De Blasio Announces Initiative Combating Hate Crime

New York City is launching an initiative with six community organizations to combat bias-motivated incidents and hate crimes, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced at his press conference on Tuesday.

He was joined by Deborah Lauter, Executive Director of the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes to launch the  Partners Against the Hate (P.A.T.H.) FORWARD initiative. P.A.T.H. FORWARD will provide funding and program support to six organizations that will promote community-based approaches to reduce hate crimes and to expand services for victims.

“These hate crimes and bias goes against everything we believe as New Yorkers and our whole history, our whole identity as New Yorkers,” de Blasio said. “Hate to has no place here. We’ll educate people. We’ll show solidarity. We’ll have community-based efforts. We’ll have efforts in our schools. And we’ll also ensure there are consequences for anyone who commits a hate crime.”

There has been a surge of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in recent months, and antisemitic crimes targeting Jews in recent weeks. In response, the city has increased police patrols in Asian American and Jewish neighborhoods.

The mayor said he recently met with with two victims of antisemitic hate crimes and “heard the fear they felt, the pain they felt, the sense of insecurity. We can’t let that happen in New York City,” he said. ” The NYPD is going to play a crucial role…[and] we need partners who are going to make a difference on the ground.”

P.A.T.H. will distribute $3 million in funding to the Anti-Violence Project, the Arab American Association of New York, the Asian American Federation, the Hispanic Federation, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and the 67th Precinct Clergy Council. These six organizations will work with OPHC to create community-based approaches to combatting hate.

“There is not one way to stop hate: it takes a multi-pronged approach that includes strong laws and their enforcement, education to stop biases that fuel hate violence, and healthy community relations,” said Lauter. “New York City is committing significant resources to support the diverse communities that are the most vulnerable to acts of hate. We are optimistic that this initiative will have a significant, long-term impact that ensures all New Yorkers feel respected and safe.”

P.A.T.H. FORWARD anchors will also serve as judges in the awarding of OPHC Hate Crime Prevention Innovation Grants. These grants, which range from $5,000 to $20,000 to be distributed on a revolving basis throughout the year, will encourage individuals, organizations, and academic institutions to use their entrepreneurial skills to develop projects aimed at reducing hate violence and promoting community respect.

OPHC is an office within the the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and was launched in September 2019 approach to prevent and respond to hate crimes, develop community-driven prevention strategies to address biases fueling such crimes, and support victims and their communities.

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smarcus@hamodia.com