NEW YORK – New York State Attorney General candidate Saritha Komatireddy, who will professionalize and depoliticize New York State’s top law enforcement office if elected in November, today pledged that on Day One, as Attorney General, she will use the full authority of the office to implement legal buffer zones around synagogues in New York State, a step incumbent Attorney General Letitia James has refused to take, as antisemitic mobs try to intimidate Jewish houses of worship from Kew Gardens Hills to the Upper East Side.
“Jewish New Yorkers are being yelled at, spit on, and menaced at the doors of their own synagogues,” said Ms. Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor and DEA chief of staff. “The sitting Attorney General of this state has said virtually nothing, done absolutely nothing, and committed to nothing. That inaction ends in January: On my first day in office, I will direct the Civil Rights Bureau to seek immediate injunctive relief to create buffer zones around synagogues, prosecute the obstruction of worship as the civil rights violation it is, and coordinate with every district attorney in the state to make sure every Jewish New Yorker can walk into shul without running a gauntlet.”
Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed 25-foot statewide buffer zone, introduced in her 2026-’27 Executive Budget, is fighting for its life in Albany, with Ms. James conspicuously silent on the proposal. The New York City Council passed its own buffer-zone legislation by a vote of 44-5 last month, a veto-proof supermajority designed to end-run anti-Israel Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Dozens of left-wing groups have mobilized against both measures.
“The Attorney General of New York is the chief law enforcement officer of the state, and must protect every New Yorker, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and those who follow other faiths or no faith at all,” Ms. Komatireddy said. “Tish James clearly has made a political calculation that her Democratic Socialist allies — the ones who put Zohran Mamdani in Gracie Mansion — matter more to her politically than the physical safety of Jewish New Yorkers. That is a dangerous and disgraceful calculation, and it should, frankly, disqualify Ms. James from another term. The New York Attorney General must enforce the law fairly, without regard to race, religion, or politics. Picking who to protect based on politics is unethical and wrong.”
“The Democratic party has changed. The party of Ed Koch and Pat Moynihan is gone,”Ms. Komatireddy continued. “It has been replaced by a party that cannot bring itself to condemn pro-Hamas chants outside a Queens synagogue without a thousand qualifications. When the Mayor of New York City equivocates on whether to protect Jewish houses of worship, when the Attorney General loses her voice when Jewish grandmothers are blocked from their own sanctuary, it becomes painfully apparent how big a problem we have.”
New York has seen an unprecedented wave of antisemitic incidents at and around Jewish houses of worship. In November 2025, protestors gathered near the entrance to the Park East Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side during a congregation event. In January 2026, a demonstration outside a Kew Gardens Hills synagogue featured pro-Hamas chants. During that protest, a Hassidic man was punched in the face.
Hate crimes in New York have doubled under Ms. James. Jewish New Yorkers are targeted more than any other group. Despite constituting approximately 10% of New York’s population, Jewish New Yorkers are the subject of more than 50% of hate crimes. The ADL has recorded a 234% surge in antisemitic incidents while Ms. James has been in office.
“The First Amendment protects free speech and the free exercise of religion. We can do both. Jewish New Yorkers need buffer zones around synagogues to keep them safe. The Attorney General can take this action now, without new legislation. As Attorney General, I will.”