Overview
- Video from a Thursday night demonstration in Kew Gardens Hills captured chants of “We support Hamas here” outside a synagogue and Jewish school, drawing rapid online attention.
- Officials across New York, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, denounced the rhetoric as antisemitic and unacceptable.
- After initial limited remarks, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Friday and again Saturday that chants supporting a terrorist organization have no place in the city, and he said his team is coordinating with the NYPD on safety around houses of worship.
- The incident prompted early closures at several Jewish institutions and intensified scrutiny of Mamdani’s earlier revocations of policies tied to pro‑Israel measures, including protest restrictions near synagogues.
- Organizers identified as the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation held the protest as counterprotesters traded insults; reports cited by multiple outlets noted racist and homophobic slurs from some pro‑Israel attendees.