New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, alongside several Jewish community leaders, has sharply criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, asserting that his rhetoric has fueled antisemitism and contributed to a climate that led to a recent double stabbing incident on the Upper West Side. The criticism was voiced at a rally held Sunday, in close proximity to where the attacks occurred.
The alleged assailant, Raul Morales, reportedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" while stabbing a 50-year-old Jewish man, Moshe Yezhak Grunhaus, outside a synagogue on Amsterdam Avenue and West 86th Street. Morales also reportedly stabbed Chok Sung, a 57-year-old Asian man, in a separate incident nearby on the same day.
Blakeman, who is Jewish and serves as the Nassau County executive, stated at the “United Against Hate” rally that Mamdani’s “antisemitic rhetoric has fueled all of the antisemitism and the violence we now see in the city.” He linked the attacks directly to the mayor's public statements, particularly Mamdani's consideration of whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested as a war criminal during the upcoming UN General Assembly in September, and his subsequent encouragement of protests against Netanyahu.
"An Asian man and a Jewish man were stabbed in broad daylight just blocks apart in Manhattan while their attacker allegedly shouted ‘Allahu Akbar,'" Blakeman said. "Let’s stop beating around the bush: this is what happens when the sitting Mayor of New York City actively demonizes Jewish residents and normalizes antisemitism while Kathy Hochul’s disaster of a bail law ensures that hate-mongers walk free."
Protesters at the Sunday rally chanted slogans such as “Remove Mamdani” and “Arrest Mamdani,” with one poster depicting the mayor with blood on his hands.
Linda Lichtbraun, a community leader with the Zionist group HERUT New York City, echoed these sentiments, stating, “Jews are under attack. We are a minority in this city, and we are the number one group that’s being targeted, and he’s [Mamdani] inflaming the situation.” Lichtbraun also pointed to Mamdani's decision to rescind an executive order from former Mayor Eric Adams that had adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, calling for Mamdani's removal from office.
Moshe Spern, president of the United Jewish Teachers, added that Mamdani’s comments about Netanyahu helped create a “climate of hate that led to a Jewish man and an Asian man being stabbed.” Spern noted that Mamdani had previously referred to an American-Israeli lobby group as “monsters,” emphasizing that “Words from the mayor’s office have consequences.”
In response to the incidents and the climate described by the speakers, Blakeman proposed stricter criminal sentencing for hate crimes. He advocated for mandatory consecutive sentences for individuals convicted of multiple hate crime charges, stating, “If you go on a bias-motivated attack spree, your sentences will run back-to-back. No package deals, no concurrent sentences, no slaps on the wrist.” Blakeman also suggested a new felony charge for “Aggravated Patterns of Bias,” which would classify rapid-fire sprees targeting multiple individuals or institutions as domestic terrorism with mandatory minimum sentences.
Other Republican figures, including Saritha Komatireddy, the GOP candidate for state attorney general, and Brooklyn Assemblyman Michael Novakhov, were present at the rally.