NYC Council’s antisemitism task force to examine changes in police hate crime reporting

The New York City Council’s Bipartisan Task Force to Combat Antisemitism will hold its inaugural hearing on April 15.

The council launched the task force in late January, amid a broader push by legislators to rein in antisemitism in the city, where Jews are targeted in hate crimes far more than any other group.

Inna Vernikov, a Jewish Republican representing part of south Brooklyn, leads the task force alongside Eric Dinowitz, a Jewish Democrat from the Bronx.

During the hearing, the task force will examine the NYPD’s announcement last month that it will change how it reports on hate crimes.

The police release a monthly report on crime statistics, including hate crimes. The report is a barometer of how prevalent hate crimes are in the city and how many times each group has been targeted.

The NYPD had reported each month on hate crime allegations that were under review, but announced this month that it will only report incidents that have been investigated and confirmed as hate crimes, saying the updated methodology would be more accurate.

The updated criteria mean that police will report fewer hate crimes, and that comparisons to previous months and years will not be possible via public data.

Hate crime experts have said the change may lead to the false impression that hate crimes have decreased.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office at the beginning of January, so it will be difficult to gauge whether his policies have affected the prevalence of hate crimes and antisemitism.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish and seen as a moderate, has supported the updated criteria, saying it will be more accurate, and the mayor’s office has said it was not involved in the change.

The task force “will examine in our first hearing” the updated police reporting, Vernikov says on X.