Leaders of New York City's most prominent Jewish organizations are boycotting Mayor Zohran Mamdani's "Jewish Heritage" celebration at Gracie Mansion, rejecting an invitation they say rings hollow from a mayor who has denied Israel's legitimacy and spent the days before the event honoring "Nakba Day."
At least three high-profile Jewish leaders have confirmed they will not attend Monday's event. The UJA Federation of New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and the New York Board of Rabbis have all declined, a striking rebuke from institutions that represent the backbone of organized Jewish civic life in the five boroughs.
The snub amounts to a public vote of no confidence in a Democratic socialist mayor whose record on Israel and antisemitism has drawn fire since before he took office. And it lands at a moment when Jewish New Yorkers face rising threats, including the arrest Friday of a suspected terrorist with ties to Iran's military who allegedly planned to bomb a synagogue.
The UJA Federation of New York, which describes itself as the largest local philanthropy in the world, issued a blunt statement, as the New York Post reported:
"We will not be attending the Jewish American Heritage Month celebration at Gracie Mansion being hosted by a mayor who denies a core pillar of our heritage, the State of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people."
Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council and a former Brooklyn councilman, told the Post on Sunday that he, too, would stay away. Treyger pointed to a pattern of provocation, not partnership.
"It's a really telling and concerning sign of where things stand in New York City right now."
Treyger said Mamdani inflamed tensions with Jews on Friday when the mayor posted a polished video honoring "Nakba Day", the term used by Palestinians to mark the creation of Israel on May 14, 1948, as a catastrophe, just before Jewish New Yorkers observed Shabbat. The video featured an interview with Inea Bushnaq, described as a "Nakba survivor" and city resident.
Treyger was direct about the omission at the heart of the post. "The mayor issued a social media production which omitted significant parts of history. It only inflamed tensions further," he said.
The boycott does not exist in a vacuum. Treyger cited anti-Israel protests last week outside a Park Avenue synagogue in Manhattan and outside Young Israel Senior Services in Midwood, Brooklyn. Those incidents came alongside the Friday arrest of a suspected terrorist allegedly plotting to destroy a New York synagogue, a threat with reported ties to Iran's military.
Against that backdrop, Mamdani recently confirmed he will not attend the Israel Day Parade, set for May 31. The Jewish Community Relations Council organizes the parade.
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, said he would skip the Gracie Mansion event and march instead. His reasoning was plain:
"Jewish heritage should include recognition of the state of Israel. Jewish history didn't end in 1946... We will be marching in the Israel Day Parade to express our support for Israel."
That a rabbi must explain to the mayor of New York City that Jewish history includes the State of Israel tells you something about the state of the relationship. Recent polling found fewer than one in three Jewish New York City voters approve of Mamdani's job performance, numbers that give these boycotts a political weight beyond symbolism.
Mamdani spokesman Sam Raskin pushed back, framing the mayor as a consistent friend to Jewish communities across the city.
"Since taking office, Mayor Mamdani has made it a priority to consistently show up for and build relationships across New York City's Jewish communities, celebrating holidays and engaging with Jewish life across neighborhoods and traditions while taking steps to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe."
Raskin described Monday's gathering as a "Shavuot celebration" and said Mamdani "looks forward to welcoming the full breadth of the Jewish community, across the political and religious spectrum." City Hall said about 150 people representing a cross-section of the city's diverse Jewish community planned to attend.
The mayor's office also pointed to his budget plan, which includes $26 million for the prevention of hate crimes, what the administration calls a more than 800% increase and a fulfillment of his campaign promise to fight antisemitism.
But dollars allocated to hate-crime prevention sit uneasily next to a mayor who honored "Nakba Day" on the eve of Shabbat and who refuses to walk in the Israel Day Parade. Money is one thing. The signal a mayor sends about what he values is another.
The Gracie Mansion boycott is the latest chapter in a longer story. Former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, urged Jewish leaders to boycott the event last week. His call found willing ears, in part because the controversies around Mamdani and his inner circle have compounded for months.
Mamdani's wife, Rama Duwaji, the city's first lady and an artist, has drawn scrutiny of her own. She was caught liking celebratory Instagram posts in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault on Israel, including, the Post reported, a post claiming the rapes carried out by Hamas were a "mass hoax." Old social media posts also surfaced in which Duwaji declared that Tel Aviv "shouldn't exist in the first place" and called its residents "occupiers." One such post dates to 2015. She also curated Spotify playlists with titles including "hungry but sexy for Palestine."
The mayor himself hosted Mahmoud Khalil and his family for dinner at Gracie Mansion, posting publicly about the visit. "Last night, as we marked the one year anniversary of his detention, Rama and I were honored to welcome Mahmoud, Noor, and their son Deen to Gracie Mansion to break our fast together," Mamdani wrote on social media, adding, "Mahmoud is a New Yorker, and he belongs in New York City." Khalil participated in anti-Israel campus protests at Columbia University and faces deportation proceedings. The Trump administration has accused him of green card fraud. The Washington Free Beacon reported that Khalil's protest group supported "liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance" and posted "death to America."
The White House responded sharply. As Just the News reported, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said: "No one should be feting the anti-American, pro-terrorist activities of Mahmoud Khalil."
That a sitting mayor of New York City drew a public rebuke from the White House over a dinner guest at Gracie Mansion is itself remarkable. That the dinner guest's organization called for "death to America" makes the mayor's claim to be building bridges with Jewish communities something less than persuasive.
Not every Jewish leader is staying away. Rabbi David Niederman, head of the United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg, said he plans to attend Monday's event. "I am going. It's right and appropriate," Niederman said. He attended a meeting with Mamdani at City Hall in March.
Niederman's willingness to engage is his prerogative. But his attendance does not erase the fact that the city's largest Jewish philanthropy, its community relations council, and its board of rabbis all said no.
Treyger framed the stakes in terms of leadership. "We're looking for leadership that New Yorkers deserve to lower the temperature and bring people together, now more than ever," he said.
That plea lands differently when the mayor's own actions keep raising the temperature. Honoring "Nakba Day" on the eve of Shabbat. Skipping the Israel Day Parade. Dining with an activist whose group called for armed resistance and "death to America." Presiding over a city where protesters target synagogues and a suspected Iranian-linked terrorist plots to bomb one.
Mamdani's troubles with Jewish New Yorkers are part of a broader pattern of alienation. His first 100 days in office drew criticism across multiple constituencies, from housing advocates to public safety groups, over a string of unmet promises.
The business community has pulled away, too. Major investors have halted New York expansion plans in direct response to the mayor's tax-the-rich agenda. When Jewish leaders, business titans, and the White House all find reasons to keep their distance from a mayor, the problem is not with any one of those groups.
The 150 guests City Hall says will attend Monday's celebration may fill a room at Gracie Mansion. But the chairs left empty by the UJA Federation, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and the New York Board of Rabbis will tell the real story.
You can throw a party and call it a heritage celebration. But heritage is not a photo op, and the people whose heritage it is get to decide whether the host has earned their presence.
