New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday visited Borough Park in Brooklyn, home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities in the city and the world, a week and a half before the Jewish New Year.

Footage released by Mamdani’s office of his visit to Eichler’s Judaica — a purveyor of Jewish books and religious items that has been in business for nearly 40 years — showed the mayor discussing garbage pickup and curriculum at yeshivas with local leaders, who gifted him honey for Rosh Hashanah. In the recording, Uri Fraenkel, who works as director special projects at the mayor’s office, demonstrated the blowing of the shofar and explained elements of Hasidic garb.

In a brief statement to the invited press, the mayor wished them an early shanah tova, and thanked those who welcomed him for the “conversations.”

Despite facing strong criticism from many Jewish civic and religious leaders over his stance and statements toward Israel, Mamdani in his first year has cultivated relationships with figures from the city’s diverse Hasidic communities, including rabbis from the Satmar sects in Williamsburg and the Jewish Children’s Museum in Crown Heights.