Police separate Israel supporters and pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Times Square, New York City, October 13, 2023. (Luke Tress)

(New York Jewish Week) — The NYPD reported 69 antisemitic hate crimes in October, marking a major increase in anti-Jewish incidents in the city following Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel and Israel’s ensuing war against the terror group.

The number of antisemitic crimes in October marked a 214% increase over the same month last year, according to police data released on Wednesday.

The total for October was far higher than in any other month this year. The previous high-water mark was in March, which saw 32 antisemitic incidents reported to police, fewer than half of last month’s number.

October’s tally of anti-Jewish crimes was the highest single month total since October 2021, when hate crimes against all groups spiked, and in which anti-Jewish crimes made up a smaller proportion of the total.

There were 101 total hate crimes reported to police last month, including eight anti-Muslim incidents. Hate crimes overall have been trending downward this year, police said.

In some of the anti-Jewish incidents last month, three Jewish men were shot with a BB gun in Brooklyn, an Israeli student was struck with a stick at Columbia University, and a man punched a woman in a Manhattan subway station, saying it was because she was Jewish. Other incidents included racist and threatening graffiti.

Some incidents related directly to the war, such as Jewish groups receiving threats related to Israel’s conduct, according to the Community Security Initiative, which coordinates security for Jewish institutions in the New York City area.

Since the start of the year, there have been 232 antisemitic hate crimes in New York City, or an incident every 31 hours, according to the NYPD data. The figure is similar to the total at the same point last year, when the overall rate of hate crimes was higher. Jewish security groups say many incidents likely go unreported.

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

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