During a closed-door meeting with Jewish leaders last week, Mayor Eric Adams claimed that an antisemite was running against him for City Hall, The NY Post reported Sunday. The mayor was hinting at state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist candidate for mayor, known for his vicious stance on Israel.
The mayor made the accusation without disclosing the antisemite’s identity during a March 19 appearance before the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC).
“With a large Jewish population in our great city, one of the candidates running for mayor is spewing antisemitism,” Adams said to the JCRC members, as one of the people in attendance recalled.
Zohran Mamdani, 34, is a Ugandan-born American and a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America. He has served as the representative for the 36th district of the New York State Assembly in Queens since 2021 and is running in the June 24 Democratic primary for the 2025 New York City mayoral election.
In early 2023, Mamdani introduced the “Not on Our Dime!: Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act,” a bill aimed at prohibiting registered charities from donating to organizations that support Israeli settlements. Later that year, in November 2023, after the October 7 Hamas atrocities, Mamdani participated in a five-day hunger strike outside Washington, D.C., alongside actress and failed NY State gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon (“Sex in the City”). The strike was against President Biden’s backing of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
Linda Sarsour endorsed Zohran Mamdani for NY State Assembly representing Astoria, Ditmars, and Astoria Heights.
Not shockingly Mamdani is now pushing a bill that will punish not-for-profit groups in NY that support Jewish communities in Israel. pic.twitter.com/1oQnzZNSoj
— Andrejs Eglitis (@falconnestorg) May 18, 2023
Linda Sarsour, an activist known for her outspoken criticism of Israel and support for Hamas, has been supporting Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign for months. She has actively pushed Mamdani’s candidacy by promoting anti-Israel messages and encouraging left-wing activists to join the Democratic Party ahead of the mayoral primary to vote Mandani in.
Sarsour, a long-time enemy of Israel, played a role in the “Uncommitted National Movement” during the 2024 presidential race, which called for Democrats to abstain from voting in protest of President Biden’s refusal to condemn Israel.
Today is three months until the election. And thanks to all of you, we are officially DONE fundraising.
Please don’t send us money. But we would love your time. pic.twitter.com/j8lfO5OhJm
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) March 24, 2025
According to Gothamist, Zohran Mamdani is set to announce on Monday that his campaign has become the first in the New York City mayoral race to reach the fundraising cap. Mamdani revealed that he had raised over $8 million, with projected matching funds from around 18,000 donors across the city, achieving this milestone faster than any other campaign in the city’s history.
“It means that I don’t have to spend the hours sitting at a table, calling through our supporters and asking them for their money,” Mamdani told Gothamist.
The New York Times suggested on Sunday that Zohran Mamdani could potentially win the Democratic nomination, despite being the only progressive candidate who hasn’t shifted toward the political center — a trend many of his fellow Democrats have followed since President Trump’s victory in 2024.
In a primary where voter turnout rarely exceeds a quarter of eligible voters, winning over new voters could give Mamdani significant influence in determining the outcome. And so, the Times described a recent campaign visit to the East Bronx’s Little Yemen neighborhood, Mamdani urged the gathered crowd to exercise their electoral power more fully.
More than 350,000 of New York’s one million Muslims are registered to vote, but only about 12% of them voted in the last mayoral election.
“I don’t blame anyone in our community for not voting, because oftentimes it feels like there isn’t much to vote for,” Mamdani told a group of about 100 locals. “But this June 24, in this Democratic primary, we have a chance — an opportunity — to tell the world that Muslims don’t just belong in New York City but that we belong in City Hall.”
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, told the NY Post: “When you hold Israel to a different standard, you have some explaining to do. We have every right to question whether you’re antisemitic.”
