NYPD ups synagogue security before Passover holiday and surge of anti-Semitic hate crimes

As the festival of Passover looms on the horizon, the New York Police Department finds itself compelled to bolster its ranks around synagogues and Jewish institutions throughout the sprawling metropolis. The reason? A chilling surge in anti-Semitic hate crimes, which now constitute a staggering 62% of all such offenses in the city—a statistic that ought to make any decent person’s blood run cold.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, with a resolve that echoes through her words, has vowed to shield the Jewish community from this rising tide of malice. “No one should feel afraid to worship. No community should feel like a target,” she declared, laying out a plan of intensified patrols, a conspicuous police presence, and close collaboration with community leaders throughout the holiday. It’s a promise that carries the weight of necessity, for the alternative—a city where fear dictates faith—is unthinkable.

Deputy Inspector Gary Marcus of the Hate Crimes Task Force minced no words in calling anti-Semitism “the single largest category of hate” in New York. The numbers bear out his grim assessment: 2024 saw a 7% uptick in anti-Jewish incidents, with 345 cases staining the city’s record, a trend that has stubbornly persisted into 2025. But it’s not merely the quantity that alarms—it’s the sheer audacity and savagery of these acts.

Consider the Brooklyn woman, struck in the face at a subway station as her assailant shrieked, “You dirty Jew, I hate all of you.” Or the Jewish teenager in Manhattan, hurled to the ground by a pack of peers spewing antisemitic venom. Then there are the repeated desecrations—swastikas and hateful graffiti defacing synagogues and Jewish schools in Queens and the Upper East Side. 

These are not mere statistics; they are wounds inflicted on a community, verbal daggers, physical blows, and symbolic outrages that demand our attention.

The Jewish population of New York, a city that prides itself on its diversity, now finds itself gripped by a creeping dread. To walk to synagogue or don attire that marks one’s faith is to invite peril, unless it's a hijab—a reality that should shame us all. 

The NYPD, to its credit, has called on the public to stay watchful, to report anything that smacks of threat or suspicion. Meanwhile, voices from within the community demand more—education to uproot ignorance, laws with teeth to punish the perpetrators.

With Passover just days away, the NYPD insists this heightened security is no mere show. It’s a clarion call, a line in the sand: New York will not abide antisemitism. And yet, one cannot help but wonder—how has it come to this? In a city that fancies itself a beacon of tolerance, the shadows grow long indeed.

"I pour my heart into these posts, and if they’ve sparked something for you, I’d be thrilled if you’d treat me to a coffee over at Buy Me a Coffee – totally optional, of course!"

Tweet