A New York City Council hearing slated for next Wednesday marks the formal start of Council Speaker Julie Menin’s push for a law that would allow police to restrict protests outside of city synagogues and other houses of worship.
The question of how the city should respond to synagogue protests promises to be the first major Mamdani-era legislative showdown over questions of Israel, antisemitism, and Jewish safety—the same issues that inflamed the mayoral election last fall. It’s an early test of the respective influence in Menin’s Council of the city’s ascendant Jewish left, which generally opposes the bill, and the centrist and right-wing Jewish groups, which support it.
Menin’s proposal directs the New York Police Department to implement a plan to address “interference” or “intimidation” outside religious sites, and would allow law enforcement to establish barriers up to 100 feet from a house of worship. It comes after two recent demonstrations outside city synagogues: one at a synagogue hosting an event promoting property sales in Israel and a West Bank settlement, the other at a synagogue hosting a group that supports immigration to Israel and the West Bank. Protesters outside one event chanted, “We support Hamas here,” which city and state officials described as antisemitic…