NYPD reports 30 antisemitic incidents in July, 3 times higher than last year
Illustrative: NYPD vehicles in a religious neighborhood in Brooklyn, November 6, 2022. (Luke Tress)
(New York Jewish Week) — The NYPD reported 30 antisemitic incidents across the city in July, three times higher than the 10 anti-Jewish hate crimes reported during the same month last year, as the increase in antisemitism in New York continues nearly 10 months after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.
Last month, Jews were targeted in more hate incidents than all other groups combined, as they have been nearly every month since October 2023.
There were 52 total hate crimes reported to police last month, including five targeting Asians, one against Black people, five based on gender, eight based on sexual orientation, one based on religious bias and two against white people. The NYPD did not record any hate incidents against Muslims or Hispanic people.
Hate incidents against Jews spiked after Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel, with 69 in October and 62 in November.
The number has fluctuated since then, ranging anywhere from the 17 reported incidents in February to the 55 reported in May. Every month since Oct. 7, the number of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the city has increased year over year.
The figures represent preliminary police data and are subject to change if, for example, an investigation finds that an altercation that had appeared discriminatory was not actually motivated by bigotry.
Not every reported hate crime results in an arrest or prosecution. The legal standard for proving bias is high, making prosecution difficult.
Several post-Oct. 7 incidents are being pursued by prosecutors, including one in which a suspect allegedly punched a Jewish Israeli near Times Square while shouting antisemitic epithets in mid-October. In another incident, in April, a man was charged with a slew of hate crimes after aiming his car at Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn.
Other prominent cases surrounding the Israel-Hamas war are being prosecuted, but not as hate crimes, or have been resolved.
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