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60% of Hate Crimes in NYC This Year Targeted Jews

Total number of hate crimes jumped by 64 percent

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June 5, 2019

About 60 percent of the hate crimes in New York City this year have targeted Jews, according to figures recorded by the New York Police Department.

The statistics show that there were 184 hate crimes in the city through June 2—an increase of 64 percent from last year—and that 110 of this year's incidents targeted Jews, NBC News reported.

Last year, Jews were the victims of 58 attacks out of 112 total.

In response to the spike in anti-Semitic incidents and other hate crimes, New York City will open its Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes in the coming months to create a "holistic approach" to prevent such incidents.

"In New York City, we celebrate and uphold our differences and reject any attempt to hate or divide," said Mayor Bill de Blasio, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. "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."

Of the 184 total hate crimes, 18 targeted victims who are black, and another 18 targeted victims because of their sexual orientation. Whites, the next most targeted group, were victims in 11 hate crimes.

"There is no place for hate in New York City, and the detectives of the Hate Crime Task Force are working diligently to eliminate these crimes and to bring perpetrators of hate to justice," the NYPD said in its monthly newsletter.

At least 75 people have been arrested in connection with the crimes, according to the NYPD.

Amid the spike in hate crimes, overall crime in New York City decreased by 6 percent over the same period, and there was a 12.4 percent drop in murders.

The surge in anti-Semitic incidents in New York City is part of a broader surge in such attacks across the country. Last year, the American Jewish community suffered the third-highest number of anti-Semitic attacks since the 1970s, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks this data and shows its findings in an annual report.