Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani drew jeers at a Union Square vigil marking the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Wednesday night, with some attendees chanting “traitor” and “sellout” as he arrived. Hours later, according to a new report, Mamdani dined at a Palestinian restaurant on the Upper West Side whose sister Brooklyn location was accused in 2023 of running an “openly genocidal” menu.
The restaurant, Ayat, faced backlash three years ago after its Brooklyn location featured a menu section titled “From the River to the Sea,” with a front page reading “Down with the occupation” in English, Arabic and Hebrew, alongside a map labeling the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem and Israel collectively as “Palestine.” Owner Abdul Elenani disputed accusations of antisemitism at the time, saying the language had been on the menu for months before it drew attention.
The dinner followed a vigil appearance that had already put Mamdani at odds with much of the city’s Jewish community. In his own statement marking the anniversary, Mamdani acknowledged that Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others on October 7, but devoted significant attention to condemning Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as an “ongoing genocide” and criticizing continued U.S. military support for Israel. The statement drew a sharp rebuke from the Anti-Defamation League, which said New York City — home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel — “deserves a mayor who can mourn their dead with them without engaging in such political grandstanding.”
Mamdani’s office has not detailed the circumstances of the restaurant visit beyond what’s been reported. But the sequence of events — booed at a solemn remembrance vigil, then photographed hours later at a restaurant still associated with the earlier menu controversy — has become its own flashpoint, with critics arguing it reflects a pattern in how the mayor has navigated the city’s divisions over the war since before he took office.
The episode adds to a string of friction points between Mamdani and Jewish organizations in New York since his election, including earlier criticism that he was slow to condemn chants supportive of Hamas near a Queens synagogue. Supporters counter that Mamdani has consistently condemned the October 7 attacks themselves while also pressing the city to acknowledge Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza — a balancing act that has satisfied few of his critics on either side.
