While the Chanukiah of Hope anchored New York City’s official Chanukah observance under Mayor Eric Adams, the city’s mayor-elect marked the holiday in a markedly different fashion.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani released a staged, three-minute video on social media showing him celebrating Chanukah at the Manhattan home of Jewish actor Mandy Patinkin, alongside Patinkin’s wife, Kathryn Grody, and their family. The footage, filmed on the first night of Chanukah, depicted Mamdani smiling for the camera as he helped prepare latkes, participated in Hebrew prayer, and lit candles.
At one point in the video, Patinkin theatrically exclaimed, “It’s the mayor! What are you doing here?” while looking directly into the camera as Mamdani entered—an exchange many viewers noted appeared scripted. Patinkin later remarked that Mamdani’s “mayoral tenure…has now been blessed,” before the group sat down to eat together.
Mamdani, a self-described socialist and outspoken critic of Israel whose anti-Zionist positions have generated deep concern within large segments of New York’s Jewish community, shared the video with the caption, “Here’s to more light,” and added a Chanukah greeting to Jewish New Yorkers on social media.
Public reaction was sharply divided. While some praised the gesture as warm and inclusive, others criticized it as performative, questioning the sincerity of the outreach given Mamdani’s record on Israel and Zionism. There is no publicly documented evidence of a pre-existing personal relationship between Mamdani and the Patinkin family prior to the recording.
The contrast between the two moments—one centered on a Chanukiah forged from missile fragments amid explicit condemnation of antisemitism, and the other framed through a carefully produced social media video—underscored the uncertainty many Jewish New Yorkers feel as the city prepares for a transition in leadership.
