Mamdani Nixes 2 Exec Orders Jewish Groups Favored; Keep Office to Combat Antisemitism

Only hours after his public inauguration ceremony on Jan. 1, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was repealing all executive orders signed by Eric Adams after Sept. 26, 2024 but drew particular heat for eliminating two orders that were favored by Jewish Groups.

Adams adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Jew-hatred via executive order No. 52,. issued on June 8. He also signed executive order No. 60, on Dec. 8, which barred city entities and personnel from boycotting or divesting from Israel. It was seen as blocking some divestment motions being pushed by several unions at the City Council.

Mamdani said that that he intended to keep the Office to Combat Antisemitism established by Adams in May 2025 to address what he called an “unprecedented rise in antisemitism and anti-Jewish hate and ensure Jewish New Yorkers feel safe.”

In sparing the Office to Combat Antisemitism, Mamdani said: “We wrote about the structure of city government, and that includes the continuation of the Office to Combat Antisemitism.” He was responding to a question at a post-inauguration press conference. “That is an issue we take very seriously and part of the promise we made to Jewish New Yorkers.”

But the repeal of the other two executive orders angered Jewish groups here and even drew criticism from the Israeli government.

The UJA-Federation of New York, the Anti-Defamation League’s NewYork/New Jersey chapter, and the New York Board of Rabbis, issued a joint statement critical of Mamdani for repealing “two significant protections against antisemitism.”

“Our community will be looking for clear and sustained leadership that demonstrates a serious commitment to confronting antisemitism and ensures that the powers of the mayor’s office are used to promote safety and unity, not to advance divisive efforts such as BDS,” their statement said, referring to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement by pro-Palestinian supporters. “Singling out Israel for sanctions is not the way to make Jewish New Yorkers feel included and safe and will undermine any words to that effect.”

William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, was quoted in the Jewish Times stating the “decision to revoke New York City’s adoption of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, along with related executive orders aimed at confronting antisemitic discrimination, is a troubling indicator of the direction in which [Mamdani] is leading the city, just one day at the helm.”

Among the other executive orders being canceled was an October order creating a cryptocurrency-focused Office of Digital Assets and Blockchain, and the rat-hating mayor’s Office of Rodent Mitigation. Nine orders were repealed overall, stretching back to the day after Adams was indicted on corruption and bribery charges. Donald Trump ordered his DOJ to drop the charges, generating considerable controversy.

On the campaign trail, Mamdani said that he supported then-comptroller Brad Lander’s decision to not renew the investment by city pension funds in State of Israel bonds amounting to some $30 million. “I think we should not have a fund that is invested in violation of international law,” Mamdani said on “The Point with Marcia Kramer” on CBS2.

“I think that the current comptroller’s approach [Brad Lander]—as he has taken it with Israel bonds—is the right approach,” he added.

While the bonds tied to the Israeli government were not renewed, the city still has over $300 million invested in other funds connected to Israel that remained intact.

One other order on important to Jewish leaders looks like it has escaped the ax. Adams’s executive order No. 61 directed the NYPD to look into creating zones around houses of worship in which protesting would be prohibited. Adams issued the order following a protest outside the Park East Synagogue in late November that drew anti-Israel protesters, some of whom were reportedly chanting “Globalize the Intifada” as worshippers entered the synagogue.

Days after the incident, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is staying in that role under Mamdani, personally appeared at the UES synagogue to apologize for the police department letting the demonstration get out of hand. Her retention as top cop was seen as a strategic alliance by Mamdani to keep a leading Jewish official within his young administration.

Mamdani at the Jan. 2 press conference defended the two executive orders that survived, insisting he will “actually deliver on our commitment to protect Jewish New Yorkers” by “actually funding hate crime prevention, by celebrating our neighbors, and by practicing a politics of universality.”