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New York City Mayor Adams Announces New $3 Million Holocaust Memorial
New York City Mayor Eric Adams meeting with Israelis during a reception in Jerusalem that was organized by the Combat Antisemitism Movement. Photo: Combat Antisemitism Movement’s X account
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Tuesday the planned creation of a $3 million Holocaust memorial to commemorate the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis in World War II as well as the survivors who rebuilt their lives in New York City.
The “Queens Holocaust Memorial” will be located on the grounds of the Queens Borough Hall and include artwork as well as a commemorative garden. The process of selecting an artist for the memorial will be led by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs’ “Percent for Art“ program in discussion with artists, historians, and Holocaust survivors.
The Queens Jewish Community Council, in partnership with local civic and faith leaders, originally proposed the idea for the memorial. The city and Office of Queens Borough President Donovan Richard Jr. allocated $3 million to support the development of the project, but the Queens Jewish Community Council will help raise additional funds to support the memorial’s design and construction.
A total of 14,700 Holocaust survivors live in New York, which is 50 percent of all survivors in the US, according to the UJA Federation New York. The new memorial will be the first major tribute to the Holocaust in the borough of Queens, which is where many Holocaust survivors settled when they moved to New York after World War II. The site will serve as a hosting ground for Holocaust remembrance ceremonies, educational programs for students, and community gatherings to promote solidarity across communities.
“It is not enough to say, ‘Never again’ — we have to live it with our actions too,” Adams said in a released statement. “By preserving the stories of both victims and survivors, by creating a permanent space for remembrance and reflection, by promoting understanding and solidarity across generations, this memorial will live out the meaning of ‘never again.’ As our city and our country confront the rising tide of antisemitism, our administration will not remain silent. We will use our office to call out hate wherever we find it, encourage compassion wherever we need it, and create a city where everyone can live side by side in harmony.”
Adams announced the creation of the memorial alongside Richard Jr. The latter said the Queens Holocaust Memorial “will not only pay a touching tribute to the six million innocent Jews murdered by the Nazis and the survivors who settled in our borough afterward, but it will also serve as daily inspiration for our fight to forge a future free of antisemitism.”
“No matter how much time passes since the evils of the Holocaust, New York City’s commitment to the pledge of ‘Never Again’ must never waver,” he added. “That is why, in the face of rising tides of heinous antisemitism and Holocaust denial across our society, I could not be prouder to lead this effort alongside the administration and the Queens’ Jewish community in creating this critically important memorial here at Queens Borough Hall.”
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who was elected earlier this month, will take office and replace Adams in January. Adams recently expressed concern for the safety of Jewish communities in New York under Mamdani’s leadership.
Leading members of the Jewish community in New York have also raised alarm bells about Mamdani’s victory in the mayoral election.
During his four years in office, Adams created the first mayor’s office dedicated to combating antisemitism; signed an executive order adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism; created the city’s first Jewish Advisory Council; and launched the New York City-Israel Economic Council.
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Lindsey Graham urges Israel not to strike Iranian oil depots even as he says he helped make war happen
(JTA) — Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has called on Israel to rein in its attacks on Iranian oil infrastructure, marking a rare note of caution from a Republican lawmaker who has said he helped push the United States to join Israel in waging war against Iran.
In a post on X on Sunday, Graham praised Israel for its role in the war before adding that “there will be a day soon that the Iranian people will be in charge of their own fate, not the murderous ayatollah’s regime.”
“In that regard, please be cautious about what targets you select,” continued Graham. “Our goal is to liberate the Iranian people in a fashion that does not cripple their chance to start a new and better life when this regime collapses. The oil economy of Iran will be essential to that endeavor.”
Graham’s post linked to an Axios article that reported that the United States was alarmed by Israeli strikes over the weekend that targeted 30 Iranian fuel depots. On Monday, U.S. gas prices rose to their highest levels since 2024.
