On Wednesday, April 13, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul announced $16 million in grants to help protect nonprofits and community organizations from hate crimes. The money will be used to strengthen safety and security. The money was distributed through the Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes program, which is run by New York’s Division of Criminal Justice Services. There are 205 organizations that received 327 grants.

New York’s diversity is our strength, but too many New Yorkers continue to live in fear and today we say enough is enough. Hatred, racism and xenophobia have no place in our state, and this essential funding sends a clear message that New York is united against individuals who seek to sow hatred and divide us.

Even though New York is a melting pot, there are always incidents of hate crimes. According to the New York State Annual Hate Crimes Report for 2020 (which is the most recent data), there were a total of 488 reported hate crimes statewide and 187 arrests. The total number of reported hate crimes is most certainly much lower since many of them go unreported.

Hate crime incidents and/or arrests were reported by police departments and sheriffs’ offices in 49 of the state’s 62 counties.

Here is a breakdown of the races of hate crime perpetrators in New York State,

White – 104 (47.7%)
Black – 61 (28.0%)
Hispanic – 34 (15.6%)
Asian/Pacific Islander – 5 (2.3%)

These are the top four motives for hate crimes in the state,

4. Anti-gender – 7 (3.1%)
3. Anti-LGBTQ – 43 incidents (19.3%)
2. Anti-religion – 54 incidents (24.2%)
1. Anti-race/ethnicity/national origin – 118 incidents (52.9%)

Black and Jewish people, as well as members of the LGBTQ community, are the most frequent targets of hate crimes,

• Anti-black bias accounted for 59.2% (128 of 216) of incidents involving anti-racial/ethnic/national origin bias and 26.2% (128 of 488) of all reported hate crimes.
• Within the category of anti-religious bias, anti-Jewish crimes accounted for the overwhelming majority of incidents: 88.3% (182 of 206).
• Anti-Jewish crimes accounted for 37.3% (182 of 488) of all hate crime incidents.
• Anti-LGBTQ bias accounted for 11.5% of all reported hate crimes (56
of 488).

Here are the top 9 counties in New York with the most reported hate crimes:

9. Erie (Buffalo) – 12 incidents and 8 arrests

8. Monroe (Rochester) – 16 incidents and 5 arrests

7. Richmond (Staten Island) – 18 incidents and 7 arrests

6. Bronx (Bronx) – 22 incidents and 17 arrests

5. Nassau (Hempstead) – 28 incidents and 8 arrests

4. Westchester (Yonkers) – 40 incidents and 6 arrests

3. Queens (Queens) – 47 incidents and 18 arrests

2. New York (Manhattan) – 82 incidents and 23 arrests

1. Kings (Brooklyn) – 103 incidents and 34 arrests

While any number of hate crimes is horrific, when you think about the population of New York State, those numbers are relatively low. However, keep in mind that the bar for considering an incident a hate crime is quite high. Aside from the fact that many potential hate crimes often go unreported.

Data provided by the NY Deptartment of Criminal Justice Services

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