The drama that unfolded in New York’s mayoral race should concern us all, because what is at stake is much bigger and more troubling than a single election. The ugly truth is that antisemitism is no longer a fringe issue in America; it’s moved into the mainstream, and nowhere is this shift more glaring than in liberal New York City.
It’s tempting to pin the blame on one candidate, but the reality is significantly more uncomfortable. Political candidates are, in the end, mirrors of the people who rally behind them – neighbors, coworkers, and even friends. What should trouble us most is how many are willing to back someone who openly mocks Jewish holidays, cheers for the Intifada, and tacitly supports antisemitic protests on university campuses.
Strip away the Jewish vote, and we’re left with the sobering fact that vast numbers of non-Jewish New Yorkers are at best indifferent, and at worst supportive of views hostile to Jews.
What's changing in America
This isn’t hyperbole or historical paranoia. We know all too well where this road can lead. The warning signs are here now, not buried in the past. The transition from alarming campaign slogans to discriminatory policies happens faster than most people realize, and that vague sense of discomfort can quickly morph into a concrete sense of danger.
Let’s be honest about what’s changing in America’s cities. When bigotry is excused or ignored, open hostility comes next, sometimes as graffiti or harassment, sometimes as devastating violence or exclusion. It’s less about hashtags or political theater than about that slow, steady erosion of belonging, when entire communities are made to feel unwelcome, exposed, or unsafe.
This isn’t solely a Jewish issue, though it lands heavily on Jewish communities. When hate is tolerated against any group, the social contract of mutual respect is ripped apart. The embrace of antisemitism in political life tells us something even deeper is slipping: a willingness to accept bigotry as politics-as-usual, collateral damage in a polarized world.
The warning signs
What should everyone, Jewish or not, be watching for? The early warning signs are always subtle: hate crimes spiking while officials look away; “debates” about whether to teach basic tolerance in schools; politicians swapping slurs for coded language that sounds innocent but isn’t.
The real danger doesn’t arrive with a bang. It tiptoes in, statement by statement, law by law, until one day it feels like this is just how things are.
Maybe it’s not surprising that anxiety is curdling into action. Before the election, polls showed that nearly 765,000 New Yorkers said that they were considering leaving if Mamdani won. That’s nearly one in 10 – proof that what’s happening is not just political drama, but a moment of reckoning for the city’s sense of safety and basic decency.
It’s not only Jews who are unsettled. A growing number of New Yorkers, from every background, are asking themselves if this is still a place they want to call home.
Is catastrophe inevitable? Hopefully not, but now, more than ever, vigilance is required – and not only from Jews, but from every person who cares about New York City’s conscience and future, even the future of the United States.
Americans need to listen, to push back, to insist on better from their leaders and each other. Perhaps, if enough people are willing to act, the warning will be heeded before the aftermath is written.
For some, that means more than just considering aliyah, but acting on it, not simply out of fear, but as a return to a place where Jewish dignity and safety are taken as givens, not subjects for debate.
Dr. Michael J. Salamon is a psychologist specializing in trauma and abuse and director of ADC Psychological Services in Netanya and Hewlett, NY. Louis Libin is an expert in military strategies, wireless innovation, emergency communications, and cybersecurity.