The warning from Graham, an ally of President Donald Trump and staunch supporter of Israel, comes days after the Republican hawk told the Wall Street Journal that he had played a key role in urging Trump to strike Iran.
Prior to the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, Graham made several trips to Israel where he met with members of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu whom he said he coached on how to lobby Trump to strike Iran.
“They’ll tell me things our own government won’t tell me,” Graham told the newspaper.
On Monday, Graham also directed his criticism at Saudi Arabia’s decision to stay on the sidelines of the campaign against Iran.
“It is my understanding the Kingdom refuses to use their capable military as a part of an effort to end the barbaric and terrorist Iranian regime who has terrorized the region and killed 7 Americans,” wrote Graham in a post on X Monday. “Question – why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?”
The post Lindsey Graham urges Israel not to strike Iranian oil depots even as he says he helped make war happen appeared first on The Forward.
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Belgian officials investigating synagogue explosion as possible act of terrorism
(JTA) — Belgian officials are investigating an explosion in front of a synagogue in Liège early Monday as a possible act of terrorism.
The explosion, which took place at 4 a.m., damaged the door of the historic neo-Romanesque synagogue and blew out the windows of multiple buildings across the street. No injuries were reported.
A range of Belgian politicians, including the prime minister and the mayor of Liège, characterized the explosion as act of antisemitism.
“Antisemitism is an attack on our values and our society, and we must fight it unequivocally,” Prime Minister Bart de Wever said in a statement. “We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in Liege and across the country.”
The explosion comes amid a surge of concern about possible attacks by agents associated with the Iranian regime, against which the United States and Israel launched a war last week. Iran has a long record of supporting attacks on Jewish targets abroad, including two bombings in the 1990s in Argentina that killed more than 100 people at the Israeli embassy and a Jewish community center. Now, with Iran being pummeled at home, watchdogs are warning that it might lash out through its Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, responsible for attacks abroad.
Azerbaijan said Friday that it had foiled multiple terror attacks planned by Iranian agents on Jewish sites. In London, four men were arrested last week for allegedly spying on the Jewish community for Iran, with the intent of planning attacks against the community. And a string of shootings at synagogues in Toronto has ignited concern in Canada, too.
Iranian agents have taken aim at non-Jewish targets, too. On Friday, a Pakistani man who prosecutors said had been directed by Iran’s IRGC was convicted of plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump.
The attack in Liège, in the primarily French-speaking Wallonia province, comes amid a range of recent developments that have unsettled Belgian Jews, who number approximately 30,000. They include antisemitic carnival caricatures in the city of Aalst; a ban on ritual slaughter preventing the local production of kosher meat; and an ongoing row between U.S. and Belgian officials over Jewish circumcision practices. The attack also follows a 2014 shooting in which a gunman associated with the Islamic State, a rival to Iran’s Islamic Republic, shot four people to death at the Jewish Museum in Brussels.
A spokesperson for the Liège police described the effects to the area as “only material damage” to the 1899 building. Rabbi Joshua Nejman told local media that he was hoping that security footage would reveal the perpetrator.
“I’m going to try to calm my heart, because it is beating faster and faster this morning,” said Nejman, who said he had been at the synagogue for 25 years.
“Liege is home to a very small but vibrant Jewish community where I personally grew up,” Eitan Bergman, vice president of the Coordinating Committee of Jewish Organisations in Belgium, told Reuters. “Today, the feelings among our community members are a mixture of sadness, worry and profound shock.”
Liege’s mayor, Willy Demeyer, praised the synagogue community to RBTF, Belgium’s French-language national broadcaster. He added, “We cannot allow foreign conflicts to be imported into our city.”
The post Belgian officials investigating synagogue explosion as possible act of terrorism appeared first on The Forward.
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The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life, 2025
In honor of The Algemeiner‘s 12th annual gala, we are proud to present our “J100” list — 100 individuals who have positively influenced Jewish life over the past year.