Anti-Jewish hate crimes in New York grow even as violent crime across the city decreases

JTA – Anti-Jewish hate crimes have climbed 8.5% in New York City this year, even as shootings and murders across the city fell to historic lows, according to the New York Police Department (NYPD). 

Its officials on Monday announced they have recorded 205 confirmed hate crimes against Jews between January and July 2026, up from 189 during the same period last year. Jews were targeted in more than half of all hate crimes, or 57%, similar to the proportion in 2025. Jews make up 10% of the city’s population. 

Bias-motivated crimes overall rose to 360 incidents this year. The NYPD didn’t respond by the time of going to press to a request for a breakdown of hate crimes into violent and non-violent categories. 

Antisemitic incidents reached a record high in 2024 during the aftermath of Hamas’s 7 October attacks on Israel and Israel’s retaliation in Gaza. The figures fell slightly in 2025 but have remained elevated over the past five years. 

In July, the total confirmed hate crimes and those aimed at Jews both fell below 2026 monthly averages. 

Still, a string of high-profile attacks last month has Jews on alert. They include the double stabbing of a Jewish man and an Asian man in Manhattan, the assault of a Jewish man by an alleged assailant who shouted antisemitic slurs in Brooklyn, and the vandalism of two synagogues in Queens with motor oil and faeces. 

Some Israeli officials and pro-Israel Jewish leaders have accused Mayor Zohran Mamdani of fuelling antisemitic incidents through his staunch criticism of Israel, which last month included calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal” and urging the US government to arrest him for war crimes in Gaza. 

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, drew a connection on Monday between Mamdani’s statements about Netanyahu and the stabbing of Moshe Grunhaus on the Upper West Side, which occurred hours later. 

“Since Zohran Mamdani took office as mayor of New York City, there has been a troubling rise in hate crimes targeting Jews across the city,” Danon said on X. “This isn’t just our opinion. The NYPD’s own statistics show a sharp increase in antisemitic hate crimes since January 2026.” 

Mamdani’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on allegations that his rhetoric has contributed to antisemitism. But Mamdani said in a statement on Monday that it was “unacceptable” that “while Jewish New Yorkers comprise a minority of our city’s population, they continue to comprise the majority of the victims of hate crimes”. He said his administration has boosted the Office of Hate Crime Prevention’s budget by more than 800%. 

“The work to uproot antisemitism out of this city is one that will continue until we see hate crimes come to an end in the city,” Mamdani said.