A version of this piece first ran as part of the New York Jewish Week’s daily newsletter, rounding up the latest on politics, culture, food and what’s new with Jews in the city. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.
🚨 Kosher restaurant targeted by far-right activists as counter-protesters throw bomb
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A kosher Israeli restaurant was targeted by a far-right activist leading an anti-Muslim demonstration on Saturday outside Gracie Mansion, the start of a chaotic spiral that included two counter-protesters throwing a homemade bomb.
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Jake Lang, a far-right influencer and pardoned Jan. 6 rioter who staged an antisemitic demonstration outside AIPAC headquarters last month, led about 20 people in a protest called “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City.”
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Lang brought a roasted pig to the protest and left it outside Effy’s, a nearby Israeli kosher restaurant, on the back of a truck parked with a Confederate flag. Jewish and Muslim rules forbid eating pork. (A different Effy’s location was hit with anti-Israel graffiti in 2024.)
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More than 100 counter-protesters showed up to confront Lang’s group, calling their own protest “Run the Nazis out of New York City: Stand against hate.”
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A series of scuffles ensued, including fistfights and Mace sprayed by one of Lang’s followers. Then counter-protesters Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, allegedly hurled “an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death,” according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Another smoking projectile was also thrown.
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The NYPD and the FBI are investigating the incident as “an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism,” Tisch said on Monday. Federal prosecutors are also charging Balat and Kayumi with the use of a weapon of mass destruction. No injuries were reported and Mamdani and his wife were not at home during the protests.
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Before the source of the bomb was clear, Brad Lander, the Jewish progressive congressional candidate in Brooklyn, denounced it as an example of “Islamophobia.” He later corrected his statement, saying, “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions and posting too soon. But I’m not sorry for hating Islamophobia as much as I hate antisemitism.”
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Mamdani condemned Lang as a “white supremacist” who organized a protest “rooted in bigotry and racism.” He added that “what followed was even more disturbing,” saying, “The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”
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Former Mayor Eric Adams blamed the incident on “years of hateful rhetoric and incitement,” including “attempts to justify attacks on Jews in Israel” and “chants about ‘globalizing the intifada’ and ‘Death to America.’” During the mayoral race, he criticized Mamdani for declining to condemn the pro-Palestinian “globalize the intifada” slogan.
🪧 Khamenei vigil denounces Israel as Iranians protesters declare solidarity with Jews
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Meanwhile, in Washington Square Park, another confrontation erupted on Friday night between left-wing protesters mourning Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian counter-protesters celebrating his death.
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Rami Even-Esh, an Israeli-American rapper who goes by Kosha Dillz, took down a photo of Khamenei and then was attacked by several people, he said on Instagram. He added that he was later arrested.
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The vigil organizers displayed pamphlets that read, “Zionism and Racist Landlords: Abuse From Hasidic Sects in Brooklyn” and “From South Africa to Gaza, How the Islamic Republic of Iran Supports People’s Liberation Everywhere.”
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On the other side, some counter-protesters declared their solidarity with Israel and Iranian Jews. One of them told The Forward, “Without Jewish people, no Iranian has security and safety. We need Iranian Jews; we need the state of Israel allied with Iran to have a Middle East with peace and prosperity.”
🗣 Mamdani responds to scrutiny of his wife’s social media activity
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Mamdani defended his wife Rama Duwaji while distancing himself from her personal views on Friday, after Jewish Insider scrutinized her past engagement with social media posts that celebrated the “resistance” of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
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“My wife is the love of my life and she’s also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall,” Mamdani said at an unrelated press conference. “I, however, was elected to represent all eight and a half million people in this city, and I believe that it’s my responsibility, because of that role, to answer any questions about my thoughts and my policies and my decisions.”
📊 Schlossberg leads NY-12 race in early poll
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Jack Schlossberg, the “half-Jewish” Kennedy scion running to replace Rep. Jerry Nadler in the 12th Congressional District, leads the race in a new poll commissioned by his opponent George Conway.
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The survey conducted by GQR found Schlossberg winning 25% of likely voters, Conway coming in second with 16%, and Assemblymembers Micah Lasher and Alex Bores tied with 11% each. The plurality of voters, 33%, remained undecided.
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This early snapshot likely measures initial name recognition, according to City and State. Lasher and Bores are considered to be frontrunners.
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The poll was conducted among 500 likely Democratic primary voters in the district, with a 4.38% margin of error.
✍ Clergy urge tax hike on the wealthy
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Six progressive rabbis are among the coalition of multi-faith clergy who called on Gov. Kathy Hochul and Albany leadership to support Mamdani’s proposed tax hike on wealthy New Yorkers and corporations in a letter today. Only one of them currently works in a synagogue full-time.
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“Right now, one of the most pressing issues we hear after sermons and services is the cost-of-living crisis,” said the letter. “The cost of rent, childcare, groceries, and even transit fare is becoming unsustainable. It is causing many of our congregants to question whether they want to live in this city any longer. It threatens to hollow out our houses of worship.”
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Hochul, who is up for reelection this year, has repeatedly refused to raise taxes.
