The Friends Committee, a Quaker lobbying group, has been pushing in Washington for a cease-fire, going up against more powerful and better-funded groups backing Israel.
Representing neighboring districts in the Bronx, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ritchie Torres have staked sharply divergent positions on the Israel-Hamas war.
After New York City’s mayor begged for help from the federal government, Congressional Democrats, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, came to visit the city’s main migrant shelter.