Yom Kippur Brings Cops Out In Force Amid NYC Hate Crime Spike

NEW YORK — The NYPD has dispatched extra cops to synagogues for Yom Kippur amid a continued spike in attacks on Jewish people, police officials said.

The police department planned to send about 130 counterterrorism officers and up to 25 extra patrol cars to synagogues across the city during the high Jewish holiday starting Tuesday evening, Chief of Department Terence Monahan said.

"We’re going to have a very large presence out in Brooklyn and throughout the city tonight through Yom Kippur," Monahan said at a Tuesday news conference.

The NYPD's Counterterrorism Bureau said it also is monitoring a Wednesday shooting near a synagogue in Halle, Germany that reportedly killed at least two people. And Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the New York State Police to increase patrols near synagogues and religious centers for the holiday.

The extra security will come as police grapple with the 170 antisemitic hate crimes reported in the city as of Sunday while Jewish New Yorkers observe their faith's holiest day.

Those antisemitic incidents account for more than half this year's 323 hate crimes and reflect a 53 percent uptick in attacks on Jews from the same time last year, police statistics show.

More than a quarter of the extra counterterrorism cops will be dispatched to Brooklyn, the apparent epicenter of the recent spate of hate crimes, police officials said.

Greenpoint's 94th Precinct saw 18 reported hate crimes in the first six months of this year, more than any other precinct in the city, NYPD statistics show. Some 13 antisemitic incidents had been reported there as of Sunday, up from three last year, the NYPD said.

NYPD brass also gave beat cops orders to stay in touch with local Jewish centers during Yom Kippur, Monahan said.

"Our neighborhood coordination officers and our steady sectors have been tasked to go visit every one of their synagogues that are having services within their sector tonight," he said Tuesday.

The NYPD said it would beef up its Yom Kippur presence after local lawmakers sought more protection for houses of worship. Many locals found security "to be lacking" on Rosh Hashanah last week, City Council Member Chaim Deutsch said.

Deutsch said he and Council Member Kalman Yeger met with the NYPD Tuesday morning to discuss their safety worries.

"We expressed the fear in the Jewish community right now, and asked that they stepped up their efforts to ensure that not only do we FEEL safe, but that we actually ARE safe," Deutsch, of Brooklyn, said in a statement. "I feel optimistic that they heard our concerns."

New York City is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the nation — one 2012 estimate said there were more than 1.5 million Jewish people living in the metropolitan area. Yom Kippur, which runs into Wednesday evening, is a holy Jewish day of atonement during which observers traditionally fast and pray.