New York City Mayor Adams announces new Office to Combat Antisemitism

Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News on May 13, 2025

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NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams Tuesday announced a new city Office to Combat Antisemitism amid a surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes and an increasing focus on the issue in this year’s mayoral race.

The mayor said NYPD stats show that more than half of hate crimes are antisemitic despite Jewish New Yorkers making up about 10% of the city’s population. He called that an “imbalance” that must be knocked down.

Adams called the new office “a symbolic gesture, but most importantly, a substantive gesture” at a Tuesday press conference. The new office comes despite the existence of a similar office in his administration that was formed in 2019, also in response to a rise in antisemitic hate crime incidents.

The new office, which is made up of just one person, comes amid a hotly contested mayoral election in which antisemitism — and the ongoing conflict in Gaza — have come into sharp focus.

In November, Adams, who’s running as an independent, could face off against Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner in the Democratic primary, and likely a progressive candidate running on the Working Families Party line. Both Adams and Cuomo are very pro-Israel, and are vying for Orthodox and conservative Jewish voters, important voting blocks for the candidates.

Moshe Davis, who’s been the administration’s Jewish liaison since 2022, will serve as the executive director under First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro.

The office will work to establish a task force focused on antisemitism comprised of the Mayor’s Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, the police department, the city’s Commission on Human Rights and others, according to an executive order establishing the office. It’ll also monitor court cases and advise on executive orders and legislation, the mayor said.

”This office will be a sledgehammer, deliberate, coordinated and unapologetic,” Davis said at its announcement.

Adams suggested the office will target college campus protests, organizations that receive taxpayers dollars, an apparent reference to a called-off Summerstage concert by Kehlani, a pro-Palestine singer, and city messaging including a Department of Education pamphlet that called Israel’s actions in Palestine a “genocide.”

“We just saw a newsletter go out the other day that was despicable, what they were promoting,” Adams said. “And so we have to proactively monitor what is leaving our agencies. We cannot be the feeder of hate.”

Adams is petitioning on an “EndAntiSemitism” ballot line, in addition to a “Safe&Affordable” line, for the November election.

The move also comes after President Trump formed an “Anti-Semitism” task force that has targeted and cut funding from universities.

Brad Lander, the city’s comptroller running for mayor, accused the mayor of using Jewish New Yorkers as “pawns” in a statement.

“Creating a taxpayer-funded office in the waning days of his mayoralty to rhyme with his made-up personal ballot line is cynical and transparent, even for this mayor,” he said.

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