Conference of Presidents notes ‘grim milestone’ in election of Mamdani as NYC mayor
(JNS) — The election of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist with a history of anti-Israel rhetoric, as mayor of New York City “marks a grim milestone,” the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations stated on Wednesday.
“The city with the United States’ largest Jewish population will now be led by a man whose record and rhetoric reflect hostility toward Israel and the Jewish people,” wrote William Daroff and Betsy Berns Korn, CEO and chair, respectively, of the Conference of Presidents.
“Zohran Mamdani’s elevation to Gracie Mansion reminds us that antisemitism remains a clear and present danger, even in the places where American Jews have long felt most secure,” read the statement. “There can be no compromise with an ideology that demonizes or ostracizes Jews and Israelis.”
The statement added that the organization will “remain unwavering” in its commitment to the Jewish community, demanding “moral clarity and decisive action from every level of government.”
“Our response to this ominous moment will be to strengthen activism, advocacy and coordination across New York’s Jewish communities, ensuring that every institution and family feels supported and protected,” it stated.
Jewish fire commissioner of NYC resigns day after Mamdani win
(JNS) — Robert Tucker, who is Jewish, submitted his resignation as New York City fire commissioner “first thing” on Wednesday morning, hours after Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of the city, the New York Post reported.
Sources told the paper that Tucker will step down on Dec. 19 and will go back to running a private security firm that he led prior to joining the Fire Department.
Tucker was sworn in on his personal Hebrew Bible from his bar mitzvah as the 35th commissioner of the New York City Fire Department in August.
“News of Tucker’s resignation came just as the FDNY boss was set to fly to Israel later Wednesday to meet with a fire commissioner in the Jewish state,” the Post reported.
In a first, a ballot initiative to divest from Israel has won at the ballot box, in Somerville, Mass.
(JTA) — A municipal ballot proposal to divest from Israel went before a popular vote for the first time on Nov. 4 — and pulled off a decisive victory.
Question 3 won more than 55% of the vote in unofficial election results in the Boston suburb of Somerville, Massachusetts, as the Israel-divestment movement saw the elevation of its most well-known proponent in politics — Zohran Mamdani — to mayor of New York City.
Local pro-Palestinian activists claimed victory, with Somerville for Palestine — the group that gathered the signatures required to put the non-binding resolution on the ballot — posting a celebratory social media video alongside the Boston chapter of anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace.
However, as they were celebrating, the mayoral candidate best poised to enact the proposal in Somerville conceded his race to a rival who signaled he was far less likely to do so. Willie Burnley Jr., a democratic socialist who had endorsed Question 3, lost to fellow at-large city council member Jake Wilson, who did not.
A handful of other American cities have previously adopted Israel divestment proposals brought by their city councils. One of those is Portland, Maine, whose mayor publicly regretted backing divestment after hearing from local Jewish groups.
Rhode Island admin on leave as school district probes handling of alleged Jew-hatred
(JNS) — The superintendent of schools in Smithfield, R.I., is on paid leave amid an ongoing investigation of how an alleged antisemitic incident was handled.
The alleged incident involved five football players at Smithfield High School locking a Jewish freshman in a bathroom and spraying Lysol through a door grate while shouting antisemitic slurs, the Boston Globe reported.
The players involved were initially booted from the team for the rest of the year, but were reinstated after the superintendent, Dawn Bartz, backtracked, per the Globe.
According to local reporting, a lawyer representing the football players involved in the alleged incident claims it was not antisemitic.
The Smithfield School Committee voted on Monday to have the firm of Brennan Scungio and Kresge investigate the matter. Bartz is “on voluntary paid leave until further notice,” Robert Selzer, the town manager, told JNS.
The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island stated that it is a “significant step” that Bartz is on leave and that the alliance believes investigators will “take all necessary action to resolve this matter appropriately.”
Arizona man sentenced to 4 years in prison for antisemitic threats to Jewish NYC hotel owner
(JTA) — An Arizona man who sent hundreds of threatening messages to a Jewish-owned hotel in New York City was sentenced to 49 months in prison on Thursday in federal court.
Donovan Hall, 35, of Mesa, Arizona, pleaded guilty to making interstate threats and interstate stalking of the Jewish owners of the Historic Blue Moon Hotel in Manhattan. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
The Blue Moon Hotel is “dedicated to Jewish community in every way that we can be,” Randy Settenbrino said in an interview last year from his hotel, which includes rooms named for icons of the Jewish Lower East Side, a kosher cafe and a mural depicting 2,000 years of Jewish history.
At the time, Settenbrino and his employees had just begun to get what prosecutors said were nearly 1,000 threatening messages from Hall. Sent between August and November 2024, the messages threatened to “torture, mutilate, rape, and murder them and their families,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
In October, Hall texted photographs of two firearms and a machete to one of his victims, writing, “I’ve got something for you and your inbred children” and “for the Zionist cowards,” according to his federal indictment.
“Donovan Hall targeted Jewish victims with a sustained campaign of intimidation, terror, and harassment,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in a statement.
