Jews and Muslims have much in common, and New York City has seen a surge in hate crimes against both groups this year.
According to NYPD data requested by The Washington Post, anti-Semitic incidents through August 25 had soared 74% (from 138 to 240) compared to the same period last year, while attacks against Muslims had soared 357% (from 7 to 32).
Overall, the grim statistic shows that hate crimes across New York City increased by 29% (from 332 to 427).
Manhattan had the most hate crime incidents in the city with 174, followed by Brooklyn (157), Queens (64), and the Bronx and Staten Island (both 16).
Queens was the only borough to see a decrease in hate crimes, falling 36 percent from 87 to 64, although three spray-painted swastikas were found in Woodhaven on Aug. 14.
The department noted that the number of arrests made by its hate crimes unit this year increased 23 percent to 177, up from 144 last year.
The bigoted thug who attacked a man in Central Park has yet to be caught.
“I've been really, really lucky,” acknowledged Alan Ripp, 70, who in July was beaten by a hate-spewing Citi Bike driver who called him a “fucking Jewish pig” and threatened to kill him.
The crazy bigot (still at large) attacked Ripp on the sidewalk adjacent to the reservoir's West 86th Street entrance just after 6pm on July 13th. Ripp was walking his daughter's dog, Biscotti, near the reservoir's bridge in the park when he was body-searched by a biker. Ripp then dared to rebuke the cyclist for riding on the sidewalk, enraging the cyclist.
“My initial reaction was total shock and panic because I'm not a fighter,” he said.
Lipp told the Post that political rhetoric “demonizing Israel under the guise of free speech” and left-wing protests “have led to many of the acts of violence, insults, slander and spitting that we have seen.”
His daughter Emily, 36, added: “I've lived in New York all my life and I've never seen anything like this. This is a projection of what's going on overseas, and now it's happening to our neighbours and colleagues.”
Shehryar Ali Kazmi, 25 years old. Shehryar Ali Kazmi
The experts agreed.
“When the world sneezes, New York gets the droplets,” said David Sarni, a former NYPD detective and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Medicine.
The horrific events that took place included:
- On August 10, a madman shouted, “Free Palestine!” before viciously stabbing a Jewish man in the stomach. The suspect, 22-year-old Brooklyn resident Vincent Sumpter, reportedly approached Yehiel Dabrowskin near Chabad's headquarters in Crown Heights around 2 a.m., shouted anti-Semitic slurs, asked him if he wanted to die, and then brandished a knife. Dabrowskin said: He told Israel's Kan 11 News.“There was internal bleeding, but a miracle happened.” Sumpter is being held on $100,000 bail on multiple hate crime charges.
On Aug. 14, three swastikas were discovered spray-painted in Woodhaven.
“Hate has no place here,” fumed Rep. Joan Arriola (R-Queens), who believes this worrying trend is “directly linked to the Middle East conflict and the extremist groups that are complicit in its tragedies. Too many people are trying to exploit the suffering of the Israeli and Palestinian people to justify their own wrongdoings half a world away.”
The NYPD said in a statement: “All hate crimes are taken seriously and are treated as such by police. Hate-motivated crimes are thoroughly investigated by the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit.”
Meanwhile, Rip refuses to give up on Gotham.
“There's still too much basic humanity, and there are a lot of good New Yorkers,” he said.
