New NYC office will be ‘sledgehammer’ against Jew-hatred
“This administration would not be made silent while our Jewish brothers and sisters are targeted,” Eric Adams told reporters.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order on Tuesday creating a city Office to Combat Antisemitism, which he said would be “the first of its kind in a major city across the nation” that “will tackle antisemitism in all of its forms, working across city agencies to ensure Jewish New Yorkers are protected and can thrive here in the five boroughs.”
“Antisemitism is an attack not only on Jewish New Yorkers but on the very idea of New York City as a place where people from all backgrounds can live together,” stated the mayor, who faces stiff competition in his reelection campaign.
Moshe Davis, executive director of the new city office, holds rabbinic ordination from the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem and has served as Jewish liaison in the mayor’s office since 2022. He told JNS that the new office, in part, will focus on making sure that schools that receive city funding, including private schools like Columbia University, are aligned with city priorities.
“Everyone gets things from the city,” he told JNS. “We can use our ability in our office to say, ‘Hey, these are our policies. This is what we’re trying to do. Are you aligned with that?’ If not, what are our actions that we’re gonna be able to take?”
The mayor said at a press conference at City Hall on Tuesday that the new office responds to rising Jew-hatred in the city. He cited New York City Police Department data, which suggests that antisemitic hate crimes rose 62% in the first three quarters of 2025.
“I want to be clear that this administration would not be made silent while our Jewish brothers and sisters are targeted,” Adams said. “They should not have to hesitate to enter the subway system and ask themselves if they should take off their yarmulke. They should not worry about where they can wear their Star of David.”
Adams added that Jews shouldn’t have to fear being harassed or attacked when they enter school campuses in the city. “That’s not the New York that I want to be the mayor of,” he said.
“In the coming weeks, we will see executive orders, legislation, education initiatives and more monitoring,” Adams said at the press conference. “You will see us considering working with the law department, whether there are litigations where we as a city should be bringing litigation or joining litigation to support those litigating against antisemitism.”
Adams said that the office will monitor Jew-hatred on campus but can’t prevent anti-Israel protests.
“We often get asked, especially when I meet with different organizations, why we don’t just stop all the protests. But we can’t,” he told reporters. “That would go against our Constitution. What we can do is stop violence, and the NYPD has done an outstanding job. When someone uses their right to protest as a cover to harm others, we’ve stepped in and we’ll continue to do that.”
Even when Americans don’t like what’s being said, there is a right to free speech, Adams said at the press conference. “Still, the government cannot be complicit in hate,” he said.
Davis told reporters that the office will take “immediate and concrete steps to address antisemitism at every level of city life, under the leadership of Mayor Adams, our modern-day Maccabee.”
“This office will be a sledgehammer—deliberate, coordinated and unapologetic,” he said. “As New Yorkers, we cannot let the loud voices of Jew-hatred drill a hole in our city. We’re all in the same boat. This isn’t a Jewish issue. This is a New York issue.”
Davis added that the city “has always been a place we can live as proud Jews, a place where I can walk in the street with a yarmulke on my head, and it’s our job to keep it that way.”
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