A Jewish civil rights organization called the National Jewish Advocacy Center (NJAC) is calling on the U.S. Justice Department to open a formal investigation into New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his administration, alleging the city has failed to protect Jewish residents from a wave of antisemitic hatred sweeping the city, the New York Times reported today (Wednesday).
2+The extraordinary appeal comes just two days after Poetica Coffee in Brooklyn barred Democrat Jewish Congressman Dan Goldman from entering, claiming the business does not serve “genocide enablers.”
The organization pointed to NYPD data showing that in 2025, 330 hate crimes against Jews were reported in the city—57% of all hate crimes reported that year. This despite Jews making up only about a tenth of New York’s population. “We’re talking about more than six incidents per week,” the group said.
2+NJAC emphasized this isn’t an isolated enforcement failure but a broad, deliberate policy filtering down from the mayor’s office to various government agencies. The group noted that when Mamdani took office, he canceled executive orders his predecessor Eric Adams had advanced to combat antisemitism, including adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s official definition of antisemitism.
As an example of the permissive policy, the organization cited a City Council discussion in which it emerged that spray-painting “kill the Zionists” on a kosher restaurant would not necessarily be classified as a hate crime, unlike spray-painting “kill the Jews.”
2+“The word ‘Zionist’ now serves as a clear substitute for the word ‘Jew,’ and the city’s position gives attackers a legal escape route,” the appeal states. “An administration that refuses to recognize how hatred actually manifests on the ground is giving up in advance on enforcing the law and protecting its citizens.”