NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin: Counterweight to Mayor Mamdani?

Newly installed NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin is plainly one of the political anomalies of our time. With Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory, who could have expected that a Democratic centrist, Jewish member of the Council who is a strong supporter of Israel, a leader in the fight against rising antisemitism, a supporter of Holocaust education, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, a strong advocate for protecting Jewish communities from hate, would be chosen unanimously by her colleagues in a legislative body long in the thrall of leftist ideology.

But that’s what happened and it is encouraging that she could well be an effective check against any anti-Jewish excesses of Mayor Mamdani – a self-described Democratic Socialist – who holds decidedly opposing views.

Thus, Speaker Menin has reacted strongly to Mayor Mamdani’s revocation of Executive Orders issued by former Mayor Eric Adams that were protective of the Jewish Community and moved to codify them into law. Thus, she would restore the adoption of the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) realistic definition of antisemitism, the prohibition against NYC agency compliance with the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) campaign and safety perimeters around synagogues and houses of worship to prevent disruptive protests.

The New York Post Editorial board argued that with Mamdani in office, the city “desperately needs some steady hands at the top,” framing Menin as a necessary alternative to avoid the Council becoming a “rubber stamp organization for the far-left agenda.”

The New York Times described Menin as poised to serve as a “structural counterweight” to Mamdani’s mayoralty, overseeing a legislative body that acts as a coequal branch of government.

Other media commenters referred to her as a necessary check on Mamdani’s most ambitious proposals, such as city-run grocery stores, free city buses, and a total rent freeze for one million tenants.

Additionally, several of her allies on the Council, including Republicans, have publicly urged her to be an “aggressive counterbalance” to Mamdani excesses.

The role of NYC Council Speaker naturally serves as a check on the mayor particularly on setting the legislative agenda. However, from where we sit, in the case of the newly minted Mayor Mamdani and Speaker Menin, the Jewish community both here and in Israel is a critical added dimension.