Transcript: Mayor Adams Delivers Remarks at NYPD Security Briefing Ahead of JCRC-NY's Israel Day Parade on Fifth

May 16, 2025

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch: Good morning. This Sunday, thousands of New Yorkers and visitors will gather along Fifth Avenue for the Israel Day Parade. It is the largest celebration of its kind outside of Israel, and a moment of pride and joy for so many families across our city. And just like every other major parade in New York City, plans are in place to ensure it will be safe, secure, and peaceful. 

This year's parade comes at a time of heightened tension around the world and here at home. Since the October 7th attacks, there has been a notable increase in demonstrations and deeply personal emotions on all sides of the conflict. We've also seen an unacceptable uptick in antisemitic threats and rhetoric. 

Everyone has a right to express their views peacefully, but no one has a right to engage in criminal activity. And we will not tolerate any attempts to disrupt this event or endanger those who come to celebrate. The NYPD has been preparing for this event for months. We've worked closely with parade organizers, elected officials, faith leaders, and our local, state, and federal partners on a comprehensive security plan. 

Here's what people should know. Fifth Avenue will be closed from 52nd Street up to 78th Street and fortified with sanitation trucks and NYPD vehicles. Madison Avenue will be closed from 42nd to 57th Street starting at 7:30 a.m. and north of 57th Street beginning at 11 a.m. 

Once the parade is underway, pedestrians will only be able to cross at 51st Street, 59th Street, and 79th Street. MTA buses along the parade route will be routed down 2nd Avenue, making requested stops. Street closures will make it difficult to drive or park anywhere near the parade route. So if you're planning to attend, we strongly urge you to take public transportation. 

Designated screening entry points will be located at East 61st, 63rd, 66th, 70th and 73rd Street off of Madison Avenue. All spectators will be screened at these locations by NYPD personnel before entering the viewing area. Access to the parade route from Central Park will be closed and there will be no spectator viewing along the west side of the park to ensure that everyone enters through a designated screening point. 

Please remember that certain items will not be permitted inside the screened area, including backpacks, large bags, chairs, alcohol, coolers, umbrellas, and anything that could obstruct another spectator's view. At this time, there are no specific or credible threats to the parade. But as always, we remain vigilant and the public can expect to see a robust and visible police presence throughout the area. 

That includes uniformed officers stationed along the route, specialized units like emergency service, mounted, and canine, as well as our counterterrorism teams, including the bomb squad, heavy weapons officers, and hostile surveillance teams. And NYPD helicopters and drones will be deployed to provide real-time coverage from above. 

As always, there will be assets that you will see and others that you will not see. The Joint Operations Center will be fully activated with all our city, state, and federal partners and personnel there will be actively monitoring fixed and mobile cameras along the route in the surrounding area. 

Intelligence teams will also be monitoring social media for potential threats and response units will be deployed citywide to investigate any reports in real time. Cops will be out there to keep you safe but we ask everyone to stay alert. If you see something, as always, say something. 

Let a police officer know or call 911. I want to thank every member of the NYPD who will be working this weekend and every partner agency helping us deliver another safe and successful event. New York City is home to the biggest parades, the brightest celebrations, and the strongest communities, and the NYPD will be out there to make sure Sunday is safe, joyful, and everything that is meant to I will now turn it over to Mayor Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you, commissioner, and this is an important event that takes place in our city, and we're really happy to be joined by Mark Treyger, the CEO of the JCRC of New York. This is the second major parade since October 7th, and just like last year, there were a number of voices that stated we should not hold the parade and we refuse to ever succumb to those who want to have this city live in fear. 

It will not happen and we want to ensure we have a safe acknowledgement of Israel's Independence Day on Sunday. I look forward to marching with thousands of marches and participants. And as the commissioner indicated, it is crucial that while the celebration takes place, men and women of the New York City Police Department will remain vigilant and keep an eye out. But we also need New Yorkers to do the same. 

See something, say something, do something has become a common theme in the city, and it has allowed us to really stop any form of hatred to move throughout the city. A lot of people will be out on the avenue, and we look forward to the flags and the beauty of this celebration. 

