c/o Citizen
Crowds waving Israeli flags and brandishing “Remove Mamdani” signs swarmed the streets around Gracie Mansion on Tuesday night, demanding the mayor’s ouster over his stance on Israel — and one woman walked away with a flagpole strike to the neck.
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The rally kicked off at 7 p.m. just outside Gracie Mansion, drawing a heavy NYPD presence, metal barricades, and a smaller group of counter-protestors who turned out to defend the mayor.End Jew Hatred organized the demonstration, led by Brooke Goldstein of The Lawfare Project, with backing from a coalition that included the Israeli American Council, the Catholic League, the Zionist Organization of America, and the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council.
Demonstrators carried signs reading “Remove Mamdani,” “Make Love, Not Intifada,” and “Stop Jew Hatred” while chanting against the mayor.
A 42-year-old woman was struck in the neck with a flagpole during the protest, according to police. She refused medical attention on the scene, and the NYPD said no arrests were made.
In a statement, End Jew Hatred clarified that Mamdani “does not appear to personally hate Jews,” but argued his approach to Israel, Zionism, and anti-Israel activism has fostered a climate in which Jewish New Yorkers feel unsafe.
Michelle Ahdoot, the group’s director of programming and strategy, told CBS New York the mayor cannot “pick and choose what you call out” when it comes to hate symbols and extremist slogans on city streets.
The crowd was not exclusively Jewish. Anila Ali, president of the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council, told amNewYork that “with Mamdani in office, we feel our religion has been hijacked again.” Right-wing Staten Island artist Scott LoBaido also addressed the crowd.
Tuesday’s protest lands days before the annual Israel Day parade on Fifth Avenue, scheduled for May 31 — an event Mamdani has said he will not attend.
It marks the second Israel-related demonstration on the Upper East Side this month, following the Park East Synagogue protest on May 5.
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