Zohran Mamdani Becomes First NYC Mayor Since 1964 to Skip Israel Day Parade | APT

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]be attending the parade and I've made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear and I also said on that same campaign that I had I would have a responsibility as the mayor of the city to ensure the safety and security of each and every New Yorker. And I don't believe that my presence as the mayor should determine whether or not a New Yorker is safe or secure. That is something we take incredibly seriously. And what we also take seriously as an administration is to ensure that we are delivering on not just keeping Jewish New Yorkers safe, but ensuring that Jewish New Yorkers understand that they belong in this city, that they are cherished by the city. And I'm proud of the work that our mayor's office to combat anti-Semitism headed by Felicia Wisdom has been doing in leading a first in the nation municipal response to anti-Semitism by actually crafting an affirmative vision of how to tackle it as opposed to just how to respond to incidents of it. And we've coupled that with an investment of more than an 800% increase in the office to prevent hate crimes in funding that will actually support the very programs we've seen be effective at that kind of work.

[00:01:05]>> I have these concerns do you have any concerns about the mayor not being there?

[00:01:12]>> No, it's the mayor's decision not to march and it is my decision to march proudly.

[00:01:18]>> You know Jacob has >> I have a lot of two-part questions.

[00:01:22]>> Um Okay.

[00:01:24]Thank you.

[00:01:26]While you won't be attending given your personal views is the administration sending a representative on behalf of the administration to the parade and on the security measures >> [laughter] >> Okay, that's so that's an answer and secondly on the security measures have you given the police commissioner any guidance regarding handling the protests and whether the statewide bill that just passed applies to any of the security measures regarding this particular event.

[00:01:57]>> So I do not believe that that bill pertains to this Sunday.

[00:02:02]However, what I will say when it comes to this parade is that I've made it very clear to the commissioner as well as to our city government as a whole that we want to ensure that we are keeping each and every New Yorker safe, that anyone who chooses to participate in this parade can do so safely and securely. And that, you know, when it comes to the question of protest that in our city we believe that protest is sacrosanct as is the right to safety and security and we will deliver all of those things.

[00:02:32]>> Thank you.

[00:02:34]>> Mark Nace from CNN.

[00:02:36]>> Hi everyone.

[00:02:37]Uh I had a quick question about security and the disruptors or demonstrators and also the rise in anti-Semitism. And I was wondering if uh you could shed some light on who and who are these individuals that are doing some of these acts. Who's coming down to these these kind of events? Who's doing some of these anti-Semitic attacks? Is this one person who's responsible for many instances or are we talking about like professional agitators that are coming in from out of town? Like can you give us a little bit of a read out as to who these folks are?

[00:03:08]>> I'm not I'm not sure that I understand the question. Who's You're You're saying who's who's committing hate crimes?

[00:03:14]>> Yeah.

[00:03:15]>> Yeah.

[00:03:15]>> runs the gamut in in New York City. I wish I had the chief of detectives here um to talk about it, but it is very broad range of people from different ethnic backgrounds, different ages, kids all the way up to seniors.

[00:03:35]>> No, see you.

[00:03:37]>> Good afternoon. Not morning. Um just in terms of working with federal partners on this. I uh I'm guessing they will be there, too, but if you could talk a little bit about that.

[00:03:48]>> any major event in New York City, we coordinate with our local, state, and our federal partners. And that has definitely been the case for the parade this Sunday. I think just last week I was standing here doing a press conference with Jay Clayton talking about that. And so this the salute to Israel parade is is definitely part of what we coordinate with them on.

[00:04:22]>> Thank you. For the mayor, I know your position on the Israeli government, but question, would you be open to meeting with members of the opposition or Israeli or Palestinian activists, grassroots leaders from Israel or living in New York in the future?

[00:04:37]>> You know, I've I've been happy to meet with Israelis and Palestinians in the past. I would absolutely consider doing so in the future, as well. Thank you.

[00:04:46]>> One last question, we'll go to Charles WNYC.