A Muslim nonprofit organization with significant connections to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently secured $85,000 from the City Council’s taxpayer funds. This allocation was made despite previous criticism. In January, the group held a fundraiser in Brooklyn that showcased items endorsing Hamas and other terrorist entities.
The Muslim American Society of Brooklyn and Staten Island was granted $70,000 from the Council’s discretionary funds, thanks to Council Member Kayla Santosuosso, a Democrat representing Bay Ridge and parts of southern Brooklyn. An additional $15,000 was provided by Alexa Avilés, another Democrat whose district encompasses Red Hook and Sunset Park.
This decision to award the funds was taken despite City Council Speaker Julie Menin expressing her astonishment earlier this year. In January, she was made aware of the terrorist-related items being sold by the nonprofit, which had previously acquired $265,000 over three years under former Speaker Adrienne Adams.
Menin, who is the first Jewish speaker of the Council, indicated in her comments to The Post that she would halt the disbursement of $80,000 in pending funds to the Muslim American Society until a legal investigation by city lawyers was completed, which could also influence future financing.
According to Yoav Gonen, a spokesman for the Council, the Office of the General Counsel carried out an investigation and determined that there was “no affiliation” between the nonprofit and the vendor responsible for the contentious items. Furthermore, the Muslim American Society has since severed ties with the vendor, Thrift For Gaza.
“The nonprofit’s funding was restored after its leadership committed in writing to enhanced screening and prevention protocols for all future vendors using its space,” he said.
Councilwoman and staunch Zionist Inna Vernikov (R-Brooklyn) said “individual members get to decide what groups get their discretionary dollars, but funding nonprofits that appear to flat out support designated terrorist organizations and spread radical, Jew-hating propaganda is far beyond the pale and potentially illegal.”
“And if this was some kind of an alleged hiccup, did MAS apologize and condemn Hamas? No,” she added.
“These members must explain to the public why their taxpayer dollars should be given to America-hating jihadis, rather than so many other groups who have a legitimate purpose and actual needs.”
Both Santosuosso and Avilés represent neighborhoods with large Muslim populations.
The new funding is earmarked for community safety, educational, youth-mentoring, cultural, job-training and other programs in both pols’ districts, according to the Council’s expense budget for member pet projects for the fiscal year that began Wednesday.
Santosuosso is the former deputy director of the Bay Ridge-based Arab American Association of New York, which received $124,500 in Council pork this fiscal year — including $5,000 through Santosuosso’s pot of funds.
During the MAS New York chapter’s Jan. 18 support-Sudan event at its Brooklyn youth center, vendors peddled keychains, stickers, pins and other tchotchkes supporting Hamas, Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Other items at the event, called Thrift4Sudan, featured reverential images of late terrorist leaders Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah and Yahya Sinwar of Hamas, and a masked figure resembling the late Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida.
Merchandise also sported terror-group logos or directly called for the destruction of Israel, with slogans like “Let’s go bomb Tel Aviv” and “Death to the IDF,” The Times of Israel reported.
MAS’ New York leadership includes notorious pro-Hamas activist Abdullah Akl, who grew up attending its Brooklyn youth center on Bath Avenue and is also an organizer for the radical, anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime.
MAS’ influence over city politics morphed following the November election of socialist Mamdani as NYC’s first Muslim mayor. MAS-NY’s executive director Sherif Ahmed and Hannah Towfeik, political director at MAS’ youth center, were part of Mamdani’s transition team that helped fill key City Hall posts.