New numbers from the NYPD show a rise in antisemitic hate crimes.
Anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 182% in January 2026 compared to January 2025, statistics released Monday show. Overall, hate crimes within that same window increased by 152%.
What You Need To Know
On Monday, a 17-year-old student at Renaissance Charter School in Queens sent an email threatening to kill Jewish people to 300 students
He is in custody without incident, and has been charged with making a terroristic threat and aggravated harassment as a hate crime, according to police
Police say it’s a possible bias incident, and the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is being asked to investigate
“The Jewish community is filled with anxiety and trepidation. We know that it’s open season,” Rabbi Mark Schneier, the president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, said. “We’ve encountered these kinds of threats for the last 2,500 years, but if anything, there’s never been a greater time to be alive as a Jew than today.”
On Monday, a 17-year-old student at Renaissance Charter School in Jackson Heights, Queens sent an email threatening to kill Jewish people to 300 students.
He is in custody without incident, and has been charged with making a terroristic threat and aggravated harassment as a hate crime, according to police.
Police say it’s a possible bias incident, and the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is being asked to investigate.
Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos, who represents Jackson Heights, wrote on X, “I am relieved that no one was harmed and that the student is in custody. This must be fully investigated by the Hate Crimes Task Force. Our Jewish neighbors, students, and families deserve safety, dignity, and protection. We will continue working with school leaders and law enforcement to keep our community safe.”
According to Ramos, the principal says they are shocked this would happen in a community as diverse as Jackson Heights, adding that the school is working on a special assembly with a Holocaust survivor.
Last week, the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force investigated after a man repeatedly rammed his car into the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Also in January, 57 swastikas were drawn on a playground in Borough Park. The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is also investigating that incident.
On his first day in office, Mayor Zohran Mamdani decided to roll back every executive order that former Mayor Eric Adams issued after he was indicted on federal corruption charges in September 2024.
One of those orders established a definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance that equates certain criticism of the state of Israel with hatred of Jewish people.
Schneier disagrees with Mamdani’s decision, but says he has faith in Jewish leaders in the city who are fighting to combat antisemitism.