NY mayor Mamdani defends scrapping executive orders his predecessor issued

NEW YORK - New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Jan 2 defended his revocation of executive orders that his predecessor Eric Adams issued after being indicted in 2024 on federal charges of accepting illegal campaign contributions.

The dozen orders that Adams issued since his indictment included a directive to allow federal agents, including immigration officers, to use an office on Rikers Island, the city’s main jail. That order was later struck down by a court.

The new mayor also struck down executive orders that Adams had portrayed as addressing anti-Semitism. 

Mr Mamdani, a Muslim whom some have accused of anti-Semitism
over his support of Palestinians in Gaza, told reporters on Jan 2 that he would fund measures to prevent hate crimes, and would make protection of Jewish New Yorkers a focus of his administration.

He recalled Sept 26, 2024 – the day when Adams was charged with accepting illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel from Turkish nationals seeking to influence him – as “a moment when many New Yorkers lost even more faith in New York City politics and the ability of city government to actually prioritise the needs of the public, as opposed to the needs of the person”.

In April, a US judge dismissed the charges against Adams, a Democrat, at the request of the US Justice Department, which had argued that the case was distracting the mayor from helping Republican President Donald Trump step up deportations.

Mr Mamdani, from the left wing of the Democratic Party, has clashed with Mr Trump over the immigration crackdown.

On Jan 1, Mr Mamdani revoked orders by Adams that had prevented city institutions from divesting from Israel and that defined anti-Semitism in a way recognised by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an inter-governmental organisation of 35 countries that promotes Holocaust education.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is among groups that argue that the IHRA definition has been used to try to silence advocates for Palestinian rights.

While Islamic organisations praised Mr Mamdani’s moves, Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted on social media platform X on Jan 2 that Mr Mamdani “shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel. This isn’t leadership. It’s anti-Semitic gasoline on an open fire”. REUTERS