New York City lawmakers have formally demanded Amazon remove a Halloween animatronic that pairs a witch with a Star of David spell book.
The City Council’s “Antisemitism Task Force” sent a complaint letter October 14 calling the $219 six-foot decoration from Collective Home demeaning to Jewish people and potentially dangerous. Council Speaker Julie Menin, 47, Councilwoman Inna Vernikov and Jewish Caucus Chair Eric Dinowitz were among eight bipartisan signatories pressing the e-commerce giant to delist the item.
“We are living at a time of unprecedented and extremely alarming antisemitism, the likes of which have not been seen in our lifetimes in this City and Country,” the council members wrote in their letter to Amazon. “Given the long history of antisemitism and the persecution of Jewish people, the use of this symbol in a context that may associate it with sinister or threatening imagery is particularly disturbing.”
The lawmakers noted the symbol’s ambiguity while emphasizing its real-world impact. “While it is unclear if this symbol was an attempt to depict a hexagram or another occult symbol, the Star of David is the most widely recognizable symbol of the Jewish people,” they wrote. “Such imagery can reasonably be perceived as demeaning to Jewish people and hurtful to members of the Jewish community. It may also incite violaence against the Jewish community.”
The political pressure follows a Brooklyn homeowner’s discovery that she had unknowingly displayed the offending decoration. The woman, who asked not to be named, told The Post her handyman had unboxed and assembled the towering witch without her examining it closely. “I didn’t even look at it,” she said. “I should take it up with Amazon.”
The homeowner emphasized her personal distress and political stance on Jewish issues. “I’m very upset, this is horrible,” she cried. “I don’t want to insult any religion. I’m sensitive about these things. I’m a big supporter of Israel and the Jewish people.”
Amazon, which maintains policies against hateful, discriminatory and offensive content, did not respond to a request for comment on the council’s demand. The company’s marketplace hosts millions of third-party sellers, creating persistent challenges in policing individual listings.
The task force’s letter framed its request within Amazon’s existing guidelines. “We urge Amazon to immediately remove this product considering its policies concerning hateful, discriminatory, and offensive content and to consider the broader implications of making such merchandise available to the public,” the lawmakers wrote.
Vernikov, a Republican representing Brooklyn, has previously drawn attention for public advocacy on Jewish community safety. Dinowitz, a Bronx Democrat, chairs the council’s Jewish Caucus. Menin, a former broadcast journalist and city agency commissioner, became Council Speaker in January 2022.
The $219 animatronic from Collective Home features a six-foot witch figure holding a spell book marked with the six-pointed star. The decoration remained available on Amazon’s platform as of Tuesday despite the formal complaint filed nearly two weeks earlier.
The Brooklyn homeowner’s experience illustrates how such items enter circulation without purchasers recognizing controversial elements. She discovered the Star of David on the spell book only after the witch was already positioned on her front lawn for the Halloween season.
The council’s intervention comes amid documented rises in antisemitic incidents in New York City and nationwide. The task force, formed to address such concerns through policy and public pressure, chose direct corporate engagement rather than legislative action in this instance.
Amazon has faced previous controversies over third-party merchandise, including items flagged by advocacy groups for religious or ethnic insensitivity. The company’s response protocols typically involve review of reported listings against its content policies.