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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani faces a state Supreme Court lawsuit after his administration ignored records requests seeking documents related to his rollback of city antisemitism policies.
Investigative journalist Richard Behar and former New York City First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro filed the petition in state Supreme Court. The suit targets Mamdani’s failure to respond to two Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests. Behar submitted them in January and May 2026.
The first request sought documents behind Executive Order No. 1, Mamdani’s inaugural act as mayor, which rescinded the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. The definition has been adopted by more than 1,300 entities worldwide, including 47 national governments.
The second request covered three further moves against Israel. It sought records related to Mamdani’s reversal of a prior ban on city agencies joining BDS economic warfare against the Jewish state, his removal of New York City Economic Development Corporation webpages promoting ties with Israeli businesses, and his campaign pledge to terminate the public-private partnership between Cornell University and the Technion.
Under New York’s Public Officers Law, agencies must acknowledge a FOIL request within five business days and grant or deny access within 20. Mamdani’s office ignored both submissions entirely.
State Supreme Court Judge Gerald Lebovits, the son of a Holocaust survivor, expedited the case. Full submissions are due July 2.
“At a time when antisemitic violence in New York City has reached historic levels, the public has a compelling interest in understanding why Mayor Mamdani chose, as his first official act, to dismantle the very protections his predecessor had put in place to address this crisis,” Behar said.
Take Action
CAM has launched Report It, a secure app to report antisemitic incidents anonymously and in real time. Don’t stay silent. Download it today on the Apple App Store or Google Play. See it. Report it. Stop it.
