Saritha Komatireddy’s Statement on Mamdani Antisemitism Plan: “Funding Welcome, But Someone Has To Prosecute.”

New York – Crime-fighting New York State attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy, who will lock up repeat offenders, build residential treatment for the homeless, and root out fraud, today said Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “Strategy to Combat Antisemitism” gets one thing right and misses the thing that matters most: money for cameras and police is worthless if no one prosecutes the people who attack Jews.

Ms. Komatireddy is an award-winning federal prosecutor who has put leaders of ISIS, al Qaeda, and the Sinaloa Drug Cartel in prison. She convicted Mexico’s most senior law enforcement official of working with the cartels to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. She served her country as chief of staff to the 10,000-person U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. She also served as Counsel to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill investigation and cleanup program. Ms. Komatireddy, 42, a mother of four and a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, has worked for three U.S. Presidents, Democratic and Republican.

“I’ll give the Mayor this much: the plan acknowledges that antisemitism is real and growing in this city,” Ms. Komatireddy said. “Funding for security and for NYPD hate-crime work is needed, but someone has to make sure that we take that case into a courtroom and win it. Our Attorney General is not doing that. I will.”

“Hate crimes in New York have doubled under AG Letitia James and antisemitic incidents have tripled. Her record is indefensible,” Komatireddy said. AG James has never criminally prosecuted a hate crimes case during her two terms in office, Komatireddy noted, and under AG James, the office’s Hate Crimes Unit remains unstaffed. Ms. Komatireddy pledged to immediately staff it upon taking office.

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services publishes data on hate crimes in New York: it recorded a 96% increase from 2020 to 2024. The ADL tracks antisemitic incidents in New York: they recorded a 234% increase from 2019 to 2024.

Jewish New Yorkers make up roughly 12% of New York City’s population but have been the target of 57% of hate crimes recorded this year, with confirmed hate crimes citywide up this year.
The cases are not abstractions:
July 23, Upper West Side. A 50-year-old man in a kippah was stabbed in the chest with a screwdriver as he left The Jewish Center on West 86th Street after afternoon prayers on Tisha B’Av. The accused, Raul Morales, 51, shouted “Allahu Akbar.” The victim, who has asked that his name not be published, pulled the screwdriver out of his own chest.
August 14, Central Synagogue. An intruder walked into Friday night Shabbat services, struck a 63-year-old congregant, smashed synagogue property, and spat on and headbutted a security guard.
January 28, Crown Heights. A vehicle was deliberately driven into Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway. The NYPD is treating it as an antisemitic hate crime.

“Every one of those cases has a suspect. The question is what happens next,” Ms. Komatireddy said. “The Attorney General of New York has the tools to answer that question today. She has chosen not to use them.”

Ms. Komatireddy pledged that, as attorney general, she will:
Establish buffer zones around synagogues: New York Civil Rights Law § 79-m gives the Attorney General the power to go to court and stop anyone who interferes with religious worship. Letitia James has used that section to keep protesters away from other buildings. She has never used it for a synagogue. “I will,” Ms. Komatireddy said. “A mob screaming at families walking into shul will get a court order, and if they break it, a cell. This does not require the Mayor’s permission or the City Council’s. It requires an Attorney General willing to file.”
Protect Jewish students: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act protects students from discrimination based on shared ancestry, including Jewish students. The Attorney General has brought civil rights actions on behalf of students of other backgrounds. She has not brought one for Jewish students. Ms. Komatireddy currently represents Jewish students at MIT in a Title VI case before the United States Supreme Court. “I know how these cases are built. As Attorney General, I will bring them against any school in New York, public or private, that lets Jewish kids be threatened and excluded.”
Hate-crime prosecutions: The Attorney General has special jurisdiction to prosecute hate crimes. Ms. James has never used it. She does not even staff the office’s Hate Crimes Bureau. “I will staff it on Day One, with prosecutors who have tried violent cases, and I will use it,” Ms. Komatireddy said. “If a district attorney will not bring a hate-crime case, my office will.”
Declare a State of Emergency: On Day One, Ms. Komatireddy will declare a state of emergency on antisemitism in New York City, putting every district attorney, every school and every publicly funded institution in the city on notice that the Attorney General’s office will act where they do not.

“The Attorney General is a statewide officer. She doesn’t answer to the Mayor, and her jurisdiction doesn’t depend on his cooperation,” Ms. Komatireddy said. “I will judge the Mayor by what he does, not what he says. But Jewish New Yorkers deserve to know there is a law enforcement office in this state that will protect them no matter who sits in City Hall. That will be mine.

“If New York isn’t safe, nothing else matters.”

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