My Message to Muslim New Yorkers -- and Everyone Who Calls This City Home.

Can Zohran Mamdani turn New York around? | The Economist |

Zohran Mamdani has a plan to save New York. A panel of our journalists discuss the man who's the frontrunner to become the city's next mayor and analyse whether his policies can restore America's largest city to its former glory.

Mamdani packs NYC stadium in rally with AOC and Bernie Sanders | CBS News |

Will New York City Really Elect a Muslim Mayor? | Martin Longman - Aug 4, 2025 |

I have to give credit to Liam Stack of the New York Times for tackling something which appears to be hurting a lot of people's brains: why are so many Jewish New Yorkers supporting a Muslim who is critical of Israel for mayor?

It's a real phenomenon, even if it isn't simple to measure. Even in New York City, most precincts have too few Jews to make statistical conclusions of how they voted in the mayoral primary. What we know is that Andrew Cuomo did very well is some Orthodox Jewish precincts, but that Zohran Mamdani undoubtedly picked up a respectable percentage of the overall Jewish vote throughout the five boroughs. This is supported by the fact that two-thirds of the leading Jewish candidate's voters selected Mamdami as their second choice.

There are some simple explanations. First, New York City's mayor doesn't have any responsibility for U.S. foreign policy, so their opinions about Israel really aren't very consequential. Second, Mamdami's message about affordability resonated with many NYC Democrats irrespective of their faith or ethnicity. Third, Israel's extreme right-wing government is largely out-of-step with the politics of most of the city's Jews. Fourth, there's a deep level of discomfort with the situation in Gaza, and that discomfort is extremely high among younger Jews.

[...]

The situation in Gaza is complicated and presents a lot of conflicting emotions. It's just not the case that most New York City Jews are comfortable taking an uncritically pro-Israel stance on the issue, so it's understandable that they aren't imposing that expectation on politicians.

There are still some surprises here. Jewish Americans have noticed an uptick in anti-Semitism since the war in Gaza began, and they're feeling insecure. It's one thing to give Mamdami a pass to criticize Israel, but another to trust him as a protector. This is even more notable considering the controversy over whether or not Mamdami would condemn the phrase "globalize the intifada." To many Jews, the phrase sounds like support for terrorism directed at Jews in countries outside of Israel. That's understandable considering the use of suicide bombers to blow up buses and restaurants, particularly during the Second Intifada.

An American biased opinion is just as bad as being uninformed about the history, its complicities and accepting the narrative of a genocidal coalition in Jerusalem. So sad, disinformation at best, hasbara worst case.

Perhaps as a political blogger, get the spelling of his name right: next mayor of New York will be Zohran Mamdani.