NYPD Claims That Hate Crimes Against Jews & Muslims Surged in October
As tensions in NYC remain inflamed due to conflict in Gaza, NYPD officials said that hate crimes jumped 124 percent in the month of October. Anti-Semitic hate crimes reportedly amounted to 69 monthly incidents, relative to 22 in October 2022. Islamophobic hate crimes also spiked dramatically, shooting from zero to eight incidents.
| 15 Nov 2023 | 07:49
Four teens sought by cops for allegedly spray-painting swastikas on multiple UES buildings. The hate crime reportedly happened on October 9. (
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Four teens being sought by the NYPD, for allegedly hurling coins and slurs at a Jewish man on November 3. (
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With tensions simmering in NYC due to war in Gaza, NYPD officials said that recorded hate crimes increased sharply in the month of October. Anti-Semitic hate crimes–such as swastika tagging–reportedly spiked by more by than 200 percent on a year-over-year basis, for a total of 69 incidents. Islamophobic hate crimes increased by 800 percent, with eight recorded crimes last month. That’s relative to zero in October 2022. Hate crimes overall were up by 124 percent, according to data collected by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force.
Such crimes include a few assaults, “aggravated harassments,” and the spraying of racist graffiti on buildings. Joe Kenny, the NYPD’s Chief of Detectives, described many of the harassment incidents as “almost bordering on free speech, where people are yelling back and forth at each other...and then it gets weird.” He further noted that most attacks involved individual perpetrators, and that temples of worship had generally been spared.
On October 9, four teen boys allegedly spray-painted swastikas on the roofs of four UES buildings. They are being sought by police officers for the incident.
Hate crime assaults also occurred on the subway system. On October 14, a man reportedly punched a woman in the face for “being Jewish” at the Grand-Central-42 St. station. A teenage girl, wearing a hijab, was called a “terrorist” on a southbound 5 train nine days later. Her headscarf was yanked on by her assailant.
Bigoted attacks in Manhattan did not end in October. On November 6, four (possibly different) teen boys threw coins and hurled insults at a Jewish man on E. 14th St. The kids were said to have yelled “I f***ing hate Jews!” and “kill that f***ing k***,” using an anti-Semitic slur. Police officers are seeking the suspects.