The Met planned to give Galliano a rare honor at a Spring 2027 Costume Institute exhibition, opening alongside the Met Gala, but soon faced scrutiny for this decision due to Galliano’s history of racist behavior. In 2011, the designer yelled antisemitic and anti-Asian slurs outside a Paris café, and was separately caught on video declaring, “I love Hitler.” Speaker Menin boldly spoke out and made her disapproval clear from the start. After “numerous and lengthy meetings and conversations” with the Met, the Galliano exhibit was cancelled.

As one of the most respected cultural institutions in the world, the Met has a responsibility to wield its influence thoughtfully. The Met’s decision to honor an individual with a history of antisemitism amid a time of rising hostility toward Jews, including a troubling 8.5% year-over-year increase in antisemitic hate crimes in New York City, was incredibly insulting to the Jewish community and New Yorkers. “Antisemitism must be eradicated from New York City’s institutions, culture and the arts,” said Councilmembers Vernikov and Dinowitz. “We are grateful to Speaker Menin for her strong leadership in ensuring that the Met reverses this terrible decision.”

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The coalition sent a Cease-and-Desist letter to DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn on July 21st. The group demanded that he immediately halt the project, alleging DOT had violated City law by failing to provide the required notice to local elected officials and disregarding Community Board 14’s request for a public meeting before the project moved forward.

Using this letter as the foundation of their legal complaint, a group of concerned citizens, including Community Board 12 Vice-Chair Yaakov Kaplan and Mr. David Lebovic, and community institutions including The Yellow Door, Ltd., Mesivta Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, and Glatt Mart, Inc. filed a court action that has resulted in a temporary restraining order. The restraining order will remain in effect through November 25, 2026.

“DOT is not above the law,” said Councilman Simcha Felder. “When the agency refused to listen to the community or its elected representatives, local residents stepped up and asked the courts to enforce the law. This is an important victory for representative government and for every resident who deserves to have a voice before their neighborhood is fundamentally changed.”

“When bureaucrats in their ivory towers who know little about the dynamics of our neighborhoods impose their agenda on unsuspecting New Yorkers, the results can be disastrous,” said Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein. “The Department of Transportation has provided absolutely no communication regarding this proposal to dramatically change a quiet residential street. As elected representatives of this community, we deserve the opportunity to review the plan and voice our concerns before such changes are considered.”

“The local representatives of a neighborhood know the neighborhood best,” said Assemblyman Kalman Yeger, who previously represented the area as a Council Member. “We live here, work here, grew up here, and we know the needs of our community. The fact that a group of nameless, faceless bureaucrats snuck their paint job in the middle of the night without any notice to the community says all we need to know. The Mamdani Administration does not care about our community. This is a dangerous plan, will surely result in injury and death, and must immediately stop. Enough is enough.”

“Yet again, this administration is making decisions targeting the Jewish Community without any consideration for its needs. My office has been fielding complaints non-stop about the unwanted and unasked-for bike lanes, which greatly inconvenience residents and business owners in the area,” said Councilmember Inna Vernikov.

The elected officials maintain that the current administration abandoned the approach taken by both the de Blasio and Adams administrations, each of which declined to advance the proposal after hearing from local residents and elected officials. For years, Community Board 14 repeatedly requested public engagement, while residents consistently voiced concerns that the proposed bike lanes would funnel cyclists toward dead-end streets and some of southern Brooklyn’s busiest and most dangerous intersections.

The elected officials have also questioned the need for the project, noting that an analysis of New York City’s Open Data 311 records from 2020 through 2026 found only 23 sidewalk cycling complaints within the project area—just 0.13% of the city’s 16,846 such complaints during that period.

“Government works best when communities have a voice; not when decisions are imposed on them after the fact,” Felder said. “We hope DOT will use this as a lesson to engage with the community the way the law requires and make transportation decisions that make sense for the people who live here.”

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“Every New Yorker deserves to live free from fear and hate. As antisemitic incidents and other hate crimes continue to threaten our communities, it is critical that prosecutors have the resources they need…The City Council is proud to provide this funding,” Speaker Menin said.

This new funding comes after Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez highlighted the Hate Crimes Bureau’s sparse resources during an April 22 Task Force to Combat Antisemitism hearing. Gonzalez lamented that the Brooklyn DA’s Office received only $50,000 from the previous administration  to address all hate crimes, while other boroughs receive “in excess of a million.”

“I asked for $1.5 million to fund the dedicated Hate Crimes Unit that would be funded like…the Manhattan DA’s office or the Queens DA office…I think the people of Brooklyn deserve to be funded with a dedicated unit,” Gonzalez testified.

After learning of this disparity, Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R-48), the Task Force’s co-chair who represents a South Brooklyn district, pushed for increased funding for Brooklyn’s Hate Crimes Bureau.

“Mamdani found $200 million in funding for BHRAGS, an organization under federal indictment, but failed to fund Brooklyn’s Hate Crimes Bureau, despite a 74% citywide rise in hate crimes, more than half of them targeting Jews,” said Councilwoman Vernikov, referencing NYPD Hate Crime Data.

“With the news of the stabbing last week of an Asian American and a Jewish American on the Upper West Side, this funding is especially critical and timely,” Vernikov continued.

DA Gonzalez is “deeply grateful to Council Speaker Julie Menin and Council Member Inna Vernikov for their leadership.”

“This investment will allow us to expand our work, strengthen specialized training, and engage more proactively with communities targeted by hate so that we can prevent harm, support victims, and hold offenders accountable,” Gonzalez said.

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The plaintiffs joining the elected officials include Community Board 15 Chairwoman Theresa Scavo, a resident with three children who lives blocks from the shelter, the owner of a senior center located roughly 300 feet away, and a resident of that senior center.

The lawsuit, filed by the firms Eisenberg & Carton and  Pinczewski & Shpelfogel, P.C., follows weeks of community outrage and action led by Councilwoman Vernikov and her counterparts in the Assembly and Senate.

“My district is not a dumping ground for decisions made behind closed doors without proper notice and community input. I will continue to fight Mamdani’s plans to intentionally harm my community, using every tool available to ensure the safety of my constituents,” said Vernikov.

The Councilwoman was joined by Assemblyman Yeger and Senator Sam Sutton (D – SD 22) in attending meetings and writing letters to Commissioner Dalton, DHS, NYC Comptroller Mark Levine, and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Laura Zuckerwise. Together, they raised concerns about the conversion and organized a rally at the site on July 16, which drew hundreds of protesters.

The conversion has already moved 55 families with children out of the shelter — a move Councilwoman Vernikov described as “inhumane and inconsiderate” in a previous letter to DSS. The next step in the plan is to move in up to 110 single men who will not be vetted for criminal background. At least 35 single adult men have already moved in.

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