US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) speaks during a rally to mark 506 days in Hamas captivity at Naumburg Bandshell at Central Park on Feb. 23, 2025, in New York City. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

US Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY) sent a letter to New York City officials on Friday asking them to rescind an invitation to anti-Israel singer Kehlani before she is set to take the stage at a taxpayer-funded Pride event in Central Park this summer.

The City Park’s Foundation — an organization funded by New York taxpayers — will host a one night only “Pride With Kehlani” benefit concert in Central Park on June 26, as part of its SummerStage series and in celebration of June being Pride Month. The event is being produced by Live Nation and sponsored by Capital One. Tickets start at $103 on Ticketmaster.

Last year, Kehlani released a music video that begins with the message “Long live the Intifada,” an antisemitic slogan that incites violence against Israel and the Jewish community. In a previous Instagram post, Kehlani wrote in part: “Dismantle Israel. Eradicate Zionism.” She has also voiced support for Palestinian “resistance” against Israel and an “intifada revolution.”

An Instagram post uploaded by the Grammy-nominated singer said: “Long live resistance in all its forms & Long live Palestine, from the river to the sea.” The slogan “from the river to the sea” has been widely used as a call for the destruction of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, and for it to be replaced with “Palestine.”

Torres cited many of Kehlani’s anti-Israel and anti-Zionist comments in his letter on Friday that was addressed to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, City Parks Foundation Executive Director Heather Lubov, and Live Nation Entertainment CEO and President Michael Rapino.

“New York City is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel,” Torres wrote. “Our public institutions have a duty to ensure that taxpayer dollars are never misspent on subsidizing or sanitizing antisemitism – under the banner of a Pride Event. I urge you to rescind Kehlani’s invitation to perform at a city-sponsored event. Her rhetoric flatly contradicts the spirit of Pride Month, which is and must remain a celebration of love and inclusion – not hate and exclusion. New Yorkers deserve better.”

Torres also took to X on Friday to share screenshots of some of Kehlani’s hateful social media posts and to further criticize city officials for their decision to feature the singer. “America’s largest city has no business subsidizing or sanitizing antisemitism at taxpayer expense,” he wrote. “Stop mainstreaming the extremes and inviting those who invite violence.”

The letter was sent a week after Kehlani’s performance at Cornell University’s end-of-the-year concert was canceled because of her rabid comments against Israel and Zionism.

The City’s Park’s Foundation and Live Nation have not responded to Torres’ concerns, but Adams clarified in a post on X that the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation is not involved in the foundation’s events.

“Congressmember, now you know @NYCParks does not select, contract, or pay the artists, and does not fund the City Parks Foundation at all,” Adams wrote to Torres. The mayor further noted that the City Parks Foundation is a privately-run organization, and “the only taxpayer funds it can receive are City Council discretionary awards, just like you advocated for when you were a councilmember and allocated funding for the City Parks Foundation.”