NEW YORK — Hate crimes targeting Jews spiked in New York City last month, compared to previous months, according to NYPD data released on Wednesday.
There were 41 confirmed hate crimes targeting Jews in the city last month, the data showed.
The figure amounted to 60 percent of all hate crimes in the city in May, marking a slightly higher percentage than normal, and an average of one antisemitic hate crime every 18 hours.
Jews make up about 10% of the city’s population and are targeted in hate crimes in the city more than all other groups combined every month.
Experts say that many or most incidents are likely not reported to police.
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Last month, there were three hate crimes targeting Asians, zero against Black people, one against an unspecified ethnicity, one based on gender, one against a Hispanic person, five against Muslims, 10 against unspecified religious groups, five based on sexual orientation, and one against a white person.
A swastika on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, May 13, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
The antisemitic hate crimes in May marked a jump of 46% over the average for the previous three months. There were 30 confirmed antisemitic crimes in April, 32 in March, and 21 in February.
The NYPD changed its hate crime reporting in February, shifting from suspected incidents to confirmed incidents, so there is no data on confirmed incidents in January.
After coming under criticism, the police now report both suspected and confirmed incidents.
Suspected antisemitic incidents in the city last month included a rash of swastika graffiti targeting synagogues, Jewish areas, and other sites, vandalism of a kosher bagel shop, and an assault on a subway in Queens.
Police arrested a New York University student on Tuesday for allegedly flying a swastika flag over a university building last month.
Alexander Stepnowsky was charged with one count of hate crime burglary, two counts of aggravated harassment, and one count of criminal trespassing as a hate crime, court filings showed.
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Stepnowsky, who was born in 2002, pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance.
NYU said in a statement that “the symbols that were represented are antisemitic and hateful to every person of conscience; this appalling act violated our sense of community and solidarity.”
“In addition to criminal proceedings, we will immediately pursue our disciplinary procedures, which carry the most severe consequences,” the statement said.
Anti-Jewish crimes last month were up 71% compared to May 2025, as hate crimes against all groups went up 74%.
So far this year, Jews have been targeted in 152 confirmed hate crimes in the city, accounting for 57% of the total — the same percentage as all of 2025.
Hate crimes against all groups increased 8.6% in the first five months of 2025, compared to the same period last year. For Jews, incidents went up 6.3% this year.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani smiles during an address marking his first 100 days in office, in New York City, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
The increase in hate crimes is bad news for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office on January 1 and had pledged to combat hatred in the city.
The prevalence of hate crimes is affected by a range of factors largely outside of the city government’s control, though, such as broad social trends, national and international news, and the weather.
Warmer weather tends to correlate with an increase in hate crimes, for example, as more people come into contact outdoors, which could account for some of the increase last month.
Ahead of Mamdani’s election, Jews in the city expressed fears about his handling of law enforcement due to his past antagonism toward police.
Those fears have so far not been borne out. The NYPD in recent months has controlled anti-Zionist protests at synagogues and other locations, and the annual Israel parade on Sunday was one of the most highly-protected events in the city’s history, the NYPD said.
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