Overview
- The Council launched a seven-member working group co-chaired by Republican Inna Vernikov and Democrat Eric Dinowitz to counter antisemitic incidents.
- The task force will hold hearings, issue recommendations, and advance Speaker Julie Menin’s five-point agenda, with subpoena power under consideration.
- The effort is separate from the mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, which has not yet launched; Politico previously reported Mayor Zohran Mamdani is interviewing Elad Nehorai, and Dinowitz said the group is ready to collaborate once the office is running.
- Menin said the Jewish Caucus elected the co-chairs and she disavowed some of Vernikov’s past remarks, as critics flagged her previous conduct and rhetoric on this issue.
- Recent incidents, including dozens of swastikas at a Borough Park playground and a car ramming the Chabad movement’s headquarters building, framed the urgency of the announcement.