In a decisive and controversial start to his tenure, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has revoked nine executive orders issued by his predecessor, Eric Adams, undoing a swath of policies ranging from cryptocurrency promotion to the city’s stance on Israel.
The move, executed just hours after Mamdani was sworn in as the city’s first Muslim mayor, was framed by his administration as a necessary “fresh start” to clear away actions taken after Adams was indicted on corruption charges in 2024.
However, the decision to rescind specific orders targeting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and the definition of antisemitism has triggered an immediate diplomatic incident, with the State of Israel accusing the new mayor of pouring “antisemitic gasoline on an open fire.”
At a Glance: The Day One Revocations
- The Action: Mayor Mamdani signed an executive order invalidating all directives issued by former Mayor Eric Adams after September 26, 2024 (the date of Adams’ federal indictment).
- The Key Revocations:
- Anti-BDS: An order barring city agencies from boycotting or divesting from Israel.
- Antisemitism Definition: An order adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which includes certain criticisms of Israel.
- Immigration: An order allowing ICE agents access to Rikers Island for investigations.
- Miscellaneous: Orders banning horse-drawn carriages and establishing offices for cryptocurrency and rat mitigation.
- The Retention: Mamdani kept the Office to Combat Antisemitism and restrictions on protests at houses of worship, though he amended the latter to require legal review.
- The Reaction: Israel’s Foreign Ministry and major Jewish organizations condemned the move as dangerous; civil liberties groups praised it as a restoration of free speech.
‘Tainted’ by Indictment
Mamdani’s legal rationale for the sweeping repeal was tied to the corruption scandal that consumed the final year of the Adams administration.
The mayor argued that any executive action taken by Adams after he was charged with bribery and accepting illegal campaign contributions from Turkish operatives was fundamentally “tainted.” Although those charges were controversially dismissed by President Trump’s Justice Department last spring, Mamdani maintained that the indictment date marked the moment New Yorkers lost faith in their leadership.
“We have to reckon with why so many New Yorkers have turned away from politics… that was a date that marked a moment when many New Yorkers decided that politics held nothing for them.” — Mayor Zohran Mamdani
The Diplomatic Firestorm
While the revocations covered rats and crypto, the political explosion was centered entirely on Israel.
By scrapping the order that adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, Mamdani sided with progressives who argue the definition conflates legitimate criticism of Israeli policy with hate speech.
The reaction from Israel was swift and blistering. The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Mamdani of showing “his true face” and endangering Jewish residents in the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
“This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire.” — Israeli Foreign Ministry Statement
Mainstream Jewish organizations, including the ADL and the Conference of Presidents, echoed these concerns, arguing that removing the anti-BDS order singles out the Jewish state for economic warfare.
Mamdani’s Defense: ‘Politics of Universality’
Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist who has previously accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza, pushed back against the accusations of antisemitism.
He emphasized that he retained the Office to Combat Antisemitism – albeit with structural changes – and pledged to protect Jewish New Yorkers through a “politics of universality” rather than specific carve-outs for one nation.
Civil rights groups like the NYCLU and CAIR-NY rallied to his defense, calling Adams’ original orders “unconstitutional” attempts to suppress free speech and shield a foreign government from criticism.
Beyond the Culture War
The revocations also signaled a sharp pivot in domestic policy. By scrapping the order allowing ICE on Rikers Island, Mamdani reinstated a hardline “sanctuary city” stance, directly defying the Trump administration’s deportation agenda.
He also undid Adams’ “war on rats” bureaucracy and the crypto-friendly initiatives that defined the previous mayor’s tech optimism. Even the horse carriage ban, a lingering issue for animal rights activists, was tossed, with Mamdani preferring to negotiate with unions rather than rule by fiat.
As the dust settles on his first day, Mamdani has made his priorities clear: a clean break from the Adams era, a confrontational stance toward the Trump White House, and a willingness to engage in the thorniest geopolitical fights from City Hall.