New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is touting historic drops in murders and shootings even as anti-Jewish hate crimes have exploded on his watch, surging 71 percent in the nations largest city.
According to RedState, NYPD data for May show a 10.6 percent decline in major crime citywide, with murders, shooting incidents, and shooting victims all hitting record lows for the first five months of 2026. Over that same period, however, confirmed hate crimes jumped 74.4 percent compared with last year, and anti-Jewish incidents made up more than 60 percent of the total.
The department recorded 68 confirmed hate crimes in May, up from 39 in May 2025, with 41 of those targeting Jews, compared with 24 a year earliera 70.8 percent spike. Overall, police logged 98 hate-crime complaints in May, including 60 aimed at Jews, nearly one every 12 hours, with anti-Jewish incidents comprising 60.3 percent of confirmed hate crimes.
From January through May 2026, the NYPD confirmed 265 hate crimes, of which 152 were anti-Jewish, underscoring a sustained pattern rather than a one-month anomaly. The next closest categories were anti-Black incidents at 18 and anti-Muslim incidents at 17, while anti-Asian hate crimes totaled just nine, highlighting the disproportionate targeting of Jews.
Mamdani, who pointedly boycotted the Israel Day Parade last month, has repeatedly pledged to combat hatred since taking office on January 1. For many Jewish New Yorkers, those promises ring hollow as the numbers move in the opposite direction.
"There isn't any shock in the Jewish community that antisemitic hate crimes have risen against our community by 70%," said Moshe Spern, president of United Jewish Teachers. His remarks reflect a growing sense that City Halls rhetoric and policies are emboldening extremists rather than deterring them.
In May alone, anti-Jewish hate crimes rose from 24 to 41, anti-Muslim incidents increased from three to five, and incidents targeting religion overall jumped from one to 10. The 41 confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes averaged one every 18 hours and ran 46 percent above the average of the previous three months, suggesting an accelerating trend.
The months cases included swastika graffiti at synagogues and in Jewish neighborhoods, vandalism of a kosher bagel shop, and an assault on a Queens subway. New York University student Alexander Stepnowsky was arrested for allegedly flying a swastika flag over a campus building and charged with hate crime burglary, aggravated harassment, and criminal trespassing; he pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance, while NYU said the act "violated our sense of community and solidarity."
Spern was blunt about where he believes responsibility lies, pointing directly at the mayors conduct and messaging. "When the mayor of this city continues to use libelous statements against the Jewish people and the state in his speeches and on government-issued social media, when he hosts antisemitic agitators like Mahmoud Khalil, defends his wifes antisemitic social media history, and has an office to combat antisemitism that is literally only on paper, what do you expect?"
Jewish New Yorkers make up roughly 10 percent of the citys population yet account for 57 percent of confirmed hate-crime victims, a disparity that should alarm any serious leader in an era when President Donald Trump has repeatedly emphasized law and order and the protection of religious liberty. Murders, shootings, and robberies may be down, but with anti-Jewish hate crimes up 71 percent and dominating the citys hate-crime statistics every month this year, the real test for Mamdani is whether his administration will move beyond progressive posturing and finally act to protect a community under sustained attack.
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