition data from UNICEF shows ‘truth always prevails,’ Akunis says
Israel’s consul general in New York says a new UNICEF nutrition survey backs up his repeated denials of Gaza starvation claims.
Rebecca Szlechter
Rikki Zagelbaum
August 26, 2026
© 2026 The Jewish World · Since 1965 - The Capital Region's gateway to Jewish life
Designed and Developed by Ta-Da Studios
© 2026 The Jewish World · Since 1965 - The Capital Region's gateway to Jewish life
Designed and Developed by Ta-Da Studios
© 2026 The Jewish World · Since 1965 - The Capital Region's gateway to Jewish life
Designed and Developed by Ta-Da Studios
© 2026 The Jewish World · Since 1965 - The Capital Region's gateway to Jewish life
Designed and Developed by Ta-Da Studios