A total of 311 hate crimes were reported in New York from January through September, an increase compared to the 250 reported during the same period last year, according to Deputy Inspector Mark Molinari, head of New York Police Department’s Hate Crimes Task Force.
Molinari said 163 of the reported hate crimes targeted Jews.
While he called 87 percent of the anti-Semitic crimes “criminal mischief,” which is generally vandalism involving the drawing of swastikas and other offensive symbols, the remaining 13 percent included crimes such as assault.
Jewish leaders in New York are demanding more police officers to patrol their communities leading up to Yom Kippur and its 25-hour fast, which begins on Tuesday night.
“Enough is enough,” said Brooklyn Councilman Chaim Deutsch, who represents the 48th District of New York City. “If they have to bring in 200 cops to patrol our streets to show their visibility, that’s what has to be done.”
“I’ve heard from Holocaust survivors how they are afraid to walk in the streets,’’ he said. “More than 75 years later, after the Holocaust … for them to say in 2019, ‘I am afraid to walk in the streets,’ sends us all a bad message.”
Flatbush Jewish Community Council co-founder Chaskal Bennett added, “There is no community in New York City that appreciates and values the Police Department more than the Orthodox Jewish community.”
Nevertheless, he continued, “we feel that our community is vulnerable and has been subject to an alarming increase in hate crimes. That feeling must be met with the full force and protection of the NYPD.”
