Hochul appoints first Muslim affairs liaison

Following months of backlash and criticism over her interactions with the state’s Muslim community in the wake of the war in Gaza, Gov. Kathy Hochul has hired her office’s first director for Muslim American affairs in the hopes of improving her administration’s strained relationship with Muslim New Yorkers.

Hochul brought on Mamadou Siré Bah to serve in the role at the end of June, although her office did not announce the hire publicly or issue a press release at the time. At an unrelated press conference on Thursday, Hochul said she was “surprised” that her office had not put out a release, but that “we’re proud to have hired him.” Hochul’s press secretary Avi Small added that the administration has not issued a press release to announce a new appointment in some time.

The administration first posted a job listing for the role in March. “We wanted to make sure we had the right person who knows that state,” Hochul said, adding that the decision to create the position came after having conversations with Muslim leaders in Western New York. “They wanted to make sure we fulfilled this, I promised we would do this,” the governor said. “So I’m proud of this. We’re going to continue our outreach – I’ve had many conversations with individuals about healing a lot of the divide that exists out there.”

Bah’s hiring has been well-received so far by Muslim leaders in the state, including those in Western New York. “We are deeply grateful to the Governor for considering our request and for appointing Mr. Mamadou Siré Bah as the Director of Muslim American Affairs,” said WNYMuslims Executive Director Farina Mirza. “We look forward to collaborating with him to serve the Western New York community more effectively.” She said that her group has already been in touch with Bah and that he plans to attend their Pakistan Independence Day parade on Sunday. 

Dr. Khalid Qazi, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Western New York, said that he has spoken both directly with Hochul and with her staff about the absence of any Muslim in her administration from the Buffalo area, which has a significant Muslim community. (Bah is from the New York City area, not Western New York.) Qazi said that he and his organization did not have a role in selecting Bah, but the new director for Muslim American affairs has already been in touch with him and other Muslim leaders in the area and will be attending a reception organized by the Council on Friday. Carolynn Sozen, a former board member on the Council, also told City & State that “it is incredible to know that Muslim-American voices are being considered and given proper platforms and channels in our government.”

Bah comes to the Hochul administration by way of the attorney general’s office, where he served as senior advance associate. Before that, he worked in community outreach roles in both the New York City mayor’s office and the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Bah is also a former board member of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York. “He is the right person for the job,” said Ali Najmi, a lawyer who is active in the club and passionate about increasing civic participation in New York’s Muslim community. “He is deeply connected throughout the very diverse mosaic that is Muslim New Yorkers and he is very good at listening to people’s needs and concerns.”

Saubirah Hack, president of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York, offered a more critical perspective on Hochul, though she did not criticize Bah himself. She said that Muslim and Arab New Yorkers have been “outraged” by Hochul’s words and actions throughout the war in Gaza. “Beyond appointing Muslims in the executive chamber, Gov. Hochul can begin to repair this relationship by meeting with our communities, hearing our voices and being a governor for all, including issuing an apology for her dangerous rhetoric about carpet-bombing Gaza, ending U.S. complicity in the genocide and calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine,” Hack said.

Since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza, Hochul has faced criticism for some of her messaging related to Muslim and Arab New Yorkers. Her first message to Palestinian New Yorkers several days after the Hamas attack and Israel’s subsequent and ongoing military response in Gaza was to “reject Hamas.” It was not until hours later that she offered public sympathies for Palestinian New Yorkers who may fear for their loved ones or face heightened Islamophobia. 

Earlier this year, Hochul made a joke before a Jewish audience in which she implied that Israel’s right to defend itself extended to wholesale destruction of Gaza. “If Canada someday ever attacked Buffalo, I'm sorry my friends, there would be no Canada the next day,” Hochul quipped at the time. “That’s a natural reaction.” She later apologized for her “poor choice of words” after the comment drew widespread backlash.