Comptroller report: hate crimes rising in NYS

ALBANY, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) — A report released by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on Wednesday, August 23 shows that hate crimes are on the rise across the state over the last five years.

The report says there were 1,089 reported hate crimes in 2023, a 69% rise from 2018. That is the highest number reported since the Hate Crimes Act of 2000 mandated data collection and annual reporting. The report also found that the most common hate crime motivation was for religion, with nearly half the incidents reported. Both anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate crimes more than doubled from 2018 numbers, with 501 combined incidents in 2023. That reflects an 89% and 106% rise, respectively.

Crimes targeting Jewish victims made up 44% of all incidents and 88% of all religious-based hate crimes. Those are the largest shares of all such crimes.

“We are deeply grateful to State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for producing this critical report,” Mark Tryeger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, said in a statement. It is more than timely; it’s a crucial reminder that each hate crime statistic represents a New Yorker who is suffering. This isn’t merely about data—it’s about upholding our state and city’s core values of compassion and inclusion. This report challenges every New Yorker, from our government offices, religious institutions, private industries, to our schools, to actively build strategies to combat all forms of hatred.”

The Comptroller’s report also showed the following rises from 2018:

• Anti-black reported hate crimes almost doubled from 2018, from 91 to 183. Nearly 17% of all recorded hate crime incidents and over half of racially-motivated hate crimes were anti-black, according to the Comptroller’s report.
• Anti-gay male reported hate crimes had a 42% rise from 2018 — from 54 to 130. According to the report, 71% of all reported LGBTQ+ hate crimes were against males.
• Anti-Asian reported hate crimes saw a seven-fold rise — from 8 to 57. The Comptroller said that during the pandemic in 2020, anti-Asian hate crimes saw a spike from five in 2019 to 140 in 2021, dropping by half in the last two years. However, it is still 11 times the 2019 number.

The split between New York City and the rest of the state was approximately 60-40, with the city reporting 669 hate crimes in 2023. That number represents an almost 13% increase from the previous year. New York State reported 420 incidents last year, an increase of approximately the same amount as the city.

“New York is a diverse hub of cultures, beliefs and identities, whose strength has always been in the creation of community bonds that unite us,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “Fighting hatred and bigotry demands that we communicate with, respect and accept our neighbors. It requires our spiritual, political, community and business leaders to take active roles in denouncing hate, investing in prevention and protection efforts, and increasing education that celebrates the value of New York’s diversity.”

You can read the Comptroller’s full report at this link here.

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