What’s New With Jewish New Yorkers?
The Office of the New York Mayor recently released a map illustrating the many immigrant enclaves that make up Manhattan. When I first saw this, I loved the idea of shedding light on the countless immigrant communities that make New York diverse and unlike anywhere else. However, when I zoomed in, I was saddened to see that some communities were left out, namely Italians and Jews. I zoomed in on Staten Island and Crown Heights in Brooklyn, yet there was no mention of Italians or Jews.
As I continued searching, I realized that my culture, and those of many others, was not represented by the Mayor’s office, despite all they have contributed to this city. Italians have been in New York for nearly 150 years, first arriving between the 1880s and the 1920s, mainly from Southern Italy and Sicily in search of a better life. Jews have been here since before New York City was even established. In 1654, twenty-three Sephardic Jews arrived in New Amsterdam, fleeing Recife, Brazil. They had no status, no protection, and no guarantee that they could stay. They fought to remain despite the governor’s attempts to expel them, and ultimately won the right to live freely. Those twenty-three Jews built the first Jewish community in North America. It was not until ten years later, in 1664, that New Amsterdam became New York. There has never been a New York without Jewish contribution.
Personally, as someone whose entire family fled to New York City, escaping pogroms in the Russian Empire, revolution in Hungary, Soviet rule in Ukraine, and hardship in Venezuela, I want to feel seen too. Despite the attempt to erase the Jewish presence in New York, it has not disappeared. Communities like Crown Heights and Borough Park still thrive, alongside institutions such as Ouris Supermarket. There are synagogues, bakeries, and family traditions that predate the current Mayoral administration.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated that the map was initially created during the Eric Adams administration and promised to update it. He specifically promised to “add Little Italy to the map,” but made no mention of the missing Jewish enclave. I am reminded of something my great-aunt said once in an interview about surviving the Holocaust. She noted that the town where my great-grandfather grew up in Hungary was deeply antisemitic, and that a city is “only as antisemitic as its mayor.” I fear those words remain true today, and I am saddened by it. I am saddened by the fact that some realities of 1940s, Holocaust-era Hungary are the realities of Jews in New York in 2026. I am saddened that, In New York, a member of my synagogue was stabbed in the neck when exiting the synagogue on Tisha B’av. I am saddened that a city long seen as a safe haven, where everyone can feel at home, has overlooked an entire ethnic group.
This is not the first time Jews have faced antisemitism, and they will come out stronger and more united than before. This does not seem like a simple error. The map recognizes thirty communities, including Little Palestine, Little Yemen, Little Odessa, and two areas labeled “Little Africa,” yet omits some of the city’s oldest communities.
Mayor Mamdani, you yourself are an immigrant. You came to this city at a young age from Uganda in search of a better life. New Yorkers accepted you then, and we are only asking that you extend that same respect and fairness to all communities as mayor of one of the most diverse cities in the world.
When one community is overlooked, it prompts the question of which could be next.
