NEW YORK — A New York City bill that would create protective zones around houses of worship drew supporters and opponents to City Hall on Wednesday, highlighting the ongoing split over the proposal, despite legislators attenuating its language before the hearing.

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin last month proposed the measure to mandate a police-enforced buffer zone of up to 100 feet (30.5 meters) around houses of worship and medical facilities, part of her broader plan to combat antisemitism in the city, where Jews are targeted in hate crimes more than all other groups combined.

After NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch expressed “concerns” about the bill, the legislation’s text was revised, removing mention of a specific distance, instead requesting that Tisch propose a plan for buffer zones to “contain the risk of injury, intimidation, and interference, while preserving and protecting protest rights, at places of religious worship.”

The legislation came after anti-Zionist protests outside two synagogues in the city that saw demonstrators chant in support of Hamas terrorists, harass Jews, use discriminatory epithets and make threats. The protesters said the demonstrations were political rallies targeting Israel-related events.

The proposed buffer zones are a thorny issue due to conflicts between civil rights protections for free speech, free assembly, and freedom of religion, as well as Jewish community security.

Anti-Zionist activist groups and leftist civil rights organizations are campaigning against the measures, calling them an attack on free speech, while mainstream Jewish groups are in support.

Before the hearing, activists protested on the steps of City Hall, holding signs that said, “Protect our right to protest,” and chanting, “Free Palestine.”

“The tactics that they test on colonized land always come home to suppress us here,” one speaker said, accusing lawmakers of “prioritizing Zionist interests over the needs of the city.”

“These bills are not about protecting worshipers or students. They are about making sure the machinery of empire runs without interruption,” he said.

Inside City Hall, legislators and faith leaders from Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities rallied in support of the legislation.

“I have seen firsthand how deeply incidents of hate impact families and entire communities. Our masjids, like all places of worship, should be spaces of peace, prayer, safety,” said Imam Maaz Ali of Iqra Masjid. “Protecting one community ultimately protects us all.”

During the hearing, Menin addressed “misconceptions” about the legislation.

“We’re not forgetting that our country was built on the protections of the First Amendment,” she said. “It is a freedom that these bills will uphold. What we will not allow is for people to abuse that freedom.”

Michael Gerber, the NYPD deputy commissioner for legal matters, said the police had “significant concerns” with the initial draft of the bill that mandated buffer zones of up to 100 feet, but had no objections to the revised legislation, stating that it would increase transparency, without harming the First Amendment.

The distance requirement “limited our ability to do frozen zones,” he said.

“Any time you’re going to put a number on these things, it’s really going to create problems,” he said. Protesters have the right to be seen and heard by those they are protesting against, and the distance needed to maintain that right varies by location, he said.

“At the same time, the protesters will not be permitted to obstruct, impede or interfere,” Gerber said.

Despite the brouhaha over the legislation, it would not have a major impact on the ground.

“The bill would not change what we do day-to-day. It would require us to articulate, and put in words on paper, what our approach is in these situations,” Gerber said.

The legislation is a response to a protest at the Park East Synagogue in November, and a demonstration at a synagogue in Queens in December. Tisch apologized for the Park East protest, when demonstrators gathered next to a synagogue entrance, and said the police would handle future demonstrations differently. The Queens protest took place more than 100 feet away from the synagogue.

“We got that one wrong,” Gerber said of the Park East protest, ascribing the mistake to “human error,” and not any legal issues.

More than 100 speakers testified at Wednesday’s hearing, including Jewish community leaders from the UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, and the Anti-Defamation League. Members of the public and representatives of leftist groups also spoke, dragging out the hearing for more than nine hours.

Jewish speakers described instances of antisemitism and harassment at their schools and places of worship, while the activists, including some Jews, called the legislation an attack on free speech.

“We want New York to continue to be a place where everyone feels welcome,” said Hindy Poupko of UJA. “We want to feel at home here.”

“These bills would be a disaster for organized labor and for free speech in our city. They follow the Trump playbook of muzzling protest instead of addressing the root causes of protest,” said Jonathan Bloom, a union organizer.

Many of the speakers framed the legislation as an assault on Palestinians. The Queens protest targeted an event providing information about real estate in Israel and a West Bank settlement, while the Park East protest targeted an event about moving to Israel.

“Your bill is 100% an attempt to further the sale of stolen Palestinian land in the synagogues and yeshivas in New York City,” one speaker said.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has pushed a separate, but similar, statewide proposal for 25-foot buffer zones around houses of worship.

An Anti-Defamation League poll released on Monday found that the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers back Hochul’s proposed buffer zones.

Menin is a moderate Democrat and the council’s first Jewish speaker. The role is a powerful position in the city government.

A leftist lawmaker from the city has proposed statewide legislation that would establish 100-foot buffer zones around abortion clinics. That proposal has not drawn protests, and New York already has laws that restrict protests at the entrance to abortion clinics.

One of the organizers against the legislation is an activist group called NYC for Abortion Rights.

“Palestinian freedom is a reproductive justice issue,” a speaker from the group told the council members. “We oppose Zionism, the ethno-supremacist and colonial doctrine that seeks to eradicate Palestinians.”

The synagogue legislation will likely present a challenge to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, putting him between his far-left allies and the City Council’s leadership and mainstream Jewish groups that back the buffer zones.

The proposed legislation will need to pass the City Council before going to Mamdani for approval. If the mayor signs the bill, it becomes a local law; if he vetoes the legislation, the council can override the veto with a two-thirds vote.

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