Jewish neighborhoods in NYC to get 100 new security cameras

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BROOKLYN, NEW YORK- DECEMBER 12: An Hasidic man walks past a patrol car on December 12, 2019 in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City will install 100 new security cameras in ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in an effort to prevent anti-Semitic attacks, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.

Fear has gripped the city's Orthodox Jewish community since the the fatal Dec. 10 attack at a kosher grocery store across the Hudson River in Jersey City and the Dec. 29 stabbings at a Hanukkah celebration in suburban Monsey.

The new cameras will be installed in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Borough Park, where Hasidic Jewish residents have reported attacks ranging from someone pulling off a wig or hat to more violent assaults.

“An attack on the Jewish community is an attack on all New Yorkers," de Blasio, a Democrat, said in a statement. "These new security cameras will increase the NYPD’s visibility into these neighborhoods, and help our officers on the ground keep New Yorkers safe.”

Police officials say anti-Semitic crimes in New York City jumped 21% in 2019 compared with 2018.

The announcement about the new security cameras comes a week after city officials announced they would implement “hate crime awareness programming” at middle and high schools in the same three Brooklyn neighborhoods that are getting the cameras.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the cameras "will support our increased patrols and the targeted deployment of counterterrorism officers at key locations to ensure that everyone is safe.”