Councilman David G. Greenfield and Councilman Mark Levine condemned today the rise of anti-Semitic crimes citywide. This past year to date, anti-Semitic crimes throughout New York City have spiked 29 percent according to the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force. In May, Councilman Greenfield’s district saw three reported incidents of hate crimes. The first was two swastikas etched outside a local kosher supermarket and the second was four swastikas drawn in marker on a rail guard. Finally, and most disturbingly, were multiple hate messages scrawled on the Mirrer Yeshiva on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. These attacks and overall rise in anti-Semitic crimes demonstrate the urgency and necessity for Councilman Greenfield’s legislation, Introduction 65, which would guarantee non-public schools a security guard at the school’s request.
“We can’t ignore the blatant anti-Semitic attacks that are spiking throughout New York City. We have to face the facts: religiously motivated crimes are up. Every New Yorker deserves to be safe from bias attacks. However, certainly our most vulnerable citizens — our children — deserve to be protected. We need Mayor de Blasio to support the Council’s legislation providing security guards for yeshivas before it’s too late,” said Councilman Greenfield.
“The rise in hate crimes against Jewish New Yorkers should alarm us all,” said Councilman Mark Levine, Chair of the Jewish Caucus. “We must do everything we can to reverse this trend, and to protect those most vulnerable — particularly children at Jewish schools.”
Introduction 65 has received overwhelming support from the religious communities and a super majority of the New York City Council. As of today, 46 of 51 members have signed onto Greenfield’s bill. The bill has received additional support from Public Advocate Letitia James, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, the Orthodox Union, Agudath Israel of America, the UJA-Federation, the Sephardic Community Federation, the Catholic Community Relations Council, the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, the Archdiocese of New York, the Muslim Community Network, the Islamic Schools Association of New York and the NYS Association of Independent Schools. To learn more information about the bill and help pass it, visit: www.schoolsafety.nyc.
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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In Parshas Ki Savo (Devarim 28:66) it says, “It will be that your life will hang precariously for opposite [you].
Rashi explains, “In exile, Jews will not be sure of safety from violence. As to their livelihoods, they will depend on what they can buy day by day, never being sure that the markets will not be shut down, in general, or specifically to Jews.