Hundreds rally in New York City to condemn Mamdani after stabbing attacks

ByALEX CARSONJULY 27, 2026 18:39Updated: JULY 27, 2026 19:22Hundreds of demonstrators and community leaders converged on New York City’s Upper West Side on Sunday for a “United Against Hate” rally organized by the #EndJewHatred movement. The protest targeted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, holding city leadership accountable for rising crime and accusing the administration of fostering a dangerous climate for minority communities.The demonstration was organized in the wake of two violent stabbing attacks that occurred days earlier on Thursday afternoon on the Upper West Side. The suspect, identified by police as 51-year-old Raul Morales, allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” while targeting two separate victims blocks apart: 50-year-old Moshe Yezhak Grunhaus, a Jewish man stabbed outside his synagogue near Amsterdam Avenue and West 86th Street, and Chok Sung, a 57-year-old Asian man stabbed near West 84th Street and Central Park West.Later that day, Morales was arrested and charged with attempted murder and assault as hate crimes after being found barricaded inside a nearby NYC Housing Authority building.The demonstration organizers and speakers argued that the violence was the direct result of mainstreamed rhetoric targeting Israel and Jewish residents.This friction was compounded by recent controversy surrounding Mamdani’s announcement that his administration had reviewed avenues to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on behalf of the International Criminal Court should he visit New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September, a move that ultimately concluded he could not legally arrest the prime minister, though he urged activists to protest him.People attend a rally organised by ''End Jew Hatred'' in opposition to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York City, US, July 26, 2026. (credit: Reuters/Adam Gray)Speakers and attendees at the rally denounced the mayor and local policies, claiming that public safety has eroded under soft-on-crime legislation and inflammatory political discourse. Protesters carried signs and chanted slogans, demanding accountability and structural changes.'Remove Mamdani, Arrest Mamdani'Demonstrators chanted, “Remove Mamdani,” “Arrest Mamdani,” and “Zohran, Zohran, you can hide. We charge you with hate and crime.” Posters featuring an image of the mayor with blood on his hands were displayed at the event.#EndJewHatred also noted that over 300 family members of 9/11 victims and more than 12,000 signatories have signed a petition urging Mamdani not to attend the 25th anniversary memorial at Ground Zero due to his rhetoric regarding Islamist extremism.#EndJewHatred Director Michelle Ahdoot addressed the crowd, stating, “We’re here because Mayor Mamdani has blood on his hands,” and adding that his obsessive focus against Western ideology and Israel is inciting violence.Assembly Member Michael Novakhov announced at the rally that he is formally calling on the US Department of Justice to open a civil rights investigation into New York City, New York State, and Mamdani, declaring that Jewish New Yorkers should not have to hide their identities.Moshe Spern, a history teacher with the United Jewish Teachers advocacy group, remarked that hatred never stops with its first target, arguing that rhetoric framing Israeli leaders as “war criminals” helped create the climate that led to the Upper West Side stabbings.'Mamdani is throwing gasoline on the fire' said Rabbi WeissRabbi Avi Weiss told the crowd, “A mayor of the city of New York is supposed to bring our communities together. You, Mamdani, are throwing gasoline on the fire, pitting one community against the other after that vile video. You’ve placed a target on the back of each and every one of us, including that attack on the west side.”Another protester, when asked why she was there, told Newsmax, “I feel like we have to stand up for the United States of America, and I don’t want it to get so far gone that we’re like, ‘Why was I silent?’ We can’t be silent. This man is a danger. He is a charismatic man, we got to give him that, and he’s appealing to people that are not naturally born Americans, people that don’t really have a connection to this country. I think Jewish people are part of the fabric of our country. I’m Catholic, and I believe that our country is first and foremost in everything we do.”Across the street from the main demonstration, a smaller contingent of anti-Zionist Orthodox Jewish members, associated with groups like Neturei Karta, held a counter-protest, defending the mayor. Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, of Jews United Against Zionism, told CBS News New York in a live interview at the rally that “They’re against Jews because of what the Zionists are doing, and they think that the Jews are responsible. He is doing a job to clarify that it’s not Judaism. He is doing the Jews a favor.”Tensions boiled as protesters and counter-protesters clashed verbally and competed for space while police officers attempted to manage the crowds and keep the sidewalks clear. Amidst the shouting matches, police officers stood physically between the opposing factions to maintain order.After being asked to respond by CBS reporter Ali Bowman to the backlash on Sunday during the Dominican Parade in the Bronx, Mamdani stated, “There’s no tolerance for antisemitism in this city. We have to root out antisemitism from across the five boroughs, and that’s because this is a city that has no room for hate or bigotry of any kind. And when we make criticisms of a nation-state or policies, we have to remember that those are criticisms of exactly that, never of a people, never of a faith.”Follow us on Google