Jewish legal groups protest absence of Jews from Mamdani advisory panel

ByNEW YORK JEWISH WEEK STAFF/JTAJULY 29, 2026 02:06Updated: JULY 29, 2026 02:07Four Jewish bar associations took aim at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s newly announced judicial advisory committee, after the 18-member body appeared to include no Jews.“Not a single Jewish attorney, former judge, or legal professional was appointed to a committee your administration described as one that would be ‘truly reflective of New York City,’” leaders of the four Jewish legal groups wrote in a letter Monday to Mamdani.The groups also decried the “unprecedented rejection” of one applicant, retired Appellate Division Justice John Leventhal.In a statement to The New York Times, a spokesman for Mamdani said that the accusation the appointments were “motivated by religion is false,” adding that Mamdani had passed on Leventhal after they were informed he had “served on Ghislaine Maxwell’s legal team.”The Wall Street Journal is facing outcry after it published an op-ed Monday titled “Mamdani’s Antisemitic Smoke Signals,” which featured an image of an anti-Mamdani protester displaying an image of the mayor wearing a green Hamas headband. Mamdani’s communications director, Anna Bahr, called the image “incredibly Islamophobic.”New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a primary-night watch party for NYC Congressional candidate Claire Valdez at 99 Scott Studio on June 23, 2026 in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. (credit: MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO/GETTY IMAGES)Anti-Jewish incidents account for more than half of NYC hate crimes this yearJewish City Council Speaker Julie Menin allocated $750,000 to the Brooklyn district attorney’s hate crimes bureau on Monday, after District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called for additional funding, JNS reported.According to the latest NYPD hate crime statistics, Jews have been the target of 181 hate crime incidents since Jan. 1, the largest share of any bias group and 55.6% of hate crimes this year overall.Indie rock band Yo La Tengo’s annual Hanukkah concert series, which it has held since 2001, was hit by scalpers who bought tickets for the event in bulk to resell online. The venue, Bowery Ballroom, told Gothamist that it was attempting to recover tickets from the market for redistribution.“This is not the sexiest event in town. It’s not like Dua Lipa or some s–t,” 44-year-old marketing manager Michael Hirsch, who’s attended the show for the past two years, told Gothamist. “It’s just a bunch of old Jewish people playing music for other Jewish nerds like me.”Follow us on Google