Hate crimes rising in NY, as experts in state summit discuss ways to combat trend

Hate crimes in New York are on the rise, according to early state figures, a disturbing trend that experts at a summit Wednesday said proves daunting for both law enforcement and those who are victims. 

New York saw 947 hate crimes last year, with roughly 90 taking place in Suffolk and Nassau counties, according to preliminary data released by the Division of Criminal Justice Services in May. That compares with 790 in 2021, at that time the highest number since at least 2018.

In 2021, the most recent year the agency has final numbers for, Long Island had about 55 hate crimes. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who on Wednesday convened a Unity Summit days before the anniversary of a deadly shooting by a white supremacist in Buffalo, sought to send a strong message on hate, saying: “No more.”

“Individuals who have hate in their hearts, they want to tear us down, they want to intimidate us, they want to silence us,” Hochul told a crowd of nearly 400 on Tuesday at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. “And the hard truth is this, we've lost some ground in our fight against bigotry over the last few years.”

In New York, lawmakers passed legislation in 2022 requiring people convicted of hate crimes to get training or counseling. The state also pledged $96 million in funding to strengthen security at nonprofit and community organizations that might be at risk of being targets for hate crimes. Hochul said Tuesday that an additional $25 million in funding will be accessible to organizations susceptible to vandalism and hate crimes, her office said. 

But the problem is vexing. At the conference, speakers that included Lt. Col. R. Christopher West of the New York State Police and state officials, discussed a range of topics, such as difficulties in getting people to report crimes. Speakers also talked about restorative justice practices that could involve mediation between a victim and the perpetrator of violence.

Rossana Rosado, commissioner of DCJS, said it is sometimes hard for many communities that have faced the brunt of discrimination to recognize when discrimination veers into a crime. “We’re so used to being mistreated that it is hard to recognize hate, and sometimes to define it,” she said.

Moreover, measuring a hate crime’s impact can also be hard because a crime against one person due to their race or religion can rattle an entire community, experts say.

According to the preliminary figures, antisemitic violence incidents totaled 355 in 2022, down slightly from 2019, when that number was 377.

Preliminary numbers from 2022 show anti-Black violence was at 164. In the previous year, the number of hate crimes against that group was 120, at that time marking the highest figure since at least 2018.

There were 100 anti-Asian hate crimes last year, according to the early data. But in 2021, there were 140, which was the highest number since 2018.

Instances of anti-LGBTQ violence came in at 144 in 2022, according to preliminary figures. In 2018, the number of hate incidents against that group was around 80.

Division of Human Rights Commissioner Maria Imperial said more reports of hate crimes may be an indication that people trust that the report of an incident will be handled sensitively and someone might be held accountable.

“I don’t want to see more violence, but I do think that if people report more, then it shows that there’s … more trust in the process,” she said.

Bishop Danilo Archbold, of Elmont’s New Jerusalem Cathedral Inc., agreed with her but added that most people don’t go to the police right away, especially many immigrants, because of the fear of being deported.

He believes faith leaders and other community organizations can play a role in filling that void in trust.

Overall, he said, the goal must be a community of people of all backgrounds that will take action to root out hate.

“A beloved community, where we feel the love,” he said about what is needed. “We just don’t talk about it, but we’re being about it.”

By Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

tiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac

Education: Howard University 

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith came to Newsday in 2023 after being a race and history reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote enterprise and spot articles examining how the past shapes the present. Previously, she worked as the race and justice reporter at the USA TODAY Network of New York, covering issues such as criminal justice reform, housing, environmental justice, health care and politics. At The Journal News/lohud.com in Westchester County, she covered Yonkers, the state's third-largest city. She also worked at The Associated Press in Atlanta.

Honors and Awards: Criminal justice reporting fellowship with the National Press Foundation;  New York News Publishers Association award for distinguished investigative reporting;  Contributed reporting for Best of Gannett honor; Member of Table Stakes, a program funded by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and managed by the American Press Institute to transform local news.