Borough Park Eichler's Store Denies Inviting Mayor Mamdani

The owner of the Borough Park Judaica store that hosted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani this week says he never invited him.

Hirsch Meir Traube, who owns 1800 Eichler's at 5004 13th Avenue, posted a video Thursday night after two days of mounting anger over footage of the mayor's visit. "We did not invite Mayor Mamdani," Traube said. "None of our staff were involved in any of the gift giving. It was all from independent influencers." He also denied that his people had anything to do with removing a Jewish woman who tried to confront the mayor inside the shop. "We weren't involved in kicking anyone out of the store," he said, ending with, "We do support Israel. Am Yisroel Chai."

Mamdani came to Borough Park on Wednesday afternoon, apparently his first visit to the neighborhood as mayor, a week and a half before Rosh Hashanah begins on the evening of September 11. Video released by his office showed him touring displays of shofars and holiday goods and talking with local figures about garbage collection and yeshiva curriculum. Avi Greenstein of the Boro Park Jewish Community Council and Rabbi Yakov Landau of the Satmar mosdos were among those who welcomed him. Uri Fraenkel, the mayor's director of special projects, blew a shofar and explained elements of Hasidic dress. Mamdani was handed honey and wished everyone a shana tova. "It is so lovely to be here, especially before the High Holidays," he told BoroPark24.

Then Stephanie Benshimol walked in. The activist, who founded the group United Zionists and describes herself as the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, filmed herself telling the mayor that he was the reason there is so much antisemitism in the city and that he had "such chutzpah" for coming. Mamdani smiled and did not respond. As staff moved her toward the door she called one of them a "kapo." Security escorted her out and the mayor was ushered away, according to footage licensed by FreedomNTV. Benshimol had already confronted Phylisa Wisdom, who runs the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism, on the street outside.

Outside the store she turned on the hosts. "Shame on you for allowing him to come into the heart of the Jewish neighborhood of Boro Park," she said, pointing to a building where she said her grandmother Shaindel ran a wig store after the Holocaust.

That is the part that has kept the story alive. Much of the criticism circulating in the community since Wednesday is not about letting the mayor through the door, it is about the reception he got. A widely shared reader letter published by The Yeshiva World argued that there was nothing wrong with admitting the mayor of New York, but that what unfolded inside was embarrassing, with people crowding for photographs and a Jewish social media personality presenting Mamdani with apple cider and pouring it for him into a silver becher. The letter's sharpest line was about priorities: the woman raising antisemitism was treated as the embarrassment, while everyone rushing to impress the mayor was not.

Not everyone in the store disagreed with her. Menachem Gindi, an Eichler's employee who was there, told CBS New York that the confrontation was uncomfortable but that he thought Benshimol had a point.

Israel's Consul General in New York, Ofir Akunis, praised her outright, saying she had told Mamdani the truth and that hate crimes against Jews have climbed since he took office. The NYPD has reported that anti-Jewish hate crimes are up year to date and account for more than half of all hate crimes recorded in the city.

The two Eichler's stores are constantly confused: the store Mamdani visited is 1800 Eichler's on 13th Avenue, independently owned by Traube since roughly 2024 and formerly known as The New Eichler's. Eichler's of Flatbush, at 1401 Coney Island Avenue, is a separate business, still owned by the Eichler family and operating since 1977. It had nothing to do with the visit.

The visit fits a pattern Mamdani has established in his first year. He has drawn sustained opposition from Jewish and pro-Israel organizations over his statements on Israel, including calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal in a video released in July, while cultivating working relationships with Hasidic leaders, among them fiercely anti-Israel Satmar rabbis in Williamsburg.

He met privately with rabbis in August to discuss antisemitism, and his administration has pledged more spending on hate crime prevention and an expanded antisemitism office. Borough Park voted overwhelmingly against him.

The NYPD is holding a citywide security briefing for Jewish community leaders next week ahead of the High Holidays.