As Adams Speculates About “Lone Wolf” Attacks, NYPD Steps Up Patrols of Religious Sites

At an October 10th Q&A session held at City Hall, NYC Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell told New Yorkers to “not let their guard down” around temples of worship.

Tensions have remained high between Jewish and Palestinian residents of the city since Saturday, October 7, after the Islamist militant group Hamas launched a surprise assault on the country of Israel. Breaking through a border perimeter hemming in the Gaza Strip, they killed IDF soldiers at outposts and gunned down civilians in kibbutzes, kicking off a current Israeli death toll of more than 1,200. Around 150 Israeli hostages–both civilians and soldiers–were reportedly taken back into Gaza by Hamas.

Israel has retaliated by sieging the tiny enclave of 2 million people, cutting off all electricity, food, and medical supplies. They’ve also performed airstrikes on Gazan civilians in hospitals, residential buildings, and civilian markets. At least 1,400 Palestinians have died as of press time.

Mentioning stepped-up police patrols around synagogues and other “religious institutions,” Chell clarified that “we had minimal incidents to report, and we’re tracking all social media. Our intel’s tracking any threats. There are no threats.” This echoes a finding by the FBI, which noted that they are “closely monitoring unfolding events and will share relevant information with our state, local, federal and international law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security partners to ensure they are prepared for any impacts to public safety.”

Adams’ nonetheless speculated that social media might yet produce threats, saying that New Yorkers shouldn’t “underestimate our ‘lone wolves’, you know, people who are being radicalized online...when you put out statements that I have read on some of these sites, you can motivate terrible behaviors.”

The mayor appeared to single out the Jewish population of New York City as his priority, saying that “New York City has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and this is a city where tolerance and acceptance and coexistence is important.” However, both Chell and Adams thanked “Muslim faith leaders” and “Muslim brothers and sisters” for reaching out to them in recent days.

Adams also delved into what the policing of religious institutions would entail, using the example of a synagogue. “In our meetings with our synagogues we’re going to clearly...designate a security team or personnel within the synagogues to do perimeter search and views, observations. If someone is hanging around a synagogue or you know, you see someone within the community that is suspicious, see something, say something, do something.”

There are, however, some detractors when it comes to the mayoral administration’s response. Afaf Nasher, the president of Council on Islamic-American Relations New York–a chapter of a prominent national Muslim civil rights organization–condemned Adams’s response to pro-Palestinian activists on the morning before the Q&A: “Not only does Mayor Adam’s reckless rhetoric cater to a one-sided agenda, but blatantly undermines the constitutional right of all Americans to protest and engage in free speech.”

Indeed, Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Adams seem to have left little doubt about where they stand on the conflict. They spoke at a pro-Israel rally that same day at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, near the United Nations.

“This [attack] was something that shows Hamas must be disbanded and destroyed,” Adams told the crowd of thousands.

“I’ll tell you as governor of the state of New York. I am so proud to govern a state that has the largest Jewish population in the world. I stand here to tell you that New Yorkers will never tolerate evil, whether it’s committed here in our homeland or in Israel,” Hochul said.

Adams also hosted an interfaith meeting at Gracie Mansion that evening, where he again denounced the Hamas attacks. He also proclaimed that “no Muslim in the city, no Muslim in this country should believe because we denounce what Hamas has done that we are denouncing Islam.”

Clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protestors flared in New York City on Oct. 8, the day after the Hamas attack.