Benjamin Netanyahu came to New York, addressed the United Nations General Assembly, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, protests followed.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the United Nations to protest Netanyahu’s appearance and Israel’s conduct in Gaza. The demonstrations included Jewish, Palestinian and other New Yorkers, along with elected officials, candidates and activists. At one demonstration on Thursday, protesters blocked First Avenue and refused police orders to disperse. The NYPD subsequently arrested or detained dozens of people, including elected officials and prominent activists.
And this is where I think the political reality surrounding Zohran Mamdani gets complicated.
Mamdani campaigned on an extremely strong position regarding Netanyahu. He had previously said that, if Netanyahu came to New York, he would have him arrested based on the International Criminal Court warrant. But once the practical question of actually doing that arrived, Mamdani acknowledged that New York City does not have the legal authority to carry out such an arrest.
So Netanyahu arrived.
Mamdani didn’t arrest him.
Meanwhile, protesters who were demonstrating against Netanyahu were arrested by the NYPD.
That contrast is difficult to ignore.
And yes, I understand the legal distinction. Arresting Netanyahu and arresting someone for refusing to comply with a police order to clear a roadway are two completely different legal situations. The NYPD was enforcing the rules surrounding the demonstration, not deciding whether Netanyahu should be prosecuted for alleged international crimes.
But politics isn’t just about the technical legal distinction. Politics is also about expectations.
A lot of people supported Mamdani precisely because of the positions he took on Israel, Palestine and Netanyahu. So when those people see Netanyahu arriving in New York, speaking at the United Nations, while protesters—including people who share many of Mamdani’s political positions—are being taken away in handcuffs, it creates an obvious political contradiction for them.
And Mamdani himself has emphasized that protesters have a constitutional right to protest. Before Netanyahu’s appearance, he said that he wasn’t encouraging people to protest but that New Yorkers absolutely had the right to do so.
That’s the thing about governing.
Campaign rhetoric and governing are two different environments.
Once you’re actually sitting in City Hall, you’re dealing with laws, courts, police procedures, federal authority, international law, federal funding, housing, immigration and countless other institutions that don’t simply disappear because you campaigned on a particular position.
And that brings me to Trump.
There were people looking at the meeting between Mamdani and Donald Trump at Gracie Mansion and saying that Mamdani somehow “played” Trump.
I don’t really see it that way.
What I see is two politicians with dramatically different political philosophies sitting down because they both have something the other needs.
Mamdani needs cooperation from the federal government if he wants to accomplish certain things for New York City.
Trump controls the federal government.
That’s not really a secret.
And the Gracie Mansion meeting demonstrated exactly why that relationship matters. Mamdani and Trump discussed housing, affordability, immigration-related issues and the possibility of moving forward with Sunnyside Yard. Mamdani specifically said the next phase of that conversation would involve technical discussions between City Hall and the White House, while Trump acknowledged that a project of that scale would require federal approvals and potentially federal funding.
That isn’t “playing” Trump.
That’s governing in a federal system.
Mamdani can disagree with Trump on immigration.
He can disagree with Trump on Israel.
He can disagree with Trump on a whole host of other issues.
And he can still sit down with him because the federal government has enormous power over things New York City needs.
That’s actually one of the things I’ve been saying for a while: if you’re the mayor of New York City, you don’t get to govern as though the federal government doesn’t exist.
You have to deal with whoever occupies the White House.
You have to negotiate.
You have to make arguments.
You have to ask for federal money.
You have to work through federal agencies.
And sometimes you have to sit across the table from someone you fundamentally disagree with.
Whether that ultimately produces the results Mamdani wants remains to be seen. But the meeting itself shows that the relationship with Washington is not some side issue. It is part of the job.
And honestly, that’s why I have always been skeptical of the idea that politicians can simply campaign their way into changing enormous systems.
The reality is much messier.
You can make promises on the campaign trail.
Then you inherit the machinery of government.
And suddenly you’re discovering just how many things are outside your direct control.
That is what we’re seeing play out right now.
Netanyahu came to New York.
The NYPD protected the surrounding area and arrested protesters who refused police orders to disperse.
Mamdani did not arrest Netanyahu.
Mamdani says New York City doesn’t have that authority.
And Mamdani simultaneously went to the table with Trump because Trump controls a federal government that New York needs to work with.
People can interpret all of that however they want.
For me, the larger lesson is that governing is a hell of a lot more complicated than campaigning.
And politicians—including politicians that people are extremely enthusiastic about—should be judged by what they actually do once they’re in office, not simply by what they promised before they got there.
Because eventually, the campaign ends.
The speeches end.
The slogans end.
And then you have to govern.