New York City Mayor Eric Adams offered praise and sympathy for Zohran Mamdani — the far-left state assemblyman known for his inflammatory anti-Israel rhetoric — while appearing to distance himself from the mainstream Democratic line on Israel and downplaying the severity of antisemitic rhetoric within his rival’s campaign.

Appearing on a podcast, Adams was asked which of his political rivals — Mamdani, former governor Andrew Cuomo, or Republican Curtis Sliwa — he would rather be stuck in an elevator with.

“Probably Mamdani,” Adams said, revealing they had already shared a dinner together with Mamdani’s father. “We had a great conversation,” Adams said. “You could disagree without being disagreeable… I think his policies are hurtful… but I’m not saying that I dislike a person.”

Mamdani, who recently secured the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor, has repeatedly referred to Israel as an apartheid state, accused it of “genocide,” and claimed the IDF “massacred babies in Rafah.” He has openly said that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited New York City, he should be arrested.

Despite these incendiary and widely condemned statements, Adams chose to frame Mamdani as a fundamentally decent figure whose ideology is merely flawed. At no point in the interview did Adams directly condemn Mamdani’s demonization of Israel or acknowledge the impact such rhetoric has had on Jewish New Yorkers.

While sidestepping the issue of antisemitism within Mamdani’s platform, Adams instead pivoted to condemning anti-Muslim hate, citing his past advocacy for Muslim victims of bias attacks and recalling his defense of detained Muslims in the wake of 9/11.

“There are people in New York who have hate in their heart,” he said, implying that Mamdani’s critics may themselves be guilty of bigotry. “When someone put out a flyer saying ‘Kill a Muslim Day,’ I walked the street with my Muslim brothers and sisters.”

The mayor made no mention of the violent antisemitism on display during recent anti-Israel protests in the city, nor did he address the fears expressed by the city’s Jewish community over Mamdani’s rising influence.

While Adams did denounce antisemitic harassment at New York college campuses, including incidents of Jewish students being spit on and surrounded, he claimed his hands were tied.

“The NYPD can’t intervene unless private universities invite them,” he said, suggesting his administration’s role was limited. “If you want to protest, protest peacefully. You don’t target students based on their ethnicity.”

Still, critics noted that Adams appeared more outraged at the procedural restrictions on law enforcement than at the hate crimes themselves — and that his lack of urgency in confronting campus antisemitism has left many Jewish families feeling abandoned.

Perhaps most controversially, Adams declared: “I’m probably the only mayor that has visited Palestine.” The U.S. government does not recognize Palestine as a state, and Adams’s statement could be interpreted as a tacit endorsement of Palestinian statehood — in direct contradiction to current U.S. policy and at a time of increasing global tension around the issue.

Adams’s remarks reflect a broader pattern within progressive Democratic politics: condemnation of Islamophobia is swift and unequivocal, while antisemitism — even when it’s as overt as Mamdani’s — is often deflected, minimized, or ignored.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)