Settlement Real Estate Expo Returns to Brooklyn, Straining Mayor Mamdani’s Balancing Act
A real estate expo advertising properties in illegally occupied Palestinian territories returned to New York City on Monday evening, just days after a similar event sparked dueling protests on the Upper East Side — and renewed scrutiny of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s handling of the controversy.
The “Great Israeli Real Estate Event” was held at Young Israel of Midwood, an Orthodox synagogue in southern Brooklyn. The roving expo, co-sponsored by several Israel-linked real estate companies, has been advertising land sales in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank — transactions that are illegal under international law.
What the Expo Is Selling
At last week’s edition of the event, held at Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side, at least one vendor was advertising land sales in Kfar Eldad, Karnei Shomron, and other settlements in the occupied territories. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention and have been repeatedly condemned by the United Nations.
The expo typically takes place at synagogues and Jewish community centers, and organizers have not publicly commented on the events themselves.
A Complicating Factor: Public Funds
Monday’s venue adds a politically charged wrinkle. Young Israel of Midwood houses a city-funded senior center, Young Israel Senior Services, which received more than $800,000 from the city’s Department for the Aging in 2024, according to budget documents. That means New York City taxpayers are indirectly subsidizing a facility that hosted an event promoting sales of land illegal under international law.
Mamdani Caught Between Two Pressures
The events have placed Mayor Mamdani — who campaigned prominently on his pro-Palestine positions — in an increasingly difficult position. His office declined to comment specifically on Monday’s event, pointing instead to a statement issued ahead of last week’s expo.
“Mayor Mamdani is deeply opposed to the real estate expo this evening that includes the promotion of the sale of land in settlements in the Occupied West Bank,” spokesperson Sam Raskin said last week.
At the same time, Mamdani has defended the NYPD’s use of wide security perimeters around houses of worship, citing a new “buffer zone” law passed last month by the City Council with a veto-proof majority. Mamdani allowed the bill to become law without his signature. The law requires police to address physical obstructions at houses of worship — a provision critics say has been used to suppress legitimate protest.
Protests, Counter-Protests, and Clashes
By late Monday afternoon, the NYPD had blocked off a full block in each direction from the Brooklyn synagogue. Pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through surrounding side streets, while pro-Israel counter-protesters followed closely behind.
The scene turned volatile. A large group of young men on scooters among the pro-Israel crowd hurled slurs at pro-Palestine protesters. Eggs were thrown. One protester told reporters they had been pepper-sprayed by a counter-protester. Police appeared to make at least one arrest.
Last week’s event drew similar confrontations, including the presence of members of Betar U.S., a far-right nationalist group. The NYPD deployed extensive security barriers that restricted movement across multiple city blocks — keeping not only protesters but also journalists and members of the public at a distance.
Civil Liberties Groups Push Back on Police Tactics
Mamdani praised the NYPD’s crowd management at a Wednesday press conference, saying the city had balanced the right to protest with the right to safely access houses of worship.
“I think that critique of the policies of a government is very much separate from bigotry toward the people of a specific religious faith,” he said. “And there is no tolerance for antisemitism.”
The New York Civil Liberties Union took a sharply different view. Executive Director Donna Lieberman called the NYPD’s restricted zone a “no-speech zone” and challenged the framing used to justify it.
“When politicians use Freedom of Religion as a pretext to impose severe restrictions on speech, they undermine all New Yorkers’ rights,” Lieberman said in a statement. “The subject of last week’s protests was not a religious service but a private, politically-charged real estate event held at a synagogue.”
The NYCLU’s critique cuts to the heart of the legal and political tension: the buffer zone law, designed ostensibly to protect religious worship, is being applied to shield a commercial event that promotes activity illegal under international law — while limiting the constitutional right of New Yorkers to protest it.
Correction, May 11, 2026: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Mayor Mamdani signed the buffer zone bill into law. The bill passed with a veto-proof majority; Mamdani allowed it to become law without his signature.