NYPD Steps up Patrols After String of Anti-Semitic Incidents

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) would be stepping up patrols in certain historically Jewish neighborhoods after a spate of anti-Semitic incidents in the city.

"Hate doesn't have a home in our city," he wrote on Twitter. "In light of recent anti-Semitic attacks, the NYPD will increase their presence in Boro Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg. Anyone who terrorizes our Jewish community WILL face justice."

This week alone, at least five separate instances of apparently anti-Semitic crimes have rattled the Jewish community, especially as it celebrates Hanukkah, the eight-day Festival of Lights that began Sunday night.

In the most recent incident, a Brooklyn woman was arrested Friday morning on hate crimes charges for allegedly assaulting three Jewish women in Crown Heights.

Several other incidents occurred throughout the week, including another alleged assault that resulted in the arrest of a 28-year-old man. He is accused of shouting "F**k you, Jew b****rd" during the altercation in midtown.

"Since December 13, we've noticed eight hate crimes that are alarming to us," NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison said at a press conference Friday afternoon. "We're investigating them thoroughly with our Hate Crime Task Force."

According to NYPD hate crimes statistics, complaints about anti-Semitic crimes have risen dramatically. During the first three quarters of 2019, the NYPD received 166 complaints of incidents targeting Jews, a 54 percent increase over the same period in 2018.

After a Jewish man was assaulted on Wednesday, the local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on the city to step up protections.

"We are appalled at the sheer frequency and aggressive nature of these incidents," Evan Bernstein, regional ADL director in New York and New Jersey, said in a press release. "They're made particularly heinous by the fact they are occurring during a time when society is supposed to come together in peace for the holidays."

He added, "Enough is enough; now is the time for society to come together in rejection of this hate and for public officials and community leaders to speak up, lead by example and demand meaningful change to protect the Jewish community."

The NYPD's hate crimes unit announced earlier this month that, as of December 11, it had made or enhanced nearly 170 total arrests in 2019.

The region is still reeling from a mass shooting at a kosher deli in Jersey City, New Jersey, in mid-December. The store is in the city's Hasidic neighborhood. Three civilians and a police officer were killed.