Daily Podcasts Video Research

Meet Morris Katz, the ‘Woody Allen-watching, Philip Roth-reading, Bob Dylan-listening’ strategist behind Mamdani’s rise

JL;DR SUMMARY Morris Katz, a 26-year-old Jewish political strategist, plays a pivotal role in the political ascent of Zohran Mamdani, New York City's 112th mayor. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

JL;DR members get full summaries of all articles in the archive, including this one. Donate & start reading »

Tags

Cultural InfluencesNew York CityJewish HeritageAipacPro Palestinian AdvocacyJewish Community OutreachZohran MamdaniPolitical StrategyMorris KatzSnowstorm Response

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"Mamdani political advisor Morris Katz attends Zohran Mamdani s inauguration as the 112th mayor at City Hall on Thursday Jan. 1, 2026 in New York, New York."
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
"His grandfather, Harry Jay Katz, was a media fixture in Philadelphia."
Brooklyn, New York, United States
"Rabbi Moishe Indig, a leader of the Satmar Hasidic faction who endorsed Mamdani during his campaign, applauded the mayor for helping people shovel out a car in a heavily Hasidic part of Brooklyn."
Israel
"Katz supports Mamdanis pro-Palestinian advocacy. His own views on Israel grew increasingly critical as he came of age, he told Haaretz."

Support this source

This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 73561
Cairo Source ID 42
Retrieved 2026-01-27 05:31:10 UTC
Curated 2026-01-27 08:30:51 UTC