New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds a press conference at the New York City Office of Emergency Management, as a major winter storm spreads across a large swath of the United States, in Brooklyn, New York City, US, Jan. 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Bing Guan

The crowd of Jewish New Yorkers gathered at last month’s Met Council breakfast was beaming, as New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signed a “buffer” bill mandating 50-foot security perimeters around entrances at Houses of Worship across the state.

A spate of shocking events involving pro-terror demonstrators threatening Jewish residents outside of New York City Jewish institutions forced the governor to act.

Hochul’s support of the buffer bill marks a departure from the position held by New York City’s socialist Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who routinely defends the rights of pro-Hamas mobs, and whose anti-Zionist ideology is seen as a contributor to a surge in hate crimes targeting Jews.

But are Hochul and Mamdani really at odds?

Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani last September symbolized the start of a relationship that has remained strong during the mayor’s first months in office.

Her alliance with Mamdani has not only failed to provide a check on the young mayor’s anti-Zionist instincts, but her resistance to launching any meaningful opposition to his laundering of lies about the Jewish State has abetted Mamdani’s efforts to isolate the nearly one million Jewish residents currently living in New York City, the overwhelming majority of whom support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State (something Mamdani does not).

According to the latest data released by the New York Police Department (NYPD), antisemitic incidents in New York City increased 71 percent in May from the same month last year.

By excusing the inexcusable, which includes the mayor’s failure to condemn the term “Globalize the Intifada,” a rally cry calling for the murder of Jews, Hochul has given legitimacy to Mamdani’s rage-filled hatred of Israel and has helped mainstream the mayor’s antisemitic propaganda machine.

Rather than risk highlighting her support for Israel, Hochul appears intent on remaining Mamdani’s dutiful sidekick, and has avoided showcasing any deep ideological divide with the socialist mayor.

Hochul also repeatedly structures her performative remarks about Israel to downplay any Zionist leanings. Balancing her participation in the Israel Day Parade last week was a statement the governor released hours later denouncing Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for appearing at the festivities, with Hochul labeling the Israeli politician as a “far-right extremist.”

Her pick of Adrienne Adams as her running mate has also raised concerns among pro-Israel advocates in New York.

Far from protecting Jewish New Yorkers from Mamdani’s anti-Israel policies, Hochul is creating the broader conditions for his radical ideology to take hold.

The governor’s recently approved state budget that places $8 billion in the hands of the city and its mayor will inevitably be used toward funding commissions and appointing officials who are outright haters of the Jewish State.

Hochul approaches Mamdani’s efforts to marginalize New York City’s Jewish residents by granting the mayor the latitude to evolve his anti-Zionist principles into anti-Zionist policies.

It’s a mindset that’s reverberating across the United States, as establishment Democrats continue to line up behind unsavory figures, with New York’s Democratic delegation among the most politically calculated defenders of far-left, antisemitic candidates.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer seemed confident after appearing to announce his plans last Tuesday to back Maine’s morally corrupt Democratic Senate candidate, Graham Platner.

Even New Jersey Democrat Adam Hamawy’s past reported ties to the terrorist group Al-Qaeda seemed like unremarkable news to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who offered Hamawy his hearty congratulations following the Egyptian-born physician’s primary victory last Tuesday.

The growing pattern of indifference began with Kathy Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani last fall, and its impact is metastasizing across the country.

If Hochul and others in the Democratic coalition behave as quiet bystanders, so too will New York residents. That was the case last week when a Jewish woman was assaulted on a crowded subway train by an unhinged female commuter, who, while screaming “Jews are eating kids,” violently grabbed the young victim by the head and pulled out a clump of her hair.

Lawlessness ensues when radical policies collide with deliberate dismissiveness.

Kathy Hochul should take a cue from New York’s neighbor to the north to learn what transpires when there’s little resistance to counter antisemitic extremism.

Hate crimes against Jews have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels in Canada, with hanged effigies of Jews and attacks targeting Jewish-owned businesses among the slew of antisemitic violence permeating the streets of Montreal and Toronto.

Much like Hochul, liberal-minded Canadian officials have done nothing to quell anti-Jewish incitement except issue perfunctory statements of concern for the Jewish community while simultaneously placating Jew-baiting provocateurs.

Hochul’s support of Mamdani and his ruinous positions are shaping the antisemitic direction of the Democratic Party and threatening the security of Jewish New Yorkers.

Irit Tratt is a writer residing in New York. Follow her on X @Irit_Tratt.