Israel Day Parade puts NYC's political rifts and police response on full display

Support for Israel has influenced local legislation, congressional races, and products sold at Park Slope Food Coop. On Fifth Avenue, elected officials will appear at the annual Israel Day Parade, except Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who pledged to skip the event due to his support for the Palestinian cause. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, will serve as grand marshal. Gov. Kathy Hochul, City Council Speaker Julie Menin, and City Comptroller Mark Levine plan to attend, and former Mayor Eric Adams also announced he will march. Mamdani said his views on the Israeli government are clear while stressing that safety is the top priority. Officials reported no known threats to the parade.

"“I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn't be attending the parade, and I've made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” Mamdani said. At the same time, he stressed that the safety of paradegoers was the top priority at City Hall. “I don't believe that my presence as the mayor should determine whether or not a New Yorker is safe or secure,” Mamdani said."

"Asked if she was concerned about the mayor not attending, Tisch replied, “It's the mayor's decision not to march, and it is my decision to march proudly.” City officials said there were currently no known threats against the parade. Mamdani and Tisch nodded at their differing political views during a press conference on Thursday about parade security."

"Those politics will be on literal display on Fifth Avenue as elected officials - with the notable exception of Mayor Zohran Mamdani - march in the annual Israel Day Parade on Sunday. Mamdani, an outspoken supporter of the Palestinian cause and the city's first Muslim mayor, is following through on his pledge last year to skip the event. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, will be the parade's grand marshal."

"Gov. Kathy Hochul, City Council Speaker Julie Menin and City Comptroller Mark Levine are among those planning to attend. Former Mayor Eric Adams, who has used his post-mayoral platform to criticize Mamdani, announced in a video late Wednesday that he would also march in the parade. Mamdani's decision not to attend the parade highlights how he has upended political norms amid waning support for Israel nationally and across the world after Oct. 7, 2023, as Israel launched an ongoing war in Gaza in response to the terror at"

Read at Gothamist