Gov. Hochul announces $75 million to combat hate crimes in New York
New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday announced up to $75 million in grants for local police departments and houses of worship in response to a raise in reported anti-Semitic attacks and hate crimes against Palestinians in the aftermath of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The state will also begin a review of anti-Semitism and anti-discrimination policies in New York City’s public university system, while state police will expand their surveillance of social media to identify online threats on college campuses.
“You can strongly oppose Israel’s response to the attack on their people, but you can still strongly oppose terrorism, Hamas, anti-Semitism and hatred in all its forms,” Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, said in remarks delivered were streamed online. “We cannot allow any New Yorker to live in fear.”
The governor’s comments came after a wave of threats, vandalism and attacks on Jews and Muslims in New York and across the country hit the headlines. The New York Police Department last week unveiled statistics showing a spike in hate crimes in the city, especially against Jews, following the Hamas attacks on Israel earlier this month, despite an overall decline in hate crimes this year .
There were 51 hate crimes in the third week of October, compared to just seven in the same week last year; 30 were anti-Semitic, police said. There were four attacks on Palestinians in the same seven-day period, compared to two in the same week last year.
Last weekend, a series of messages on a student website threatened violence against Jewish students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. school and state police to increase security at the school’s Jewish center.
On Tuesday, the governor – who visited the university on Monday to condemn the messages as anti-Semitic – announced that “a person of interest” had been arrested by state police and would be questioned in connection with the threats.
Later in the day, federal prosecutors in the Northern District of New York said they had arrested Patrick Dai, a 21-year-old Cornell junior originally from Pittsford, N.Y., on a criminal complaint related to the threats. Mr. Dai was accused of posting threats to kill or injure another person through interstate communications, prosecutors said. He was scheduled to make his first court appearance in Syracuse on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney.
Ms. Hochul announced $50 million in grants to help local law enforcement agencies prevent and respond to hate crimes. Another $25 million would be made available to improve the security of houses of worship, community centers and other locations.
As the war continues to divide Democrats, Ms. Hochul has emerged as a steadfast supporter of Israel. She has been vocal in defending the country’s military response in Gaza in the wake of Hamas terrorist attacks and visited Israel earlier this month on a “solidarity mission” as leader of the state with the largest Jewish population outside Israel.
On Tuesday, Ms Hochul also denounced opponents of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, which shot down street fliers bearing the faces of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas fighters.
“This cruelty from New Yorkers to New Yorkers must stop,” she said.
The new overhaul of anti-discrimination policies at the City University of New York comes after months of unrest among students and alumni who have accused the public university system of anti-Israel prejudice. A commencement speech by a law student denouncing “Israeli settler colonialism” became a high-profile flashpoint last summer, prompting criticism from Mayor Eric Adams, among others.
The review will be led by Jonathan Lippman, the state’s former chief judge.