District 10 Candidates Debate Solutions to Rising Hate Crimes

By Yehudit Garmaise

When the five leading District 10 congressional candidates were asked in tonight’s debate, “what kinds of solutions their constituents would want them to use to address hate crimes," which have spiked 125% across the city in the last two years, each candidate had a slightly different approach.

While the spike in hate crime generally is “alarming,” “in the last eight years anti-Semitic incidents have increased by four times in the tri-state area,” pointed out Dan Goldman, who is the current frontrunner in the race with the support of 22% of New Yorkers.

“We need to have zero-tolerance for hate crimes, and on the federal level, we need to add sentencing enhancements for every crime that is committed with a discriminatory motive,” said Goldman who worked as a federal prosecutor for 10 years.

City Councilmember Yuh-Line Niou, who supports the anti-Israel Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement, which she said “has a right to free-speech," also weighed in on hate crimes.

“We have to dismantle that hate by making sure we are bringing resources, like education, to our communities,” said Niou who is currently coming in second with the support of 17% of New Yorkers who were polled.

City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, who has 13% of New Yorkers’ support promoted, “interfaith programming.”

“Hate crimes have gone up exponentially because of the systemic inequities that affect ethnic communities, immigrant and low-incomes communities that speak English as a second language,” said Rivera.

US Rep Mondaire Jones (17th District), who is currently tied with Rivera with 13% of support from New Yorkers polled, said, “New Yorkers deserve to feel and to actually be safe.

“There is a role for the federal government to play, and I have been part of that role. I helped to pass the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Bill and in the House, the domestic terrorism prevention act, which would provide law enforcement with the resources to address the rise in white supremacist domestic terrorism in this country.”

Assemblymember Jo Ann Simon (52), who showed the support of 6% New Yorkers in the latest Pix11 poll insisted, “We have to have legislation that makes it easier to convict somebody of a hate crime, which is hard to do is difficult to do because it is hard to prove intent.”