Nassau County Executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman sharply criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a rally against antisemitism in Queens on Sunday attended by roughly 150 people.

Speaking to The New York Post at the event in Forest Hills, Blakeman accused Mamdani of making antisemitism a divisive political issue in the city.

“One of his first acts as mayor was to change the definition of antisemitism. We don’t have enough problems in the city? That was the first thing he had to do?” Blakeman said, referencing controversy surrounding the mayor’s handling of antisemitic tensions, including protests outside Park East Synagogue last week.

Blakeman then launched a broader attack on the mayor.

“He’s got a dark heart. He’s un-American and he’s antisemetic. And he’s got to change or otherwise this city will rise up against him because this is a city of good people,” the Nassau County executive said.

“This is a city of every race, religion, ethnic group. People of all abilities and lifestyles. And they should all be living together in peace and harmony. And not have a mayor that divides us.”

The rally, held at Yellowstone Park in Forest Hills, was organized in response to what organizers described as a “staggering” rise in antisemitic hate crimes in Queens.

Comedian Zach Sage-Fox, another speaker at the event, also criticized Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, over social media activity that resurfaced earlier this year, including posts allegedly supporting Hamas following the October 7 massacre in Israel.

“I’d rather him be honest. At least his wife doesn’t play both sides. At least she says who she is. Her silence is complicity and at least we know what we’re dealing with,” Sage-Fox said.

“But no, the two-faced stuff, it’s BS and we’re not going to stand for it. We’re not going to stand for it,” he continued.

“We have a person running this city who takes no accountability for the rise of antisemitism that he helped create over his political career. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth — he’s playing both sides of the coin.”