New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told New Yorkers on Tuesday that “extremism and hatred of any kind will not be tolerated” in the Big Apple after the city reels from an Islamic State group-inspired bomb plot over the weekend.
Mamdani has been in the spotlight since Saturday, when two ISIS-inspired extremists threw homemade bombs at anti-Islam protesters gathered outside of Gracie Mansion. Mamdani, NYC’s first muslim mayor, has fielded questions about both the ISIS-inspired extremists and the anti-Muslim protesters since Saturday’s clash outside his residence.
“Extremism and hatred of any kind will not be tolerated in our city, and that is regardless of whatever ideology motivates any person to commit an act of violence. There is no tolerance for it here. What we want to deliver to New Yorkers is a city that is safe, a city that believes in the values where everyone who calls it home is considered to be a part of it,” Mamdani said on Tuesday.
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After initial reports said Gracie Mansion was evacuated on Tuesday after a suspicious package was reported on the street outside, it turned out to be a false alarm, and the mayor’s residence had not been evacuated. Bomb squad units were nearby on the scene at Carl Schurz Park. The New York City Police Department said the scene was cleared and “determined to be non-threatening.”
During a press conference about an expansion of early childhood education for three-year-olds on Tuesday, Mamdani addressed the terrorist bombing incident at the anti-Muslim rally, saying, “There is no tolerance for any kind of violence within that vision of our city or the way in which we lead the city.”
When asked about the threats he has received on the campaign trail and in office because of his Muslim religion, Mamdani said he is “deeply thankful” to the officers of the NYPD who have kept him safe and addressed Islamophobia in the city following Saturday’s protest.
“The thing that affects me more is not language that people use to describe me, but that it’s language that they use to describe so many who call this city home,” Mamdani said.
“Even as in that protest, there is a vision of a city that does not leave room for more than a million Muslims who call this city their home – and it is a vision that I abhor – I also still do believe that those protesters have a right to protest. And that is part of what it means to be able to stand up for the laws of the city as well as the Constitution of our country,” Mamdani said, referring to Saturday’s anti-Islam protest.
The anti-Islam protest was led by pardoned Jan. 6, 2021, rioter Jake Lang, who made news in January for his clashes with anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters in Minnesota. Lang’s protest outside of Gracie Mansion was then met with counterprotesters, as the scene turned violent and the two ISIS-inspired individuals launched the improvised explosive devices.
Tensions have been running high in the city following the incident on Saturday and a separate clash between demonstrators in Washington Square Park on Friday night. Pro-Iranian regime attendees of a vigil for former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei clashed with counterprotesters in an incident that left three individuals detained. The incidents come as the U.S. and Israel wage war with Iran, which began on Feb. 28th with the launch of Operation Epic Fury.
In the middle of each of these clashes and Ramadan, Mamdani maintained on Tuesday that he is proud of his faith and told Muslim New Yorkers, “You need not be ashamed of yourself to be a part of this city.”
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“You need not feel as if your identity is somehow in tension with being a New Yorker. I am proud to be a Muslim. I’m proud to be a New Yorker. I’m proud to be a Muslim New Yorker. And I know that’s the case for a million or so people who call this city home,” Mamdani said.
On Sunday, Mamdani hosted a Ramadan dinner with Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student who was detained by federal immigration officers following his activism related to the Israel-Hamas war.