New York —

The gathering was inside the Brooklyn home of a Jewish film director. The crowd, according to several people in attendance, was skeptical.

Zohran Mamdani had arrived to greet approximately 60 people, at least half of them Modern Orthodox, who for the most part are more religiously observant than the progressives in Mamdani’s base.

Some guests, according to sources who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity to discuss the private mid-August event, wondered if a potential Mamdani administration would stop dispatching the New York Police Department to stand watch at synagogues when needed. Mamdani, without hesitation, said he would provide the security.

One of the attendees told him that their friend, a Jewish woman, had recently been harassed and called a slur while pushing a stroller down a city street.

Mamdani told them he was sorry about what they had experienced and said he believed it wasn’t helpful to either the Israeli or Palestinian causes if people supporting either side felt like they couldn’t walk outside without fear.

And while he reaffirmed his support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting the Israeli government and economy, Mamdani also promised he would keep in place police protection for the city’s annual parade honoring Israel.

“It’s obvious that he grew up around Jews and that he is comfortable, he can cra