NY lawmakers propose adding 31 hate crimes to current statute

State lawmakers are proposing adding 31 new crimes to New York's hate crimes statute. These include gang assault, sexual misconduct, rape, making graffiti and weapon possession, which weren’t included in the state’s hate crime law passed in 2000.

"You might ask why, and I think the reason is we haven't seen the level of hate crimes in New York as we're seeing right now,” State Sen. Brad Hoylman, one of the bill’s sponsors, said at a Manhattan news conference Monday. “Hate fueled attacks are on the rise, targeting almost every racial and ethnic group.”

He added, “The FBI counted over 11,600 hate crimes in 2022, the highest number recorded since the agency began tracking hate crimes.”

According to FBI data comparing 2021 to 2022, the increase largely stems from anti-religious attacks. According to NYPD data from 2023, citywide hate crimes jumped from 41 in September to 101 in October – more than double the number of hate crimes reported in October 2022.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who endorsed the new bill, said hate crimes follow a predictable pattern.

“Bias-motivated crimes often spike following high profile events,” Bragg said. “From anti-immigrant hate crimes in 2016, following xenophobic rhetoric during the presidential campaign, to anti-Black hate crimes following the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.”

The bill’s author, Assemblymember Grace Lee of Chinatown, said she experienced this pattern firsthand during the pandemic.

“I was walking down the street with my young daughter when a woman threw a bottle at me and yelled anti-Asian slurs at us,” Lee said.

Bragg wasn’t able to say how hate crime statistics would change under this proposed legislation.

“But what we definitely know is that there's an undercount in what gets presented to us,” Bragg said.

Last month, the NYPD said they significantly increased the outreach their officers have done in Jewish communities and said that contributed to an increase in hate crimes being reported. However, a recent report suggests most hate crimes are underreported because of police mistrust.

The proposed legislation would also create a new crime classification called “bias harassment,” which is defined as “unwelcome physical contact based upon belief or perception of membership in a protected class.”

Bragg said the proposed bill would allow law enforcement to track hate with more realistic statistics.

“This is going to make the charges reflect what actually is the conduct,” he said.