Since the final days of the Democratic primary, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani had been dogged by criticism that he didn’t appreciate the implications of the pro-Palestinian slogan “globalize the Intifada.”
But at a meeting with a room full of prominent city business leaders Tuesday afternoon, the Democratic nominee pledged to discourage use of the phrase — while still supporting the ideas behind it.
Kathy Wylde, head of the influential Partnership for New York City business group, said Mamdani shared a story about a Jewish New Yorker who had told him the phrase triggered fear of violence. The nominee said he did not want to be seen as endorsing violence, and explained that he associated the phrase with anticolonialism.
“He himself does not plan to say it. But he plans to discourage others from using it,” said Wylde, whose group brokered the meeting with some 130 business leaders.
She added in an interview on WNYC’s “All Things Considered” that Mamdani and the leaders spoke “in depth” about his relationship with Jewish New Yorkers.
Mamdani sought to explain the meaning of “globalize the Intifada” last month while condemning calls for violence. “Intifada” refers to past Palestinian uprisings against Israel.
“Ultimately, what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights,” he said in an interview on the Bulwark podcast. “And I think what’s difficult also is that the very word has been used by the Holocaust Museum when translating the Warsaw ghetto uprising into Arabic, ’cause it’s a word that means struggle.”
Mamdani’s new stance amounted to a concession delivered to a politically powerful group surprised by his primary win. The state assemblymember from Queens prevailed thanks to youth turnout and grassroots support that was not fully captured in the polls. His campaign centered on taxing wealthy New Yorkers to make the city more affordable.
Wylde said the executives in the room Tuesday agreed with the goal of making the city more affordable, but how to get there was up for debate. She said after the meeting that her group’s members found Mamdani “much less scary,” even as they disagreed on some issues.
“None of them have ever met him,” she said. “This was really an introductory meeting for them to see something beyond the caricature of him that they’ve seen from social media reports and negative advertising.”
The face-to-face meeting with business leaders came as some of the city’s power brokers are planning to spend millions of dollars — again — in the hopes of beating Mamdani in the November general election.
The contest will feature Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo running as independents. Hedge fund titans Bill Ackman and Daniel Loeb are among those opposed to Mamdani who are weighing how to influence the election.
Attendees at Tuesday’s meeting included Rob Speyer, who runs the real estate company Tishman Speyer, and James Tisch, CEO of the Loews Corporation and father of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Mamdani recently said he is open to keeping Commissioner Tisch in her position if he wins the mayor’s race.
The meeting was the first of two Mamdani is expected to have with the city’s business community. He is set to hold court Wednesday with a group of younger entrepreneurs, including from the tech industry.
Adams is slated to attend a Partnership for New York City breakfast Thursday.
In a statement, the Mamdani campaign described the meeting as a “constructive, honest discussion,” while acknowledging a key area of disagreement: Mamdani’s proposal to increase taxes on the wealthiest individuals and corporations to fund his signature policy proposals like free buses and universal child care.
“We look forward to the opportunity to build on this conversation, even in navigating disagreement on fiscal policy,” Jeffrey Lerner, a campaign spokesperson, said. “Zohran continues to believe that working in partnership is the best way to deliver an affordable city for all New Yorkers.”
Mamdani has begun framing his proposed tax increases, which could generate billions of dollars in revenue, as less dramatic than some might have thought. Temporary tax cuts passed by congressional Republicans in 2017 became permanent earlier this month when President Donald Trump signed his signature tax-and-spending megabill. The law makes steep cuts to social safety net programs, including Medicaid and food assistance.
Earlier Tuesday, Mamdani spoke at a union rally where he said his financial plan would leave individuals and corporations in the top income brackets “paying less in taxes than they did before Donald Trump’s first administration.”
Any proposed tax increase would need the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who’s facing reelection next year. She has been a vocal opponent of raising income taxes, saying such increases would drive affluent residents and employers out of the state.
James Parrott, a veteran economist who worked under Mayor David Dinkins, said Mamdani was making the right case.
“If high-income people are getting another windfall, wouldn’t it be reasonable to capture some of that?” he said.
Mitchell Moss, who worked under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and now teaches at NYU, likened Tuesday’s meeting to a first date.
“They are learning about each other,” Moss said.
The city’s corporations have over the years withdrawn from city politics, he added, and hadn’t expected the most left-leaning candidate to prevail.
“Mamdani has become a wake up call,” Moss said. “He’s a shot of vitamin B12 in their fannies.”
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