BROOKLYN WEATHER

Mayor Adams Hosts Jewish Community Leaders to Fight anti-Semitic Hate Crimes: Emphasizes Action over Talk

Mayor Adams Hosts Jewish Community Leaders to Fight anti-Semitic Hate Crimes: Emphasizes Action over Talk

By Yehudit Garmaise

Mayor Eric Adams does not just talk about fighting hate crimes, but his actions speak louder than his words, NYPD Inspector Richie Taylor told BoroPark24 after attending a meeting Thursday afternoon at City Hall in which 50 New York City leaders came together to share ideas on how to best fight anti-Semitic crimes, which sadly spiked in NYC last month by 300%, compared to January 2021.

Members of the NYPD, the Jewish caucus of the City Council, many city agency representatives, and leaders from a wide variety of Jewish communities from all five boroughs were among the participants of the meeting that was coordinated and led by Boro Park’s own Joel Eisdorfer, a senior adviser of the mayor and Fred Kreizman, the commissioner of the mayor’s community affairs unit.

While five years ago, hateful people might have screamed out nasty things from their cars at frum Jews, recalled Rabbi Berish Freilach, a Boro Park askan, told the mayor, “Now they stop their cars, they come out, and they punch you. They take it to the next level.” 

Last Friday night at 10:40pm, however, when two frum Jews were attacked in Flatbush, “the mayor was personally involved in directing the response to a hate crime assault,” said Taylor, who explained that Mayor Adams instantly directed the resources and the investigative tools that were necessary for the NYPD make an arrest: right after a perpetrator not only viciously assaulted a young frum Jewish man who was walking on Avenue L and E. 32 Street, but had his driver videotape the process, before the two criminals drove a few more blocks to intimidate and harass a 14-year-old Jewish boy. 

“Mayor Adams’ immediate response speaks volumes,” said Taylor, who said as soon as the hate crime took place, Mayor Adams immediately “got the ball rolling to start the investigation, and that is something I have never seen a mayor do before.

“Thank G-d, now we have a mayor who is at the forefront of the fight against hate crimes.”

Rabbi Moshe Indig, a Williamsburg askan, called the meeting “powerful,” before saying that Adams made clear that he was making his fight against hate crimes “a top priority,” by having this meeting in just his seventh week in office and gathering such a variety of representatives of city agencies and Jewish communities.

“Mayor Adams said that the NYPD must call hate crimes what they are,” Rabbi Indig said about unprovoked attacks on ethnic minorities.

“If you try to hide the problem or deny it, you are not going to be able to fix it,” the mayor said.

“I don’t want a leader that starts off with saying why something is not a possible hate crime,” Adams told ABC on Thursday after reassigning Jessica Corey, the former head of the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force, who handled a recent hate crime victim dismissively. 

“It would be troubling to me if someone is not clear on the direction in which I want my hate crime unit to take,” said the mayor.

Inspector Taylor said the mayor's “strong actions and tone on all criminal activity is resonating in the police department: from the commanders all the way down to the cops on the streets."

Rabbi Indig reported that more uniformed police officers have already been deployed to Jewish areas, especially on Shabbos, when Jews do not carry phones and, therefore, feel more vulnerable.

“It’s refreshing to see the mayor’s office working hand-in-hand with the NYPD to keep New Yorkers safe,” said NYPD Clergy Liaison David Heskiel, who attended the meeting as a representative of NYC’s Sephardic community.

In addition to improving the public safety the police can provide, the mayor also showed his commitment to improving public school children’s understanding and awareness of different cultures and religions by ensuring that David Banks, NYC’s education chancellor, was present at the meeting: an inclusion that Taylor said was “unprecedented.”

One fun idea to better educate kids about the city’s cultural diversity was to “take them out of the four walls of school and show them the people on the streets: the real-life view of the city, what New York City is about,” said one participant. “Banks, who was very open-minded, heard many ideas directly from community leaders.” 

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell “spoke beautifully about the continued positive strong relationship between New York City’s Jewish community and the police department,” Taylor recounted. “She said that we will always take swift, investigative action to ensure the no one in the city can commit a hate crime and get away with it.”

“Mayor Adams said that everyone in the city should not just be safe, but feel safe,” Rabbi Indig said. “The mayor said, ‘We will do anything and everything to stop hate crimes.’” 

Photo Credit: Flickr 


Photo Gallery: Sheva Bruches for daughter of the Krasna Rov with Grandson of the Zenta Rov, by Kehilas Krasna
  • Feb 18 2022
  • |
  • 10:45 AM

Living Legacy: Rav Chaskel Levenstein, zt”l, A Legend of Mussar
  • Feb 18 2022
  • |
  • 8:16 AM

Be in the know

receive BoroPark24’s news & updates on whatsapp

 Start Now