Hochul, Schumer, Adams & Mayorkas Address NYC Anti-Semitism Summit; New Hate Crimes to be Launched
Edited by: Fern Sidman
Governor Kathy Hochul addressed the concerns of Jewish communal leaders from across New York and New Jersey and reiterated her commitment to stopping future anti-Semitic attacks and incidents at Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan on Monday morning. The 90 minute conference was sponsored by the Orthodox Union and also featured remarks from Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer of New York, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday creation of a new Hate and Bias Prevention Unit to address the rising tide of anti-Semitic and other hate crimes in the state. The announcement came at a meeting with members of the Orthodox Union at the Lincoln Center Synagogue @KathyHochul pic.twitter.com/gw5FYMEbux
— The Jewish Voice (@JewishVoice) December 12, 2022
In the wake of recent threats and an increase in violence against Jewish communities across New York and the country, Governor Hochul announced the formation of the Department of Human Rights’ Hate and Bias Prevention Unit that will use educational tools to promote tolerance across New York.
“New York State will use every tool at its disposal to eliminate hate and bias from our communities,” Governor Hochul said. “We will not let the rise in hate incidents that we see happening online, across the country and across the world, take root here at home.”
“It’s not just going to be sitting in a bureaucratic office,” Hochul said, adding the new unit will also be used as “an early warning system.”
“We can be in the prevention business, by educating people as to what the signs are,” Hochul said, as was reported by the JTA. “I’m going to make sure that this organization is actually an effective instrument for change.”
Hochul added that, “This is our family, this is who we are as New Yorkers. We embrace everyone. And when you attack one of us, anyone that is picking a fight with 20 million other New Yorkers is starting with your Governor, and that is a fight I’m willing to take any day, anytime, because I’m a fighter from Buffalo.”
Refusing to back down against the incessant onslaught of visceral Jew hated that has infected our society and poisoned our culture, Hochul declared, “Stand up, New York. Come on. Stand up together. Call it out. Let us be the model for the rest of the world on what can happen when people band together in a common pursuit of doing simply what’s right. And that will define us as New Yorkers going forth from this day. So count me in. I will be there with you every step of the way to protect, unite, call out, and ultimately eradicate anti-Semitism in our lifetime.”
The new unit will also mobilize support to “areas and communities in which a bias incident has occurred,” according to a press release from the governor’s office.
The new regional councils will be organized by the Division of Human Rights.
During his remarks at the conference, Adams reiterated what he said last week about building up a pipeline of new relationships between the Black and Jewish community to combat hate, as was reported by the JTA. He also said that “there should be a no plea bargaining rule” when it comes to hate crimes.
“I don’t believe we have one person who has been arrested for a hate crime that served time in jail,” Adams said, according to the JTA report. “That is unacceptable. That sends the wrong message.” (An analysis earlier this year by The City news site found that between 2015 and 2020, only 87 cases, or 15% of hate crime arrests, resulted in a hate crime conviction.)
Sen. Schumer warned about the “dramatic resurgence of anti-Semitism” and called out former President Donald Trump for having dinner last month with Kanye West, the rapper who has shared a torrent of anti-Semitism in recent weeks, and white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, as was reported by the JTA.
