Interfaith Coalition of Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Sikh Leaders Demands One Standard for Safety, Protection, Equity & Accountability -- Calls on Speaker Menin to Honor Her Pledge

Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Sikh leaders demand one standard against hate for every New Yorker — after a Brooklyn council member's viral post targeting Muslims at prayer, a claim the neighboring yeshiva's own dean publicly rejected.

NEW YORK, June 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ --

EVENT DETAILS

WHAT:  Prayer, vigil & press conference. Interfaith leaders call on Speaker Julie Menin to honor her pledge and hold Council Member Inna Vernikov accountable — one standard for safety, protection, equity & accountability. The gathering also honors the victims of the San Diego mosque attack.
WHEN:  Friday, June 5, 2026 — 1:00 PM
WHERE:  City Hall steps, Broadway & Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007
WHO:  Muslim, Jewish, Christian & Sikh faith and community leaders of the New York Coalition for Safety, Protection, Equity & Accountability.

Background & Context
A video that cast Muslim men at prayer as a threat to Jewish schoolchildren reached tens of millions. The neighboring yeshiva's own dean says nothing happened. On Friday, June 5, an interfaith coalition of Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Sikh leaders will stand on the steps of City Hall to press Speaker Julie Menin to honor her January pledge and hold every official to one standard against hate.

On May 15, Council Member Inna Vernikov posted video of Muslim men at Friday prayer outside a Brooklyn mosque, suggesting their worship was a deliberate threat to a neighboring girls' yeshiva. The post reached tens of millions and triggered threats against the mosque. But the yeshiva's own dean said nothing had happened; police confirmed no incident. Vernikov walked back her sharpest claim — yet left the post online.

In January, Speaker Menin pledged that if Vernikov repeated such conduct, she would move to remove her from the Council's antisemitism task force. But when the coalition met with the Speaker this week, she committed to no disciplinary action — saying only that she would speak with Vernikov. That falls far short of her own pledge.

The coalition's question to the Speaker is straightforward: does one standard against hate apply to every New Yorker — and every Council member — or not?

CM Vernikov regularly engages in hateful language and actions against the Muslim community. She has a history of ugly language that purposely fans the flames of hatred. No one with that record should be named a co-chair of the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, or any form of hate.  — Rabbi Barat Ellman, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ)

The coalition asks the Speaker to honor her commitment, to affirm that Islamophobia and antisemitism are met with equal seriousness, and to ensure no official who incites against a faith community leads a body charged with combating hate.

The gathering will also honor the three men killed in the May 18 attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego — Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha, and Nader Awad — amid a documented national rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric.

About the Coalition

The New York Coalition for Safety, Protection, Equity & Accountability is an interfaith alliance of Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Sikh, and allied faith and community organizations across New York.

OneNYC Action Inc. is a member of this Coalition

SOURCE OneNYC Action Inc.