Mamdani Unveils Major Antisemitism Funding Boost After Brooklyn Synagogue Protests Spark Backlash

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Tuesday a nearly ninefold increase in funding for the city’s hate-crime prevention office, unveiling the proposal just one day after violent clashes erupted outside a synagogue-linked event in Brooklyn.

Mamdani’s executive budget proposal would raise funding for the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes from roughly $3 million to $26 million annually beginning in 2027. The announcement came as anti-Israel protests in heavily Jewish neighborhoods continue fueling tensions across the city, particularly after demonstrators marched Monday night through Midwood, chanting slogans including calls for “intifada revolution” outside a synagogue hosting an Israeli real estate event.

Mamdani has faced widespread skepticism from many Jewish voters during last year’s mayoral race over his positions on Israel and anti-Israel activism. City Hall said the expanded funding would form part of New York’s first comprehensive municipal strategy to combat antisemitism, expected later this year.

According to NYPD data, antisemitic incidents accounted for 57% of all reported hate crimes in New York City in 2025. The Anti-Defamation League’s latest annual audit found antisemitic incidents in New York dropped 19% last year but still remained the third-highest total ever recorded.

“Too often, the only response offered to a hate crime is exactly that, it’s a response,” Mamdani said while presenting the proposal. “Today we want to also do the work of preventing those hate crimes.”

Most of the new funding is expected to expand existing city programs, including the Partners Against Hate FORWARD initiative, which provides grants for community-based anti-hate efforts in partnership with the NYC Commission on Human Rights. City officials said the exact allocation of the additional funding is still being finalized.

The proposal drew praise from Jewish elected officials and organizations, including some that had previously criticized Mamdani over Israel-related issues.

The Anti-Defamation League said Jews in New York “were targeted in more hate crimes than all other groups combined” last year and welcomed the mayor’s proposed “866% increase” in funding for hate-crime prevention.

Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal praised the move as “Promises made, promises kept,” while Rep. Dan Goldman called the funding “a worthy tool to combat hate.” 

But the funding announcement is still overshadowed by renewed controversy surrounding anti-Israel demonstrations outside synagogues and Jewish institutions.

On Monday night, dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters marched through Midwood outside a synagogue hosting a real estate event advertising properties in Israel and Judea and Samaria. Counterprotesters also gathered at the scene, and NYPD officers intervened to separate the groups after clashes broke out.

Police reported four arrests, including two Jewish teenagers. Videos from the scene showed protesters chanting anti-Israel slogans while police escorted demonstrators through residential Jewish streets.

The confrontation came days after a similar protest outside Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue and along growing demands from Jewish residents for stronger enforcement around demonstrations near houses of worship.

The New York City Council recently passed legislation requiring the NYPD to prepare synagogue protection plans and publicly detail response procedures for demonstrations that could create intimidation or safety risks near religious institutions.

In a statement after the Midwood clashes, Mamdani condemned “antisemitic, anti-Muslim and racist rhetoric, as well as racial slurs, displays of support for terrorist organizations, and calls for the death of others” as “despicable.”

At the same time, the mayor defended the demonstrations themselves.

“New Yorkers have the constitutional right to protest and to counter-protest, but no one should face violence, intimidation, or hatred because of who they are or what they believe,” Mamdani said. “We can simultaneously protect both public safety and civil liberties.”