Overview
- Mamdani told reporters on Wednesday that he has no plans to attend protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said he has never encouraged New Yorkers to protest.
- Students from Manhattan’s Ramaz School and SAR High School in the Bronx plan to pray and sing outside Gracie Mansion on Friday as a public show of support for the Jewish community.
- The mayor welcomed the schools’ planned demonstration but said he will likely be elsewhere in the city during the event.
- City officials, including NYPD leadership, are finalizing security and traffic protocols ahead of Netanyahu’s scheduled arrival on Sept. 23 and his U.N. General Assembly speech on Sept. 24.
- The shift follows earlier controversy over Mamdani’s summer comments — including a viral video calling Netanyahu a “war criminal” and a pledge to enforce an ICC arrest warrant that city officials cannot carry out — which prompted backlash from Jewish leaders and calls for restraint and stronger protections against antisemitic incidents.