New York police are braced to protect Jews and synagogues during Rosh Hashanah this weekend, which coincides with the 25-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the Twin Towers.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters at a Wednesday press conference that there are currently no “specific credible threats directed at High Holiday celebrations” in the city.

“But we remain vigilant,” she said.

“Your safety during these sacred days is of the utmost importance to our administration,” said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who appeared alongside Tisch. 

“And we will work tirelessly to ensure that you can observe the holiday securely,” Mamdani said.

Antisemitic hate crimes have risen by 9% compared to this time last year, according to Tisch. Mamdani noted that Jewish New Yorkers comprise anywhere from 10 to 12% of the city population, but make up a majority of the victims of all hate crimes. 

“I have heard from Jewish New Yorkers of the fear they have in light of the rising antisemitic hate crimes that we have seen over the past few years,” Mamdani said. “Any act of antisemitism is unacceptable.”

Mamdani and Tisch, who is Jewish, announced that they will boost the police presence outside of synagogues and other Jewish cultural and religious institutions across the city. In addition to increased security, Tisch said that the department’s intelligence and counterterrorism bureau is monitoring threats both in the city and abroad, and looking for threats online.

A pair of high-profile incidents over the summer — an attack at Central Synagogue and stabbing outside the Jewish Center on the Upper West Side — have fueled concerns about safety at Jewish institutions.

“Too many of our neighbors have been the victims of antisemitic hate crimes,” Mamdani said. “And too many are understandably afraid to come together and celebrate openly.”

Mitchell Silber, CEO of the Community Security Initiative, a non-profit Jewish security watchdog, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the measures in place this year are not new, but that there are “more resources to meet increased need.” The CSI works with approximately 3,200 locations spanning the New York area, Long Island and parts of Connecticut, he said.

Major traffic restrictions will be implemented Friday morning to prepare for the city’s 9/11 memorial event, and Tisch said that a “massive security operation” will be in place as dignitaries and former presidents mark the attack’s anniversary in Lower Manhattan.

By the time the 9/11 commemoration concludes on Friday, the “major security operation” to secure Jewish sites “will already be underway across the five boroughs,” Tisch said.

Tisch added that the NYPD has “amped up” its deployments this year, “particularly since the start of hostilities in Iran.”

She said, “Our deployment this year at the World Trade Center for 9/11 will be larger than it has been in previous years, as will be our deployment this year for the High Holy Days at shuls and yeshivas and Jewish cultural institutions, just based on the realities of the world that we live in today.”

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