New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani (D.) celebrated the Jewish holiday of Shavuot at Gracie Mansion on Monday evening with a bevy of his progressive allies, including anti-Israel Jews such as congressional hopeful Brad Lander and the transgender rabbi who once held an interfaith dialogue meeting with the president of Iran.
The already controversial event became even more so after Mamdani sent a tweet on Friday, just as the Jewish sabbath was about to begin, marking the “Nakba,” a commemoration of when some Palestinians were allegedly displaced in 1948. Mamdani did not acknowledge Israeli Independence Day last month. The Shavuot event, billed as a celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, appeared to be Mamdani’s alternative to celebrating Israel.
Word went out over the weekend in Jewish New York City circles not to attend the event. Influential Jewish groups, such as the UJA-Federation and the Jewish Community Relations Council, urged Jews to boycott it.
That didn’t stop Lander, who arrived an hour late from the event’s 5:30 p.m. start time and zipped into the ceremony without taking questions. He later exited the event on a Citi Bike—again dodging questions.
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Lander, a one-time mayoral rival, is now a close ally of Mamdani. He is making a strong primary challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman, a more pro-Israel congressman representing parts of Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.
The longtime progressive pol—who has falsely accused Israel of genocide—was joined inside the historic home on Manhattan’s East End Avenue by other prominent far-left Jews, including city councilmen Lincoln Restler and Harvey Epstein and former Manhattan Borough president Ruth Messinger.
Transgender rabbi Abby Stein, who played a major role in rallying left-wing Jewish support for Mamdani during the Democratic primary, was also seen swanning into the event.
Stein sat down for an interfaith dialogue with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian during the U.N. General Assembly in October 2024, just days before the Islamic Republic launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel.
Rafael Shimunov, a far-left anti-Israel podcaster, was one of the first people to arrive. He appeared to be with a woman.
The Free Beacon watched and photographed attendees check in from behind a security cordon—much to the visible annoyance of many guests who arrived.
The Free Beacon was prohibited from attending the event, but a coterie of reporters were permitted entry into the festivities, including Jacob Kornbluh of The Forward and Josh Nathan-Kazis for Jewish Currents, an anti-Israel blog. A representative for the Jewish News Syndicate, a wire service published in more than 100 Jewish publications, complained he was told there was “no room” for him.
In brief remarks at the event that were available afterward via a video feed, the mayor mispronounced the Hebrew word for “covenant,” or brit, turning a one-syllable word that rhymes with “feet” into two. “The Buh-REET that has long dictated how to live well in the community,” he said. “The Buh-REET is a reminder that our fundamental obligation is to one another. It teaches of the obligation we hold to uplift the poor, to protect the vulnerable, and in the words of Leviticus 19:18, to love thy neighbor as thyself.”
In addition to his progressive allies, Mamdani was joined by a number of Satmar Jews, whose religious anti-Zionism has made them bedfellows with the mayor over his dislike for the Jewish state of Israel. Among the most notable of their ranks included Rabbi David Niederman and Rabbi Moishe Indig.
“He’s the mayor,” Indig told the Free Beacon when asked why he would celebrate with Mamdani and his acolytes who have celebrated Palestinian terrorism and persistently angered New York City’s Jewish community. “We have to respect the government.”
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When asked if he would allow a Drag Queen Story Hour in his yeshiva if Mamdani requested it, Indig drew a line.
“No,” he said. “We don’t do everything that he wants.”
Not everyone who attended was on board with the mayor’s anti-Israel agenda. At least one Orthodox attendee told the Free Beacon he was a regular at the event under previous mayors, had no love for Mamdani, and was trying to make the best of a bad situation.
Another attendee said she planned to hand Mamdani a pamphlet on anti-Semitism at the event—though she conceded it was not likely to change his views.
“I am here because I am a staunch Zionist, I love Israel and I love Jewish people, and I want to see what’s going on here,” she said.
Many Big Apple Jewish leaders were also notably absent from the event. Police commissioner Jessica Tisch, Comptroller Mark Levine (D.), and Manhattan Borough president Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D.) were all no-shows, Kornbluh reported from inside Gracie Mansion.
The event went forward, with about 150 people attending, including ultra-progressive Jews and representatives of Hasidic Jewish sects that oppose Zionism on religious grounds.
Sam Raskin, a former New York Post reporter turned Mamdani spokesman, was on hand for light crowd control and occasional smiling.
The Free Beacon asked a number of attendees how they were celebrating “Nakba Day.” Nobody offered any response.
At the conclusion of festivities the Free Beacon also ran into Mathis Vigne—a Mamdani advance staffer who achieved some infamy after a number of his old X post berating airline staff resurfaced online.
The Free Beacon shouted a number of questions to Vigne about the imbroglio as he walked down East End Avenue—to which he offered no response.
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The Free Beacon also asked Vigne how he would celebrate Nakba Day. He didn’t answer.