Recent Survey Shows Police Absence in the Wake of Unprecedented Antisemitic Hate Crimes in New York

 Americans Against Antisemitism
Urge Cuomo and De Blasio to Do More

By Dov Hikind

Merely weeks since a spree of attacks against Jews around New York City and state, the beefed up police presence around Jewish synagogues and community centers has nearly all but disappeared. I personally surveyed Flatbush/Midwood, while other members of my team went around Crown Heights, Borough Park, and Monsey, and we all found the same surprising thing: the police are all but gone.

If the reason for the removal of the police is that attacks against Jews have decreased, it’s quite obvious that it was likely due to the fact of police presence, so removing those effective police will likely backfire and bring us right back to the situation that necessitated increased police presence in the first place.

The Jewish communities are not feeling safe yet. While the hardcore violence we’ve known from the previous year has abated momentarily, the hate and vitriol being spouted at Jews in person and online has not. And therefore, I am calling on the mayor and governor to maintain a higher state of vigilance rather than letting our guard down now when we are still vulnerable. We are not out of the woods yet. So I don’t understand why now, just when the police presence is proving effective, they would be pulled back when we know that the hate fueling the latest rise has not actually disappeared. The Jewish community is still living in fear, so Police presence is still needed at this juncture.

Below is a summary of our quick survey yesterday:

Flatbush/Midwood

21 Synagogues, Community Center and Schools

1 State Police Vehicles Parked/Officers Stations outside

0 NYPD Vehicles Parked/Officers Stations outside

Monsey, NY

30 Synagogues and Schools

0 State PoliceVehicles Parked/Officers Stations outside

Borough Park
30+ Synagogues and Schools

0 State Police Vehicles Parked/Officers Stations outside

2 NYPD Police Vehicles Parked/Officers Stations outside

Crown Heights

10+ Synagogues and Schools

1 State Police Vehicles Parked/Officers Stations outside

1 NYPD Police Vehicles Parked/Officers Stations outside