Mamdani attends Hanukkah events but does not attend public menorah lightings
NEW YORK – New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani made several appearances at Jewish events during the Hanukkah holiday but did not participate in public menorah lightings.
The holiday was stressful for Mamdani because of the terrorist attacks at a Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia, and he risked pushback at public events.
After the massacre, some Jewish community advocates criticized Mamdani’s previous support of the phrase “globalization of the Intifada” as supporting threats against Jews. Mamdani has repeatedly said he would “discourage” the slogan without condemning the phrase.
Mamdani unequivocally condemned the Sydney shooting, calling it a “vile act of anti-Semitic terror.”
After the massacre, Mamdani quietly visited the resting place of the late leader of the Chabad Hasidic movement, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. The shooting in Australia targeted a Chabad event, killing members of the movement.
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Chabad hosts public menorah lightings at outdoor areas throughout the city.
On Saturday, Mamdani released a video showing him at a Hanukkah celebration at the home of actress Mandy Patinkin, a left-wing Israel critic who supported Mamdani’s mayoral campaign.
Mandy Patinkin attends the FYC “Homeland” event at the Writers Guild Theater on June 5, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
The video showed Mamdani and Patinkin making latkes, lighting a menorah and reciting Hanukkah prayers.
“As Jewish New Yorkers across our city prepare to light candles and mark the seventh evening today, I wish you and your families a Hanukkah full of light and love,” Mamdani said in a statement.
He has not shared any other posts about attending Hanukkah events.
It was a great joy to celebrate Hanukkah with Mandy, Kathryn and their son Gideon. As Jewish New Yorkers across our city prepare to light candles and mark the seventh evening today, I wish you and your families a Hanukkah full of light and love. pic.twitter.com/GOxL8Jl5wf
— December 20, 2025
On Thursday, Mamdani attended a private menorah lighting hosted by the progressive advocacy group New York Jewish Agenda for its supporters, the community and elected partners.
Phylisa Wisdom, the director of the New York Jewish Agenda, said Mamdani was invited to the event and was one of about 10 elected officials in attendance.
He spoke for about two minutes about the importance of making Jewish New Yorkers feel safe and valued in the city and condemned the terrorist attack in Sydney, Wisdom said.
Last week, a senior Mamdani appointee, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, resigned a day after her appointment when anti-Semitic comments she made over a decade ago surfaced on social media.
Mamdani accepted her resignation and said his team would update its review process. He claimed he knew nothing about the posts and would not have hired Da Costa if he had known about them.
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