NY City Council passes 'buffer zone' bill sparked by Park East Synagogue protest

Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News on Mar 26, 2026

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NEW YORK — The New York City Council on Thursday passed a bill aimed at limiting the scope of disruptive protests outside of synagogues and other houses of worship that has sparked concern over free speech issues that critics say is aimed at pro-Palestinian protesters.

The bill, a scaled-back version of an original version proposing the New York Police Department secure perimeters of up to 100 feet outside of houses of worship, passed with a veto-proof majority of 44-5, with one abstention.

The initiative was sparked by an unruly protest outside Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side in November. Amid sharp criticism over what some saw as an inadequate NYPD response, Council Speaker Julie Menin vowed to pass a bill requiring the buffer zones. The protest was opposing a fair held at the synagogue by Nefesh B’Nefesh, a nonprofit organization that helps Jews move to Israel and to the occupied West Bank.

“The increase in hateful acts across the city is absolutely abhorrent, and we have to do something about it,” Menin said at a news conference ahead of the meeting, citing an increase in antisemitic incidents.

A similar bill to create buffer zones for protests outside schools also passed, but only by a 30-19 margin — meaning Mayor Zohran Mamdani could successfully veto it. It’s unclear whether the mayor, who’s expressed skepticism about the legislation, will move to veto the bills.

“The mayor is keenly aware of the serious concerns regarding these bills’ limiting of New Yorkers’ constitutional rights, and he will keep these concerns in mind for any bills that land on his desk,” Dora Pekec, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said in a statement. “He wants to ensure both the right to prayer and the right to protest are protected here in New York City.”

Councilwoman Alexa Aviles, a progressive Democrat, slammed the package as “performative policy” that threatens New Yorkers’ rights to free speech.

The bills “are a message against dissent, in particular against pro-Palestinian voices,” she said before voting no on both the houses of worship and schools bills.

“In a moment when free speech is under attack, when New York City should be protecting our rights, not curtailing them, I look forward to seriously working on ways to bring our communities together with evidence-based strategies.”

Menin, a moderate Democrat and the daughter of Holocaust survivors, has positioned herself as a foil to the mayor and has made fighting antisemitism a core issue for her.

After questions about the legality of the initial proposal establishing the buffer zones were raised, including from the mayor and police commissioner, the Council modified the bill.

The bill now requires the NYPD to form a plan for how to address and limit obstruction, intimidation and physical injury. That plan, shared with the mayor and the speaker, would determine whether “security perimeters” are needed and if so, how big they should be. The Police Department would also then share their plan publicly.

Menin said at a news conference ahead of the vote that the mayor “hasn’t indicated to me that he will” veto the measures but also said that she hasn’t spoken to Mamdani “recently” about the bills.

“I don’t know what Mayor Mamdani is going to do, but I look forward to a city where we can make sure we keep our students safe through transparency and accountability of the NYPD,” Eric Dinowitz, who introduced the schools protest bill, said after the vote.

The package of bills also included a $1.25 million in funding add to the Museum of Jewish Heritage for Holocaust education and creating a hotline to report antisemitic incidents.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU, called the bills an “attack on free speech” at a rally outside City Hall ahead of the vote.

“This is no time for the political leaders of our city to be pressing for legislation that could put our right to protest in danger. But that’s precisely what they’re doing right now,” Lieberman said.