‘We want to have a voice’: NY Jews hit the streets for Mamdani ahead of election

NEW YORK — A small group of Jewish volunteers gathered under the streetlights of an Upper East Side park on Tuesday night, introducing themselves and stating their reasons for canvassing in support of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

The caustic mayoral campaign has pitted the far-left Mamdani, a harsh critic of Israel, against former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a pro-Israel centrist.

During the introductions, the volunteers donned “Jews for Zohran” shirts, heard a briefing on rent stabilization from an employee of a housing nonprofit, and got instructions on how to converse with voters, including how to de-escalate if they encountered hostility.

“I’m here because we need to fight fascism at home,” a volunteer said. The group cheered for one volunteer who said it was his first time canvassing.

One said he was opposed to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, and another voiced support for Mamdani’s childcare plan.

During the primary and general election campaigns, tens of thousands of volunteers have fanned out across the city for Mamdani. These mostly twenty- and thirtysomethings were setting out to drum up votes for Mamdani ahead of the November 4 general election in a canvassing session hosted by the far-left activist group Jews for Economic and Racial Justice (JFREJ).

JFREJ is part of a Jewish coalition supporting Mamdani called Jews for Zohran, which also includes the far-left IfNotNow, Bend the Arc, and anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace. JFREJ coordinates with the Mamdani campaign, but the canvassing session was an independent initiative.

New York City is home to the world’s largest Jewish population outside Israel and the candidate’s longtime anti-Israel rhetoric has alarmed many in the community. On Wednesday, more than 850 rabbis from across the US, including New York City leaders, signed an open letter warning about Mamdani’s anti-Zionism. Community leaders in the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements have criticized Mamdani or lined up behind Cuomo.

Other Jews focused on affordable living and housing — especially the young and progressive — have backed his campaign and Mamdani has consistently polled as the leading candidate. A July poll focused on Jewish voters gave him the top slot with 37% support. In the same poll, about half of the respondents said he was antisemitic. More recent polls with smaller Jewish sample sizes have found varying levels of support, with Mamdani generally in the lead.

For the general voter population, Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist, leads Cuomo, who is running as an Independent, by double digits in nearly all polls. The Republican Curtis Sliwa is trailing Mamdani and Cuomo.

Hitting the streets

On Tuesday night, JFREJ organizers paired the volunteers, placing more experienced canvassers with the less experienced.

Each pair received a list of around 90 addresses of likely Jewish voters in the neighborhood, gleaned through software based on publicly available data.

“We had a really successful primary and things are pulling in our direction, but that doesn’t mean we stop and sit back. Things are pulling in our direction because we’re doing this work,” a JFREJ organizer told the canvassers before they set out.

“As Jewish New Yorkers and as progressive Jewish New Yorkers, we want to have a voice in the conversation,” she said. “A lot of people out there, candidates in the race, and also people with a lot of money, are very interested in making it seem like Jewish New Yorkers do not want Zohran to be in office, and we know that’s not true.”

JFREJ typically canvasses in more progressive neighborhoods that are likely sympathetic to Mamdani. The goal is to turn out voters and to enlist new members to the group. The Upper East Side was more of a stretch for the volunteers — the neighborhood mostly voted for Cuomo in the primary campaign earlier this year. Mamdani won that election in a stunning upset to become the Democratic Party candidate.

“Be genuine. These are your neighbors; these are not people we’re trying to have an argument with. These are people we’re trying to have a conversation with,” an organizer told the group. “Listen to people, hear what their concerns are, and have a good time.”

The terrain also worked against the volunteers. The neighborhood is mostly larger apartment buildings with doormen who do not let the volunteers inside to knock on doors. At other buildings without doormen, most residents did not answer their intercoms.

One group of volunteers stopped at around 15 buildings within a radius of a few blocks, with most of the buildings housing several residents tagged as likely Jewish voters. The volunteers, holding clipboards that said “Vote your hopes, not your fears,” only managed to reach one resident in person, who had buzzed them in because he was expecting a food delivery.

“Sorry to disappoint. We’re here talking to folks about the election in November,” a volunteer told him. He said it wasn’t a good time because his baby had just fallen asleep.

