Mamdani heckled while speaking at Passover seder in Manhattan after comedian drops out

Israeli-American comedian Modi Rosenfeld was scheduled to perform at the event but pulled out last minute after learning that Mamdani was participating.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was reportedly heckled mid-speech at a Passover seder celebration in Manhattan on Monday night.

An attendee shouted “every Jewish organization is a target” when Mamdani, 34, told the crowd at the 33rd annual Downtown Seder at City Winery about how the rise in antisemitism “has caused enormous pain for so many Jewish New Yorkers,” according to the New York Post.

Other attendees reportedly shushed the heckler and applauded the mayor as he finished his speech.

Another attendee told the Post on Tuesday that when Mamdani was introduced on stage, a woman in the crowd shouted, “Shame, shame, shame.”

A far-left democratic socialist and anti-Zionist, Mamdani refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state; supports boycotts of all Israeli-tied entities, has been accused of promoting antisemitism; has repeatedly accused Israel of “apartheid” and “genocide”; and refuses to explicitly condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which has been used to call for violence against Jews and Israelis around the world.

Monday’s Passover seder at City Winery was hosted by the venue’s Jewish founder and owner Michael Dorf.

Israeli-American comedian Modi Rosenfeld was scheduled to perform at the event but pulled out last minute after learning that Mamdani was participating.

“We were not aware Mamdani was participating until today. Modi will not be attending this evening,” Rosenfeld’s team said on social media early Monday.

Dorf defended Mamdani’s attendance in a Substack but added, “While I respect Modi’s decision not to share the stage with Mayor Mamdani, I truly wish he had been there.”

The head of City Winery said “hate mail started rolling in” as soon as it was announced publicly the day prior to the event that Mamdani would attend the Passover celebration.

When Dorf introduced Mamdani on stage Monday night at the Passover event, he described the mayor as a “person who is trying hard to bridge divides in our community and our great city.”

The Passover event featured 15 special guests and 100 percent of proceeds were donated to Seeds of Peace, a nonprofit organization that helps create young leaders “who work in solidarity across differences to create more just and inclusive societies,” according to its website.

Jewish comedian Olga Namer performed and made jokes about New York City’s mayor. She introduced herself as a Syrian Jew and said, “I’m confident that Mamdani likes half of me.”

She then compared Mamdani to the Biblical figure Moses because “he is also causing an exodus of Jews to go to Florida.”

Israeli musician David Broza performed and former CNN anchor Don Lemon asked the “four questions” mentioned in the Passover Haggadah “but done with a special orientation based on his arrest a few weeks ago protecting freedom of expression,” according to a description of the event by City Winery.

Lemon was arrested for participating in a protest at a Minnesota church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official is a pastor.

George Floyd’s brother spoke at Monday night’s event about “racism” and Israeli-American Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie was featured in a live stream from Israel.

Earlier in March, Mamdani celebrated Ramadan with Abdullah Akl, the political director of the Muslim American Society of New York.

The latter called for the Hamas terrorist organization to “strike Tel Aviv” before leading a crowd in chanting for an “intifada” during a protest in New York City, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

He was arrested at a pro-Hamas demonstration in 2024 and has posted antisemitic and anti-Israel messages on social media, including one message in which he encouraged others to “teach [their] children that the Zionist entity is an enemy.”

Mamdani also hosted an Iftar dinner at Gracie Mansion with Mahmoud Khalil, the anti-Israel activist and Hamas supporter who justified the Hamas-led terrorist attack across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and said “we couldn’t avoid” the deadly massacre.