By: Fern Sidman

New York will create its first permanent, state-sponsored Holocaust memorial at the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza in Albany, a landmark initiative approved Monday by Governor Kathy Hochul and hailed by Jewish leaders as a long-overdue affirmation of the state’s historic commitment to remembrance and vigilance. As reported by VIN News on Monday, the measure comes at a moment when antisemitic incidents nationwide have surged to levels unseen in decades, prompting renewed scrutiny of how states confront hate, intolerance, and historical erasure.

Governor Hochul signed the legislation — S5784/A7614 — in the state capital, calling it a moral obligation and a testament to New York’s enduring support for Holocaust survivors, their descendants, and the broader Jewish community. “With the first-ever state-sponsored Holocaust Memorial, we are honoring the victims and survivors while ensuring visitors have a place to remember and reflect,” Hochul said, according to VIN News. “New York has zero tolerance for hate of any kind.”

Her remarks placed an emphasis on the dual purpose of the memorial: commemoration and education. State officials noted that the initiative is not simply a symbolic gesture but part of a wider, urgently needed infrastructure to combat the spread of antisemitism. As VIN News has chronicled in recent months, antisemitic rhetoric, harassment, and violence have escalated dramatically across college campuses, public demonstrations, and online platforms, driven in part by polarizing discourse surrounding the Israel–Hamas war.

Under the legislation, the state Office of General Services will spearhead the design, programming, and placement of the new memorial on the Empire State Plaza, a sprawling civic center that already houses many of New York’s most significant monuments. Assemblymember Gabriella Romero, who co-sponsored the measure, said the plaza’s prominence makes it the ideal setting for a memorial meant to be both visible and enduring. “This project is a vital statement at a time of rising hate,” Romero said, according to the VIN News report. “We must have a public space that forces reflection, learning, and resolve.”

State Sen. Patricia Fahy, the bill’s Senate sponsor, emphasized that the memorial transforms the phrase “Never Again” from a slogan into an actionable public charge. In her view, memory is inseparable from moral clarity — especially at a time when misinformation and ideological extremism distort the historical record of the Holocaust. As Fahy told VIN News, “With this memorial, we reaffirm that the state of New York stands on the side of truth.”

The memorial’s educational mission will be central. Officials envision programming that includes school visits, public lectures, historical exhibits, and digital learning tools. The goal is to confront the dangers of hatred and dehumanization — not abstractly, but through an encounter with the real, documented atrocities committed against European Jewry.

Jewish leaders across the Capital Region and beyond praised the legislation as both timely and essential. The Capital District Jewish Holocaust Memorial organization, which has long pushed for a permanent state-backed installation, described Hochul’s move as a breakthrough. Its president, Dan Dembling, told VIN News that the project is desperately needed as Holocaust distortion, denial, and antisemitism gain traction in the social and political mainstream.

“We are seeing antisemitic rhetoric and incidents climb at an alarming rate,” Dembling said. “This memorial is not only a tribute — it is a shield. It is a permanent counterweight to hate.”

Dembling’s organization has documented escalating vandalism and harassment in the region, reflecting a nationwide pattern. As VIN News reported, Jewish communities throughout New York have reported an unprecedented wave of hate crimes, from synagogue attacks to campus threats to intimidation at public rallies. Many of these incidents take place against a backdrop of rising extremism and radicalization online.

For Governor Hochul, the memorial is one piece of a sprawling effort to confront bias and safeguard vulnerable communities. As the VIN News report noted, the FY26 state budget allocates $35 million to the Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes program — one of the largest investments of its kind in the country.

The state also recently implemented the first statewide plan to combat antisemitism, an initiative developed in consultation with Jewish communal leaders, civil rights experts, and law enforcement. The plan includes enhanced data collection on hate incidents, expanded training for educators and police, and strengthened prevention strategies in public institutions.

In addition, Hochul signed legislation requiring every college campus in New York to appoint a Title VI coordinator trained to identify and respond to antisemitic discrimination. This measure comes amid widespread reports that Jewish students at multiple New York campuses have been targets of harassment, exclusion, and intimidation since the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre and the Israel–Hamas war that followed.

State officials say the memorial should be understood within this larger framework: a comprehensive attempt to defend pluralism, historical truth, and civic decency at a moment when all three are under sustained attack.

Holocaust memorials proliferated across the world in the late twentieth century, but New York — home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel — did not have a state-sponsored memorial at its political center until now. The absence became more conspicuous as calls for remembrance intensified in the face of dwindling survivor testimonies.

As the VIN News report highlighted, the new memorial is meant not only to honor the past but to confront present-day distortion. Recent studies show that many young Americans lack basic knowledge of the Holocaust: how many Jews were killed, who orchestrated the genocide, and how systematic the machinery of extermination was. This knowledge gap has widened amid a global resurgence of conspiracy theories and ideologically motivated reinterpretations of history.

State Sen. Fahy stressed that historical ignorance emboldens extremist narratives. Citing widely reported incidents of Holocaust analogies being misused by anti-Israel activists or political agitators, she said the memorial will serve as a permanent grounding point in factual truth. “The facts of the Holocaust do not bend to political winds,” she said. “They are fixed, recorded, undeniable.”

The Office of General Services will begin coordinating design proposals, site studies, and community consultations immediately. While no definite completion date has been announced, officials told VIN News that the goal is to create a memorial worthy of both its subject matter and its location — a solemn space that invites contemplation and insists on historical accuracy.

Several design concepts are expected to center on themes of resilience, remembrance, and the ethical responsibility of the living toward the murdered. Architects may also incorporate references to New York’s role as a refuge for Holocaust survivors, many of whom rebuilt their lives in the state and enriched its cultural, civic, and economic life.

The creation of the memorial sends a message — not only to New Yorkers but to an increasingly divided nation — that historical memory is a civic responsibility. Hochul’s approval of the project aligns New York with a growing recognition that antisemitism must be confronted publicly, systematically, and unapologetically.

With the new memorial at the Empire State Plaza, New York is making clear that remembrance cannot be left to chance or sentiment. It must be institutionalized, protected, and embedded in the civic landscape. At a time when Jewish communities in America and Europe are feeling more threatened than at any point in recent memory, the symbolism is unmistakable: the state stands with them, and it does so visibly, permanently, and without conditions.

Planning begins now. The work of remembrance will follow.