NEW YORK, NY — New York police are stepping up security for Jewish New Yorkers as Rosh Hashanah begins this weekend, the same period when the city marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday that there are no “specific credible threats directed at High Holiday celebrations” in the city. Even so, she and Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the NYPD will increase its presence at synagogues, Jewish cultural institutions and religious schools across the five boroughs.
The expanded deployment comes after a year in which antisemitic hate crimes have risen 9% compared with the same point last year, according to Tisch. City officials said they want Jewish residents to be able to gather for the holiday safely and openly.
Police say no direct threat has been identified, but vigilance remains high
Tisch told reporters that the department has not identified a specific threat aimed at the holiday season. Still, she said the NYPD is watching for danger in the city, abroad and online through its intelligence and counterterrorism bureau.
Her comments reflected the tension of a season that brings together a major religious observance and one of the city’s most solemn public anniversaries. Police are preparing for both at once, with the added challenge of protecting crowded places of worship while also managing the large-scale security demands tied to 9/11 remembrance events.
Mamdani, appearing with Tisch, said the safety of those celebrating the Jewish new year is “of the utmost importance” to his administration. He said city officials would work to ensure that people can observe the holiday securely.
City leaders point to rising antisemitic hate crimes
Mamdani said he has heard from Jewish New Yorkers who are frightened by the rise in antisemitic hate crimes over the last several years. He said those fears are understandable and stressed that antisemitism in any form is unacceptable.
The mayor noted that Jewish New Yorkers make up roughly 10% to 12% of the city’s population, but account for a majority of hate-crime victims. That imbalance has made security around synagogues and other Jewish institutions a continuing concern for community members and local officials.
Tisch said the department is responding to those conditions with “amped up” deployments this year. She said the changes reflect the realities of the current threat environment, especially with increased concern since the start of hostilities in Iran.
Security will cover synagogues, yeshivas and Jewish cultural institutions
The NYPD said officers will be posted outside synagogues and other Jewish sites throughout the city. Tisch said the plan also includes extra protection for yeshivas and Jewish cultural institutions, not just houses of worship.
She and Mamdani described the effort as a broad, citywide operation rather than a narrow detail at a handful of landmarks. The goal, they said, is to reassure people gathering for High Holiday services and related events that police are visible and prepared.
Mitchell Silber, chief executive of the Community Security Initiative, said the protections are not new, but the city is dedicating more resources because demand has increased. The nonprofit works with about 3,200 locations across the New York region, including Long Island and parts of Connecticut.
9/11 commemorations will add another major security burden downtown
The Jewish holiday security plan is unfolding alongside major traffic restrictions and a large security operation tied to Friday’s 9/11 memorial event. Tisch said dignitaries and former presidents will be in Lower Manhattan to mark the anniversary.
By the time that commemoration ends, the police effort around Jewish sites “will already be underway across the five boroughs,” she said. That overlap means officers will be working two large public-safety missions at once, one focused downtown and another spread across neighborhoods citywide.
Tisch said the World Trade Center deployment will be larger this year than in previous years, and that the same is true for High Holiday coverage at shuls, yeshivas and Jewish cultural institutions. She said the scale of the response matches the current environment.
Community groups say the increased resources meet a growing need
Community Security Initiative leaders said the city’s approach is consistent with what has been done before, but with added resources. Silber said the extra support is meant to meet increased need rather than introduce an entirely new model of protection.
For Jewish organizations, the emphasis is on prevention and visibility. The city is pairing police deployments with intelligence monitoring in hopes of discouraging attacks before they happen and making holiday gatherings feel safer for worshippers and families.
Officials did not describe any disruptions to holiday observances, and they said the goal is to allow people to celebrate normally. For New York’s Jewish community, the message from city leaders was clear: the NYPD expects to be present, alert and broadly deployed throughout the holiday and memorial weekend.
