It's still more than a month until Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor, but already he's made some moves in the transition that have some people worried. Last week a mob of activists held a protest outside a synagogue in Manhattan. Mamdani may not be the mayor but people wanted to know how he would react, especially given that this particular mob seemed like his people.
A rowdy protest descended last Wednesday on Park East Synagogue, one of New York’s most prominent Modern Orthodox congregations, which had rented space to an organization that helps Jews move to Israel as well as to settlements in the occupied West Bank. Chants of “death to the I.D.F.” and “globalize the intifada” rang through the air.
Mr. Mamdani, the mayor-elect, responded the next day, saying through a spokeswoman that he “discouraged the language” used at the protest and that New Yorkers must be “free to enter a house of worship without intimidation.”
But it was what he said next that alarmed some Jewish leaders: He chastised the synagogue, saying through his spokeswoman that “these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law.”
This seems to be a tic from his loudmouth activist days. But with only a month to go, it's probably time to lay off the references to international law and start concerning yourself with US and New York law. Mamdani was elected mayor, not president. Someone must have talked to him because yesterday he issued a second statement minus the commentary on international law.
“We will protect New Yorkers’ First Amendment rights while making clear that nothing can justify language calling for ‘death to’ anyone,” Mr. Mamdani said in a statement to The New York Times. “It is unacceptable, full stop.”
In any case, his first answer left some Jewish leaders less than impressed.
A synagogue is where Jews learn, pray, and strengthen Jewish life. Teaching about aliyah and Zionism belongs in that space. It reflects who we are as a people.
— William Daroff (@Daroff) November 23, 2025
Mayor-Elect Mamdani’s claim that Park East “misused” a sacred space by hosting an aliyah program crosses a clear line.… https://t.co/L3I9HbH4Km
Since then, Mamdani has spoken by phone with the rabbi of this synagogue, Arthur Schneier, who recommended a law preventing protests outside synagogues. We'll have to wait and see where that goes.
Meanwhile, Mamdani is also gearing up his transition team. He seems to be trying to reassure his DSA buddies that he's still part of the team.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Monday the creation of 17 transition advisory committees made up of more than 400 people to help advise his incoming administration on policy and appointments, and to help him chart a new course for city government...
The Mamdani team will have the expected committees on transportation and public safety, for example, but he will also have two committees that have not been part of other mayoral transitions, including one on worker justice and another on community organizing...
"If you are a card-carrying member of the DSA, you're concerned today that maybe the guy that rose to the mayor's position with your support is turning on you. So it's important that he says to them, I'm still one of you, I got your back," [Prof.] Polanco said.
One of Mamdani's picks for his Community Safety Committee ought to also be raising some concerns with the NYPD.
Alex Vitale, a Brooklyn College sociology professor, was among those tapped on Monday to help staff Mamdani’s committee on community safety amid the mayoral turnover...
The liberal professor is behind a 2017 anti-cop book — titled “The End of Policing” — that decries “broken windows” and other proactive policies...
Vitale has long argued against the broken-windows policing — claiming the NYPD has disproportionately and unjustifiably targeted minority communities in the past.
Vitale goes beyond criticizing broken-windows policing. He sees police as "class enemies."
🚨 Mamdani’s Transition Team Now Includes a Professor Who Calls Police “Class Enemies.”
— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) November 25, 2025
Professor Alex Vitale explained on a DSA call that cops are “the natural enemy of the working class” and that individual officers do not matter because the structure itself neutralizes their… pic.twitter.com/ADMahXmdRE
He's still advocating for and end to policing, which he calls "violence work." He recommends an alternative called "pod mapping" which is even dumber than it sounds.
🚨 “Kill the Cop in Our Head”: Mamdani Transition Pick Rejects Reform, Calls Policing “Violence Work,” and Advocates for "Pod Mapping"
— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) November 25, 2025
Zohran Mamdani just appointed Professor Alex Vitale to his community safety transition team.
Vitale says it plainly, “Policing is about… pic.twitter.com/jvwgh3CUt6
If you want to read all about pod mapping, you can do that here by reading the source document. The basic idea is that instead of police to deal with violence, rape, etc. you'd sketch out a network of friends and trusted individuals to handle those crimes instead. I encourage you to read it because the paper itself really suggests the idea can't possibly work as most people don't have a network large enough to do much of anything. Of course this is all blamed on capitalism which gives you an idea where this whole thing is coming from.
Most people have few solid, dependable relationships in their lives. Much of this is from the breaking of relationships, isolation, fear and criminalization that capitalism requires. We found that for many people, mapping their pod was a sobering process, as many thought their pod would be larger than it actually was.
The best part of the dumb paper is the fact that the author refers to these social justice collectives as "pod people" which seems like a dead accurate way to describe the fringe whackos who are taking this seriously.
Honestly, the idea that this 6-page paper (and one full page is a picture) could replace traditional policing in a city of 8 million is so absurd that any person suggesting it should be mocked and ridiculed in public.
The fact that Mamdani selected Prof. Vitale to be a leader on the city's community safety commission (along with Louis Farrakhan fan Tamika Mallory) ought to worry all of the people who live in NYC. Your safety is not being taken seriously.
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