Will Mamdani’s Victory Signal an Exodus - or a New Jewish Strategy?
In the week when New York experienced a political earthquake with Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s win in the Democratic mayoral primary, Bari Pork Store in Bensonhurst sold its last sausages.
“Let’s put it this way: Our people who eat this food are not around. They moved out of the neighborhood,” co-owner Tony Turrigiano told WABC-7.
This story echoes the earlier closures of venerable Italian meat shops in Williamsburg and Little Italy – respected for their longevity and contributions to the city’s culture, but unable to survive the departure of their clientele and the rising costs of doing business.
On the map of the primary election results, Mamdani dominated most of the blocks in neighborhoods where panels cover crucifixes on charter schools that used to be parochial, and where a few fire hydrants still have the fading red, white, and green tricolor.
The migration of Brooklyn’s Italian Americans to Staten Island and points west is at least as old as the Verrazzano Bridge, eroding the electoral impact of a once-mighty demographic whose sons included Fiorello LaGuardia, Vincent Impellitteri, Rudy Giuliani, and Bill de Blasio.
Cuomo was expected to do well among the city’s Black voters, making sure to visit the pulpits of prominent churches from Brooklyn to Harlem. From Co-op City to Rosedale, Canarsie to Woodlawn, he received landslide results, as well as in NYCHA superblocks in neighborhoods where Mamdani dominated, such as Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City and Grant Houses in Harlem. But their vote was not enough for Cuomo to win the primary.
“This is a staunch Democratic base, but yet it’s starting to erode because of the departure of a lot of Black people in the area,” said Rev. Dr. Adolphus Lacey, senior pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Bed-Stuy, to The New York Times. “Old-school Democrats are leaving.”
Facing rising housing costs, many of the city’s African Americans are moving to southern cities in a movement dubbed the “reverse Great Migration,” the opposite of the 1920s when many southern Blacks moved to northern cities to escape racism and secure economic opportunities. Among younger Black voters, there is less loyalty to churches and more reticence toward progressive politics, even those inspired by Black Lives Matter.
In the past century, descendants of American slaves and Caribbean immigrants contributed to the city’s Democratic political class with mayors David Dinkins and incumbent Eric Adams – and in Queens, the southeastern base that included Guy R. Brewer, Floyd Flake, county party chair Rep. Greg Meeks, and Borough Presidents Helen Marshall and Donovan Richards.
Mamdani not only inspired young progressive voters derided as transplants and gentrifiers, but also the growing Muslim and South Asian populations along Hillside Avenue and Liberty Avenue, Arab Americans in Sunset Park, and Latino voters seeking to elect the polar opposite of President Trump, with endorsements from Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Queens and Nydia Velázquez in Brooklyn.
Cuomo’s electoral shortfall is not entirely the result of changing demographics; much of it was his own doing. When Brad Lander endorsed Mamdani, it was a cross-endorsement as they raised their hands in unison. But when Queens State Sen. Jessica Ramos offered support, Cuomo did not cross-endorse her, and he did not ask her to campaign for him in her district, which covers Corona and Jackson Heights. Mamdani ended up winning in these neighborhoods.
“Had we run a perfect campaign, I’m not sure the outcome would have been different,” Cuomo campaign volunteer Chris Coffey told CNN. “The senior leadership team (me included) helped bring on board most big unions, biggest group of electeds, every business group, top-notch donors and supporters like Mike Bloomberg, mended fences with and turned out chasidic Jews, helped every editorial board to be for us or against our opposition. We came up short. You have to respect Zohran’s team and movement.”
Whether Mamdani wins in November by a landslide or a plurality, he will claim the mandate to rule New York as he sees fit: by raising taxes on its most productive residents and businesses, redistributing wealth to nonprofits with social missions, and prioritizing “decarceration” over combating crime.
For New York’s Jewish voters, the rise of Mamdani raises many questions. As it is his race to lose, should askanim clear their calendars and meet with him – setting aside his noxious slanders about apartheid, genocide, and intifada – to maintain funding for security, food pantries, afterschool programs, and senior centers? Are we ready to have the first mayor in the history of modern Israel who will not visit Jerusalem, meet with the Consul General, or march at the Celebrate Israel Parade?
“This is the end of Jewish New York as we know it,” longtime political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told The Wall Street Journal, predicting a Jewish exodus from the Five Boroughs.
I respectfully disagree. Jewish New Yorkers have invested too much in this city to simply run away in fear. I’ve driven through Brownsville and East New York, where once-thriving Jewish communities emptied out within a decade in the 1960s as fears of crime, changing demographics, and declining property values sent people to the suburbs. I cannot imagine this outcome for Borough Park and Flatbush – nor for Kew Gardens Hills and Riverdale.
There is fear that Orthodox Jews will be locked out of Gracie Mansion; access that they enjoyed under Adams will be gone in favor of JFREJ and Jewish Voice for Peace. They will speak about Jewish values while hoisting the Palestinian flag at City Hall and lobbying for anti-Israel resolutions in the City Council.
Inevitably, many Jews will leave on account of Mamdani becoming mayor. But for those who will stay, there is much to learn from our brethren in Boston, Chicago, Toronto, and Montreal – cities with progressive mayors and sizable Jewish communities. How do they manage without an ally in City Hall?
It is not too late to stop Mamdani if voters opposing him coalesce around a single candidate. In contrast to Cuomo, the incumbent does not shy away from hecklers and hostile interviewers.
Adams can dust off the joma he received at a Chazaq event on Main Street in 2022 and return to Kew Gardens Hills as a voice for voters who intend to stay in this city. Unlike Cuomo, he can connect to the voter on the street and speak with confidence in front of a hostile audience.
Considering the demise of Bari Pork Store in Bensonhurst, I do not believe it was inevitable. The Chinese menu is also heavy on pork. Perhaps if the shop had advertised its products in Chinese and marketed itself to the newcomers, it could have stayed in business.
Even as there are slightly fewer Jews living in the Five Boroughs, we can still build coalitions with other voting blocs on common values relating to public safety, quality of life, representation in government, and experienced leadership. This is the key to survival if a socialist takes office at the end of this year.
By Sergey Kadinsky
