The year is still young, but law enforcement officials in New York have already noticed a startling trend. Through the first five months of 2021, there has been a 73% increase in hate crimes across the city in comparison to data from 2020. Furthermore, there has been a 160% increase in arrests related to hate crimes during the first five months of the year.
Many of these hate crimes have targeted Asian and Jewish communities. Reports indicate that 80 hate crimes from January through the beginning of April have targeted Asian Americans. In comparison, there were only 16 hate crimes targeting Asian Americans during the same time span last year. Overall, AJ+ reports that hate crimes against Asian-Americans in New York have risen by 1,900%.
“These incidents are happening all over New York City and in Asian-majority neighborhoods as well. You see people getting shoved, spat upon, coughed at, harassed, called names and ethnic slurs,” WNYC reporter Arun Venugopal told CBS News.
"This is a huge problem and the fact that it’s happening in places like Flushing, Queens, and Manhattan’s Chinatown is causing a lot of distress for members of the Asian American community."
Most recently, two Asian women in Manhattan were attacked by a stranger with a hammer. This attack prompted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to offer the assistance of the state's hate crime task force as the matter is investigated.
"I am disgusted by this violent attack in Midtown Manhattan, the latest seemingly senseless and despicable hate crime against Asian Americans in this state," Cuomo stated.
"We will do everything in our power to protect those who are vulnerable to these attacks and to hold cowardly perpetrators accountable to the full extent of the law."
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