NY hate crimes nearly doubled in 2019, almost two-thirds are antisemitic

“Troubling findings out of one of the country’s most diverse cities,” Anti-Defamation League National Director Jonathan Greenblatt wrote.

By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ/JTA
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks in Brooklyn synagogue, declaring war on antisemitism (photo credit: CONSULATE GENERAL IN NEW YORK)
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks in Brooklyn synagogue, declaring war on antisemitism
(photo credit: CONSULATE GENERAL IN NEW YORK)

The number of hate crimes reported to the New York Police Department this year is nearly double the number reported in 2018 during the same period – and most incidents are antisemitic.

The NYPD has received 176 hate crime complaints from Jan. 1 to May 19, constituting an 83 percent rise over the corresponding period last year, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday based on police data.

Anti-Defamation League National Director Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted that 59 percent of the complaints were antisemitic hate crimes, to 103 from 50 reported incidents in the same period last year.

“Troubling findings out of one of the country’s most diverse cities,” Greenblatt wrote.

Council Speaker Corey Johnson told The Wall Street Journal, “We have an anti-Semitism crisis in New York. It’s a national problem, but New York accounts for way too many incidents.”

In 2018, there were 353 total hate crime complaints, up from 325 in 2017, and the NYPD made 149 arrests. Of these hate crimes, 186 – or nearly 53 percent – had anti-Jewish bias, up from 151 in 2017.

The NYPD tally is of reported complaints and arrests, not convictions.