Zohran Mamdani has dismissed the director of New York Citys Mayors Office to Combat Antisemitism (MOCA) and installed a progressive activist widely applauded by anti-Israel and left-wing groups, even as antisemitic hate crimes surge across the city and early moves by the new administration unsettle many Jewish residents.
According to The Post Millennial, Mamdani has appointed Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of the New York Jewish Agenda, to lead MOCA. Her organization is firmly aligned with the progressive wing of American Jewish politics, and Wisdom herself has drawn fire from Chassidic leaders for her repeated attacks on traditional Jewish schools, arguing that they fail to provide sufficient secular educationcriticisms that many in those communities view as thinly veiled hostility toward their way of life.
The appointment was immediately embraced by the citys progressive Jewish establishment, Democratic officeholders, and anti-Israel advocacy groups that have long sought to redefine what constitutes acceptable Jewish leadership in public life. Jonathan Kopp, chair of the New York City chapter of J Street, hailed Wisdom as a smart, strategic and effective leader in New York Citys Jewish communal life and a great pick for this important position at this critical moment.
Left-wing Jewish advocacy group Bend the Arc: Jewish Action likewise praised the move, calling Wisdom a perfect choice. Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller now running for Congress and a frequent critic of Israel, echoed that sentiment, declaring that Wisdom is the perfect person for the job.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), one of the most senior Democrats in the House and a reliable ally of the partys progressive base, said he was thrilled by Mamdanis decision. David Greenfield, a former New York City councilman who now serves as chief executive of the Met Council, framed the pick in explicitly political terms, stating that Phylisa is a strong choice to solidify Zohrans existing left-wing Jewish supporters.
Yet the reaction in more traditional and Orthodox circles has been sharply negative, underscoring a widening rift between progressive Jewish institutions and the communities that bear the brunt of street-level antisemitic violence. According to the Jewish News Syndicate, Yaakov Kaplan, vice-chair of Brooklyn Community Board 12, condemned the move in stark terms, saying, Picking Phylisa Wisdom to run an office tasked with combating antisemitism is probably the biggest gaslighting Mamdani has done so far.
Kaplan pointed to the disproportionate targeting of visibly Orthodox Jews in hate crimes as evidence that the new appointment is dangerously out of touch with reality on the ground. Ninety percent of all antisemitic attacks were against Orthodox Jews. Picking someone for this office that Orthodox Jews see as an adversary is mind-boggling, he said.
The personnel change follows a series of early policy reversals by Mamdani that have alarmed many who believe the city should be taking a firmer, not softer, line against antisemitism. As one of his first official acts, Mamdani rescinded two executive orders signed by former Mayor Eric Adamsone adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism for city agencies, and another barring city employees from participating in the antisemitic boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
Mamdani has previously voiced support for the BDS movement, aligning himself with a global campaign that targets the worlds only Jewish state and is widely regarded by conservatives and many mainstream Jewish organizations as discriminatory and extremist. By dismantling the citys formal opposition to BDS and walking back the IHRA definition, the new mayor has signaled a clear ideological shift that critics say will weaken institutional defenses against antisemitism masquerading as anti-Zionism.
The outgoing MOCA director, Moshe Davis, used his farewell statement to draw a sharp contrast between his approach and what he fears may become a purely symbolic office under new leadership. Protecting Jewish New Yorkers has been my absolute priority, Davis said, emphasizing that he was proud of what the Mayors Office to Combat Antisemitism built: real policy, interagency coordination, and tools designed to outlast headlines. Antisemitism cannot be addressed with slick videos or empty remarks. It requires policy, budgets, enforcement, and sustained follow-through.
Davis stressed that antisemitism must be treated as a core public-safety and civil-rights obligation, not a talking point for ideological battles. Jewish New Yorkers, he noted, continue to make up the majority of reported hate-crime victims, warning, When children are making death threats against Jewish classmates, something is deeply wrongand government must act with urgency.
He credited the prior administrations strategy with creating an interagency task force, bolstering security for houses of worship, pushing back against BDS, and driving concrete action across city agencies. In 2025, Davis said, the city issued its first comprehensive municipal report on combating antisemitism, complete with a 2026 blueprint intended to guide long-term policy.
While extending formal good wishes to his successor, Davis made clear that he doubts whether the office can function effectively without continuity, experience, and broad communal trust. The Mayors Office to Combat Antisemitism was built to be operational, not symbolic, he said, adding that It requires government experience, strong agency relationships, and trust across the Jewish community to function effectively from day one. Without those foundations, there is a real risk the office will struggle to deliver when Jewish New Yorkers need it most.
Davis underscored that he intends to hold the new leadership accountable to measurable outcomes rather than rhetoric. I will be watching closely to ensure MOCA remains true to its mandate and delivers measurable results, he added.
The stakes are high: the leadership overhaul comes as antisemitic hate crimes are spiking to levels that should concern any serious policymaker, regardless of party or ideology. Newly released New York Police Department data show that antisemitic hate crimes jumped 182 percent over the past year and constituted the overwhelming majority of all hate crimes, which themselves rose 152 percent between January 2025 and January 2026.
Several disturbing incidents have already marked Mamdanis short tenure, underscoring the urgency of the threat. On Monday, Feb. 2, a 17-year-old student at Renaissance Charter School in Jackson Heights, Queens, allegedly sent an email threatening to kill Jewish people, while last week a New Jersey man repeatedly rammed his car into the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
In January, at least 57 swastikas were scrawled across a playground in Borough Park, Brooklyn, a heavily Orthodox neighborhood that has long been a target of antisemitic vandalism and harassment. Against this backdrop, Davis issued a final warning that cuts through the political spin, stating, This office will be judged by whether it delivers when Jewish New Yorkers need it most.
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