NEW YORK — Julie Menin was elected the City Council’s new speaker on Wednesday, making her the chamber’s first Jewish leader — a historic moment she pledged to use to bridge political and cultural “divides” in the five boroughs.

Menin’s speakership selection was solidified in a unanimous 51-0 vote by the Council’s members at their first meeting of 2026.

As the body’s top official, Menin will face pressure, especially from moderates and conservatives, to act as a check on democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration. Before voting for Menin at Wednesday’s meeting, several of the Council’s Republicans specifically urged Menin to resist Mamdani, including Brooklyn’s Inna Vernikov, who said she “must be a check on his radical, Marxist agenda.”

In remarks on the Council floor after the vote, Menin, a more centrist Democrat than Mamdani, focused on striking a unifying tone.

“We live in a day when the first Muslim mayor of New York City, and the first Jewish speaker of this Council, are serving at the same time. This moment truly is historic,” Menin, who didn’t endorse Mamdani’s mayoral run, said to applause.

“But what will write this interfaith leadership into the history books is if it can act as an opportunity for all of us to come together — to calm tensions, to bridge divides, and to recognize we are one city, no matter the religion we practice or the language we speak.”

Menin, an Upper East Side Democrat, also honed in on some areas of agreement between herself and Mamdani, specifically childcare, which the mayor promised on the campaign trail to make free for all kids between 6 weeks and 5 years.

“We have worked to take the first steps to enact universal childcare — and by working with the mayor and governor, we can truly make it a reality,” she said.

Many of Mamdani’s campaign promises, including on childcare, are contingent on action and funding from Gov. Hochul and the state Legislature, not the City Council. Still, the Council speaker can exact significant influence over city and state priorities, and Mamdani could benefit in his push for tax hikes from bully pulpit assistance from Menin.

As for issues closer to home, Menin and Mamdani are expected to soon begin negotiating this year’s city government budget, a process that kicks off with the release of the mayor’s preliminary spending proposal due at the end of January.

Among potential sticking points in the city budget talks could be public safety.

Mamdani has pledged to keep the NYPD’s officer headcount flat and allocate $1 billion for a proposed new agency, the Department of Community Safety, that would absorb certain functions from the police, like handling mental health calls.

Projections also show big city budget deficits for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1, a troubling outlook that may require Mamdani and Menin to find new revenue or make cuts in order balance the spending plan. That picture is made more complicated by federal funding cuts from President Donald Trump’s administration.

As to public safety, Menin said she seeks to strike a balance. “Our city needs meaningful criminal justice reform, and at the same time we must have the requisite resources for robust public safety measures,” she said.

Another potential flash point in the relationship between Menin and Mamdani is Israel’s war in Gaza.

Mamdani, a longtime advocate for Palestinians rights, has accused Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza.

Menin is a supporter of Israel and has voiced concern about pro-Palestine protests in the city, saying they fan the flames of antisemitism. She made brief reference to that concern in her floor speech, saying “we must never jeopardize a New Yorker’s right to worship.”

“Because we cannot let what happened outside Park East Synagogue ever happen again, at any house of worship,” Menin said, a reference to a raucous pro-Palestine rally that took place outside that Manhattan temple in November.

After the Park East confict, a spokeswoman for Mamdani said he “discouraged the language” used at the protest but also chided the synagogue for letting a group host an event that promoted “activities in violation of international law.”

Mamdani didn’t attend Wednesday’s Council vote. His first deputy mayor, Dean Fuleihan, and intergovernmental affairs director, Jahmila Edwards, were on hand though.

Menin’s election was a forgone conclusion, as she announced in late November she had secured support from a supermajority of her colleagues in late November.

Menin has been acting as the presumptive speaker, even appearing in that capacity alongside Mamdani at a press conference earlier this week.

Menin’s main challenger in the speaker’s race was Crystal Hudson, a progressive Council member and closer ally to Mamdani.Hudson dropped out of the internal contest and pledged support for Menin after her November victory declaration.

Upon entering the Council chamber ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Menin walked over to Hudson’s desk and gave her a hug.

In remarks before voting for Menin, Hudson said the city needs leaders who can “share power,” voiced support for the Mamdani agenda and said many members are ready to “fight tooth and nail to enact it.”

First elected to the Council in 2021, Menin previously worked as commissioner of the city Department of Consumer Affairs under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Before Wednesday’s vote, Menin has hired Miguelina Camilo, currently counsel to State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, to serve as her chief of staff, as first reported by the Daily News.

Camilo ran a primary challenge against Bronx state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a progressive Democrat and close ally to Mamdani, in the 2022 primaries.

©2026 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.