New York Mayor Adams Confronted Over Antisemitism During Visit to Brooklyn

New York City Mayor Eric Adams visited the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park in Brooklyn on Wednesday ahead of Rosh Hashanah, engaging with community leaders and residents. During his visit to a Judaica store, Adams was presented with honey and observed a shofar being blown, extending good wishes for the new year to those present. However, the visit was marked by a confrontation with a visibly upset woman who accused Adams of fueling antisemitism in the city. "Because of you, we have so much antisemitism... You have the audacity to come here," she stated.

This incident follows a tense meeting approximately a month prior, where ten rabbis from various American Jewish movements met with Adams. During that closed-door session, community leaders reportedly criticized Adams's strong anti-Israel stance, his commitment to arresting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his calls for protests against Netanyahu during visits to New York. They conveyed that these actions created significant insecurity among Jewish residents and hindered cooperation with his administration.

Even representatives from Reform and Conservative Jewish movements, typically critical of Israel, reportedly told Adams that his statements were contributing to and encouraging a rise in antisemitism. These discussions occurred against the backdrop of recent NYPD data showing an 8.5% increase in anti-Jewish hate incidents during the first seven months of the year, constituting about 57% of all hate crimes in the city. July alone saw a 53% surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes compared to the previous year. Some participants in the earlier meeting noted that Adams still appeared to not connect his strong criticisms of Israel with the rise in antisemitism, prompting the representatives to present their concerns forcefully.