New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed Phylisa Wisdom, the former executive director of the New York Jewish Agenda, to lead the city’s Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism. The appointment, announced Wednesday, places Wisdom at the center of one of the mayor’s most sensitive and polarizing policy areas, as City Hall faces mounting pressure over rising antisemitic incidents and strained relations with major Jewish organizations.

Wisdom, 39, takes over amid heightened tensions between the administration and large segments of the city’s Jewish community. On his first day in office, Mamdani rescinded New York’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which classifies certain forms of anti-Zionism as antisemitic.

Wisdom has publicly supported that decision, arguing that the IHRA framework can be used to suppress legitimate criticism of Israeli government policy.

Critics say her appointment signals that the mayor intends to narrow the city’s approach to antisemitism, emphasizing progressive political priorities while sidelining concerns held by many mainstream and Orthodox Jewish groups.

As head of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, Wisdom will be responsible for coordinating policy, community outreach and interagency responses at a time when Jewish leaders say threats and harassment are at historic highs.

Her background, however, has made her a controversial figure among some of those constituencies.

During her tenure at New York Jewish Agenda, Wisdom frequently framed the city’s Jewish electorate as divided between a “liberal Jewish majority” and more conservative and Orthodox voting blocs. She also played a leading role in a 2023 statement by Jewish officials calling for a bilateral ceasefire in Gaza, positioning the organization firmly within progressive foreign policy debates.

Supporters argue that her record reflects a commitment to pluralism and civil liberties. Opponents, however, see her appointment as part of a broader ideological shift under Mamdani that prioritizes left-wing political alliances over broad-based communal consensus.

Wisdom succeeds Moshe Davis, an appointee from the Adams administration who was widely praised for his outreach to religious, secular, Sephardic, Litvish and Chasidic communities.

Under Davis, the office focused heavily on relationship-building and coordination with law enforcement and community institutions. Several Jewish leaders credited him with reducing political friction around antisemitism policy.

Some worry that approach may now change.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)