Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, vetoed a bill that would have created “security perimeters” around educational institutions that prevent “physical obstruction, physical injury, intimidation and interference” while “preserving and protecting the rights to free speech, assembly and protest.”

The bill, Int. 175-B, passed the New York City Council 30 to 19 and was thus subject to mayoral veto. Another bill, Int. 1-B, that creates a buffer zone around houses of worship, passed the council with a veto-proof majority of 44 out of 51 members. Mamdani said on Friday that he allowed the latter to go through.

“New York City will always uphold both the right to prayer and the right to protest. These two fundamental freedoms help define this city and the people who call it home,” stated the mayor, whose spokeswoman has said that synagogues violate international law when they host pro-Israel events.

“Last month, the City Council passed two bills related to these rights, known as buffer zone bills. Today, I am letting one of them go into effect and vetoing the other,” Mamdani stated. He added that Int. 1-B “initially raised constitutional concerns,” but “the final version of the bill that passed is narrower in scope and effect.”

“It requires the NYPD to document its existing practices related to protests near houses of worship,” the mayor said. “Following a thorough legal review, I do not believe it poses the same risks it once did, and that is why I will allow it to become law. That said, I disagree with its framing of all protest as a security concern.”

The bill states that it would require the New York City Police Department commissioner to “establish a plan to address and contain the risk of physical obstruction, physical injury, intimidation and interference at places of religious worship while preserving and protecting the rights to free speech, assembly and protest.”

The plan would consider “whether, when and the extent to which security perimeters may be used to protect entry to and egress from places of religious worship, and for communication with stakeholders, including the public, persons seeking to assemble or protest and affected religious leaders,” the bill states. It would also require the NYPD commissioner to file a proposed and a final plan to the mayor and the council speaker within 45 and 90 days respectively after the bill goes into effect and directs the NYPD to post the final plan online.

Though the text of the two bills is near identical, Mamdani stated that Int. 175-B is “meaningfully different.”

“The problem is how widely this bill defines an educational institution and the constitutional concerns it raises regarding New Yorkers’ fundamental right to protest.,” the mayor stated. “As the bill is written, everywhere from universities to museums to teaching hospitals could face restrictions.”

The bill could apply to workers protesting federal immigration officers or “college students demanding their school divest from fossil fuels or demonstrating in support of Palestinian rights,” the mayor said. “It is a piece of legislation that has alarmed much of the labor movement, reproductive rights groups and immigration advocates, among others, across this city.”

“Nearly a dozen unions have raised the alarm about its impact on their ability to organize,” he said. “That is why I am vetoing this legislation.”

The bill that Mamdani vetoed states that “preserving and protecting the rights to free speech and assembly, and protest, at educational facilities” would be preserved.

“Nothing in this section shall be construed or interpreted to infringe upon rights granted under the national labor relations act or the labor law,” states the bill, which Mamdani vetoed.

Julie Menin, the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council, who has been outspoken about antisemitism, stated that “ensuring students can enter and exit their schools without fear of harassment or intimidation should not be controversial.”

“This bill simply requires the NYPD to clearly outline how it will ensure safe access when there are threats of obstruction or physical injury, while fully protecting First Amendment rights,” she stated.

Sam Markstein, national political director and spokesman at the Republican Jewish Coalition, told JNS “that Mayor Mamdani’s first veto as mayor of the city of New York serves to accommodate vile antisemitic protests comes as no surprise.”

“Jewish New Yorkers are under siege and facing real threats. Where are the so-called Democrat leaders? Where is Chuck Schumer? Where is Hakeem Jeffries?” Markstein told JNS. “They’re nowhere to be found, because they are petrified of Mamdani’s radical Islamo-leftist base. They are cowards, plain and simple.”

Major Jewish groups said in an unusual joint statement that they were “deeply disappointed” by Mamdani’s decision, which they called a “profound failure of City Hall to demonstrate to all New Yorkers that our safety is a priority.”