Antisemitic incidents accounted for more than 60% of New York City’s confirmed hate crimes in May, according to the latest data released by the New York Police Department, even as overall crime in the city continued to decline.
The NYPD reported that major crime fell 10.6% in May compared to the same month last year, with robberies, burglaries and grand larcenies all posting double-digit declines. The department also announced record lows for murders, shootings and shooting victims during the first five months of 2026.
At the same time, confirmed hate crimes surged 74.4% year over year, rising to 68 incidents from 39 in May 2025. The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force confirmed 98 hate-crime complaints were reported during the month, of which 68 met the legal standard for classification as hate crimes under New York state law.
Jews were the target of 41 confirmed hate crimes in May, accounting for 60.3% of the city’s total, despite Jewish New Yorkers comprising roughly 10% of the city’s population. The figure represents a 71% increase from the 24 confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes recorded in May 2025, according to the department.
“It underscores the fact that we have a lot more to do to ensure the safety and inclusion of all New Yorkers, including Jews, who continue to be the number one target,” Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, told JNS. “We need additional proactive work at more community-building efforts.”
He referred to a recent anti-Israel demonstration outside a synagogue in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn on May 11 that turned violent and spiraled when protesters marched down the neighborhood’s quiet streets chanting for an intifada.
“We are never going to resolve international disputes at the doors of houses of worship,” Treyger told JNS. “The mayor needs to be more clear that there is no justification for targeting a community with vile chants and assigning collective blame to Jewish people.”
Scott Richman, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s New York/New Jersey region, noted that later the same week on Israeli Independence Day, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a video for “Nakba” day, the day that some use to mark what they consider the “catastrophe” of the founding of the modern Israeli state.
“That Nakba day post was incredibly incendiary,” Richman told JNS. “When you put out information that gets people thinking that Jews are somehow evil and deserving of what they get because they’ve engaged in terrible acts, then a small number of people decide to act on it.”
Richman described that video as “disinformation” and said, “There is a lot of rhetoric out there that is fueling” the increase in hate crimes against Jews.
“It’s irresponsible to put out information like that,” he said.
The next-highest totals were five anti-Muslim incidents and five crimes motivated by sexual orientation. The NYPD also recorded three anti-Asian incidents, one anti-Hispanic incident and one anti-white incident. No confirmed anti-Black hate crimes were reported during the month.
Year to date, confirmed hate crimes have increased 8.6%, with 265 incidents recorded through May compared to 244 during the same period in 2025. Of those, 152 targeted Jews.
