Scott Jennings welcomed Rabbi Yosie Levine, Rav of The Jewish Center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, to his Salem News show to examine the sharp rise in antisemitic attacks across New York City.

Jews make up roughly 10% of the city’s population yet accounted for 55-60% of confirmed hate crimes in early 2026. The discussion centers on the July 23 double stabbing on the Upper West Side, in which Moshe Grunhaus, a frum “kippah-wearing man” walking home from Shul on Tisha B’Av, was attacked near by a terrorist who shouted “Allahu Akbar.” Rabbi Levine describes visiting the victim in the hospital and the community’s disbelief that a Jew can no longer safely walk home from Shul in broad daylight in that neighborhood.

He also recounts a recent meeting about renovating the Shul façade, where the congregation had to choose between bulletproof glass rated for handguns or for semiautomatic weapons—an experience he calls “bonkers.” Levine contrasts this new reality with his childhood, when police presence at shuls or day schools was typically reserved for protecting visiting officials rather than the community itself.

Jennings and Levine link the climate of fear to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s public rhetoric, including labeling AIPAC “monsters” and accusing Prime Minister Netanyahu of genocide. They argue that framing the Jewish community as a proxy for Israeli government actions helps turn ordinary Jews into targets. The conversation underscores the emotional toll on the community, the solidarity among rabbis and leaders, gratitude for the NYPD’s rapid response in the stabbing case, and the sense that something is “profoundly wrong”—not only for Jews but for the city as a whole.

Rabbi Yosie Levine joins Scott to discuss the alarming surge in antisemitic attacks across NYC and how MAMDANI is putting Jewish citizens in danger with his rhetoric. pic.twitter.com/WxvRXoeOLY

— Scott Jennings Show (@JenningsShow) July 27, 2026