New Yorkers should be prepared to defend their livelihood, New York City Councilwoman Joann Ariola told Newsmax, as Mayor Zohran Mamdani's early signals are alarming, including for the city's Jewish community.
"We have to do everything we can to fight back as Americans to maintain our American capitalist way of life," Ariola said on Newsmax's "National Report." "We are afraid for our Jewish communities, and I will stand side by side with them and fight for them, because I don't believe this mayor will."
Ariola said she knows of other council members who have "shockingly" met with Mamdani and "also embraced [him] in their homes," including "members from my own delegation."
She said her own brief contact left her concerned.
"In a 10-minute phone conversation with then-Mayor-elect Mamdani, I knew that it was nothing more than another stage performance sans the music," Ariola said.
Ariola also cited a social media post by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and echoed its message.
"So this is all the gentlemen from that that you mentioned, who said the enemy is within the gates is correct," Ariola said. "The enemy is within the gates."
Joseph Imperatrice, founder of Blue Lives Matter NYC and a police sergeant, said the direction of the new administration could unsettle families affected by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"There's going to be a lot of 9/11 families that are upset, that are scared, that want to see that this is not going to happen and going the wrong direction," Imperatrice said, adding that "in New York City, there's a lot of history" and that "so much is going against that history."
Still, Imperatrice noted Mamdani's tenure had just begun and said New Yorkers should remain hopeful, while questioning the mayor's early personnel choices.
"Unfortunately, this man hasn't gotten into office more than one day, so we're hopeful," Imperatrice said.
"You have to be hopeful that the mayor or the president is going to do the right thing," he said. "But unfortunately, with the leading up to who is in place, the people that he's nominated for positions, it's very questionable at this point in time."
The discussion also touched on President Donald Trump's public comments that he intends to work with Mamdani after a November meeting in the Oval Office that included remarks from both men.
Imperatrice said Trump's approach was meant to steady the city as the new administration begins.
"Trump was being a leader. That's what leaders do," Imperatrice said. "They give people hope that tomorrow is going to be better than today."
He also urged political opponents of the mayor to organize for the next election cycle rather than focus only on criticism.
"We have four years. We can complain every single day, or we can actually work towards doing something in four years to make the city the best it's ever been," Imperatrice said.
Ariola said she believes Mamdani has not done enough to reassure Jewish New Yorkers, pointing to what she described as a failure to denounce "globalize the Intifada" or the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
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