NY Mayor Mamdani defends scrapping executive orders his predecessor issued

The orders were issued by Eric Adams after his 2024 federal indictment over illegal campaign contributions

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference at Grand Army Plaza in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, US, Jan 2, 2026. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday defended his revocation of executive orders that his predecessor Eric Adams issued after being indicted in 2024 on federal charges of accepting illegal campaign contributions.

The dozen orders Adams issued since his indictment included a directive to allow federal agents, including immigration officers, to use an office on Rikers Island, the city's main jail. That order was later struck down by a court.

The new mayor also struck down executive orders that Adams had portrayed as addressing antisemitism. Mamdani, a Muslim who some have accused of antisemitism over his support of Palestinians in Gaza, told reporters on Friday that he would fund measures to prevent hate crimes, and would make protection of Jewish New Yorkers a focus of his administration.

Mamdani recalled September 26, 2024, the day when Adams was charged with accepting illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel from Turkish nationals seeking to influence him, as "a moment when many New Yorkers lost even more faith in New York City politics and the ability of city government to actually prioritise the needs of the public, as opposed to the needs of the person."

In April, a US judge dismissed the charges against Adams, a Democrat, at the request of the US Justice Department, which had argued that the case was distracting the mayor from helping Republican President Donald Trump step up deportations.

Mamdani, from the left wing of the Democratic Party, has clashed with Trump over the immigration crackdown.

On Thursday, Mamdani revoked orders by Adams that had prevented city institutions from divesting from Israel and that defined antisemitism in a way recognised by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental organisation of 35 countries that promotes Holocaust education.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is among groups that argue the IHRA definition has been used to try to silence advocates for Palestinian rights.

While Islamic organisations praised Mamdani's moves, Israel's Foreign Ministry posted on X on Friday that Mamdani "shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel. This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire."