NYC To Open Anti-Hate Crime Office This Summer

NEW YORK — New York City will open a new anti-hate crime office this summer as officials grapple with a massive spike in anti-Semitic incidents. The new Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes will coordinate repsonses to bias-fueled attacks across a range of government agencies from within Mayor Bill de Blasio's Office of Criminal Justice, City Hall said Tuesday.

Its work will mark a new effort by the city government to address a 64 percent increase in hate crimes across the city, with the majority of those incidents targeting Jews, officials say. The NYPD had recorded 110 anti-Semitic hate crimes this year as of Sunday, up from just 58 in the same period last year.

"The Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes will work to root out hate and make our streets safer, which is why we’re moving up the timeline and opening the office months ahead of schedule," de Blasio said in a statement. "We will never stand idly by while our fellow New Yorkers are targeted because of their race, religion, sexual orientation or any other quality that makes them who they are."

The City Council passed a law in January to establish the office. Its opening this summer will come well before the legislation takes effect in November.

The office will work with the NYPD, the city's five district attorneys, the Commission on Human Rights and other agencies to combat hate crimes with a focus on outreach, education and community safety, according to the mayor's office.

It will also work to develop ways to deal with people who commit hate crimes besides simply arresting and prosecuting them, City Hall said. It will also compile an annual report on the prevalence of hate crimes and the availability of services to address their impact.

"By bringing together expertise from City agencies that work every day to promote the wellbeing of New Yorkers, the new Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes will bolster our commitment to keeping New York City the safest and fairest big city for all residents and visitors," Elizabeth Glazer, the director of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, said in a statement.

The office will initially have a budget of $336,000 and three staffers who will coordinate with several agencies, de Blasio spokesman Raul Contreras said.

The Council has pushed the de Blasio administration to give the office more resources. Setting up the office with six staffers would cost $475,000 in the coming fiscal year and $713,000 in each year thereafter, according to the fiscal impact statement for the legislation that established it.

The Anti-Defamation League welcomed the city's latest effort to tackle hate crimes amid an "unacceptable" number of bias-fueled attacks.

"Hate crimes demand priority attention because of their special impact; not only do they cause substantial harm to the victim, but they damage the fabric of our society and fragment communities," Evan Bernstein, the ADL's New York and New Jersey regional director, said in a statement.