Hate Crimes in NYC Increased 97% Compared to Last Year, Yet Commissioner Shea Called City, “America’s Safest”

By Yehudit Garmaise

On Dec. 8, when Mayor Bill de Blasio gave what he said would the last press conference that focuses on the city’s statistics on crime, he used the opportunity to celebrate the success of his “innovations” of Precision Policing and Neighborhood Policing, however, according to the NYPD, every crime except murders and burglaries, increased last month compared to November of 2020.

Not only that, but even more disturbingly, since November 2020, in New York City, hate crimes showed a 97% increase over last year. 

While 251 hate crimes were perpetrated in November 2020: that number jumped to 494 last month, and Jews, who were the targets of 170 of those hate crimes, were by far the most frequently attacked.

The number of hate crimes perpetrated against Jews is consistently the highest of all the different categories, however, last month, that number increased from 121 in November 2020 to 179, which shows a 48% increase over last year.

Hate crimes perpetrated against Asians were the next largest category: showing a huge jump from 20 hate crimes in November 2020 to 128 last month.

Despite these alarming numbers and continued increases in crime in almost every category, at the same press conference, outgoing NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea incongruously said, “We continue to be the safest big city in America.”

 While the evidence backing up Shea’s claim is unclear, the mayor reported that since 2014 when he came into office, crime in New York City has decreased by 11%. 

Before the pandemic, which the mayor called “the greatest social disruption in the history of this country,” crime was down by 30%.

“How did it happen?” the mayor asked. “Precision Policing, which is the focus on the small number of people who drive the violent crime.

“The incessant focus on those people has made a huge, huge impact: The gang takedowns, taking shooters and violent people off the streets. The incredible work of the gun suppression division.

“Gun arrests are the highest they have been in many, many years.”

In response to a 7% increase in crime in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), buildings, for instance, the NYPD has increased its focused there, however, neither the mayor, nor Commissioner Shea even mentioned where they might focus their energies to address the spike in hate crimes in New York.

In response to continued crime in New York City, the mayor has blamed New York City’s “lack of a functioning court system,” which has not yet come back after the pandemic to provide consequences to criminals, and Commissioner Shea blamed the state’s no-bail laws, in which judges do not yet have the discretion to hold criminals in custody who are thought to immediately harm more people: a practice that incoming NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said today she wants to rectify, however, no one at the press conference said what the NYPD officers on the street can do to better deter hate crimes.

Despite November’s statistics in black and white, Mayor de Blasio claimed not only did his innovations of Precision Policing and Neighborhood Policing work, but “they will be built upon for years to come.”

Today, when introducing incoming NYPD Commissioner Sewell, she said she would be “laser-focused on violent crime,” which New Yorkers hope includes hate crimes, as well.