Nearly Two-Thirds Of Hate Crimes In New York This Year Have Been Anti-Semitic

New York City Police Department Image by Getty Images
(JTA) – The number of hate crimes reported to the New York Police Department this year is nearly double the number reported in 2018 during the same period – and most incidents are anti-Semitic.
The NYPD has received 176 hate crime complaints from Jan. 1 to May 19, constituting an 83 percent rise over the corresponding period last year, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday based on police data.
Anti-Defamation League National Director Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted that 59 percent of the complaints were anti-Semitic hate crimes, to 103 from 50 reported incidents in the same period last year.
“Troubling findings out of one of the country’s most diverse cities,” Greenblatt wrote.
Council Speaker Corey Johnson told The Wall Street Journal, “We have an anti-Semitism crisis in New York. It’s a national problem, but New York accounts for way too many incidents.”
In 2018, there were 353 total hate crime complaints, up from 325 in 2017, and the NYPD made 149 arrests. Of these hate crimes, 186 – or nearly 53 percent – had anti-Jewish bias, up from 151 in 2017.
The NYPD tally is of reported complaints and arrests, not convictions.
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
