New York police say antisemitic crimes rose by 400% in February
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has said that antisemitic crimes rose by 400% in February.
Last month, police recorded 56 hate crimes against Jewish people, compared with 11 in February 2021. Additionally, fifteen incidents were recorded in January compared with four in January of last year. The statistics reflected an overall increase in New York crime.
One such incident in February occurred when the words ‘F*** Jews’ were spray-painted three times on a newly opened Israeli restaurant named Miriam on the Upper West Side in New York City on Thursday 17th February. This antisemitic incident occurred at the same time as the Mayor, Eric Adams, was scheduled to hold a meeting to address the increase of antisemitic incidents across the city.
A separate incident was addressed by Mayor Adams after he lambasted “disgusting” graffiti targeting Jewish people that was found scrawled on the window of a Queens dental office. A photograph shows the word “JEWS” scrawled across a window with a profanity preceding it. The graffiti was reportedly discovered by a rabbi on Saturday, after the Jewish Sabbath had ended, who then reported it to the New York Police Department’s Hate Crimes Task Force.
Mayor Adams said in a tweet: “This would be disgusting anytime but it’s especially outrageous as we come to the end of Shabbos. We won’t let this vicious hatred go unanswered in our city.”
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