Anti-Semitic hate crimes surged 125 percent last month in New York City from the year before, according to data released Monday by the NYPD.
The city saw 45 anti-Semitic hate crimes in November, the data show, up from 20 in November 2021. Anti-Semitic attacks are up 52.7 percent in 2022 from last year, the New York Post reported.
The surge in hate crimes last month came as high-profile figures espoused anti-Semitism. NBA star Kyrie Irving, who plays for the Brooklyn Nets, was suspended from the team after he promoted a film that denies the Holocaust and claims "many famous high-ranking Jews" practice Satanism. Rapper Kanye West also made a host of anti-Semitic comments—praising Adolf Hitler and Nazis, claiming only black people are Jews, and broadly accusing Jews of financial exploitation.
Hate groups were emboldened by the anti-Semitic comments. An extremist Black Hebrew Israelite group gathered outside the Nets arena on Nov. 20 in support of Irving. On Dec. 3, anti-Semites outside the arena praised Irving, West, and Hitler and said they were "glad the Holocaust happened."
New York City mayor Eric Adams (D.) acknowledged the rise in hate crimes on Monday and called for harsher prosecution of hate crimes.
"I ... think prosecutors must send a strong message of no plea bargain," Adams said. "If you are found guilty of a hate crime, you should be held fully accountable for that crime."