‘A danger to NYC Jews’ – Rabbis warn against Mamdani victory

Spiritual leaders of two prominent New York synagogues express alarm as State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani continues to lead polling ahead of next month’s mayoral election.

By World Israel News Staff

Two prominent New York City rabbis have expressed alarm at the prospect of New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s election in next month’s mayoral election, warning that the far-left candidate’s victory could have serious repercussions for the city’s Jews.

On Saturday, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, the pulpit rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, used his Sabbath morning sermon to urge congregants to vote against Mamdani in the November election.

“I believe Zohran Mamdani poses a danger to the security of the New York Jewish community,” Cosgrove said, dedicating some 25 minutes to the subject of the mayoral election.

The rabbi of the Conservative congregation endorsed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is trailing Mamdani by double digits in polls with less than two weeks until the Nov. 4 vote.

An AARP poll conducted last week shows Mamdani with 43% of the vote and Cuomo in second place, with 29%. Republican candidate and conservative pundit Curtis Sliwa is a distant third with 19%.

In his sermon, Cosgrove cited Mamdani’s refusal to denounce the slogan “Globalize the Intifada,” which Jews have warned is a call for antisemitic violence.

Cosgrove noted that Mamdani has falsely accused Israel of genocide on at least three occasions. The rabbi also criticized Mamdani’s pledge, if elected, to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he sets foot in New York City during Mamdani’s term in office.

“For these and so many other statements … he is a danger to the Jewish body politic of New York City,” Cosgrove said.

“Zionism, Israel, Jewish self-determination — these are not political preferences or partisan talking points. They are constituent building blocks and inseparable strands of my Jewish identity.”

Last week, another prominent New York pulpit rabbi, Amiel Hirsch of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, blasted Mamdani, accusing him of “fanning the flames of intolerance.”

Mamdani, the prominent Reform rabbi said, rejects “the very existence of Israel as a Jewish state.”

“You have called Zionist – the liberation movement of the Jewish people – a racist project and a colonial enterprise,” Hirsch continued.

“Most Jews are deeply offended by your ongoing accusations of Israeli ‘genocide.'”