Ahead of an appearance by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at a hearing on immigration policy before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the governor’s office released a memo and fact sheet to dispute claims the governor says are false.
While much of the memo focused on immigration reform and crime, one section was dedicated to the rise in antisemitism and Hochul’s responses. Countering the claim that “New York is standing idly by while antisemitism and hate crimes are committed with impunity,” the memo included two news articles to dispute that.
“FACT: Governor Hochul has made record investments to strengthen safety and security measures for organizations facing increased risk of hate crimes,” read the memo before sourcing articles from The New York Times and the Staten Island Advance.
The articles highlighted the millions of dollars in funding that Hochul directed the state to invest in increasing security measures at nonprofits “at risk of hate crimes or terrorism,” as well as separate grants directly aimed at combating hate crimes in New York.
“‘You can vigorously oppose Israel’s response following the attack on their people, but still be vigorously opposed to terrorism, Hamas, antisemitism and hate in all of its forms,’ Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, said in remarks that were streamed online,” the memo quoted from the New York Times. “‘We cannot allow any New Yorker to live in fear.’”
In January, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) called out Hochul for failing to acknowledge the rise of Jew-hatred. “Antisemitic hate crimes have risen to historic highs in New York,” he wrote, noting that his search for the word “antisemitism” in the Democratic governor’s transcript of her upcoming State of the State showed zero results.
“Not one mention of ‘antisemitism’ in a 140-page document. Not one mention of ‘antisemitism’ in an hour-long speech,” he wrote. “The scandal is not that Kathy Hochul is failing to combat antisemitism. The scandal is that she is not even trying.”
