NYC braces for first protest outside synagogue under new ‘buffer zone’ law

Pal-Awda, the New York and New Jersey branch of the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, has said that it intends to protest today outside Park East Synagogue, a Manhattan Orthodox congregation, which anti-Israel protesters targeted on Nov. 19, blocking people from entering a Nefesh B’Nefesh event.

Last November, a spokeswoman for Zohran Mamdani, then mayor-elect of New York City, said that synagogues violate international law when they host pro-Israel events.

The synagogue event scheduled for May 5 invites attendees to “come and meet consultants in all areas of aliyah and explore the best Anglo neighborhoods to find your dream home.”

The protest planned for May 5 will be the first outside a synagogue since the mayor vetoed a bill, which passed the New York City Council, calling on the New York City Police Department to create a plan for a “buffer zone” around schools, in which protesters cannot block entries or exits. A similar bill, about houses of worship, passed the City Council with a veto-proof majority.

The latter calls on the NYPD to submit a proposed plan to create a “buffer zone,” in which protesters cannot block people from entering and exiting houses of worship, within 45 days and to file a final plan within 90 days. The bill became law on April 25.

A spokesman for Julie Menin, speaker of the City Council, told JNS that Menin’s office “is aware of the protest planned tonight outside Park East Synagogue.”

“As the City Council made clear in passing our safe access legislation with overwhelming support, safe access to the building should be ensured while fully protecting the right to peaceful protest,” the spokesman told JNS.

The council has been in contact with the NYPD and with the synagogue about the protest, it told JNS.

Rabbi Josh Joseph, executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Orthodox Union, told JNS that “the Mayor has a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of Jewish New Yorkers.”

“Although Intro 1-B has not yet gone into effect, it provides clear guidance on how the city should preserve access to synagogues during protests,” he told JNS. “We expect the mayor and the NYPD to work in close coordination with the community to ensure that the intent of this legislation is fully upheld.”

Pal-Awda stated that its protest, slated for 6:30 p.m., responds to what it called “illegal sale of stolen Palestinian land.”

“We will not be silent as ethnic cleansing is being actively promoted in our neighborhoods,” the group stated. It encouraged protesters to bring “flags, keffiyehs and noisemakers.”

Despite Mamdani’s decision to nix one of the “buffer zone” bills, a spokesman for the mayor told JNS that City Hall “has also been clear that we are committed to ensuring safe entry and exit from any house of worship.”

The mayor has also been clear that “such access never be in question, while all protesters are able to exercise their First Amendment rights,” Sam Raskin, deputy press secretary for Mamdani, told JNS.

“As is always the case, NYPD will be onsite tonight to ensure the safety of protestors and guarantee those interested in entering the synagogue can do so,” Raskin told JNS.