Hate crimes spike for Jewish, Black, and LGBTQ+ communities in New York: Report

NEW YORK - Hate crimes surged by 12.7% in 2023 across New York over the last five years, according to a report from the state comptroller's office.

The comptroller's office said in 2023, 1,089 hate crimes were reported, marking a 69% increase from 2019.

Of these incidents, 477 targeted Jewish individuals, 183 targeted Black individuals, and 130 targeted gay men. 

The remaining incidents were classified as anti-Asian, anti-Islamic, and anti-transgender.

Hate crime in New York City

In New York City alone, hate crimes have gone up every year since 2020.

Between 2013 and 2019, hate crime incidents in New York City increased by one-third, but declined by 25.8% in the rest of the state, the comptroller's office said. 

The comptroller's office said between 2019 and 2023, hate crime incidents grew in New York City (59.3%) and more rapidly in the rest of the state (87.5%). In 2023, New York City reported the majority (61.4%) of hate crime incidents.

Hate crimes on the rise for Jewish people, gay men, and Black New Yorkers

Hate crimes against Jewish people, gay men, and Black New Yorkers are on the rise.

Most of the reported incidents are anti-Semitic, according to the report. Here's what the state comptroller's office found: 

• There was a 13% increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes in 2023, which is a 69% increase since 2019.
• Nearly 17% of all recorded hate crime incidents and 52% of racially motivated hate crimes were anti-Black.
• 71% of hate crimes based on an anti-LGBTQ+ bias targeted gay male victims, almost 12% of all incidents,
• Over the past five years, anti-gay male incidents have risen by 141% (54 to 130) and hate crimes against transgender New Yorkers have risen by 140% (10 to 24).
• During the pandemic, anti-Asian hate crimes spiked from five reported incidents in 2019 to 140 in 2021, In the last two years, the number of anti-Asian incidents has dropped by half, but remains 11 times the number of incidents reported in 2019.

For the first time since the Oct. 7 Israel attack, the numbers tell the same story, New Yorkers share on social media and in private.

"I have a friend, for example, whose dad got punched for being Jewish by a random person," a New Yorker said.

"For the Jewish population, we’re looked at as like, oh, you're not represented in the DNI culture, which take of it what you want," another New Yorker said. "But again, I think we just need to keep our local politicians accountable, keep the universities accountable."

"This is the worst kinds of incidents you can think of where people have been targeted because of who they are, their identity," Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League Scott Richman said. "But, these are incidents for which you can be arrested."

"It's important to have the numbers," a New Yorker said. "It's hard to get the numbers and think it's hard to get full correct numbers. But I mean with everything going on in Israel and just with Jews, it's very obvious that there has been an increase, even without numbers."

Even removing the attack on Israel, the data still shows a huge spike in hate, both in Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. Between 2018 and 2023, the report found that hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers rose by 89% (253 to 477) and 106% (18 to 37), respectively.

"Fighting hatred and bigotry demands that we communicate with, respect and accept our neighbors. 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," State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a statement.

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