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Mayor Zohran Mamdani will veto a bill creating a “buffer zone” around schools for protests because he worries it’ll stifle demonstrations against ICE or in support of Palestinian rights.
The move announced Friday would be the first veto of Mamdani’s tenure, likely killing the bill sponsored by Eric Dinowitz (D-Bronx) – which passed the City Council 30-19, just shy of a veto-proof majority.
The potential law was identical to another bill, which passed the same day last month, that requires a no-protest zone to be set up around synagogues and other houses of worship in the Big Apple.
But the religious buffer zone bill, which had been championed by Speaker Julie Menin (D-Manhattan), sailed through the council on the same day with an overwhelming majority, 44-5.
Hizzoner, along with his lefty comrades, has signalled skepticism over Dinowitz’s no-protest zones outside of schools.
Sources said Mamdani has informed the council he plans to sign the veto as early as Friday morning.
News of the expected veto was first reported by The New York Times.
The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America went on full offense ahead of the vote in late March, launching a phone bank campaign to drum up support to try to kill both of the bills.
“These bills expand the capacity of the NYPD to police and surveil Black, brown, and immigrant New Yorkers, jeopardizing the safety of protestors exercising their First Amendment rights and students attending school,” they wrote.
Mamdani hasn’t publicly supported the buffer zones around houses of worship, but notably did not clap during Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State speech when she first pitched the 25-foot protest-free zone.
City Hall did not immediately responded for comment.
“Ensuring students can enter and exit their schools without fear of harassment or intimidation should not be controversial,” said Menin. “This bill simply requires the NYPD to clearly outline how it will ensure safe access when there are threats of obstruction or physical injury, while fully protecting First Amendment rights.”
The mayor said in a statement that he will not veto the buffer zone bill for religious institution but that he had a “problem” with how the bill “widely… defines an educational institution.”
“As the bill is written, everywhere from universities to museums to teaching hospitals could face restrictions,” Mamdani said. “This could impact workers protesting ICE, or college students demanding their school divest from fossil fuels or demonstrating in support of Palestinian rights.”
Int. 175-B is not a narrow public safety measure; it is a piece of legislation that has alarmed much of the labor movement, reproductive rights groups, and immigration advocates, among others, across this City. Nearly a dozen unions have raised the alarm about its impact on their ability to organize.”
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