Security preparations for this weekend’s Israel Day Parade would be “the most extensive” that the NYPD has ever put together, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced Thursday.
“To be blunt, we are not messing around with security at this year’s parade,” Tisch said as she was flanked by Mayor Zohran Mamdani at NYPD headquarters. “The NYPD has one of the most robust municipal counterterrorism capabilities of any city in the world, and I am bringing all of that to bear for this year’s parade.”
Mamdani, meanwhile, reiterated his decision to skip the annual parade on Thursday, even as he faced fresh criticism for the decision.
“I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn’t be attending the parade, and I’ve made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” said Mamdani, who strongly identifies with the pro-Palestinian movement and is a frequent critic of Israel. He added that he did not believe that his presence “should determine whether or not a New Yorker is safe or secure.”
Tens of thousands to attend parade
This year’s Israel Day on Fifth, which has the theme “Proud Americans, Proud Zionists,” is slated to draw tens of thousands of participants on Sunday, according to Mark Treyger, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, which organizes the parade.
Tisch, who will attend Sunday’s parade as an honorary grand marshal, said that this year will see the largest number of police officers ever assigned to the parade.
“It’s the largest celebration of its kind outside of Israel, and for so many of us it’s one of the most joyful days of the year, but the sobering truth is it is also taking place in a heightened threat environment with multiple threat factors active at the same time,” Tisch, who is Jewish, said.
Tisch added that attendees of the parade should also expect to see a host of security apparatuses, including “counterterrorism teams, explosive detection canines, helicopters, drones, emergency service, mounted units, hostile surveillance teams, and other assets.” Several designated screening entry points will also be set up along the route, and Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue will be closed throughout the parade.
“If you think you are too important to be screened, don’t come. There will be no exceptions,” Tisch said, adding that “any unauthorized persons entering the parade route will be arrested.”
No current credible threats
Mamdani and Tisch stressed that there were “ no current known specific or credible threats against the parade.”
When asked by a reporter whether she had concerns over Mamdani’s decision to skip the event, Tisch replied, “It’s the mayor’s decision not to march, and it’s my decision to march.”
Ahead of his November election, Mamdani told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “While I will not be attending the Israel Day Parade, my lack of attendance should not be mistaken for a refusal to provide security or the necessary permits for its safety.”
Since his inauguration, Mamdani has participated in several parades across the city, including the Lunar New Year parade and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Fifth Avenue in March.
Still, Mamdani’s decision to skip the event has drawn scrutiny from some Jewish leaders, including Michael Novakhov, a Republican member of the New York Assembly, who said in a statement that Mamdani was “choosing to boycott this event because he is more interested in appeasing radical antisemitic extremists than standing with Jewish New Yorkers.”
Moshe Davis, the former Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, wrote in an op-ed in Fox News on Wednesday that the “very New Yorkers Mamdani claims to fight for are the ones his politics ultimately hurt.”
Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, also criticized the mayor’s decision in a post on X/Twitter, calling it “shameful.”
Israel’s consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, urged Jews and Israelis to attend the event, writing in a post on X, “This year, when antisemitism and hatred of Israel is at an all-time high — fueled by leaders in NYC and worldwide — we must show them that the blue and white flag will never be taken down!”
Ahead of the parade, The Jewish Majority, an advocacy group led by AIPAC veteran Jonathan Schulman that published a letter opposing the “political normalization” of anti-Zionism during the mayoral election, also published a letter signed by 1,300 Jewish New Yorkers calling on Mamdani to address threats to Jewish safety.
The letter called on Mamdani to “support legislation designed to better protect vulnerable Jewish institutions, to denounce rhetoric that demonizes Zionists, and to unequivocally condemn, not merely discourage, calls to globalize the intifada.”
On Wednesday, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that he planned to attend the event, saying in a video address, “At a time when antisemitism is rising across our country and Jewish New Yorkers are facing hatred, intimidation and attacks at unprecedented levels, you cannot afford silence.”
When asked by a reporter at the press conference if he had a response to Adams’ announcement, Mamdani replied, “he’s welcome to spend his time as he so chooses.”
Mark Treyger, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, which organizes the parade, said during the press conference Thursday that during Mamdani’s transition period that there were “assurances immediately from him and his team that there will be a parade.”
“Thank you again to the City of New York for having and providing all this tremendous support,” Treyger said. “I’m looking forward to a very safe, successful, and sunny Sunday parade.”