New York City’s first Jewish City Council speaker and its first Muslim mayor are clashing over how best to combat antisemitism in the city, with a proposed protest buffer zone outside synagogues sparking legal and political disagreement.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin has introduced legislation that would allow the New York Police Department to establish a 100‑foot security buffer zone around synagogues and other places of worship. The buffer would be set on a case‑by‑case basis, aimed at keeping protests at a distance to protect worshippers entering and leaving services.
“Jewish New Yorkers make up roughly 10 percent of our city’s population yet last year they were the victims of more than half of all reported hate crimes,” Menin said in support of the proposal. The Manhattan Democrat unveiled the measure as part of a broader five‑point plan to address antisemitism, which includes funding for security cameras at private schools, training for religious groups, and increased support for the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
The legislation comes amid recent demonstrations in New York where anti‑Israel protesters gathered near synagogues across Queens and the Upper East Side, with some participants using antisemitic rhetoric. Menin and supporters say the buffer zones are necessary to ensure safety and allow free worship without intimidation.
However, the mayor’s office has raised concerns about the legality of imposing such buffer zones. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has not publicly embraced the measure and is awaiting a review from the city’s Law Department to determine whether the proposal would withstand constitutional scrutiny.
Critics of buffer zone bills argue they could infringe on First Amendment rights to protest, a concern Menin rejected at a recent press conference. “The right to peacefully protest is sacrosanct, it’s what our country was built on,” she said, adding that the legislation does not penalize protests but simply “creates the safe perimeters that allow people to really move into their respective house of worship and schools.”
The mayor’s hesitancy has drawn criticism from some Jewish community leaders and opponents who question Mamdani’s commitment to tackling antisemitism, especially after he rescinded executive orders from the previous administration that expanded definitions of antisemitism and restricted city employees from participating in Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) protests.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has previously floated a similar idea at the state level, proposing a 25‑foot protest buffer zone, though the mayor notably did not applaud her announcement earlier this year. As the city navigates these competing perspectives, the debate highlights broader tensions over public safety, civil liberties, and how best to respond to hate crimes in America’s largest city.
