Pols Demand Money For Hate Crime Office Amid Spike In Attacks

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — Lawmakers want New York City to use an important weapon in the fight against hate crimes: money. City Council members on Monday demanded funding for a new hate crime prevention office amid a massive spike in anti-Semitic attacks.

The Council passed a law in January to establish the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, which will coordinate efforts across the city's myriad government agencies to stem the tide of bias-fueled incidents.

But Mayor Bill de Blasio's executive budget for the 2020 fiscal year includes only about 70 percent of the money the Council says the office needs — even as anti-Semitic hate crimes have more than doubled. The NYPD has recorded 100 such attacks this year as of May 12, up from 49 in the same period last year.

"Our city is in a crisis, so what do we do? Do we watch the numbers grow? No," Council Speaker Corey Johnson said Monday at a news conference in Williamsburg, flanked by several Jewish leaders. "Do we hope that the hate goes away? That is not likely any time soon. We must proactively work to stop this crisis."

Anti-Semitic incidents account for the majority of the 168 hate crimes reported across the city this year as of last Sunday, a staggering 78 percent increase from the same period in 2018, police statistics show.

Just on Saturday, a group of men drove up to a pair of teens in Borough Park and one of them shouted, "We love Hitler!" before driving away," The Yeshiva World reported. Cops are searching for another group who attacked a Jewish man in Williamsburg earlier this month.

"We cannot become numb to this kind of hate," said Evan Bernstein, the New York and New Jersey regional director at the Anti-Defamation League. "And as anti-Semitism is the canary in the coal mine for other kinds of hate that are taking place in this city, it's important to know that other minority groups are feeling this."

The new hate crime prevention office could address the problem by helping city agencies work together to educate New Yorkers about the effect of hate crimes, Johnson said. The office would also be tasked with compiling an annual report on the prevalence of hate crimes and the availability of services to address their impact.

Setting up the office with six staff members 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.

De Blasio — who is now a Democratic candidate for president — has strongly condemned hate crimes in the past. But his executive budget only includes about $336,000 for the hate crime prevention office, a Council spokeswoman said.

"In New York City, we celebrate our differences and reject any attempt to hate and divide," de Blasio said in a statement. "That’s why we funded The Office of Hate Crime Prevention to prevent these heinous crimes before they occur. Hate will never be tolerated in this city."

While he said he was uncertain how the office's impact would be measured, Johnson said there's an urgent need for the city to fund it. The issue will be on the table as the Council and the de Blasio administration negotiate the city budget that's due July 1, he said.

"Anti-Semitism has existed for a long time, though the most disturbing part has been the explosion of anti-Semitism, particularly (in) predominantly Jewish neighborhoods, where people are now feeling very, very unsafe because of their faith, because of their appearance," Johnson said.

This article has been updated with more accurate figures reflecting the amount of funding for the hate crime prevention office in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s executive budget. The City Council initially provided a lower dollar amount.