April 16, 2026 — New York
This column originally appeared in AM NY.
By Brandon Pinsker
While Jews make up 12 percent of New York City’s population, they are the victims of the majority of hate crimes. From January through March 2026, the NYPD confirmed 143 hate crimes citywide—and 55 percent of them, 78 incidents, were anti-Jewish.
Tracking hate crimes is a key tool in addressing this challenge. Earlier this month, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced an update to how the department tracks hate crimes. The change shifted public reporting to track only incidents that meet the legal threshold for confirmation, rather than including both reported and confirmed incidents. Ensuring legal accuracy in data is important, but so is maintaining a full picture of reported incidents as trends evolve.
Tisch’s decision to continue tracking both reported and confirmed hate crimes is a responsible and important step. Using both metrics allows for continuity with past data, while still meeting legal standards.
In January alone, there were 31 reported anti-Jewish incidents—a 182 percent increase from the previous year. Those are not abstractions. They represent vandalized Jewish institutions, assaulted individuals, and threats targeting Jewish students.
Data shapes where officers are deployed, which threats are prioritized, and how urgently leaders respond. Clear, comprehensive reporting gives the city the situational awareness it needs to act.
Data clarity is a foundation, not the solution itself. The core truth remains unchanged: antisemitism is rising, and Jewish New Yorkers are paying the price.
According to American Jewish Committee’s State of Antisemitism in America 2025 Report, 91 percent of American Jews feel less safe than they did a year ago—one marked by the firebombing of Jews in Boulder, Colorado, and the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers at the Capital Jewish Museum.
Jewish victimization is not just a statistic. It is a daily calculation of risk. It is parents warning children to hide their Star of David necklace or their yarmulke. When families feel compelled to hide visible Jewish identity, the problem is not perception—it is failure of protection.
New York must continue to ensure full transparency in hate crime reporting by tracking and publicly reporting both reported and confirmed incidents and by using that data to direct enforcement and resources where they are most urgently needed. Protecting all New Yorkers—including Jewish New Yorkers—is nonnegotiable.
Brandon Pinsker is acting director of AJC New York.
