Anti-Israel Protests Fuel Surge in Antisemitic Hate Crimes in New York City

Hate crimes in New York City have risen for the fourth consecutive year, driven largely by a spike in antisemitic incidents that coincided with anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses and widespread news coverage of the conflict.

Hate crimes in New York City are on pace to rise for the fourth consecutive year, driven largely by a spike in antisemitic incidents that coincided with anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses and widespread news coverage of the conflict.

There were 276 hate crime complaints in the city through May 31, the most recent data available. That's up from 210 in 2023. Virtually the entire increase can be seen in anti-Jewish incidents, which rose from 97 to 164 in the same period.

The rise in antisemitic incidents coincided with anti-Israel demonstrations on the city's major college campuses, including Columbia and New York universities.

"That's no coincidence," said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Antisemitic incidents have always been the most common hate crimes in New York, he said, and the recent spike comes as no surprise given the surge in campus demonstrations and widespread news coverage.

"What we've seen on college campuses has carried over into the street, so to speak," he said. "People see this, they get bombarded with these images from TV and social media and then act upon it."

Giacalone faulted university leaders for failing to address students' complaints of antisemitism early on in the anti-Israel protests that broke out on their campuses earlier this year.

"Not only did they not act, but they're also protecting their professors that have been teaching this stuff for decades," he said. "It's finally come to fruition, and it plays right into the conservative hand about how colleges have brainwashed America's youth in order to hate the country and a lot of things about it."

At Columbia, faculty reportedly assisted student agitators by physically blocking critics from a makeshift encampment on school grounds and by forming a human chain around their keffiyeh-clad pupils. The encampment finally ended after school leaders asked the NYPD to clear out a group that barricaded the university's Hamilton Hall building.

Anti-Asian hate crimes, which became a visible problem last year for New York's large Asian-American community, fell by half through May 31, 2024, compared to the prior year.

Citywide crime statistics fell slightly by 2.4% overall in May, led by a 21.1% decline in homicides. However, rapes, robberies, shootings and felony assaults all increased. Police attributed a significant portion of those bumps to crooks on motorized scooters who have been plaguing the city with snatch-and-grab robberies for months.

Transit crime decreased by 10.6% after city and state leaders increased patrols on the subway system, revived random bag checks and called in the National Guard for assistance.

"We vow to stay in front of crime trends by directly addressing community concerns, disrupting emerging patterns and dismantling criminal networks where they operate," NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said in a statement. "New Yorkers expect and deserve nothing less."