Speaker Julie Menin of the New York City Council is leading me to a place in Central Park she says is very special to her. We’ve just left the Met, where Menin delivered celebratory remarks alongside the museum’s director and CEO, Max Hollein, at a groundbreaking for the Tang Wing, its future home for modern and contemporary art. All seemed fine with the assembled crowd of donors, staff, and city officials cheering on the historic $670 million expansion. No one would ever guess that Menin had spent a third of the summer as a thorn in Hollein’s side, railing against the museum’s plans for a Costume Institute exhibition devoted to John Galliano — who has a history of outspoken racism and antisemitism — or that she had recently prevailed.

“I strongly disagreed with the Met’s decision to honor Galliano. I thought, How could it be? We are going to laud and celebrate the guy who said ‘I love Hitler’ and Jews should be gassed and also made anti-Asian slurs?” says Menin. “I was vocal with the Met from the start. I was vocal with board members. I was vocal with Jewish groups, some of whom had forgiven him.”

Menin took it upon herself to call Lauren London — a fashion publicist who had posted to social media that in 2019, Galliano yelled “Merry Christmas” at her friend who was speaking Hebrew. (Galliano has denied this occurred.) The alleged incident weakened Galliano’s claim that his record of antisemitism was in the distant past. “I tracked her down. I wanted to hear directly what happened. And I did say to the Met, and to Anna Wintour, ‘You need to investigate this.’ It was a serious, credible allegation.” (Wintour had looked into the incident before meeting with Menin and had helped arrange a September conversation between Menin and Galliano, a Wintour spokeswoman said.)

On August 31, the Met and Galliano canceled the show. It was an embarrassing about-face for the institution and a rare defeat for Wintour. I didn’t hear anyone mention it at the Tang event.

The museum casts a shadow over us as we enter the park at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue and stroll south. Just past the Three Bears Playground, Menin stops. “This is my grandmother’s bench,”........

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