As you know, this week, we established the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism, dedicated to fighting antisemitism in all its forms across the five boroughs. And to many, we want to be clear, this was not a symbolic gesture, but it was a substantive gesture, because we cannot live as a society if this hatred continues to grow. 

It cannot grow in our schools, it cannot grow on our streets, and there's no place for antisemitism and hate in the City of New York, plain and simple. Those who spread hate want to divide us, but we must remain united, and I want to be clear that a hateful few will not dictate how the rest of us live. I know the conflict in the Middle East has left many of us grieving, and in some cases, angry. 

This is a painful moment for our city, for our country, and for the globe. New Yorkers have every right to express their sorrow. And if you want to protest on either side, you have the right to do so. But some of the actions we saw yesterday would not be tolerated and won't be accepted in this city. But that does not give anyone the right in their protest to harass others or to spread hate. 

We will always protect the right to protest, but we must balance that right with keeping our city safe. As I have said repeatedly, we will not allow unlawful people to participate in lawful protests. This would not be a city of lawlessness. 

New York City is a place where people from all over the globe live side by side in harmony, no matter their background or beliefs, regardless of what borough you live in or the religion you practice. And so we're looking forward [Sunday,] to enjoy this celebration and happy Israel Independence Day. I want to now turn it over to my good friend, former councilman and now CEO of JCRC, Mark Treyger.

Mark Treyger, CEO, Jewish Community Relations Council: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Police Commissioner Tisch and the entire fantastic team at the Mayor's Office and NYPD, the greatest, best Police Department in the world. I want to underscore what the mayor just shared earlier about what we faced last year in the immediate aftermath of October 7th, the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. 

The mayor is correct to say that there were many who doubted whether the parade could be pulled off last year. There were a lot of concerns, tensions, and a lot of debate. But the mayor never gave up on us. This great police department never gave up on us. They coordinated a tremendous interagency effort, both within the Police Department and working with many wonderful city agency partners, to pull off something extraordinary last year. 

So I just, on behalf of JCRC New York, I cannot say thank you enough to the leaders that made the parade possible. And I have to say, just like, right now we're in Knicks spirit, there were folks who said the Knicks can never beat the Celtics, never underestimate the heart of the NYPD in the City of New York. These are the hearts of champions. 

And for this year, our theme is Hatikvah, the hope. Last year, we marched, and we will march again this year with hostage families. Some hostages are home. Many are still not. And we are not whole until we're all home again. So we're marching to make sure that all people are reunited back with their families and that there's lasting peace in the region. 

We're marching because of our pride in our Jewish identity. I am marching because of my family's story in history, fleeing the former Soviet Union because of religious persecution. I am marching for those young people, young Jewish Americans, who are targeted because of wearing their yarmulke or Magen David around their neck. 

We should always be proud of who we are. So the message that this sends, Mr. Mayor, goes beyond just to Jewish New Yorkers. we're marching for the greatest city in the world that says regardless of where you're from, the faith you believe in, this is a city for all people. We welcome you. We love you. We celebrate you. 

So we celebrate Israel this Sunday, but we also celebrate the greatness of what New York means to being home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel and the leaders that helped make this possible. 

So again, thank you, Mayor Adams, for being an ironclad supporter of the Jewish people to the police commissioner, who is an outstanding leader and to this great department in the great office that helps make this Sunday parade possible. God bless you. Thank you.

Question: [Inaudible.] 

Mayor Adams: The Deputy Commissioner Weiner and her team are always looking for any intel that would disrupt any event in the city. So it is not our prediction, it is our preparation. If we practice, we're always ready. 

And no matter what we face, I think we see over and over again, even the sporadic pop-up protests that you witnessed, the city's able to move on with their daily activities. 

So we will be prepared, and that's why we are creating an environment where we can inspect who's coming into the parade site, how we're gonna control the flow of people, and ensure that we have proper deployment of personnel if there's any form of disruption. So we are prepared. 

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