NEW YORK — Julie Menin, a Jewish moderate, was confirmed on Wednesday as the speaker of the New York City Council, assuming a powerful position in the city government that can act as a counterweight to Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Menin, a Democrat and the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, is the city’s first Jewish speaker.

Menin, 58, has represented the city’s District 5, covering parts of the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island, since 2022. She is a member of the council’s Jewish Caucus and a supporter of Jewish community issues.

She won the speakership with unanimous support in the 51-member council.

In her acceptance speech, Menin described her family’s Holocaust history, their finding refuge in New York, and her efforts to combat Islamophobia in New York City after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack.

“We live in a day when the first Muslim mayor of New York City and the first Jewish speaker of this council are serving at the same time. This moment truly is historic,” Menin said in her acceptance speech. “What will write this interfaith leadership into the history books is........

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