(The Center Square) — Incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will be barred from making business or pension disinvestment decisions targeting Israel under an executive order signed by the outgoing mayor.
Mayor Eric Adams, who leaves office on Jan. 1, signed a pair of executive orders on Wednesday prohibiting city funds from being used to boycott Israel. One order specifically targets city business and pension investments, and comes just before Mayor-elect Mamdani — a Democratic socialist who has been critical of Israel-related investments and backs the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement — prepares to take the reins of City Hall next month.
“Executive Order 60 makes it clear: BDS has no place in our city,” Adams, a Democrat, posted on social media. “The movement is antisemitic in nature and discriminatory in practice. NYC contracts and pensions must serve the public good. Discrimination is illegal. Antisemitism is abhorrent.”
Adams said New York City has a “strong bond” with Israel not just because of a commitment to protect the Jewish homeland, “but also because it has always been a sound financial investment, and our financial decisions should continue to reflect that truth.”
Another order directs the NYPD commissioner to consider proposals — including buffer zones — aimed at regulating demonstrations near synagogues and other houses of worship. Adams said the houses of worship have become targets of protests and other actions “that can disrupt congregants’ ability to freely exercise their chosen religion and threaten the public safety of worshipers and surrounding neighbors.”
“The First Amendment protects speech — but time, place, and manner rules protect the right to pray in peace,” Adams said.
The new restrictions come a week after protesters gathered in front of the Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side, chanting “globalize the intifada” and “death to the IDF (Israeli Defense Force),” according to authorities. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who was picked by Mamdani to oversee the police department, apologized to the synagogue after the police response to an anti-Israel protest outside the building was deemed inadequate.
“New York City has always been this nation’s melting pot, but, too often, over the last few years, we’ve seen those of Jewish ancestry be singled out and targeted,” Adams said.
The move puts Mamdani in the difficult situation of having to decide whether he will rescind Adams’ executive orders or keep them on the books when he takes over the mayor’s office in a few weeks.
On the campaign trail, Mamdani promised to devote more resources to combat antisemitism in a city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
But he has also faced questions about his alignment with pro-Palestinian groups, criticism of the Israeli government, and his use of the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which has been linked to acts of violence against Jewish people. The mayor-elect was also blasted for posting a photo of him with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, who had links to the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
The New York-based Anti-Defamation League has also pointed to Mamdani’s support for the BDS movement against Israel and past rhetoric about Israeli soldiers. The national group has launched a “Mamdani Monitor” to keep a check on his new administration, scrutinize appointees, and review the funding of organizations tied to the Israel-critical administration to gauge hostility to Jewish people.
