JCPA Statement on NYC Mayoral Race

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, released the following statement:

“New York City voters have spoken – and both Mayor-elect Mamdani and our communities now have an opportunity to work toward a strong, safe, and inclusive city in which Jewish and all New Yorkers can thrive.

The last few months of this mayoral race have been divisive and painful. This was an election in which Jews became a political football – which did nothing to advance Jewish, or any community’s, safety. Rather, in so many ways, this election was used to validate the worst instincts and fears on both extremes: 

Those who used it as an excuse to dismiss real and legitimate Jewish concerns about rising, increasingly-violent antisemitism. And those who exploited those concerns to fuel division and fear, and to advance Islamophobic and other dangerous bigotry.

Too many have offered false choices: between Jewish safety and a city and country that are safe for all; between unequivocally countering antisemitism and advancing a truly inclusive democracy.

Jewish safety requires us to work across lines of difference – and that is what we must recommit to at this critical moment in New York and across our country. This will be even more crucial as the Trump administration threatens to gut funding and further weaponize the federal government against New York and other cities.

And so too does Mayor-elect Mamdani, and all our leaders, have an obligation to truly listen to the Jewish community’s fears and concerns, to understand the impact of rhetoric and policies, and to ensure that this city is safe for all of us.

The only path forward is one that recognizes that Jewish safety and rights require a strong, inclusive city and democracy where all are protected – and that a strong, inclusive New York City and democracy are not possible without real Jewish safety and security.”