By: Fern Sidman

Two years after the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023 — the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust — the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has issued a sobering warning that antisemitism in New York City has not only persisted but is escalating at an alarming pace. According to a new interim report released on Wednesday, 2025 is on track to surpass 2024’s record-breaking number of antisemitic incidents across the five boroughs.

The report, cited by World Israel News on Wednesday, shines a spotlight on a dramatic and troubling reality: antisemitism, once relegated to the margins of public discourse, has become increasingly brazen, organized, and mainstream. “The sheer scale and number of antisemitic activities in New York City this year is alarming,” said Scott Richman, ADL’s regional director for New York and New Jersey. “From violent attacks on visibly Jewish New Yorkers to threats targeting synagogues and dehumanizing rhetoric on campuses, antisemitism is no longer hiding in the shadows. It is out in the open, and it’s making Jewish New Yorkers feel unsafe in one of the most important centers of Jewish life in the world.”

The World Israel News report noted that this latest report confirms what Jewish residents and community organizations have been warning for months: that the climate of hostility toward Jews has intensified dramatically since October 7, 2023, and that the city’s leadership has yet to implement a coherent strategy to protect its Jewish population — the largest outside the State of Israel.

According to the ADL’s interim findings, major antisemitic incidents have been reported in every borough of New York City, with hundreds of cases already logged in 2025. These include violent physical assaults, hate graffiti, online threats, and organized harassment campaigns directed at Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centers.

Last year, there were 157 recorded attacks against Jewish religious and communal institutions in New York City — a figure that shattered previous records. This year, that trend has accelerated. In one of the most disturbing incidents of 2025, police thwarted a Brooklyn-based plot to “slaughter” local Jews at a religious center, an event that investigators described as a “potential mass casualty hate crime.”

World Israel News reported that the ADL’s data shows Orthodox Jews bear the brunt of physical assaults. Although they make up only about 20 percent of the city’s Jewish population, Orthodox Jews accounted for more than half of all antisemitic assaults recorded. Many of these attacks occurred in neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, Crown Heights, and Borough Park, where Orthodox Jews are highly visible due to traditional dress.

The report detailed several disturbing cases: in February, three separate assaults were reported within a single week targeting Orthodox individuals in Brooklyn and Queens. In June, an Orthodox man was beaten unconscious by an assailant shouting anti-Israel slogans.

“The numbers tell a horrifying story,” Richman said. “But behind every number is a human being — a Jewish New Yorker who was harassed, threatened, or attacked simply for their faith or appearance.”