Huge protest today outside Gracie Mansion in New York City..."Get rid of Mamdani!"

"Nearly 1,000 New Yorkers from various backgrounds rallied near Gracie Mansion Tuesday night, holding signs and chanting boos and jeers, to express their opposition to Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City.

Organized by EndJewHatred, a Jewish civil rights movement, New Yorkers from various organizations protested for about 90 minutes outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, at East 88th Street and East End Avenue in Upper Manhattan. They called for Mamdani’s removal from office following a series of policy moves that they said have hurt New Yorkers.

Jayne Zirkle, communications director of the organization, told amNewYork that the protestors rallied because they feel the city, under Mamdani, has tolerated demonstrations that they believe support the terror group Hamas while not doing enough to protect New Yorkers’ safety and religious freedoms.

“Tonight is about taking back New York City from the pro-Hamas mobs and from the targeted religious discrimination that we’ve seen welcomed in under this Mamdani regime, if you will,” Zirkle explained.

The demonstration attracted various political and interfaith groups, ranging from Catholics to Jews and Muslim groups, all united to push the mayor out of office. Chants of “Zohran Mamdani’s got to go” resonated throughout the rally. The NYPD had a heavy presence at the event.

“We have built this fantastic coalition of an interfaith alliance,” Zirkle said. “We have Muslims, we have Hindus, we have Catholics, we have social media personalities, Democrats, Republicans, represented here tonight.”

Protestors took the stage to highlight Mamdani’s policies and announcements that they feel have hurt the city. Zirkle zeroed in on the mayor’s refusal to attend the Israel Day Parade on May 31.

“Mamdani just announced a few days ago he will not be attending the Israel Day Parade, breaking tradition,” Zirkle said. “It’s a return to the same center. It’s a return to anti-radicalism. This is a city that only 25 years ago, 9/11 happened. And to see this Sharia supremacy being ushered in, and welcomed, it’s absolutely unacceptable.”

Sharia is the moral and ethical code of Islam. The city, however, is governed under the city charter, along with the state and U.S. Constitutions — all three of which Mamdani swore to uphold when he took office on Jan. 1.

Criticisms of Mamdani’s actions
Mamdani has come under fire not only for refusing to attend the Israel Day parade, but also for nullifying previous executive orders that former Mayor Eric Adams signed to adopt as city policy the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, and mandate that the NYPD set up buffer zones near houses of worship and educational facilities. Mamdani said he nullified those and other orders Adams signed after the former mayor’s indictment in September 2024.

When the City Council passed two protest buffer zone bills earlier this year, in April, the mayor announced he would not sign either into law. Instead, he allowed Intro. 1-B, setting up house of worship protest buffer zones, to automatically become law without his signature; and vetoed Intro. 175, which would have established buffer zones near educational facilities. He expressed concerns at the time that the bills would infringe upon First Amendment rights of protesters.



The Council said last week it would reintroduce an altered Intro. 175 in the coming weeks to address the mayor’s concerns.

While Mamdani continues to be a strong critic of the Israeli government and a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights, he has made moves throughout his first five months in office aimed at protecting Jewish New Yorkers, as the city continues to contend with antisemitic crimes throughout the boroughs.

For example, the Mamdani administration continued the Adams administration’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, which is tasked with identifying and developing efforts to combat antisemitism and anti-Jewish hate crimes, supporting victims of antisemitism, and celebrating Jewish culture and traditions. The City Council, however, has questioned the office’s activities since Mamdani took office.

The mayor has also publicly condemned acts of antisemitism, including a recent spree of antisemitic graffiti earlier this month that left homes and synagogues in Queens riddled with hateful messages and swastikas.


A counter-protest arrived to oppose the rally. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Meanwhile, other New Yorkers at the protest, which remained relatively peaceful as counterprotestors arrived, said the Mamdani administration is hurting non-Jews, too.

Anila Ali, president of the American Muslim and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council, attended the protest and said that “with Mamdani in office, we feel our religion has been hijacked again and is being used by these Islamists,” according to an article in Y Net Global.

Outspoken artist and right-wing activist from Staten Island, Scott LoBaido, attended the protest and addressed the crowds that flooded the local streets.

“Every single one of you, stop being afraid of being labeled. When we have the biggest fight of our lives here,” he said on the stage.

Some protestors had unsavory messages for the mayor, including one in a video posted on X who yelled into a microphone to say, “We tell Zohran Mamdani, you can go back to Uganda where you came from,” as the crowd cheered him on with chants of “Deport Mamdani! Deport Mamdani!”

amNewYork contacted the mayor’s office for comments on Tuesday’s protest, but officials declined to issue a statement.

https://www.amny.com/news/mamdani-protest-near-gracie-mansion/


People protest Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

Barbara Russo-Lennon
Barbara Russo-Lennon is the transit reporter at amNewYork. She covers news about NYC’s public transportation system, roads, waterways and other topics related to transit in the Big Apple.


Meme courtesy of Musicman.