Overview
- Phylisa Wisdom, the mayor’s pick to run New York City’s antisemitism office, told a City Council task force Wednesday that she would not adopt a single definition and would judge incidents case by case.
- Councilman Simcha Felder left the hearing in protest and later called the approach outrageous, as other lawmakers voiced frustration over the lack of clarity.
- Jewish community witnesses criticized the new office as a token gesture and said they could not find a way to contact Wisdom while the office refuses to adopt a definition.
- The dispute follows Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s first-day order rescinding the IHRA working definition, used by many governments, which he says can conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
- City Hall offered no further comment after the hearing, leaving the office’s remit, reporting standards, and procedures unresolved for New Yorkers seeking help.