Speaking before hundreds of yeshiva leaders at the Agudath Israel Yeshiva Summit in Staten Island, Comptroller Mark Levine delivered an unequivocal condemnation regarding the most recent wave of antisemitic demonstrations targeting Jewish neighborhoods and institutions across the city.

Referring to recent protests outside synagogues and within heavily Jewish residential communities on the Upper East Side, in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, and most recently in Midwood, Levine warned that the situation has crossed far beyond the bounds of legitimate political protest.

“What we’ve seen now outside of synagogues and Jewish institutions … is really, really unacceptable,” Levine said during his keynote address. “I support the right to free speech and peaceable assembly and protest with all my heart. This is a bedrock value of America and New York City, and it always will be. But what we’re seeing … crosses the line.”

Levine described the demonstrations as “open bigotry,” “threats and harassment,” and “celebration of terrorist organizations,” stressing that Jewish families were being targeted simply because they were Jewish.

“In the case of Midwood,” he said, “people went through the entire community, through the homes of Jewish families who did nothing other than be Jewish families living in the neighborhood.”

He further noted that the Midwood protests resulted in arrests and acts of violence, calling the events “over the line.”

“This is not policy disagreement anymore,” Levine declared. “This is intimidation. And we are not going to accept it.”

The remarks drew strong reaction from attendees, many of whom have expressed growing alarm not only over the increasingly aggressive demonstrations outside synagogues, Jewish schools, community centers, and residential neighborhoods, but also over the near silence from much of the political establishment as these incidents continue to escalate.

Levine’s comments reflected a growing recognition that what is unfolding in many of these incidents is not ordinary protest activity, but the deliberate targeting and intimidation of visibly Jewish communities.

“We cannot normalize this,” Levine said. “And we cannot allow it to become acceptable in New York City.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)