Hochul allocates $51 million to hate crime prevention

More than $51 million in state funds are now being allocated to nearly 500 community, cultural, civic and religious organizations across the state for resources to protect against hate crimes, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in a press conference Tuesday at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan.

The grants will go toward cybersecurity improvements, cameras and more training for more staff at these institutions that are at risk of being hate crime targets. 

“We stand here today recommitted to two words: no more,” Hochul said. “No more hate in our state, and stand up and back it up.”

Today, we’re making a lasting statement on behalf of all New Yorkers that there’s no place for hate in our State.

Join me live at @MJHnews for an announcement about new steps we’re taking to protect New Yorkers from hate crimes: https://t.co/ddPTcKIMlv

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) July 11, 2023

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado is also on a listening tour around the state to gather hate crime information and experiences at the request of the governor.

Hochul also signed into law a bill from Assembly Member Dan Rosenthal and state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky that mandates all colleges and universities that receive state aid implement a plan to investigate campus hate crimes, inform students about the investigation procedure and report all hate crimes on their website.

“This will add transparency and will not allow colleges to sweep this problem under the rug any longer,” Rosenthal said. “And this will allow the public to realize if the administration of those colleges are taking the appropriate steps to mitigate what is happening on their campuses.”

Today’s announcement comes as New York has been seeing an increase in hate crimes. The state reported that there was a 56% increase in hate crimes in 2021. According to NYC Open Data, there were 668 hate crimes in New York City in 2022, up from 576 in 2021.

“I get very upset when I hear the words, ‘We’ve got to be tolerant,’” Stavisky said. “We don’t have to be tolerant. We’ve got to understand the problem and do something about it, and I think today we are doing that.”