New York State hate crime reports have skyrocketed a record-shattering 69% since 2019 – largely due to raging antisemitism, according to a sobering analysis released Wednesday by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli
Hate crimes against Jews surged statewide by 89% — from 253 incidents in 2018 to a whopping 477 incidents in 2023 while anti-Muslim incidents soared 106%, from 18 to 37 incidents, the report said.
Some 44% of all recorded hate crime incidents and 88% of religious-based hate crimes recorded statewide last year targeted Jewish victims amid the raging Israel-Hamas war in Gaza — the largest share of all such crimes.
“The data compiled by the comptroller’s office reaffirms what Jewish New Yorkers are unfortunately experiencing all too often in the community,” said Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council.
The report was “very serious and sobering,” he added.
The 1,089 overall hate incidents reported last year is the highest ever recorded since annual reporting became a requirement in 2000, the report said.
New York City data show about 58% of all 669 hate crime incidents in 2023 were committed against a person rather than property.
One-third of the incidents were egregious enough to be felonies — including 72 felony assaults, nearly half against Jews or gay males, according to the analysis.
Incidents against Jews accounted for an eye-popping 65% of all felony hate crime incidents in the Big Apple in 2023, DiNapoli said.
The most common offense was aggravated harassment in the first degree, a felony offense that involves acts such as painting a swastika, placing a noose on someone’s property, or damaging religious premises.
“There were 145 incidents of this type in New York City, and all but 14 of them were committed with an anti-Jewish bias,” the comptroller’s report said.
State Senate Education Committee chairwoman Shelley Mayer (D-White Plains) said, “We need stronger education initiatives to combat hate.”
Nearly 17% of all recorded hate crime incidents and 52% of racially motivated hate crimes targeted black residents.
The number of bias-related crimes against black victims doubled from 91 in 2018 to 183 in 2023.
Anti-gay hate crimes accounted for 12% of all incidents, the data show.
Over the past five years, anti-gay male incidents shot up 141% — 54 to 130 — and hate crimes against transgender New Yorkers have risen from 10 to 24.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian hate crimes spiked from five reported incidents in 2019 to 140 in 2021, the data showed. In the last two years, the number of anti-Asian incidents dropped, but remained 11 times the number of incidents reported in 2019.
The increase in hate crimes was about the same for the city and the rest of the state in 2023 — up 12.6% in the city and 12.9% outside the city.
But the rate of increase in reported hate crimes was higher outside the city since 2019 — 87.5% compared to 59.3% in the Big Apple.
DiNapoli’s office had no explanation for the difference but said the report had more detailed information of the type of hate crimes in the city than the rest of the state in 2023.
“New York is a diverse hub of cultures, beliefs and identities, whose strength has always been in the creation of community bonds that unite us,” DiNapoli said.
“Fighting hatred and bigotry demands that we communicate with, respect and accept our neighbors,” he added. “It requires our spiritual, political, community and business leaders to take active roles in denouncing hate, investing in prevention and protection efforts, and increasing education that celebrates the value of New York’s diversity.”
