Mayor Zohran Mamdani boycotted New York's Israel Day Parade on Sunday, the first leader of the US city to be absent from the annual march in decades.
Thousands of people rallied through the streets of Manhattan at noon, waving Israeli flags and blue and white balloons, with some wearing shirts with the slogan "I love Israel."
The parade has been held annually since the 1960s in solidarity. New York is home to the largest Jewish urban population outside Israel, counting some 1 million Jewish citizens.
Mamdani, who took office at the start of the year, justified his decision not to participate with his stance on the Israeli government.
"I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn't be attending the parade, and I've made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear," he said earlier this week.
Mamdani, New York's first Muslim mayor, is known for his pro-Palestinian stance. He has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and of systematically violating the rights of Palestinians.
He has also condemned the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, as "a horrific war crime," stressing that he is committed to equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians.
Israel's ambassador to the UN Danny Danon accused Mamdani of "turn[ing] his back on tens of thousands of Jews and supporters of Israel" with his decision not to join the march.
