Hanukkah Menorah Lightings Bring Joy—& High Security—to City

Thousands of New York Jews and their friends, as well as hundreds of security-bolstering NYPD cops, braved frigid cold and slush to light menorahs, sing, dance, eat. and otherwise celebrate the first night of Hanukkah on Dec. 14.

Events were held at Times Square, on Columbia University campus in Morningside Heights, Carl Schurz Park in Yorkville, and Grand Army Plaza, at Fifth Avenue on the southeast corner of Central Park, among other places. This last location features what is billed—and Guinness Book of World Records certified as—the world’s largest menorah: 32 feet tall and weighing around 4,000 pounds. “How do you weigh a menorah that big?” the simple son might ask. “With a very large scale, my boy,” a father answers. “They weigh trucks, don’t they?”

The joy of this first night of Hanukkah was tempered but not extinguished by the horrific news out of Australia earlier that morning. Just as families were waking up to a few inches of clean snowfall and facing the inevitable questions of where to take their kids to play in it, increasingly detailed reports of the mass shooting by alleged father and son gunmen during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney emerged. At press time, at least 16 persons have been killed, and 40 others wounded.

Mayor Eric Adams had a Sunday press conference at police headquarters addressing the Bondi Beach slaughter, as well as the recent mass shootings at Brown University in Providence, RI, and another outside a Sweet 16 party in the Cypress Hills section of Brooklyn.

Somber and fatigued, Hizzoner accidentally misspoke Australia as Austria but later apologized and corrected himself on mic. Among those present with Adams were Patrol Borough Manhattan South Chief James McCarthy and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

“It is the first night of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, when Jews are obligated to publicize the celebration of their faith,” said Hizzoner. “And among the murdered victims attacked was a rabbi who had ties to Crown Heights, as well as a Holocaust survivor. . . . Let me say that again, a rabbi, a Holocaust survivor, killed for being Jewish. Antisemitism has no place in our city and our society, in our world.

“The attack in Sydney is exactly what it means to ‘globalize the intifada.’ We saw the actualization of globalization of intifada in Sydney.”

NYPD Commissioner Tisch, after addressing what was known about the Brown and Cypress Hills shootings, said NYPD had been in contact with Australian law enforcement, including the department’s own liaison in Sydney. Though there were no known anti-Jewish threats to the city, Tisch explained, “You will see an enhanced uniform presence, specialized patrols, heavy weapons teams, community affairs officers, counter-terrorism resources, and bomb squad deployments where appropriate.”

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who had previously used the slogan “globalize the intifada” but has since discouraged its use, decried the Bondi Beach attack as a “vile act of antisemitic terror. What happened at Bondi is what many Jewish people fear will happen in their communities too.

“When I am mayor,” Mamdani continued, “I will work every day to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe—on our streets, our subways, at shul, in every moment of every day. Let this be a purpose shared by every New Yorker, and let us banish this horrific violence to the past.”

Other solons, especially Jewish ones, weighed in also.

Council Member Gale Brewer said, “There are no words to describe the horrific attack on the Hanukkah celebration in Australia. I mourn for the victims—brutally murdered for being Jewish—their loved ones, and their neighbors. Antisemitic language and behavior lead to this type of violence. We all must rise to call it by its name and commit to stop its insidious spread. In these times of darkness, we must gather and demonstrate acts of bravery, community, kindness.”

Comptroller-elect Mark Levine said, “I have received many messages from Jewish NYers asking about the safety of public menorah lightings tonight. The NYPD will be deploying additional resources at these events, and has stated that there is no known nexus between the Sydney attack and NYC. I personally will be at multiple lightings. I believe it is more important than ever that we are public and proud as Jewish New Yorkers.”

Incoming Council Speaker Julie Menin, who has a direct familial connection to Australia said, “Tonight, as families light the candles for Hanukkah, the grief of families who lost loved ones in Sydney is beyond heartbreaking. Sydney served as a refuge and the only place my mother and grandmother were able to go after escaping Hungary and surviving the Holocaust.

“Many countries turned them away. But the Jewish community in Sydney welcomed them, and they spent six years of my mom’s childhood there, recovering from the horrific trauma and loss of so many family members, including my grandfather. Many warned about rising antisemitism in Sydney. To see what’s happening there and elsewhere is abhorrent. Tonight, we light the menorah in the victims’ honor.”

And light it they did.

Speaking from the balcony of the giant candelabrum in Grand Army Plaza, Rabbi Velvl Butman of Chabad-Lubavitch, the longtime organizer of public menorah lightings, said, “We send a clear message to the world, ‘Our Faith is Alive.’ The menorah flames are not flames of fear. They are flames of strength, courage, and resolve. We will increase our commitment to Torah and Mitzvoh.

“We will educate our children with Jewish pride and Jewish identity.. Every person here is a source of light, each of you is a walking menorah. . . . Through our words, our choices, and our actions, we illuminate the world around us. You are the candle of God. You are unique, precious, and purposeful. Am Yisroel Chai!” (The people of Israel live.)