The doormen and residents they managed to speak to via intercom were uniformly polite, though, and the canvassers scored some minor successes. One doorman was excited to hear they were backing Mamdani.

“We need a change, something different,” he said. The volunteers left him with some pamphlets to give to friends.

“I actually know your organization really well, so thank you,” a resident told the volunteers through her intercom, politely declining to buzz them inside.

The very expensive city that never sleeps

The activists said they were motivated by Mamdani’s focus on affordability and progressive policies. Polls have shown that Jewish New Yorkers, like other voters, are primarily motivated by everyday issues like crime and affordability, while Jewish concerns remain a factor.

Mamdani’s expansive campaign pledges, such as making buses free and freezing rent for some apartments, have mobilized his followers, but also raised questions about whether the plans are feasible or effective. Mamdani, 34, represents part of Queens in the state assembly, where he has a thin record as a legislator.

One of the volunteers, Michelle Green, an outlier in the group at the age of 76, said she was a new JFREJ member. She backed Mamdani because of his “new ideas” and focus on living conditions.

“I’m a Jewish New Yorker, and I feel like a lot of my concerns are the same as others,” she said. “He’s interested in security. He’s also looking out for our children, Jewish New Yorkers who can’t afford to get an apartment.”

“A lot of us middle-class Jewish New Yorkers love our city. We have no interest in leaving our city, and he wants to make it safer and make it better for young people,” she said. “We care about our neighbors, too. We’re not just focused on our kids.”

One of the volunteers, Lilly Sandberg, said she had been involved with JFREJ since around 2018, mostly joining its support work for immigrants. She had previously campaigned for Mamdani with his campaign and with JFREJ, doing canvassing and phone banking. She said her experiences canvassing have run the gamut, with some voters excited about Mamdani, others hostile, and some curious about his politics.

“In my experience, antisemitism is something that’s come up, but I feel like it hasn’t come up nearly as much as affordability,” she said. “That’s the thing that’s keeping people up at night.”

She connected with the campaign because it had energized people who are not usually involved with local politics, especially following US President Donald Trump’s electoral victory last year, she said.

Sandberg, who works for a nonprofit supporting immigrants, said she backed Mamdani’s progressive policies on immigration, childcare, and public transportation.

“I want to be able to continue living in New York, and I’m passionate about rent stabilization,” she said. “I feel very energized by the focus on affordability.”

Even more antisemitism unleashed?

Many Jewish New Yorkers are alarmed by Mamdani’s harsh rhetoric against Israel, such as his repeated accusation that Israel is guilty of genocide, his past identification as an anti-Zionist, and his defense of the phrase “Globalize the intifada,” which he has since said he would “discourage.” Jewish leaders fear the rhetoric targeting Israel could spur hostility or violence toward Zionist Jews. According to NYPD data, Jews are targeted in hate crimes in the city far more than other groups.

A leading Conservative rabbi, Elliot Cosgrove, said this week that Mamdani “poses a danger to the security of the New York Jewish community,” as other Jewish leaders and community groups issued warnings about Mamdani.

Canvasser Green, who said she attends a Conservative synagogue, said she was sympathetic, but felt that those fretting about Mamdani were misreading him and the fears weren’t warranted.

“I think they should listen to him and really see what his campaign is for. I understand their concern,” she said. “Zohran is not an antisemite, and people do not have to be afraid.”

Mamdani has laid out a plan for combating antisemitism and other hate crimes, focused on “education and community-building.”

Longtime volunteer Sandberg said she believes “Zohran really cares about having a strong relationship with the Jewish community.”

“The thing that I really resonate with him as a candidate and his campaign is that Jewish safety is connected to the safety of other groups,” she said. “If we fight Islamophobia and anti-immigrant hatred and anti-Black racism and antisemitism at the same time, it actually makes all of those fights stronger.”

After canvassing, the volunteers gathered outside an Upper East Side bar. The mood was upbeat, despite their lack of success in reaching many voters.

“You always want to have as many conversations as you can, but I’m not shocked,” one of the volunteers said.