NYPD boosts synagogue security ahead of Passover as anti-Jewish crimes ‘jump off the page': ‘No one should feel afraid to worship'
The NYPD is beefing up security at synagogues ahead of Passover, citing alarming data that revealed 62% of all hate crimes in the city target Jews — leading Commissioner Jessica Tisch to ensure that 'no one should feel afraid to worship.'
'As always, we are increasing patrols around synagogues, so you can expect to see uniformed deployments at dedicated houses of worship,' the top cop said at a press conference with Mayor Eric Adams and other officials Wednesday ahead of the Jewish holiday that begins on April 12 and continues through April 20.
'No one should feel afraid to worship. No community should feel like a target.'
The shocking uptick in anti-Jewish crimes 'jump off the page as the single largest category of hate, at an astounding 62% of the total,' Deputy Inspector Gary Marcus, commanding officer of NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force, said.
Well over half of all hate crimes in New York City are perpetrated against Jews,' he added.
The trend of antisemitic hate crimes rose 7% year-over-year in 2024 — with 345 anti-Jewish incidents reported, according to NYPD data. Those numbers indicated Jews were targeted in 54% of all hate crimes in 2024.
A Jewish Columbia University student was the victim of two anti-Jewish attacks in 2024 — most recently in December, when anti-Israel protester Tarek Bazrouk allegedly punched him in the face and called him a Nazi outside the Morningside Heights school.
In September, a Jewish barber in Yonkers was allegedly stabbed with his own scissors after raging about the war in Gaza, shouting, 'I want to kill you, you f–king Jew.'
On Oct. 17, a vandal scrawled a swastika on the Second Avenue Deli, writing, 'Israeli pride' underneath.
Mayor Adams also spoke on Wednesday of the rise in hate crimes against Jews since the October 7th, 2023 attacks.
'This is an important time for the Jewish community… Oct. 7, when we saw probably a second holocaust that impacted the Jewish community,' Adams said at the press conference.
'We want to let you know loudly and clearly, just as we do at every Passover, we want to have the police that are there, but we need you to be our eyes and ears. If you see something, say something, do something,' Hizzoner added.
'It's imperative that we continue the partnership of how we combine ourselves with more enforcing community, with community that we support, to serve and protect.'
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