Mayor Mamdani allows worship buffer bill to take effect, vetoes broader protest restrictions on NYC schools
The two bills — Intro 1-B and Intro 175-B — were passed by the City Council last month and aim to guide how the NYPD manages protests near sensitive locations while maintaining public safety.
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed one and vetoed one of the controversial "buffer zone" bills aimed at handling safety around places of worship and education.
The bills — Intro 1-B and Intro 175-B — were passed by the City Council last month. Both aim to guide how the NYPD manages protests near sensitive locations while maintaining public safety.
Mamdani signed the buffer bill around places of worship into law, which will require the NYPD to develop a plan to prevent physical obstruction, intimidation and interference at places of religious worship.
The bill, sponsored by Council Speaker Julie Menin, was introduced after hate crimes in the city surged this year.
Despite signing the buffer bill, Mamdani says he disagrees with its framing of all protest as a security concern.
The mayor has been a staunch supporter of peaceful protest. After an anti-Muslim protest at Gracie Mansion led by far-right influencer Jake Lang in March, Mamdani told the press, “While I found this protest appalling, I will not waver in my belief that it should be allowed to happen.”
He vetoed the bill sponsored by Councilmember Eric Dinowitz to create a buffer zone around educational facilities, citing concerns over the bill’s definition of what counts as an educational facility, warning it could be applied too broadly, at locations including universities, museums and teaching hospitals.
"This could impact workers protesting ICE or college students demanding their school divest from fossil fuels or demonstrating in support of Palestinian rights," Mamdani said.
He noted that nearly a dozen unions have raised the alarm about its impact on their ability to organize.
"New York City will always uphold both the right to prayer and the right to protest. These two fundamental freedoms help define this city and the people who call it home," said Mamdani in a press release.
