Protest Outside UES Synagogue's Israel Event Draws Criticism From City Leaders

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Elected officials are reacting after videos of a protest outside Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side circulated the internet on Wednesday night.

The protest was in opposition to an event run by Nefesh B'Nefesh, a nonprofit that helps North American Jewish people move to Israel, which the synagogue hosted around 7 p.m. that evening.

PAL-AWDA, which organized the protest on East 67th Street between Third Avenue and Lexington Avenue, called the event a "settler recruiting fair" on a flyer.

Police told Patch that protestors and counter-protestors had an estimated 75-100 people each, but that no one was arrested during the demonstration.

Clips of the protest circulated widely following the event, where people were heard chanting "globalize the intifada."

New York City Mayor Eric Adams critisized the demonstration on X (formerly Twitter), saying "What happened at @PESynagogue last night was totally unacceptable no matter your faith or background. This type of protest and vile language should concern us all. When you desecrate one house of worship, you desecrate them all."

Adams, who is out of the country, said he'd visit the Orthodox shul when he returns.

Councilmember Julie Menin, who represents the portion of the Upper East Side where the synagogue is, called the protest "not acceptable."

"What occurred outside @PESynagogue is not acceptable," she said in a tweet. "Congregants must have the right to worship freely and to enter and exit their house of worship without impediment. Protests must have reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions."

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team spokesperson said "The Mayor-elect has discouraged the language used at last night’s protest and will continue to do so."

The spokesperson also added that he believes "every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation, and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law," likely in reference to disputed Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.