Given the alleged rise in antisemitic and Muslim attacks in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has offered up to $75 million in grants for the police and places of worship. The state will also undertake a study of the antisemitic and anti-discrimination policies in New York City’s public university system, while the State Police will enhance its monitoring of social media to discover online threats on college campuses.
The governor’s comments come as threats, vandalism, and violence against Jews and Muslims have dominated news coverage in New York and across the country. Following the Hamas attacks on October 7, the New York Police Department released numbers last week showing an increase in hate crimes in the city, mainly targeting Jews. There were over 50 hate crimes reported in the third week of October, with 30 of them being directed at Jews. While last year, at this time, there were just two attacks against Palestinians, this year, there were four.
At Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, a series of messages on a student website called for the murder of Jewish students. The governor stated that the State Police had detained “a person of interest” concerning the threats and that the individual would be questioned. Patrick Dai, a 21-year-old third-year student at Cornell from Pittsford, New York, was taken into custody on a criminal complaint related to the threats, according to federal authorities in the Northern District of New York.
Ms. Hochul has pledged to provide local law enforcement with $50 million in funding to help prevent and investigate hate crimes and an additional $25 million to improve security at places of worship, community centers, and other public buildings. She has taken a position as a staunch supporter of Israel, further polarizing Democrats over the conflict.
