New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was in the Big Apple Thursday pushing a package of bills that would add 31 offenses to the state’s hate crime statute — including graffiti, arson and rape.
Hochul, speaking after a roundtable event on hate and bias prevention at John Jay College, said the expansion of the hate crime statute is necessary after bias incidents, including a rising wave of antisemitism since Hamas’ terror attacks on Israel sparked war in Gaza.
“Racism has been there forever, antisemitism, Islamophobia,” Hochul said. “But Oct. 7 was a turning point in our state because we’ve seen a horrific rise in hate crimes directed at Jewish and Muslim neighbors.”
Sex trafficking and criminal posession of a weapon could would be among offenses that can be prosecuted as hate crimes under the expansion proposed by Hochul.
“We may not solve it today. But we’re sure as hell going to try because doing nothing is not an option,” Hochul said.
“Complacency can never set in … This is New York,” the Democrat added.
Hochul specifically pointed to antisemitic graffiti scrawled on a store window in Westchester County late Wednesday night as one such act that may apply as a hate crime under her proposed expansion.
State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) and Assemblymember Grace Lee (D-Manhattan) had proposed similar legislation last November. Manhattan District Attorney Alivin Bragg has also thrown his support behind expanding hate crime eligibility.
“Albany needs to close dozens of loopholes in our criminal statutes that prevent hate crimes from being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Hoylman-Sigal told the Post Thursday.
Since Hamas’ attack on Israel, antisemitic threats have surged nearly 400 percent according to the Anti Defamation League.
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