More than 25 New York City Jewish community organizations are calling on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration to overhaul its newly released strategy for combating antisemitism, arguing that the plan fails to address the forms of anti-Jewish hostility they say Jewish New Yorkers are experiencing today.

The coalition, made up of school groups, grassroots organizations, community leaders and neighborhood nonprofits, issued a detailed letter on October 2 criticizing the mayor’s 33-page antisemitism strategy.

The groups said the plan “falls dangerously short,” arguing that it focuses heavily on threats from far-right extremism while failing to address anti-Jewish harassment and violence that they say is increasingly occurring under the banner of anti-Israel or anti-Zionist activism.

In the letter, the coalition wrote:

“Our community generally isn’t encountering Charlottesville-style white supremacists in our neighborhoods. What we are encountering is anti-Zionist animus that too often veers into anti-Jewish harassment, exclusion, and even violence.”

The organizations said the plan references right-wing terrorist attacks from years ago and outside New York, but does not adequately address recent incidents affecting Jewish residents in the city.

The letter states:

“The Mayor’s antisemitism report reaches back eight years to highlight right-wing terrorist attacks in other cities, while failing to discuss, or even mention, a single anti-Jewish incident that occurred in New York in the past three years.”

The coalition also described examples of what it says Jewish New Yorkers are encountering, including anti-Jewish slurs and harassment connected to Israel-related events, as well as physical attacks and threats.

The groups said some of the measures included in the mayor’s plan have value, but argued that they do not address what they consider the central issue:

“They largely sidestep the biggest threat Jewish New Yorkers are dealing with today: anti-Jewish exclusion and violence cloaked as anti-Israel activism.”

The letter emphasized that the omission of these issues was, in the coalition’s view, not simply an oversight:

“That omission isn’t incidental. It’s the central failure of the report.”

Another major criticism is that the administration declined to adopt a formal definition of antisemitism. The coalition argued that this leaves schools, institutions and community organizations without sufficient guidance for determining when anti-Zionist political expression crosses the line into anti-Jewish discrimination.

The groups asked:

“When is conduct framed as anti-Zionist political expression simply anti-Jewish targeting or discrimination?”

They also challenged the administration’s approach more broadly:

“How can we solve a problem if we refuse to even acknowledge the cause?”

The coalition concluded that New York’s antisemitism strategy must reflect the experiences of Jewish residents themselves:

“A strategy to combat antisemitism in New York City must address antisemitism as Jewish New Yorkers are experiencing it today, and must not deny their agency to identify and define the hate they encounter.”

The groups are calling for a new or revised strategy that specifically addresses anti-Zionist hostility and establishes clearer guidelines for distinguishing political expression from antisemitic targeting.

The Mamdani administration has defended the plan. A spokesperson said the strategy is intended to combat antisemitism “in all its forms” and ensure Jewish New Yorkers can live safely and openly regardless of their political views.

Ramon Maislen, co-founder of BridgeBuilders Grassroots Coalition, separately reached out to the mayor’s antisemitism office and said the coalition would welcome a meeting to discuss its concerns and recommendations.