NEW YORK — New York’s Democratic party leadership, but not New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, turned out on Sunday for the city’s annual Israel Day parade, alongside tens of thousands of Jews and allies from the city and the surrounding region.

The event maintained its festive atmosphere and went off without a hitch, despite the boycott from the mayor and security fears that had prompted heavy precautions from police.

Mamdani’s refusal to participate marked the first time a mayor had boycotted the parade since it was first held in 1965.

The annual parade, officially called Israel Day on Fifth, sees Jewish and pro-Israel groups march up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

New York leaders kicked off the event in Midtown Manhattan. Governor Kathy Hochul, Sen. Chuck Schumer, other members of Congress, Attorney General Letitia James, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, City Council Speaker Julie Menin and City Comptroller Mark Levine all addressed the crowd, alongside Jewish communal leaders.

“Today we march in defiance and also to stand up for the values that defined New York State since its very beginning,” Hochul said.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, a communal group that organizes the parade, estimated that more than 50,000 participants marched, alongside thousands of spectators, in one of the event’s highest turnouts ever.

The massive crowd and support from the city and state leadership marked a show of force for a Jewish community that feels increasingly embattled due to antisemitism, hate crimes, terror threats and increasing hostility to Israel.

Various communities around the city hold annual parades, and the Israel march serves as the Jewish community’s de facto annual public event.

The parade’s theme this year was “Proud........

© The Times of Israel