Mayor Eric Adams: My fellow New Yorkers, I'm here today to talk to you about an issue that has been weighing on my heart in a heavy way. The unleashed hate that has spread throughout our city, around this country, and across the globe. We're not the first generation that has to deal with pervasive hate. History has shown us what happens when it is allowed to fester and grow, when it evolves from the individual actions of some to major entities accepting it in society.
There are many examples of the institutionalization of hate. As an African American, it goes without saying that slavery will always remind us of how institutions normalize their horrors of keeping people in bondage.
But this experience is not unique to African Americans. Early arrivals to these countries, like Irish, Italian, Hispanic, and Chinese communities, to name just a few, experienced hatred that was supported by government institutions. Symbols and images like these were used to reinforce negative stereotypes and give reasons to target groups.
Understanding these historical moments has caused me to have deep concerns over what is playing out across our city and country, particularly when it comes to antisemitism. Here at home this past weekend, a so-called art installation was spotted on Governor's Island. It included paintings that praised the terrorist organization Hamas and displayed disturbing signs that paraded anti-Israel profanity.
Let me show you some of this hate-filled art. Putting a Jewish star on the robe of a Klansman, equating Zionism with Nazism and fascism, stating that you are a Hamas lover, and saying that Israel's very existence is beyond the pale. Let me be very clear. This right here is beyond the pale.
As questions about where the art came from started to pour in, a shocking number of people were afraid to call this out for what it is. But I am not one of those people. This was a vile, antisemitic exhibit. The art and the artists were unsanctioned by Governor's Island, and thankfully the display was removed within hours of going up. But I share this story because it reveals the dark underbelly of hate, and it exposes just how deep hate has seeped into our institutions, as installations like this somehow go up in the first place.
It is also a stark reminder of what happens when ignorance and bigotry combine. This incident disturbs me, and it should disturb anyone with a conscience. I've talked a lot about how we've seen these incidents erode the fabric of cities across the globe, but in New York City, we must never tolerate this type of prejudice. We cannot pretend this exhibit is a normal expression of artistic freedom, because art is not an excuse for hate. Activism is not an excuse for antisemitism or hate.
And this installation was a cover story for the oldest form of hate. It's been said that antisemitism is a virus that mutates. It comes back in different forms and finds new ways to hide in plain sight. I want to be clear that disagreeing with the policies of Israel's government does not make someone antisemitic, but to openly praise Hamas at an exhibit in a government facility sends a message of institutionalizing hatred.
Hamas is a terrorist organization that murders gay people, Jews, and Christians, among many other groups. Like so many other cultures before, we are now watching as antisemitism is institutionalized right before our very eyes.
History shows us how hatred begins on the fringes. It starts small, with a few artists trying to make a statement, with a few exhibits that go unnoticed by our leaders and institutions, with a few institutions that accept the hate and embed it into our culture.
Before we know it, hate moves to the mainstream, and once it is in the mainstream, it becomes much harder to mobilize against. We saw that with Apartheid. We saw that with the Holocaust. And I would be lying if I said I didn't see seeds of it planted within our own city government.
Antisemitism has sadly become the end thing. With the help of social media, we are watching it infect our young people. With no knowledge of history, they have devolved antisemitic slogans and soundbites. We are seeing our college campuses and public schools embrace this energy and hate. Over the course of my 40-year career in public service, I have fought against all forms of hate, and over the last four years, I've worked to weed it out wherever I see it.
As borough president, I created Breaking Bread, Building Bonds to bring together people of different faiths, cultures, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and more to do something crazy, talk with one another. As I have always stated, we must bring down the temperature. Too many across this country are ready to go to war with one another, to start at a place of disagreement, to believe in only the worst of each other. I know we can change that. I know that we can move forward with love and acceptance, and I know that it's not too late for New York.
We will never surrender our city to hate, or to those who want to say they want to globalize the intifada, or to choose and believe and not refuse to condemn it, because it is literally a phrase that means death to Jews all over the world.
Today, a whopping 57 percent of hate crimes in New York City target Jews. Just this week, a man was attacked in Midtown for wearing a yarmulke, so we will not ignore that antisemitism is on the rise, and we will not sit quietly as the fire of prejudice smolders in the background.
If this was a stat for any group we would respond accordingly. People might ask, you're not Jewish, so why should antisemitism concern you? To that question, I often tell the stories of the Jewish Americans who stood with Black people in other communities when racism and bigotry might not have directly concerned them.
I often tell the story of Julius Rosenwald, an American business executive and philanthropist who was the son of a Jewish immigrant from Germany. Julius donated tens of millions of dollars towards the construction of 5,000 schools for African American children in the South when Black people did not have quality schools due to segregation. I often speak about how when Black Americans fought for civil rights in the 50s and 60s, the Jewish community marched with us from Selma to the Senate.
So again, to the question, why should antisemitism concern me, I answer, it concerns all of us. Today, as antisemitism spreads like a cancer across our city and our country, we must do the same for our Jewish brothers and sisters as they did for us. And let me be very clear, hate of any form should concern us all, whether we're talking about antisemitism or racism, Islamophobia or homophobia, anti-Asian hate or any form of bigotry. Because when we are silent in the face of hatred, hate will spread.
And I will stop at nothing to raise my voice. As long as I have served this city, I have always been a man who never cowered, who never wavered out of fear of the political course, and who remained steadfast in the commitment to rise up against prejudice. No matter where I served, from the streets of the 88th precinct to Albany, Borough Hall to City Hall and beyond, this will always be my fight.
Your pain has always been my pain, what I have done throughout my years, and especially since the terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7th, standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm with this community. I did it not because I'm a public servant. I did it because of what I want for my family, my son, and for our city, and what I want for your children and theirs. And that is a New York where every group, every faith, and every person can grow and thrive in safety and in prosperity. Thank you. May God bless you, your families, and our city.
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