Adams Draws Line: Blocks NYC Funds From BDS as Mamdani Looms

Paul Riverbank, 12/4/2025NYC faces turmoil as Adams blocks BDS funds, with Mamdani's pro-BDS leadership imminent.

In a bold move that caught even seasoned City Hall observers off guard, Adams this week issued a set of executive orders squarely targeting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, which seeks to pressure Israel through various forms of economic isolation. “We cannot stand by as antisemitism or any other form of hate spreads,” Adams declared—words that seemed to both comfort and provoke, depending on who was listening. Within 24 hours, department heads scrambled to interpret new guidance: city contracts and pension funds—worth hundreds of billions—now off-limits to anything associated with BDS, at least on Adams’ watch.

Just as the dust was beginning to settle, another shift loomed. In a matter of days, the city’s highest office passes to Zohran Mamdani—a self-identified Democratic Socialist and unflinching supporter of BDS. If Adams was all businesslike resolve and backroom deals, Mamdani is agitation and unsparing honesty. “I support BDS because this is a movement that is looking for that kind of compliance. We haven’t seen it,” Mamdani said recently, pushing his vision in a national interview. He cast BDS as nonviolent resistance, a moral necessity, framing it within international law.

But intentions haven’t calmed the anxieties rippling through New York’s civic and business elite. At a recent UJA-Federation dinner, Apollo Global’s Marc Rowan didn’t mince words. “Someone who uses antisemitism in their campaign and normalizes antisemitism, he is our enemy,” Rowan declared before a room thick with Manhattan power brokers. His warning landed with a thud, as if delivered for the historical record. Jewish organizations, including both the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League, have begun meticulously cataloging Mamdani’s remarks, wary of where rhetoric might shade into risk.

Beneath the sharp exchanges lies the machinery of city government: $300 billion in pension funds, plus deals with private vendors that top $32 billion a year. Adams’ late-game firewall—cutting ties to BDS—is formidable, at least for now. No one is quite sure how long it will last once Mamdani takes the reins. Even among those usually unmoved by culture war flare-ups, eyebrows went up.

None of this drama exists in a vacuum, of course. New Yorkers still judge their leaders by how well the subways run and whether they feel safe on the street. Adams, a former police captain, departs with an unglamorous but important victory—violent crime rates are down, a fact even his skeptics grudgingly acknowledge. His choice to bring Jessica Tisch to the NYPD, doggedly focused on quality-of-life offenses, helped shift the city’s mood from weary resignation to something like cautious optimism.

Yet inside police precincts, and out among shopkeepers and straphangers, there’s no consensus on what happens next. Will Tisch stay empowered under the new mayor, or is she installed merely as insurance against immediate backlash? Ordinary citizens, meanwhile, weigh prospects for stability day by day: Is the social fabric stitched tighter, or in danger of further unraveling?

Adams, never shy about invoking principle, laid out his hopes as he packed up his office. “We are putting in safeguards that protect New Yorkers’ tax dollars and protect their right to practice their religion without harassment.” The next months will reveal whether that’s foresight or a wish—whether the city’s values can weather this test in an era of bruising politics and mounting concern over antisemitism. For now, the only certainty is that New York’s reputation for heated debate remains very much intact.

New York City, ever a crossroads of ideas and identities, finds itself at one of its more raw and uncertain crossroads as Mayor Eric Adams nears the end of his tenure. The city, not shy about voicing its opinions, is locked in fierce debate about its ties with Israel—an argument that has both old roots and very current consequences.In a bold move that caught even seasoned City Hall observers off guard, Adams this week issued a set of executive orders squarely targeting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, which seeks to pressure Israel through various forms of economic isolation. “We cannot stand by as antisemitism or any other form of hate spreads,” Adams declared—words that seemed to both comfort and provoke, depending on who was listening. Within 24 hours, department heads scrambled to interpret new guidance: city contracts and pension funds—worth hundreds of billions—now off-limits to anything associated with BDS, at least on Adams’ watch.Just as the dust was beginning to settle, another shift loomed. In a matter of days, the city’s highest office passes to Zohran Mamdani—a self-identified Democratic Socialist and unflinching supporter of BDS. If Adams was all businesslike resolve and backroom deals, Mamdani is agitation and unsparing honesty. “I support BDS because this is a movement that is looking for that kind of compliance. We haven’t seen it,” Mamdani said recently, pushing his vision in a national interview. He cast BDS as nonviolent resistance, a moral necessity, framing it within international law.But intentions haven’t calmed the anxieties rippling through New York’s civic and business elite. At a recent UJA-Federation dinner, Apollo Global’s Marc Rowan didn’t mince words. “Someone who uses antisemitism in their campaign and normalizes antisemitism, he is our enemy,” Rowan declared before a room thick with Manhattan power brokers. His warning landed with a thud, as if delivered for the historical record. Jewish organizations, including both the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League, have begun meticulously cataloging Mamdani’s remarks, wary of where rhetoric might shade into risk.Beneath the sharp exchanges lies the machinery of city government: $300 billion in pension funds, plus deals with private vendors that top $32 billion a year. Adams’ late-game firewall—cutting ties to BDS—is formidable, at least for now. No one is quite sure how long it will last once Mamdani takes the reins. Even among those usually unmoved by culture war flare-ups, eyebrows went up.None of this drama exists in a vacuum, of course. New Yorkers still judge their leaders by how well the subways run and whether they feel safe on the street. Adams, a former police captain, departs with an unglamorous but important victory—violent crime rates are down, a fact even his skeptics grudgingly acknowledge. His choice to bring Jessica Tisch to the NYPD, doggedly focused on quality-of-life offenses, helped shift the city’s mood from weary resignation to something like cautious optimism.Yet inside police precincts, and out among shopkeepers and straphangers, there’s no consensus on what happens next. Will Tisch stay empowered under the new mayor, or is she installed merely as insurance against immediate backlash? Ordinary citizens, meanwhile, weigh prospects for stability day by day: Is the social fabric stitched tighter, or in danger of further unraveling?Adams, never shy about invoking principle, laid out his hopes as he packed up his office. “We are putting in safeguards that protect New Yorkers’ tax dollars and protect their right to practice their religion without harassment.” The next months will reveal whether that’s foresight or a wish—whether the city’s values can weather this test in an era of bruising politics and mounting concern over antisemitism. For now, the only certainty is that New York’s reputation for heated debate remains very much intact.