A new report from the New York Police Department Hate Crimes Task Force (HCTF) shows that hate crimes in New York City have increased 76% when compared to the same period in 2021, according to CNN. This includes a 19-year-old charged with hate crimes against Sikh men in Queens, a 17-year-old boy charged with assault on a transgender girl, and a man who was just indicted for allegedly assaulting seven Asian women.
The report shows that there were 194 hate crimes between January 1 and April 10 of this year, compared to the 110 hate crimes from the same dates in 2021. Incidents targeting Jewish and Black people have seen an uptick.
Crime incidents targeted at Jewish people increased from 28 crimes last year to 86 so far in 2022, according to the HCTF data.
Some examples of such crimes against Jewish people so far in 2022 include a swastika being painted on a school bus, multiple people being physically assaulted in Brooklyn, and a teen accused of threatening six Jewish boys with a sword in the Upper West Side.
Crimes against Black people doubled, with the number of targeted incidents this year standing at 26 compared to 13 in the same time period last year, according to the data.
Crimes targeted over sexual orientation increased by 12, as noted by the HCTF. The data also shows that hate crimes against Asians were down 32% compared to 2021, with 47 last year and 32 in the same period this year.
In January, NY mayor Eric Adams revealed his “Blueprint to End Gun Violence” and other initiatives such as a neighborhood safety team and a “Subway Safety Plan.” This comes on the heels of an NYPD report stating murders are down in March, but the overall crime rate increased by 36.5% compared to the same period in 2021.