New York State Assemblyman Michael Novakhov has formally petitioned the US Department of Justice to initiate a federal civil rights investigation targeting New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Novakhov called for action during an End Jew Hatred rally in New York City on Sunday and wrote on Instagram: “If the DOJ stepped in to protect Jewish students at Columbia, it must now step in to protect Jewish New Yorkers.”
Novakhov said he was sending the DOJ a formal letter requesting an investigation into New York State, New York City “and most importantly to investigate Mamdani’s hatred against the Jewish population of New York City and New York State.”
“Jewish New Yorkers should not have to hide their Stars of David, tuck away their kippahs, or fear walking their own streets,” Novakhov wrote. “The Jewish community deserves answers. No one is above the law.”
The demand followed two stabbing attacks Thursday on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a neighborhood with a significant Jewish population, with victims identified as Chok Sung, 57, and Moshe Grunhaus, 50.
Raul Morales, 51, was arraigned on two counts of second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime in the attack on the two men, and the Department of Justice says its Civil Rights Division, along with the NYPD, is investigating the double stabbing.
Novakhov claims that Mayor Mamdani’s stance and public declarations have created a dangerous environment that directly correlates with an increase in hate incidents.
“I made a promise to our community that I would hold Zohran Mamdani accountable for fueling antisemitism in New York, and today I’m keeping that promise,” Novakhov said in a video on social media.
More than half of the confirmed hate crimes for the first seven months of the year, or 56.9%, were anti-Jewish hate crimes, despite Jewish New Yorkers making up only 10% of the city’s population.
There were 23 confirmed hate crimes against Jewish people in July of this year, compared to 15 in July 2025.
Mamdani said: “We have to root out antisemitism from across the five boroughs and that’s because the city is one that has no room for hate or bigotry of any kind, and when we make criticisms of a nation state or policies, we have to remember those are criticisms of exactly that — never of a people, never of a faith.”
Meanwhile, a US Senate committee has also opened an investigation into Mamdani’s administration, citing “serious concerns” over his decision to rescind executive orders related to antisemitism and boycotts of Israel, with Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy warning that the move could jeopardize $2.2 billion in federal funding for the city’s Department of Education.
“Antisemitism is not an abstract concern in New York City; it is a lived reality for millions of students and residents, and its consequences are very serious,” Cassidy wrote in the letter.
Mamdani revoked the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, making it easier for Jewish students and city employees to be threatened and discriminated for their heritage.
The mayor revoked the city’s antisemitism framework on his first day in office and replaced it with nothing.
More than 200 people attended the demonstration organized by the Jewish advocacy group EndJewHatred, with demonstrators chanting “Remove Mamdani” while some held signs reading “Never again is a promise.”
Jayne Zirkle, communications director for EndJewHatred, told JNS: “New Yorkers are refusing to normalize extremist hatred. People of every background came together to demand what every community deserves: safety, equal protection under the law and moral clarity from our leaders.”
At the rally, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman told the crowd: “There has been a darkness that has permeated over this city since January 1 by the leadership, or the lack of leadership, of Mayor Mamdani, with the acquiescence of Gov. Hochul and so many others that will not condemn the anti-Jew rhetoric coming out of this mayor.”
Organizers pointed specifically to a video Mamdani released two days before the stabbing in which he acknowledged that his administration lacked the legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he travel to New York, called Netanyahu a “war criminal” and urged activists to protest against him.
In the viral moment fueling the escalating investigations, Mamdani’s administration became the focal point of intense scrutiny beginning on his first day in office in January.
Cassidy wrote to Mamdani expressing serious concerns regarding the administration’s recent rescission of executive orders related to antisemitism and boycotts of Israel, and seeking clarification on policy objectives and compliance with applicable federal civil rights requirements.
Cassidy noted that New York City is home to approximately 1.77 million Jewish residents—about 9.1 percent of the state’s total population—and found it deeply troubling that one of Mamdani’s first official acts as mayor was to revoke two executive orders designed to protect students and combat antisemitism.
Jewish legal organizations have assailed Mamdani after he announced a panel on local judicial appointments that included not a single Jew among its 18 members.
“Any suggestion that there would be any decision made or motivated by religion, it does bother me,” Mamdani told reporters Wednesday, after a group of Jewish bar associations condemned the absence of Jews in the appointments.
The mayor defended his rejection of retired state Supreme Court Justice John Leventhal on the grounds he had served on the legal defense team of accused sex criminal Ghislaine Maxwell, saying “As much as possible we thought it best to avoid any association between the committee that would be appointing judges and the Epstein world.”
Cassidy said Mamdani’s response is expected by Feb. 19.