New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks at a press conference on the arrest of two men who threatened to attack a synagogue, 21 November, 2022 (Screenshot)

New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams will travel to Athens, Greece, on Wednesday for the 2022 Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism. The second annual event will bring together more than 25 mayors from 23 countries to highlight the extent of rising antisemitism as well as to discuss solutions. The event is co-hosted by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) and the Center for Jewish Impact (CJI) in partnership with the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).

In addition to New York’s Adams, the mayors of Vienna, Paris, Dresden, Thessaloniki, and Fort Lauderdale will be among the attendees. Greece’s President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will also participate in the event.

The trip comes amid a disturbing rise in antisemitism in New York and other cities around the world. Earlier this month, the NYPD and FBI thwarted two men armed with a gun and a knife who had expressed a desire to “shoot up a synagogue.” Other incidents from November alone include a series of antisemitic notes distributed in the Bronx, an assault on yeshiva students who were forced by their attackers to say “Free Palestine”, the arrest of three men who shot at hasidic Jews with a gel gun, and a man throwing rocks at a Jewish Day School on the Upper East Side.

Adams has said that public safety, including combating antisemitism, is his highest priority as mayor. Speaking at the Anti-Defamation League’s “Never is Now” summit on November 10, Adams said that recent antisemitic incidents cannot be ignored. “I know the last few weeks have been tense for the Jewish community here and across the nation. Many of you are feeling fear and anxiety, no matter where you live. Let me be clear, hatred and antisemitism will not be tolerated in New York City,” Adams said.