New York Magazine's recent "Habibi City" cover has ignited a debate, with critics arguing the label signifies a growing anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment in the city, potentially making life intolerable for its Jewish population. The magazine's cover package, which highlights the rising prominence of Middle Eastern and Muslim immigrants, has been interpreted by some as an endorsement of views that are hostile to Israel and Jewish people.
This naming echoes a 1966 declaration by then-Mayor John Lindsay, who branded New York "Fun City." Critics of Lindsay's tenure point to civil unrest and fiscal decline during his terms, suggesting a similar pattern could emerge in a "Habibi City" if the current trajectory continues.
The magazine's lead piece by Zaina Arafat describes the reactions of "Habibis" in New York following the Oct. 7 events of 2023. Arafat writes about protests and boycotts, stating that "In the months after Oct. 7, New York’s Habibis were 'increasingly spilling into view, desperate to be close' to 'people who looked like you and spoke like you . . . living under the threat of annihilation.'" The author of the critical piece questions this framing, asking who was actually under threat of annihilation.
Events following Oct. 7, including campus celebrations and protests in New York, have been cited as evidence of this shift. Disruptions, such as a protest on the Brooklyn Bridge on Oct. 28, have been described as attempts to leverage the Oct. 7 attacks for political gain in the U.S. The New York Magazine package itself is characterized as being written from a perspective that views Hamas favorably and characterizes Israel and its supporters as perpetrators of genocide.
Concerns have been raised about the rhetoric used, which some interpret as blurring the lines between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Specific criticisms include calls to boycott Jewish-owned businesses and accusations of cultural appropriation regarding food recipes. The framing of Israel as "the land mass currently called Israel" is seen by critics not as a call for a two-state solution or coexistence, but as an implicit endorsement of its eradication.
Those holding these views are described as forming a cultural and political vanguard in New York, seeking to influence policy to weaken law enforcement institutions that protect Jewish residents and to target Jewish businesses. The article notes the presence of "radical rabbis" who have reportedly sought to moderate Mayor Zohran Mamdani's rhetoric regarding Jews, suggesting they act as ideological shields against accusations of antisemitism.
The article also points to a lack of official city maps acknowledging predominantly Jewish areas like Borough Park in Brooklyn, while these same neighborhoods are noted in documents related to hate crimes. Statistics cited indicate a 74% increase in hate crimes over the past year, with anti-Jewish hate crimes accounting for the entirety of this growth, a 60% rise. This trend, according to critics, suggests a city that could shift from "Fun City" to "Habibi City" and potentially to "Pogrom City."