Article By Nicole Weatherholtz
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin has introduced a bill that would allow the NYPD to establish protest buffer zones of up to 100 feet outside synagogues and other city houses of worship, according to the New York Post.
Introduced on Thursday, the proposed legislation would permit police to establish a security perimeter — capped at 100 feet — around religious institutions during demonstrations, with the specific distance determined on a case-by-case basis.
“Jewish New Yorkers make up roughly 10% of our city’s population yet last year they were the victims of more than half of all reported hate crimes,” Menin said. “That’s a reality we cannot normalize and we cannot ignore.”
Menin, who is the city’s first Jewish council speaker, pitched the measure as one piece of a broader, recently announced five-point plan aimed at combating antisemitism.
The plan also includes reimbursement programs for security cameras at private schools, security training for religious organizations, and $1.25 million in new funding for the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
The push comes after anti-Israel protesters have demonstrated outside synagogues across the five boroughs, at times using antisemitic language — including declarations such as “we support Hamas.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has previously floated state legislation that would create a 25-foot protest buffer zone around houses of worship.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, meanwhile, notably did not applaud when Hochul raised the issue during her “State of the State” address in Albany earlier this month. The mayor’s office has said the administration was awaiting a review from the city Law Department to assess the legality of such proposals.
Opponents of buffer zone legislation argue the approach could infringe on First Amendment rights.
Menin pushed back at a Thursday press conference ahead of a City Council meeting, saying that the “right to peacefully protest is sacrosanct.”
“It’s what our country was built on,” she said. “None of these bills penalize protests.”
“That is not what we’re doing,” Menin added. “What we are doing is really creating the safe perimeters that allow people to really move into their respective house of worship and schools.”
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