Mamdani: I’ll be mayor for all New Yorkers, including Jews who didn’t vote for me

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani says at a press conference that he will serve all New Yorkers, including Jews who didn’t vote for him.

“I look forward to being the mayor for every person that calls this city home. That includes the Jewish New Yorkers that voted for our campaign, and those that didn’t. My responsibility is to all eight and a half million New Yorkers,” he says, without mentioning any other ethnic groups.

Mamdani is also asked about criticism from Anti-Defamation League chief Jonathan Greenblatt, and an ADL program announced today that will track Mamdani’s administration.

“I have not spoken to Jonathan Greenblatt. I take the issue of antisemitism incredibly seriously, and last night in my speech, I spoke about how my City Hall will stand steadfast with Jewish New Yorkers in fighting the scourge of antisemitism across the city and making that clear in the actions we deliver on,” he says.

“I look forward to working with Jewish leaders across this city, whether they be elected officials, whether they be rabbis, whether they be community leaders, to deliver on the promise of not just protecting Jewish New Yorkers but celebrating and cherishing them,” he says.

“I think anyone is free to catalog the actions of our administration. I have some doubts in Jonathan’s ability to do so honestly, given that he previously said I had not visited any synagogues, only to have to correct himself,” he says.

Greenblatt said in an interview in August, after Mamdani won the city’s primary, that Mamdani had not visited any synagogues, although Mamdani had been to the far-left congregation Kolot Chayeinu and attended a mayoral debate at B’nai Jeshurun in Manhattan during the primary.

Greenblatt later said that Mamdani had not visited “a single mainstream synagogue or Jewish community since the primary.”