From the Liveblog of
Friday, January 16, 2026
NYC Speaker Menin proposes plan to combat antisemitism: ‘Should not be an ideological issue’
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
New York City Speaker Julie Menin announces a five-point legislative plan to combat antisemitism.
Jews were targeted in hate crimes in the city last year more than all other groups combined, according to police data released earlier this month.
Menin, during a briefing at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan, says the plan includes an educational initiative; a buffer zone around schools and houses of worship where protests will not be allowed; two security programs for schools and houses of worship; and a hotline to report antisemitic incidents that will collate data about patterns of incidents.
“Antisemitism is rising all around our city and around the country. It’s not merely impossible to ignore, it’s irresponsible for us, as a city council, to not address it head on,” Menin says, while flanked by a bipartisan group of Jewish and non-Jewish City Council members.
“Combating antisemitism should not be just an ideological issue,” she says. “Everyone must come together to calm tensions, to bridge divides and recognize that we are one city, united, in the fight against antisemitism.”
Menin is a Jewish moderate, and the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, who recently became the City Council speaker, a powerful position where she can serve as a counterweight to Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
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