Speaker Julie Menin Introduces Legislation as Part of Five-Point Action Plan to Combat Antisemitism and Strengthen Community Safety

Legislative package includes the Schools and Houses of Worship Access and Safety Act to establish a safe perimeter around entrances and exits of houses of worship and schools

NEW YORK, NY - Today, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin introduced a package of legislation as part of the Council-led five-point action plan to combat antisemitism, strengthen protections for schools and all houses of worship, and expand Holocaust education citywide. The bills would establish a safe perimeter around entrances and exits of houses of worship, set up a dedicated hotline to report incidents of antisemitism, and require the New York City Department of Education to distribute materials to students regarding the ways that social media use can contribute to antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hate.

"As we see an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents, the City Council is taking decisive action to invest in education, strengthen protections for schools and houses of worship, support community safety, and ensure we have the tools to confront hatred," said Speaker Julie Menin. "As the first Jewish Speaker of the City Council, and as the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, this effort is deeply personal to me. These bills and our new task force will help protect New Yorkers and ensure that hate, harassment, and intimidation are never normalized in our city."

In 2008, after escalating harassment outside reproductive health clinics, the Council passed laws to ensure safe access while preserving the right to protest. Those laws survived legal challenges because they were carefully and precisely crafted to be constitutional. The Council is following that same lawful blueprint now. These new protections will apply to every New Yorker, regardless of their house of worship or the school their children attend.

The City Council's Five-Point Action Plan to Combat Antisemitism is a proactive approach to addressing rising antisemitism through concrete action, pairing education and prevention with enhanced public safety, data collection, and accountability, while firmly upholding constitutional protections and the rights of all New Yorkers.

The bills included in the legislative package would:

• Introduction 0731, sponsored by Speaker Menin, will require police to submit a plan establish security perimeters at places of religious worship. This bill will fully protect the First Amendment right to peacefully protest, which is sacrosanct.

• Introduction 0751, sponsored by Council Members Eric Dinowitz and Joann Ariola, will require police to submit a plan to establish security perimeters at educational facilities.

• Introduction 0726, sponsored by Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, will build upon an existing security guard reimbursement program for nonpublic schools.

• Introduction 0722, sponsored by Council Members Virginia Maloney and Eric Dinowitz, will require the mayor to designate an agency or office that, in consultation with NYCEM and NYPD, would support religious institutions in establishing emergency plans.

• Introduction 0796, sponsored by Council Member Lincoln Restler, will establish a hotline for receiving reports from the public regarding incidents motivated by antisemitic, anti-Asian, and gender-based hate or bias.

• Introduction 0757, sponsored by Council Members Shaun Abreu and Linda Lee, will require the Department of Education (DOE) to distribute age-appropriate materials to middle and high school students regarding the risks and dangers associated with social media for youth.

• Introduction 2066, sponsored by Council Member Dinowitz, will require the police department to report on the status of hate crime cases.

The Council's action comes amid a documented rise in antisemitic incidents nationwide and heightened concerns about safety around religious institutions in New York City. According to the NYPD, antisemitic incidents accounted for 57% of reported hate crimes in 2025, although only approximately 10% of New York City residents are Jewish. Jewish New Yorkers were the targets of hate crimes more than all other groups combined.

The action plan builds on Speaker Menin's long-standing leadership on Holocaust education and combating antisemitism. In 2024, she spearheaded a landmark public-private partnership to send all eighth-grade public and charter school students to the Museum of Jewish Heritage, expanding access to Holocaust education for tens of thousands of students citywide. That initiative, one of the most ambitious of its kind in the country, was designed to confront antisemitism at its roots through education, dialogue, and historical understanding.

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