New York City will install 100 new security cameras in ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in an effort to prevent anti-Semitic attacks, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.
Fear has gripped the city’s Orthodox Jewish community since the the fatal Dec. 10 attack at a kosher grocery store across the Hudson River in Jersey City and the Dec. 29 stabbings at a Hanukkah celebration in suburban Monsey.
The new cameras will be installed in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Borough Park, where Hasidic Jewish residents have reported attacks ranging from someone pulling off a wig or hat to more violent assaults.
“An attack on the Jewish community is an attack on all New Yorkers,” de Blasio, a Democrat, said in a statement. “These new security cameras will increase the NYPD’s visibility into these neighborhoods, and help our officers on the ground keep New Yorkers safe.”
Police officials say anti-Semitic crimes in New York City jumped 21% in 2019 compared with 2018.
The announcement about the new security cameras comes a week after city officials announced they would implement “hate crime awareness programming” at middle and high schools in the same three Brooklyn neighborhoods that are getting the cameras.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the cameras “will support our increased patrols and the targeted deployment of counterterrorism officers at key locations to ensure that everyone is safe.”
(AP)
4 Responses
100,000 cameras wont help as much as 1 new mayor.
Welcome to the surveillance state. Police just sit on their bums and watch crime as it happens, instead of engaging in active policing! I would rather have cops making their presence known, than having cops just watching CCTV.
While this is a good thing, it unfortunately does nothing to address the real problem. Why would these lowlifes care about security cameras? Does anybody honestly think cameras will help? This brainless catch and release bail reform policy gives these criminals ZERO reason to think twice about committing these crimes. Our mayor and governor are responsible for the uptick in hate crimes and Mayor DeNoShow is now adding cameras to fix the the problem that he helped cause? What a joke!
100 cameras is not as effective as one beat cop walking the streets.